User Name
Password
AppleNova Forums » Third-Party Products »

Getting My Kindle DX June 12!!!


Register Members List Calendar Search FAQ Posting Guidelines
Getting My Kindle DX June 12!!!
Page 1 of 2 [1] 2  Next Thread Tools
ezkcdude
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
 
2009-06-01, 22:27

Just got an e-mail from Amazon tonight. This is much sooner than I thought, and I'm very excited!
  quote
veryamusing
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
 
2009-06-01, 22:56

Woo hoo!!! Congratulations, ezkcdude!

I'm so jealous. I want one, but can't afford it right now...

Enjoy!
  quote
Yontsey
*AD SPACE FOR SALE*
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cleveland-ish, OH
 
2009-06-01, 23:11

Def post pictures
  quote
Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2009-06-01, 23:20

OMG. I am so jealous! Definitely let us know what you think
  quote
Capella
Dark Cat of the Sith
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Rochester, NY
Send a message via AIM to Capella  
2009-06-02, 07:28

Post pics when you get it.
  quote
ezkcdude
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
 
2009-06-12, 14:49

It's real and it's spectacular.

The Kindle DX far surpasses my expectations. The main thing I was worried about was that scientific papers would not be readable. Well, aside from not having color, they are eminently readible, especially if you turn the Kindle on its side. Equations seem fine, as do greek letters. It's like reading paper, just as advertised. Actually, I didn't know this beforehand, but the motion sensor will even rotate 180 degrees in case you're holding the Kindle upside down. Pretty neat. See if you can spot the picture below. I'm going to have fun with this.

You wanted pictures? Here's pictures.



















  quote
ezkcdude
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
 
2009-06-12, 14:51

More pics:























  quote
Yontsey
*AD SPACE FOR SALE*
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cleveland-ish, OH
 
2009-06-12, 15:08

That thing looks beautiful! I'm officially jealous.
  quote
Capella
Dark Cat of the Sith
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Rochester, NY
Send a message via AIM to Capella  
2009-06-12, 15:09

Awesome It almost makes me jealous. The only thing I wish my Kindle has is support for PDFs.

Still, it looks very pretty and I'm glad you shared

"A blind, deaf, comatose, lobotomy patient could feel my anger!" - Darth Baras
twitter ; amateur photographer ; fanfiction writer ; roleplayer and worldbuilder
  quote
turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2009-06-12, 15:50

Wow, I do like the look of that. Thanks for sharing. Now I'm thinking of getting one too.
  quote
Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2009-06-12, 16:04

Quote:
Originally Posted by turtle2472 View Post
Wow, I do like the look of that. Thanks for sharing. Now I'm thinking of getting one too.
Do it! The Kindle and Kindle DX are so worth it. Other e-book readers are (slightly) cheaper but nothing comes close to the Kindle and the convenience of its "buy anywhere" bookstore. It was genius, on Amazon's part.

You don't think you'll use it much - after all, how many books do you buy, really? You can side-load them from your PC just as easily, right? That's what I thought, using my Sony Reader. But then my friend got a Kindle and now I'm hooked.

One word: samples. (Being able to think of a book and get a free chapter, instantly, anywhere is awesome.)

OK, another: Wikipedia.

And three more: Free web browsing.

Plus, she assures me that when books are so OMFG cheap, like they are on the Kindle, you buy more of them.

(My mom wants to buy a set of hardcover classics. I tried pointing out to her that they're all public domain anyway, and she could easily save money by buying a Kindle and then she'd be able to carry all of them with her everywhere! And it would save trees. Her response? "Well, we have lots of trees." WTF? I don't understand how someone who claims to love nature so much can apparently not give a shit about it. )

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
  quote
Maciej
M AH - ch ain saw
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2009-06-12, 17:44

I'm more jealous that you get to do research. *sigh* I need to get back into school.

But that thing looks sweet. Now if only it was color... But color isn't that important, not for the things I'd use it for. Man, those words are looking crisp too, everything is so ... readable.

User formally known as Sh0eWax
  quote
beardedmacuser
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: eastmidlandshire
 
2009-06-13, 06:55

That looks like a fine paper reading machine. But damn it; still no sign of a UK release. The larger form factor is definitely a big win for me, compared to the regular kindle. Nice.
  quote
ezkcdude
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
 
2009-06-13, 10:45

I have to say this is the coolest toy I've had in a long time. The ability to do web browsing combined with free wireless is incredible. It makes $500 look like a steal. It's a joy to read blogs and web pages on this --- many, many times better experience than actually reading them on a LCD.
  quote
Matsu
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2009-06-19, 10:18

Whispernet sounds awesome. I hope it comes to Canada soon, but Canada's telcos may will surely look for a way to fvck it up.

And the screen is quite good too. If they can get it up to 64/80 shades of grey on a whiter screen it's going to be a knock-out. You know, a keyboard for taking notes in class wouldn't be a bad idea for an accessory...

.........................................
  quote
ezkcdude
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
 
2009-06-19, 22:55

Quote:
Originally Posted by Matsu View Post
And the screen is quite good too. If they can get it up to 64/80 shades of grey on a whiter screen it's going to be a knock-out. You know, a keyboard for taking notes in class wouldn't be a bad idea for an accessory...
I think to make the screen white, it would have to be back lit (I could be wrong, though), and would induce more glare. Actually, one of the great things to me about the screen is that it is not white. A white screen induces much more eye fatigue. The Kindle has the look of unbleached paper, which is much nicer for reading in long spurts. I think it's just something you have to see in person to judge for yourself.
  quote
zsummers
Avast!
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: New York?
 
2009-07-19, 16:23

Thanks for the breakdown, ezkcdude.

Couple of questions:
  • Do PDFs truly render exactly as they are natively? I need formatting exactly preserved.
  • Is there any markup/notation/flag function? And if so, does it work well or is it a pain?
  • How is reading in low light (i.e., a lamp across the room, etc.)?
  • Does anyone know if there are rumors of a price drop for the DX?

I really, really would like one, but it has to fit my specific needs exactly for it to be better than sticking with the current set up or paying the extra $500 to get the low-end refurb MacBook Air.

"How could you falter / when you're the Rock of Gibralter? / I had to get off the boat so I could walk on water. / This ain't no tall order. / This is nothing to me. / Difficult takes a day. / Impossible takes a week."
  quote
curiousuburb
Antimatter Man
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: that interweb thing
 
2009-07-19, 17:08

Hope you didn't lose any Orwell

Quote:
Originally Posted by NYT/From the blog of our colleague David Pogue:

Amazon.com Plays Big Brother With Famous E-Books

This morning, hundreds of Amazon Kindle owners awoke to discover that books by a certain famous author had mysteriously disappeared from their e-book readers. These were books that they had bought and paid for—thought they owned.

But no, apparently the publisher changed its mind about offering an electronic edition, and apparently Amazon, whose business lives and dies by publisher happiness, caved. It electronically deleted all books by this author from people’s Kindles and credited their accounts for the price.

This is ugly for all kinds of reasons. Amazon says that this sort of thing is “rare,” but that it can happen at all is unsettling; we’ve been taught to believe that e-books are, you know, just like books, only better. Already, we’ve learned that they’re not really like books, in that once we’re finished reading them, we can’t resell or even donate them. But now we learn that all sales may not even be final.

As one of my readers noted, it’s like Barnes & Noble sneaking into our homes in the middle of the night, taking some books that we’ve been reading off our nightstands, and leaving us a check on the coffee table.

You want to know the best part? The juicy, plump, dripping irony?

The author who was the victim of this Big Brotherish plot was none other than George Orwell. And the books were “1984” and “Animal Farm.”

A screen shot from Amazon.com
The MobileReference edition of the novel, “Nineteen Eighty-four,” by George Orwell that was deleted from Kindle e-book readers by Amazon.com.
Scary.
Backups... always plan on backups.
  quote
zsummers
Avast!
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: New York?
 
2009-07-19, 22:29

^Oh! That raises another good question. Can you backup?
  quote
turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2009-07-19, 22:30

And even if you did, could you put the book back on if Amazon pulls it?
  quote
Maciej
M AH - ch ain saw
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2009-07-19, 22:35

Isn't the backup on their servers? So you can just redownload your books whenever.
  quote
turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2009-07-19, 22:37

That would mean a backup wouldn't help in the case of 1984.
  quote
torifile
Less than Stellar Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Durham, NC
Send a message via AIM to torifile  
2009-07-19, 22:48

Remotely deleting legally purchased merchandise should be a crime. It's reverse piracy. Or something.
  quote
zsummers
Avast!
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: New York?
 
2009-07-19, 22:54

That a book written when 1984 felt like it was way, way in the future is not in the public domain yet... well, the ironies just keep piling up here.

"How could you falter / when you're the Rock of Gibralter? / I had to get off the boat so I could walk on water. / This ain't no tall order. / This is nothing to me. / Difficult takes a day. / Impossible takes a week."
  quote
Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2009-07-20, 01:32

Quote:
Originally Posted by torifile View Post
Remotely deleting legally purchased merchandise should be a crime. It's reverse piracy. Or something.
Really, Amazon shouldn't have sold a book "published" by people who had no rights to the text in the first place. That's what it comes down to - that's where Amazon fucked up. It's kind of scary that Amazon didn't catch that at all.

They refunded people's money, and there's other (legal) Orwell e-books on the Kindle store, so I'm willing to kind of give them a pass just this once. But it had better not become a commonplace thing. Like, if it happens once, it's an inconvenience, like "oh, that kind of sucks that I have to download another copy that won't have my place kept in it," but it's not the end of the world. But if it starts to happen often, or if it happens to a text that isn't so readily available (and Kindle owners are left with no substitutes), that would mega, mega suck.

It is a bit ironic that it was Nineteen Eighty-Four, but I don't think this is really that Big Brother-y. I'm going to be an optimist and say that by making great literature more accessible to the masses, Amazon is doing more to prevent us from the future of randomized, machine-created works of "art" depicted in Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Orwell's masterpiece doesn't become public domain in the United States until 2044. Yikes.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
  quote
ezkcdude
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
 
2009-07-20, 06:47

Quote:
Originally Posted by zsummers View Post
Thanks for the breakdown, ezkcdude.

Couple of questions:
  • Do PDFs truly render exactly as they are natively? I need formatting exactly preserved.
  • Is there any markup/notation/flag function? And if so, does it work well or is it a pain?
  • How is reading in low light (i.e., a lamp across the room, etc.)?
  • Does anyone know if there are rumors of a price drop for the DX?

I really, really would like one, but it has to fit my specific needs exactly for it to be better than sticking with the current set up or paying the extra $500 to get the low-end refurb MacBook Air.
PDFs render natively.

There is a function to take notes and clip items, but I don't use it, so I can't say anything about how well it works.

Reading in low light is the same as reading paper or newsprint in low light.

Don't know about price drop, but it wouldn't surprise me.

As for 1984, that kind of surprised me, too. But like others said, it was some weird legal issue, that I don't expect to happen often. You can never lose books, because they can always be re-downloaded.
  quote
Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2009-07-20, 07:20

With previous Kindles, Amazon has given them each minor ($40 and $60) price drops after five or six months on the market. So it's possible we could see a DX price drop to ~$450 in November or December, but I think that's unlikely; dropping prices just before the holiday season makes little sense, since Kindles have a knack at selling out over the holidays unaided.

But you never know.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
  quote
jcoley2
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Darien CT
Send a message via AIM to jcoley2  
2009-09-28, 22:01

I was thinking of buying a Dx now that I started a new job today in NYC and could download the newspapers and save money for the train ride. What do ou think that chance is that:

1. A color version could come out soon?
2. An Apple tablet comes out that might be a better product?

Now that I got a job, I can buy more Apple products!
  quote
Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2009-09-28, 22:50

Quote:
Originally Posted by jcoley2 View Post
I was thinking of buying a Dx now that I started a new job today in NYC and could download the newspapers and save money for the train ride. What do ou think that chance is that:

1. A color version could come out soon?
2. An Apple tablet comes out that might be a better product?
1. The chances of a color version coming out soon are pretty low, simply because color E Ink really isn't feasible yet. There is a color e-book reader, the FLEPia, that uses an E Ink-like screen, but it's Japan-only and a thousand bucks. The most promising technology on the "color screens that are sort of like E Ink" is Qi3 from Pixel Qi but that's still a ways off.

2. Who knows what the chances of an Apple tablet are, but it sort of doesn't matter. An Apple tablet wouldn't be a better product, it'd be a totally different one; it'd almost certainly use a backlit LCD and would thus be much worse for long form reading (but better, of course, for video). If you're looking for a device for reading, the Kindle is, currently, the best option. But there's a lot changing - iRex has a reader out that's actually priced competitively, Plastic Logic's player should be out early next year, and both of those readers (and Sony's upcoming Daily Edition) support "anywhere" 3G wireless as well (though with seemingly more limits than the Kindle - don't expect to browse the web on the iRex player, for instance). Barnes & Noble is making a big push with the iRex player and apparently an even bigger push with Plastic Logic, and the non-Amazon book industry is sort of unifying around ePub, which is exciting. But it's sort of doubtful that anything will be better than the Kindle any time soon.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
  quote
Motor
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
 
2009-09-29, 00:14

Quote:
Originally Posted by Roboman View Post
The most promising technology on the "color screens that are sort of like E Ink" is Qi3 from Pixel Qi but that's still a ways off.
Earlier this year, Pixel Qi's CEO said their screen would be in mass production in late 2009. The company has been quiet as of late, but its website still shows that as the target. Have you heard anything different?

I am interested to see the eventual products that will use these screens. I think that this might be the missing piece that will make tablets successful.
  quote
Posting Rules Navigation
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Page 1 of 2 [1] 2  Next

Post Reply

Forum Jump
Thread Tools
Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
YES! Big screen Kindle coming Robo General Discussion 38 2009-05-08 12:51
Kindle now on the iPhone. Jason General Discussion 0 2009-03-04 01:31
Kindle torifile Third-Party Products 112 2008-08-16 15:16


« Previous Thread | Next Thread »

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:11.


Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2024, AppleNova