Why Amazon Should Update the Kindle Dx

[jocampo]

I sold mine months ago.

The less page turning is true, but you have more words to read. Unless you took a rapid reading course, more words per line wont translate in faster reading experience, actually, for average people means more fatigue, that's why newspaper have narrow columns with few words. It's something related with visual field.

On my case, the DXG was awesome because does not break or cut off lines when reading programming books, it was fantastic on that.

It is true that eink is easier for your eyes, better for reading, but the DXG is painfully slow for PDFs. Now, 250 is a great price but is a black Friday price, no? It wont last forever. For the actual price of a DXG you can buy a used ipad1

[ThomasC]

jocampo, I don't find the larger # of words per line on my DXG more fatiguing. I find it lot less fatiguing than all those extra k3 inter-page screen flashes imho. In any case you can reduce the line width (small, med, lrg) in the aa menu if need be.

Not 100% sure about the narrow column newspaper analogy but I think that some of this also has to do with the flexible nature of newsprint, print quality, and the ability to put multiple topics on a single page.

As long as your pdf's are less than ~6mb they all seem work pretty well (avg kindle ebook is less than 0.8mb btw). In my experience, once you load in a ~10mb pdf file it starts to get a bit slow, a 20mb one starts to get painfully slow, and +30mb pdf's can start to hang your system (then you need to do a hard reset).

Personally, there is no way I'd use and ipad (or PC) for a nice, long, enjoyable read.

Right now, this $259 DXG price is the best thing that is ever going to happen for a lot of lucky ebook readers imho.

Cheers,
Tom

[Clawdia]

I have the DXG that I bought when it first came out, and a K3 that I bought a month or two ago. I find myself using the K3 almost exclusively now because the sans serif font is much easier for me to read (tired, old eyes and cataracts insist I need all the help I can get). So - it is possible to go back to a small reader after the DXG.

Also, I don't think you get 3-4 times as many words per page - I compared pages on both devices one day, same book, same size font - and what I saw were a few extra lines on the DXG, actually much less of a difference than I would have believed if I hadn't tried it for myself.

I haven't decided whether I'll go back to using the DXG in the future - which is why it's still sitting here beside me - but I do know I love the sans serif font and it makes it easier for me to read. That's a great deal on the DXG right now, and if anyone wants one I'd say now is the time to get it . . . I'm of the opinion that they are about to disappear and that if Amazon comes out with a new large screen it will be a large screen Fire in 2012, not a new and improved DXG. I'd like to find out I'm wrong.

[ThomasC]

Clawdia, for the same font size I get at least 3x as many words/page on my DXG compared to my K3. Even if I go to a slightly larger font size on my DXG I still get at least 2x as many.

Sorry your eysight is not too good and I can see where sans serif's much bolder font (much too bold for me btw) could be very useful for your eye condition. In your case I suggest you try to use some of the available Kindle K2. DXG font mods. Some of these require hacking your DXG and a couple do not. Have a look at this link, it might help you;

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=128704

I'm sure that if you can get a sans serif font on your DXG you will be VERY happy, lol!

Cheers,
Tom

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by ThomasC

jocampo, I don't find the larger # of words per line on my DXG more fatiguing. I find it lot less fatiguing than all those extra k3 inter-page screen flashes imho. In any case you can reduce the line width (small, med, lrg) in the aa menu if need be.

Not 100% sure about the narrow column newspaper analogy but I think that some of this also has to do with the flexible nature of newsprint, print quality, and the ability to put multiple topics on a single page.

As long as your pdf's are less than ~6mb they all seem work pretty well (avg kindle ebook is less than 0.8mb btw). In my experience, once you load in a ~10mb pdf file it starts to get a bit slow, a 20mb one starts to get painfully slow, and +30mb pdf's can start to hang your system (then you need to do a hard reset).

Personally, there is no way I'd use and ipad (or PC) for a nice, long, enjoyable read.

Right now, this $259 DXG price is the best thing that is ever going to happen for a lot of lucky ebook readers imho.

Cheers,
Tom

Hi Tom,

Fair enough. It looks like the DXG is a nice choice for you but trust me, is really slow for reading technical PDF. For linear PDF is ok. Just using the menu and jumping chapters is really slow. YOu can't make annotations or totally edit the document like you can with an iPad.

It's a shame Amazon has not upgraded the firmware. It can be a fantastic eink reader but the true is , has been put in the oblivion. Even the Kindle 3 which is less expensive do page turns faster and is more stable with PDFs. The issue is that 6 inches is too small for a PDF.

Hope I'm wrong, but got the feeling Amazon will stop support for DXG soon and focus on 10 inch tablet instead, more profit. The market for 10 inch eink devices is not as big as for 6 inches eink readers.

The narrow a paragraph , the more can be read with just one quick look and the more can be processed by your brain. That's why newspaper are printed that way, same for magazines, less ball eye movement, less visual fatigue. I know about it, have a fast reading book and taking the course ;-)

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Would heavy sarcasm have a place in this new proposed system?

I'd say it would. I'd also like to see random punctuation tossed in for a "WTF" factor

[SCION]

I'm going to try it at the sale price. If I don't care for it after a few weeks of use, I can always sell it here and easily get $259 + shipping for it. I really don't like reading on the 6" screens. That's why I held off on buying the Kindle Touch. *sigh*

[Old Tired Eyes]

I guess it comes down to what the new tablets can do in terms of print that is easy on the eyes. So far I have not seen anything that approximates the Kindle DX in that way. I have a 10 inch screen netbook and sure as hell I would not attempt to do any heavy reading on that device no matter the font size. I have a 22" computer monitor at my desk and even with large font print my eyes can not do heavy reads for long.
In hospitals I now see docs and staff carrying around light weight notebooks to enter data. I once thought the kindle DX could have found a home there, but I have never seen them in medical areas. Maybe on some campuses.
Whatever, it still seems to me there is no pleasant alternative to the Kindle DX when it comes to long reads with aging eyes. PDFs will of course be an issue because PDFs are a different and complex animal. If the Kindle DX had been more PDF friendly that might have dramatically increased sales.
And there are enough comments on the Kindle DX Amazon site to give pause. So, if I go a head and buy a DX it will be with the knowledge it might crap out on me too soon. I will post a comment on the Amazon site to the effect that Amazon should not orphan the DX, but should strongly consider allowing a software update path as long as the guts of the DX will allow it. I am surprised that with the hacks here now shown to be successful why has Amazon followed through on their own.

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by SCION

I'm going to try it at the sale price. If I don't care for it after a few weeks of use, I can always sell it here and easily get $259 + shipping for it. I really don't like reading on the 6" screens. That's why I held off on buying the Kindle Touch. *sigh*

I am confident you will not be disappointed. In addition to the original DX I added a DXG when they were released. Once you experience the Pearl display on the nice big, beautiful screen you will be spoiled. It is still very thin and lightweight, IMHO. The DXG is my go-to Kindle at home and I use my Kindle Touch (K2 & K3 before it) for my extensive traveling.

Having a larger layout for books, including embedded photos, makes it an absolute pleasure to read. I value mine so much that I just ordered another as a spare.

[Clawdia]

Originally Posted by ThomasC

In your case I suggest you try to use some of the available Kindle K2. DXG font mods. Some of these require hacking your DXG and a couple do not. Have a look at this link, it might help you;

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=128704

I'm sure that if you can get a sans serif font on your DXG you will be VERY happy, lol!

Cheers,
Tom

I'm sure I'd be very happy too, Tom - and I've read that thread you referenced, and followed a bunch of links off of it, and nowhere can I find out what I could do to get the sans serif font on the DXG.

I feel pretty stupid for not being able to figure it out - only defense I have is that I'm 60, non-techie, and feeling dumber by the day when it comes to this. It's very frustrating to have such a nice reader with just one little flaw that for the life of me I can't manage to figure out.

[ThomasC]

Originally Posted by Clawdia

I'm sure I'd be very happy too, Tom - and I've read that thread you referenced, and followed a bunch of links off of it, and nowhere can I find out what I could do to get the sans serif font on the DXG.

I feel pretty stupid for not being able to figure it out - only defense I have is that I'm 60, non-techie, and feeling dumber by the day when it comes to this. It's very frustrating to have such a nice reader with just one little flaw that for the life of me I can't manage to figure out.

Clawdia, the simplest non-hack one I've tried (thanks to Blossom btw) is the Kindles Collection Caliber plug-in;

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=118635

You need to be able to use Caliber (which is the most commonly used, and free). You will also need to follow the instructions as per the start of this thread and you will need to locate the set of fonts you want to use.

If you cannot do all this yourself then you are just going to have to go find yourself a geek. Every girl needs one, lol!

Cheers,
Tom

[Bricorn]

Originally Posted by ThomasC

I still think that there is a possibility that Amazon will come out with a DXG Touch wifi/3G in the very near future. Maybe even a Coloured e-ink version within the next 12-18 months, lol!

In the meantime I'll just continue to enjoy my +14 month old DXG. Even without the K3 updates, It's still the best e-reader I've ever owned, and probably all I really ever need for my current purposes.

Cheers,
Tom

^^ What he said ^^

[Mark Rehorst]

Originally Posted by Old Tired Eyes

In hospitals I now see docs and staff carrying around light weight notebooks to enter data. I once thought the kindle DX could have found a home there, but I have never seen them in medical areas.

I'm a dentist and I've used my DXG chairside as a reference for dental materials. I DL the materials data sheet/use instructions in pdf form and keep a collection of them on the DXG. At one point I went through the supply cabinet and listed every material I found, including those I've never used. When I need to use a material I haven't used in a while or maybe never used, instead of relying on my or other's unreliable memory I just bring up the data sheet, usually before seating the patient but occasionally during procedures.

I also access Epocrates to check drug interactions and side effects using my phone. I'd like one device for both applications.

My use is for a quick-reference and I find the DXG pdf and browser just too slow. I will eventually replace it with a tablet because of the much faster pdf manipulation and wifi access capability. I don't need to spend hours reading so a backlit screen isn't an issue. Tablets can also be used for patient education and entertainment.

[trekchick]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Hi Tom,

Fair enough. It looks like the DXG is a nice choice for you but trust me, is really slow for reading technical PDF. For linear PDF is ok. Just using the menu and jumping chapters is really slow. YOu can't make annotations or totally edit the document like you can with an iPad.

If they'd just add support for linked table of contents it would be soooooo much better. Of course, I'd also like annotations and dictionary support like the newer firmwares provide, but navigational links would be my first priority. It seems like such a basic, fundamental function, yet none of the Kindle support it. :head scratch: I'll never understand why Amazon thought it was more important to add Twitter sharing and game playing to Kindle DXg than upgrade the functionality.

[trekchick]

Originally Posted by ThomasC

Clawdia, the simplest non-hack one I've tried (thanks to Blossom btw) is the Kindles Collection Caliber plug-in;

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=118635


Cheers,
Tom

While you're adjusting Kindle's settings, also narrow the margins. Amazon loves them some whitespace, and sets the margins extra, extra wide. I like mine set to 17, but you can experiment with what looks best to you.