A new Kindle DX was announced late Wednesday evening.Also, WHITE Kindle reminder that it has the older screen.
UPDATE JUNE 30 ON WHITE MODEL PRODUCT PAGE - Initial posting 6/30/10, 10:27 PM
The announcement Wednesday night led us to the old page showing a White DX still (there is still a white model apparently), which showed $379 and was part of the the comparison chart to the K2. Now the white model on that older page is showing "Our largest e-Ink screen" and adds "2nd generation" while the graphite model's says "All new e-Ink screen" and "Latest Generation.
Why is the price the same ?
ANSWERED
UPDATED AGAIN on JULY 2, 2010 - to add that the WHITE DX International is now repriced today
as it does NOT have the new screen, as mentioned earlier.
AS of July 2, Amazon has changed the price, from $379 to $359.
Customers from countries outside the U.S., such as Australia, are being told during the buying process that only the White Kindle DX is available to them.
There has been no word on this from Amazon. Is it a glitch? Or is it a policy? One customer on the forums said he was able to get the Graphite one in Spain, while another customer in Spain said he could not, and the product page for Spain currently shows only the White DX available for Spain.
So all is NOT clear on this and I hope Amazon adds some clarity here. It's not like them to be so unclear but I guess they're making a lot of changes at one time.
BLACK 'GRAPHITE' MODEL PAGE
There is of course the page for the new "Graphite" Kindle DX showing "All new E-Ink Screen" "50% better contrast" and, still, "Free 3G Wireless."
It is, of course Global, and the black model is called "Graphite"
No DX2 designation, but they tagged on "Latest Generation" (which they've done before when changing models). There is still no wording as of July 2 on the Amazon White-Kindle DX page that there is a newer model of the DX though it mentions the Graphite DX is available also.
REFUNDS or CREDITS on RECENT DX PURCHASES - WITHIN 30 DAYS
AS BEFORE, Amazon has a policy of Refunds/Credits within 30 days of your purchase of an older model of the same type/size that had been given a price change.
Some have recently bought refurbished or new ones, as reported in the forums. For those who did, contact Amazon Kindle Support by phone at 866-321-8851 if you're in the U.S.
Those outside the U.S. should go to Kindle Support on the Amazon webpages and click on the gold button at the right that says "Contact us."
When there, choose the TAB that says "Phone" -- give them your country and your phone number so they can call you back.
There is an international number to call if you live outside the U.S., but that COULD cost money, so the form is sometimes better. But that number is 1-206-266-0927 (for calling from outside U.S.)
If you have any troubles, ask for a supervisor. On Amazon warehouse purchases of refurbished versions, they did modify their refund policies to be less rigid on the Kindle 2 price-drop last week.
RECENT ARTICLE on DX BLACK
That article turned out to be correct. And the slimmer Kindle talked about recently made sense for the larger Kindle, though I think the weight is about the same! But the higher contrast must be pretty nice when my own older DX has what I feel is beautiful contrast - see my own DX pictures which show what the now older model looked like when doing web, PDFs, Amazon blogs, etc.
More later ...
Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. Top 100 free bestsellers.
Yikes! I love the slim black look on this new one. Guess I know what I might be buying for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteIgot nothing
ReplyDeleteA black surrounding bezel will make the Kindle display background color look lighter too. That's just a reality of color perception.
A Target manager told a forum member that they would not be carrying DX's until Xmas. Hmmm. Looks as if they got those out early. I wonder if they'll be on demo at Target so we can see what it's like.
When you click the "ship internationally" you get redirected to the old Kindle DX (at a new price though). So are we not getting the new model???
ReplyDeleteForeigner.
I bought a refurbished Kindle DX last week. The total cost was $425+. I had to buy a separate AC plug even. And now they are selling the brand new one for $379. I'm outside USA so returning the old rubbish would cost another Kindle's price. Amazon dumping rubbish last week knowing they are going to release the new one is very unethical. Now I'm stuck with the old one. I'm going to demand a refund to compensate for my loss. But I don't think Amazon will pay back. This is a crime.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous Foreigner,
ReplyDeleteYour online order probably should read "Graphite" DX if you get that far -- that's the only way to know without talking with Kindle customer service.
I think there may be glitches in the system after the site was up and down a couple of days ago.
I'd talk to the U.S. day crew and a *supervisor* about this.
You can go to http://amazon.com/kindlesupport, press the gold button that says "Contact us" -- click on the Tab that says "Phone" and give them your country and your phone number and they will call you pretty quickly, especially in the daytime.
Make sure you know that they are aware you want the graphite Kindle with the newer display. Get some kind of note from them in writing about that.
If you can, let us know what you find out.
- Andrys
[I had to revise one sentence in this note re a refund on the refurbished unit.]
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous who had purchased a refurbished DX in the last week.
As with Anonymous Foreigner to whom I just wrote a note, I'd contact Amazon to have them call you.
As I said in the previous note, you can go to http://amazon.com/kindlesupport, press the gold button that says "Contact us" -- click on the Tab that says "Phone" and give them your country and your phone number and they will call you pretty quickly, especially in the daytime
in the U.S.
From what I've seen, they -will- refund the $70 at the very least for new Kindles bought and have been trying to give fair refund amounts on the refurbished ones which are sold through Amazon Marketplace.
I have the older DX and love it and am not planning to upgrade. My images of it in use are at http://bit.ly/dxpics
The contrast is already very vivid. And the weight is maybe half an ounce different. And at least two people this morning feel that the white bezel looks better.
However, if you'd rather return it, they have a policy of accepting returns for any reason if you purchased it within 30 days of the announcement of the price change.
Sometimes they pay for the return -- under the current situation I'd hope so.
Your adapter, if you return this DX and buy the new model, would not have to be returned. It would work with the new model.
Please try what I mentioned but be sure to ask for a supervisor if there is difficulty with the first-level person.
If you can, report back. Thanks, and good luck to you.
- Andrys
Thanks Andrys for your help.
ReplyDeleteI'm a frequent user of the original Kindle. I was waiting to get my hands on a DX. $489 was too much for me so I was looking for the refurbished time. I even went for the DX global edition because the page said it has the latest PDF zoom feature but US edition didn't say. Now reading your blog I see that even (now $250) DX US edition can get that upgrade. (Amazon should have clearly stated that upgrade is possible.) Amazon should have given refurbished ones only after releasing the new one. Then I would have gone for the better contrast one. I sent emails through the contacts page and waiting for a reply. Also waiting for the expensive refurbished model, still in UK in transit. For me returning is impractical because customs will charge a ~40% tax and another ~$80 for round trip post. Anyway thanks again. I'll post what happens.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteThe global will be good because the U.S. one could not do wireless abroad at all and these now can do Wiki for sure and most countries have simple web browsing available now.
That's awful about the customes 40% tax if you return it! and that it is so expensive for a round trip post.
I hope that somehow there will be a good result for you. Thanks for letting us know.
Not sure why you believe the new DX is "slimmer". It's exactly the same thickness as the white one (0.38").
ReplyDelete??
El
Mainly because that's what was reported when I did those last night.
ReplyDeleteThe white model is still the same amount of money and there is no word to the customer about there being a LATER higher-conrast version available although the pricing is the same for both and they're treated almost as equal siblings. I'm concerned about that.
x-gen is a technical thing that most customers won't even see/notice.
I'm not sure how much the glitches affected Amazon the other day so I'm waiting to see if they suddenly put on different information everywhere on black and white models.
However, later tonight I want to put out a warning to make sure people know that the white model is NOT equivalent to the Graphite one although the pricing is the same and they're shown as almost equal alternate color models.
It makes no sense they're going for the same amount of money, so I expect changes.
I don't necessarily trust the details right now on the pages.
I wonder if they're about to make another announcement similar to that and haven't corected the pages (nor have they corrected the country availability of web-browser details either).
So I'll leave it alone for now except to add into tonight's that I don't see comparison and stat info that show it to be slimmer.
But that word is repeated in a lot of places, probably because Forrester's description was right on the rest of it (though people had thought it referred to the Kindle 6" and when this first come out last night, I swear I saw the word 'slimmer' on it, and words on the product pages were changing.
No one seems focused on the 'slimmer' part when thinking of buying so I've not touched it yet. I just don't know if all their details are up and actual at the time.
Thanks for the alert though.
Definitely not a big deal. I just found the usage of "slimmer" rather odd. I wonder if the initial Forrester rumor was actually referring to a completely new model, perhaps? The "new" DX appears to just be the old one in a new case with the updated Vizplex screen, along with a lower price. Great for new purchasers, but I can't imagine anyone with a DX "upgrading"... lol
ReplyDeleteEl
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI am thinking to buy kindle in 2-4 months. I was waiting for the new release because I knew that something new should come out?! Now, my question is what would you advise , to wait until November, December, maybe some new kindle will come out, or this is it for now?! In any case I would probably buy DX, because of the bigger size. But don't want to rush in and then be surprised when I see new edition in Fall?! (maybe even color??!)
Regards,
bjelinski,
ReplyDeleteThere's no chance of a color edition of the DX in the Fall.
I would never buy anything unless I really had to have it, though, so I don't think you should buy right now. I think while you're in doubt, it's a bad time to buy.
Hope that helps !
Hi Andrys,
ReplyDeleteFew days ago, I got the mail from Amazon saying that I got $125 + taxes refunded for my refurbished DX I bought last week. That is $106 for the DX. And the power adapter which cost $20 is free. I would say Amazon customer service is great.
I just got the Kindle DX today. Fortunately customs didn't demand much.
Now I have the original Kindle for reading paperbacks and the DX for reading text books. :-)
Kindle Rocks!
Thanks. Everything went well.
Wow, Anonymous - that's great!
ReplyDeleteGlad they were so responsive. I know you'll enjoy that DX but maybe you'll report back.
Enjoy. I still marvel at the DX.
Andrys thanks for response. Anyway, you advise not to buy at this moment basically because there will be more "customer reviews" on a new kindle, or even some more price cuts. In any case, I do expect to buy it until December 2010! Do you expect any new improvements (new kindles) by then , or basically the advice for later purchase is based on some other rationale.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Bjelinski
Bjelinksi,
ReplyDeleteI have no real idea of what will happen before December. My advice for later purchase by you was based only on your wanting to know if something else might be coming, and I just think you're wise to wait until the time you really want to buy one.
It's hard to believe that they would not have an update of some kind before then, but I don't know much more than you do about that possibility.
Good luck in your buying decision though!
I'm a little perturbed. I bought my kindle DX last August for $500 ... now they're $150 less. Shoot!!! I should have waited ... oh well. But I do love it!
ReplyDeleteTerri,
ReplyDeleteIt's actually $110 less, but I guess you could see it as having rented it for 10 months at $11 per month? :-)
($490 minus $380)
I do still like my older DX enough not to go for the Graphite.