Amazon Kindle DX gets official
Amazon has definitely had some issues keeping the wraps on its readers and it looks like the Kindle DX fell victim to the trend. Of course these most recent leaks weren’t quite as bad as the Kindle 2 we scooped over four months ahead of its official launch, but never the less we basically knew all there was to know about Amazon’s super-sized e-book reader ahead of today’s announcement. Well actually, there were a few surprises tucked away in Amazon’s pocket — namely automatic screen rotation which is certainly a welcome addition. The rest, such as its specs, annotation capabilities, device size and its new education-centric features were already pretty well covered. Pre-ordering is now live and the DX ships this Summer — Price of admission: $489.
$489 for something that is not a slam dunk yet, and in a great recession?? not a smart move if you are wanting to move a lot of devices Bezos. let alone become integrated with everyday life of the masses.
Not buying a Kindle until they have native support for PDFs
Never put off until tomorrow what you can avoid altogether. At that price its gonna be a long time until I consider this…my 8900 Curve was wayyy cheaper and I get Xtube on it..
@Mark actually it looks like this new version has native PDF support.
I own a Kindle 2 already & take it EVERYWHERE & I do mean EVERYWHERE. I have no complaints about it. There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to preorder this & summertime delivery is great. My Kindle 2 I’ll give to my sister since she has been begging me for it since day 1 lol. Cannot wait to get my hands on this one!!! I was a reader before but now I ready at least 2 hours everyday because of my Kindle 2. And YES this one HAS native support for PDF’s & anyway my 2 renders PDF’s just fine. I send some for conversion pretty much on a daily basis & even have my exec bio on it for people to read. Its TRULY a conversation piece & the price is great when you consider unlimited 3G wireless EVERY MONTH without any bills etc… Cannot WAIT to get my hands on it, salivating now as we speak lol!!!
@ FyreStarrter
Oh my god, was that you at the club tearing up the dance floor with the Kindle??:)
All kidding aside, I don’t get this, I really like the kindle 2 and I am thinking of getting one, however can someone here tell me how is this better than say a laptop or a netbook. Why would anyone read such a big reader, what niche market does this serve?
Thanks for the replies beforehand
But for the $500 price tag, I would be interested in a bigger screen reader to replace my daily newspapers and magazine subscriptions. The K2’s screen is not big enough for me to read newspapers on, I cannot bear having my laptop on the counter while I eat breakfast and connected laptop doesn’t go many places magazines go (on planes, in certain rooms of the house where I read…uh hum, etc.). However, the price is insane and without color screen magazines would not be as good to read. I’ll be waiting until the full color e-readers hit the market later this year.
I preordered one. I had the 1st Kindle, and decided that the Kindle 2 was not worth upgrading. But this baby has a big screen and reads PDFs.
The DX is going to be my repository of reference information (Wiley, PDF Manuals, PDF publications, etc). It was always hard to put my own reference material on the old Kindle. Especially if I had a lot of formatting or embedded images. Now I can just PDF whatever I want and put it on the DX.
Not only the education market will benefit, but this is essentially a great step into the paperless business office. Business reference material (rules, procedures). Think about all the business forms you can put on here.
You can write your own notes, wireless delivery, long battery life, and high readibility screen. We might be a short hop away from the wireless paper from Caprica right?
I always have been perplexed by the Kindle .. and always will be… I can’t think of a solid good reason why ANYONE would want this ugly ass useless device. Looking at that low resolution with horrible contrast for the length of time it takes to read a book.. is INSANE…
@MushroomStamp: Have you ever actually, you know, seen an E Ink display? Or are you just going by specs you see on the internet, and comparing it to an LCD?
E Ink is much, MUCH easier on the eyes for long periods of time than LCDs are. They can’t be made in color (yet,) and they have a slow refresh rate, but they’re perfect for reading documents, which is why these devices exist.
BTW, that’s *not* a picture of the Kindle DX in the article up there. What gives, BGR?
lmAO @ mushroom
It may be a little late to ask this but Is this Amazon the same Amazon online-store?
And why is this thing popular, is it because of Oprah Winfrey?
:\
Ater checking the Kindles & Sony Readers I finally settled on the Sony 505. Would I upgrade to the DX? No. Not at $489.
The item pictured is actually the competition Plastic Logic.
I’ve bought a Kindle DX few weeks ago and I’m really impressed with it. It’s wonderful. I love it.