Just got the graphite DX in today, as well. For comparison, my wife has a Kindle 2 US, and I have a Kindle 2 global. First impressions weren't astounding. I guess I should have known that graphite just meant "grey plastic," but it's really apparent when you pick it up that the front is just a plastic grey. In my head I was envisioning the Sony Reader PRS-500. Perhaps foolhardy.
In any case, yes, the text is VERY dark. I could tell on the very first load of the device where it shows the Amazon logo and a dark patch of black at the bottom that this device is much improved from yesterday's Kindles.
That said, I still don't want one.
I picked it up for a friend in the UK (visiting next week). It's far too big to be a book for casual-reading-a-novel purposes, at least in my opinion. Of course, that's very subjective.