Hello, everybody... And some Kindle DX questions

LucasCorso · 08-25-2009, 05:17 AM

Hello. I've read this forum for a few months already, trying to decide on the perfect ereader; of course, it doesn't exist (don't believe everything Star Trek movies will show you!). After a dissapointing exerience I had playing with a 6 inch ereader, a friend from USA has sent me a Kindle DX, which I should receive this week (I'm worried a little about what will happen with the customs, since I live in Belgium and I'm not sure how much they will invoice). I can't wait to play with the device, I've read the manual a few times, I've prepared the files to copy on the device (different tests I want to do, specially with PDF files). I work as a C/C++ programmer and hopefully I will contribute something to this nice community.
Sorry for the long introduction, now I have some questions:
1. Where can I buy a French dictionary to replace the default one provided with the Kindle DX? Searching Amazon.com for one didn't show any results.
2. I understand there is a hack to connect the Kindle DX to the internet (in fact to play with its software, accesing the Kindle OS from the computer). This hack works with the latest firmware (2.0.3)? I don't know yet what firmware it will have, but if it is 2.0.3, is it still possible to install the usb networking hack?
3. I made a lot of tests converting to and from various formats. It seems PDFs are not a good source to convert from. But, if I convert a PDF (I know it can display these files natively) to Mobi for example, won't that decrease too much the quality of some pictures for example, since Mobi files are supposed to be read on smaller screens (so lower resolutions)? Which is the best software to convert from PDF to Mobi/PRC so I can zoom in, change the font size, etc.?
4. I will use the Kindle DX to read English programming books and fiction, but also Romanian books. My girlfriend reads in French. Will the Kindle DX display specific language characters (é, ù, ș, ț, etc) or do I need to do something first?

Thank you.
Best regards,

P.S. My girlfriend doesn't know yet I have ordered a Kindle, but I still have a few days to find a good reason to justify the purchase ("again you have bought a device you won't use?"). That's why a French dictionary is important, I can say she can use it too. But I'm not sure it will work, hm...

susan_cassidy · 08-25-2009, 01:31 PM

1. I do not know of a French dictionary that works with the Lookup feature on the Kindle (DX or otherwise).
I'm not sure about your other questions, so will leave those for others to answer.

catsittingstill · 08-25-2009, 09:29 PM

I am not sure about the Kindle DX but remember reading that there were a lot of special language-specific characters that the original Kindle wouldn't display.

I'm sorry I don't know more about it; English is the only language I can read well enough to bother buying books for, so I've never tried using a Kindle to display these characters myself.

If no one else knows the answer, perhaps you could tell us, when your Kindle DX arrives?

LucasCorso · 08-26-2009, 05:58 AM

Hello, thank you for replies. I guess I will find some of the answers I'm looking for when I have the Kindle DX to play with. It's difficult to have patience now, even that I try to tell myself "patience is a virtue"... Specific language characters are important for me but I think I can't blame Amazon too much since they only sell the device in USA. I would hate to have to print everything in PDF as an image, on the other hand I'm sure other easier solutions can be found. I'm reading in English 90% of the time anyway in fact. Hopefully I will receive the Kindle before the end of the week.
Regards.

Mike L · 08-26-2009, 07:33 AM

Just to add a point ...

You said you were worried about how much the Customs would charge. If your delivery gets stopped by Customs, you will have to pay VAT/ TVA / BTW, just as you would if you bought it in Belgium. They might also charge you import duty, but that's not very much. I don't remember the amount, but when I imported my Kindle 2, I don't remember the duty being significant.

I hope you enjoy your DX as much as I enjoy my K2. Be sure to let us know your experiences.

Acextreme · 08-28-2009, 02:32 PM

To your questions:

(2) I believe you refer to version 2.1, which is the current version for Kindle DX; 2.0.3 I believe is for Kindle 2. Yes, the USB Network Hack by ebs works.

(3) Nope, I experimented with converting from PDF to mobi but failed epically, and I was using the latest professional OCR software (i.e. OmniPage) for that purpose. PDF indeed is a very poor format for conversion. And so I can't recommend you the best software to do the job since it really depends on how the layout of the elements within the PDF is done.

(4) For PDFs, it doesn't matter what characters they use, it will display fine because that's just how PDFs are designed to work - display pages as originally intended by the creator no matter why it is. For other formats like mobi, I can't comment in it...

To your PS, that is easy. Just tell her that this is an eBook reader, which means it is beneficial since you can read more books anywhere and hence gain more knowledge; nobody can fault you for reading more, can they?

08-25-2009, 05:17 AM	#1
LucasCorso Enthusiast Posts: 48 Karma: 239 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Belgium Device: Kindle DX	Hello, everybody... And some Kindle DX questions Hello. I've read this forum for a few months already, trying to decide on the perfect ereader; of course, it doesn't exist (don't believe everything Star Trek movies will show you!). After a dissapointing exerience I had playing with a 6 inch ereader, a friend from USA has sent me a Kindle DX, which I should receive this week (I'm worried a little about what will happen with the customs, since I live in Belgium and I'm not sure how much they will invoice). I can't wait to play with the device, I've read the manual a few times, I've prepared the files to copy on the device (different tests I want to do, specially with PDF files). I work as a C/C++ programmer and hopefully I will contribute something to this nice community. Sorry for the long introduction, now I have some questions: 1. Where can I buy a French dictionary to replace the default one provided with the Kindle DX? Searching Amazon.com for one didn't show any results. 2. I understand there is a hack to connect the Kindle DX to the internet (in fact to play with its software, accesing the Kindle OS from the computer). This hack works with the latest firmware (2.0.3)? I don't know yet what firmware it will have, but if it is 2.0.3, is it still possible to install the usb networking hack? 3. I made a lot of tests converting to and from various formats. It seems PDFs are not a good source to convert from. But, if I convert a PDF (I know it can display these files natively) to Mobi for example, won't that decrease too much the quality of some pictures for example, since Mobi files are supposed to be read on smaller screens (so lower resolutions)? Which is the best software to convert from PDF to Mobi/PRC so I can zoom in, change the font size, etc.? 4. I will use the Kindle DX to read English programming books and fiction, but also Romanian books. My girlfriend reads in French. Will the Kindle DX display specific language characters (é, ù, ș, ț, etc) or do I need to do something first? Thank you. Best regards, P.S. My girlfriend doesn't know yet I have ordered a Kindle, but I still have a few days to find a good reason to justify the purchase ("again you have bought a device you won't use?"). That's why a French dictionary is important, I can say she can use it too. But I'm not sure it will work, hm...

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08-25-2009, 01:31 PM	#2
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	1. I do not know of a French dictionary that works with the Lookup feature on the Kindle (DX or otherwise). I'm not sure about your other questions, so will leave those for others to answer.

08-25-2009, 09:29 PM	#3
catsittingstill Guru Posts: 643 Karma: 551634 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle 1.0.8, iPod Touch, Kindle Keyboard	I am not sure about the Kindle DX but remember reading that there were a lot of special language-specific characters that the original Kindle wouldn't display. I'm sorry I don't know more about it; English is the only language I can read well enough to bother buying books for, so I've never tried using a Kindle to display these characters myself. If no one else knows the answer, perhaps you could tell us, when your Kindle DX arrives?

08-26-2009, 05:58 AM	#4
LucasCorso Enthusiast Posts: 48 Karma: 239 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Belgium Device: Kindle DX	Hello, thank you for replies. I guess I will find some of the answers I'm looking for when I have the Kindle DX to play with. It's difficult to have patience now, even that I try to tell myself "patience is a virtue"... Specific language characters are important for me but I think I can't blame Amazon too much since they only sell the device in USA. I would hate to have to print everything in PDF as an image, on the other hand I'm sure other easier solutions can be found. I'm reading in English 90% of the time anyway in fact. Hopefully I will receive the Kindle before the end of the week. Regards.

08-26-2009, 07:33 AM	#5
Mike L Wizard Posts: 1,479 Karma: 3846231 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Device: Kindle 3, Samsung Galaxy	Just to add a point ... You said you were worried about how much the Customs would charge. If your delivery gets stopped by Customs, you will have to pay VAT/ TVA / BTW, just as you would if you bought it in Belgium. They might also charge you import duty, but that's not very much. I don't remember the amount, but when I imported my Kindle 2, I don't remember the duty being significant. I hope you enjoy your DX as much as I enjoy my K2. Be sure to let us know your experiences.

08-28-2009, 02:32 PM	#6
Acextreme Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2009 Device: none	To your questions: (2) I believe you refer to version 2.1, which is the current version for Kindle DX; 2.0.3 I believe is for Kindle 2. Yes, the USB Network Hack by ebs works. (3) Nope, I experimented with converting from PDF to mobi but failed epically, and I was using the latest professional OCR software (i.e. OmniPage) for that purpose. PDF indeed is a very poor format for conversion. And so I can't recommend you the best software to do the job since it really depends on how the layout of the elements within the PDF is done. (4) For PDFs, it doesn't matter what characters they use, it will display fine because that's just how PDFs are designed to work - display pages as originally intended by the creator no matter why it is. For other formats like mobi, I can't comment in it... To your PS, that is easy. Just tell her that this is an eBook reader, which means it is beneficial since you can read more books anywhere and hence gain more knowledge; nobody can fault you for reading more, can they?

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