As far as electronic readers go, the Kindle series has been around for awhile. The newest upgrade to this series the Kindle DX is on sale now and shipping several units a day. With so many choices in this particular area of technological gizmos, the Kindle DX makes a few strides on keeping the tech useful and standing out from the crowd. Still, the Kindle DX takes full advantage of the massive library of content available from the Kindle Store, and Amazon is pushing the device as a leader in this particular arena and with good reason.
At first glance the Kindle DX is larger than previous Kindles with a 9.7″ diagonal screen. The new high contrast screen allows for a variety of mediums to conveyed in great looking pictures. Whereas, previous Kindles had a few problems displaying cover art and other complex shaded pictures, this one really lets everything stand out and be seen. Plus, despite the monster screen size the entire unit still comes in just over a third of an inch thick. The 4GB’s of storage allow the user to take literally thousands of books, magazines, and newspapers anywhere they go. Plus the USB charge feature is great, because the unit can operate independent of a PC, but battery life does not really seem to be an issue with the Kindle DX.
Probably the coolest feature of the Kindle DX is the 3G connection. Amazon is truly taking an interesting step in this realm, allowing users to access the high speed 3G network free to browse and purchase books, which will be delivered to the device in less than sixty seconds. But allowing other select services to be accessed for a fee, is simply genius, and in effect gives users a “take what you want” mentality and only purchase the things they require. In addition, the new auto rotate feature allows users to simply turn the device to experience landscape shots, instead of having to hit a button. Plus, the usual note taking features make jotting down thoughts on passages and marking places a user friendly experience.
The Kindle DX is available from Amazon.com for $379.00. While that price puts it close the top of the ereader market, the Nook is around $170, the unit has enough bells and whistles that it makes it worth the cash, but not complicated to use. Until devices like the iPad and other tablet elements make any strides on cost, folks who want to use this type of technology just to read should strongly consider checking out the Kindle DX.
sources:
personal experience
www.amazon.com
