Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New Kindle DX Any Opinions?

As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
iPad wins for color display, PDF support and the other stuff.
Kindle DX wins for reduced eye strain..

If I read allot and didn't need excellent PDF support for my tech manuals, I would have went DX. It's allot easier on the eyes, my eyes get tired on the iPad.
 
I actually find the iPad display easier on my eyes than my MBP

However the glare on the glass when outdoors is problematic

Still hoping for a non-glare glass option
 
I love my (standard-size) Kindle. Used it religiously before my iPad. Fantastic battery life, decent reading experience. They are now emphasizing it's readability outdoors because that's its strength. Indoors, unless you're in a well-lit room or have a reading lamp - not good. On a plane, you really have to position yourself under the overhead spotlight - can be a strain after a while.

I read on my iPad for over an hour a day. On a plane, 2 hours or more at a stretch. I enjoy the experience very much and there's no "strain" issue over the Kindle.

Oh, and Internet browsing on the Kindle - it sucks.
 
I have no idea why anyone would buy a single-purpose black and white ereader for $400 when the iPad is $500.
 
heavensblade23 said:
I have no idea why anyone would buy a single-purpose black and white ereader for $400 when the iPad is $500.
Click to expand...

There's a reason the $189 Kindle is selling well but you don't see many DXs in the wild (there's always one 60-year-old-plus guy sitting in first class reading a DX - but only one).
 
gloss said:
If reading is your primary concern than e-ink wins hands down.
Click to expand...

Not if price is your secondary concern. Even if I wanted a Kindle I can't afford to go throwing $200 around for a slightly improved reading experience. The way I figure it the iPad is more economical than either model of Kindle because it handles so many different tasks.

In a pinch my iPad could replace half the devices in my house.
 
gloss said:
If reading is your primary concern than e-ink wins hands down.
Click to expand...

E-ink only wins with a light source. It's a poor device in low light and with the Kindle you need to pack a clip light. Pool or beach-side it wins hands down. My Kindle is literally functioning as a coaster (in the case, of course) on my nightstand these days. The iPad is excellent for bedtime reading.
 
I owned the original DX and it turned out to be a failure for reading any books with graphs and diagrams, as they were not very legible. That for me unfortunately completely defeated its purpose. The screen is great for reading though.
 
I had an original DX, and I decided to sell it when I got an iPad (take it for what you will).

eInk screens are nice, and easy in the eyes when you're reading, but they're not $400 worth of nice.

I did keep my smaller kindle2 though, great little ereader/backup for when I don't feel like carrying the Pad.
 
I just found this thread. I own six eink readers which include three Kindles including the new Graphite DX model. I also own two Ipads.

The new Graphite model is using a second gen eink screen. I was skeptical of Amazon's claim that this new "Pearl" screen significantly boosted contrast and readability.

OMG! I was wrong. The new DX is significantly better than previous Kindle or Sony eink screens. It is simply astounding. Crisp, sharp black text on a nice whitish (versus grayish) screen. I love technology and this is a real improvement over earlier screens ( and I liked those since I had five units!).

Now as far as readability. I can read without issue on the Ipad. It does not produce eyestrain for me and the glare is a non issue.

But...the DX Graphite produces a far far sharper screen/text and is much more like reading text on paper than the Ipad. The earlier gen of eink was not this good. Side by side the superiority of the DXG is clear.

I love my Ipad and use it daily. I will continue to read magazines and comics on my two units. But non-illustrated books go on the DX Graphite. NO contest.

If you have the cash, spring for both and have the best of all worlds.
 
Personally I'd take the Kindle over an iPad because of the screen. The screen on the Kindles look so natural and reading on it is a joy. I've tried out the iPad and it just couldn't give me that same feeling when reading on it.
 
Star56 said:
I just found this thread. I own six eink readers which include three Kindles including the new Graphite DX model. I also own two Ipads.

The new Graphite model is using a second gen eink screen. I was skeptical of Amazon's claim that this new "Pearl" screen significantly boosted contrast and readability.

OMG! I was wrong. The new DX is significantly better than previous Kindle or Sony eink screens. It is simply astounding. Crisp, sharp black text on a nice whitish (versus grayish) screen. I love technology and this is a real improvement over earlier screens ( and I liked those since I had five units!).

Now as far as readability. I can read without issue on the Ipad. It does not produce eyestrain for me and the glare is a non issue.

But...the DX Graphite produces a far far sharper screen/text and is much more like reading text on paper than the Ipad. The earlier gen of eink was not this good. Side by side the superiority of the DXG is clear.

I love my Ipad and use it daily. I will continue to read magazines and comics on my two units. But non-illustrated books go on the DX Graphite. NO contest.

If you have the cash, spring for both and have the best of all worlds.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but I have to ask...why on Earth does one need 6 eReaders (and 2 iPads)? Now if you're including the entire family, forget I asked but your post implies they are all yours.
 
heavensblade23 said:
Not if price is your secondary concern. Even if I wanted a Kindle I can't afford to go throwing $200 around for a slightly improved reading experience. The way I figure it the iPad is more economical than either model of Kindle because it handles so many different tasks.

In a pinch my iPad could replace half the devices in my house.
Click to expand...

Well, then netbook probably could replace all of them but did you go this route?
 
GamecockMac said:
Maybe he doesn't want to throw money away on an underpowered piece of crap that doesn't come close to duplicating the user experience of an iPad.
Click to expand...

Amen. My wife's friend got a netbook for the holidays last year and my wife started hinting heavily for one after that -- until she actually saw and used it. I knew the iPad was a few months away and convinced her that she'd be happier in the long run. She has it with her everywhere now and has stopped using her Blackberry for emailing and surfing. Oh, and she hasn't touched her Kindle since she got the iPad.
 
GamecockMac said:
Maybe he doesn't want to throw money away on an underpowered piece of crap that doesn't come close to duplicating the user experience of an iPad.
Click to expand...

In what respect are netbooks underpowered? Atom vs ARM? GBs vs 256MB RAM? I am not sure what you meant.
 
poloponies said:
There's a reason the $189 Kindle is selling well but you don't see many DXs in the wild (there's always one 60-year-old-plus guy sitting in first class reading a DX - but only one).
Click to expand...
It occurred to me in another thread, but it seems the eReaders would probably do best in the $100-$200 range (with a heavy emphasis on $150-$180). When you think about it, decent electronic devices with very narrow features tend to fall into that range - eReaders, iPods (non-touch), digital cameras, GPS, etc. Of course, you can find cheap pieces of junk cheaper than that, and over-blown & over-priced ones higher than, but for wide appeal, it seems the $100-$200 range is the consumer sweet spot for "fancy piece of electronics that only does a couple things really well." I was surprised that so many very different types of products have the most popular versions fall into that price range.

Unless the DX has amazingly better display or other incredible features, it's not going to come even close to how a $150-$180 version would sell. I'm interested to hear about the DX, because honestly, I just don't see the value at all. But obviously some people do, so I'm wondering what I'm missing.
 
lilo777 said:
In what respect are netbooks underpowered? Atom vs ARM? GBs vs 256MB RAM? I am not sure what you meant.
Click to expand...
I certainly am not an expert on netbooks (another type of product that holds no interest for me), but from what I have seen they tend to be very low end hardware trying to run a nearly full-blown desktop OS.

Hardware to hardware, sure netbooks are more powerful than iPads. But looking at what OS and software they are trying to run on each, and the comparison is far more informative. Pure hardware specs are useless if you ignore what you are actually using that hardware for.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back