Amazon has quietly brought back the 9.7" eInk Kindle DX eReader, pricing it at $199 - at least for awhile (that could be a couple of days to a couple of months the way it's been going.
The DX Graphite 3G is back, on a different product page -- a GLOBAL one, which may indicate they've produced more than a few -- but I've no idea. However, it's not shown in the eReader header-banner (where I haven't seen it since last year), nor is it on the eREader comparison table on product pages.
At $199 they've priced it currently below the LCD tablets of similar size (~10"), so it's more economical than they were a few years ago when the DX Graphite was released.
This newer global product page does not contain all the product information. Instead, Amazon sends you to the older page used for the last couple of years:
' For complete product details, view the primary Kindle DX product page. '
[Reminder put here, since someone missed the first link above]
But for the currently available GLOBAL model that has been made available by Amazon again, for however long, that's at (as mentioned in the first paragraph) the DX Graphite 3G global page they made for it.
At that primary product page, you'll find that this model still offers (SLOW) Free 3G web browsing (exceptions in some parts of the world are shown on a page I compiled data for -- Countries with free Kindle 3G access and free 3G web-browsing enabled - Updated Nov. 5, 2013.
Amazon's product page still describes it this way under "Experimental Features":
' Basic Web Browser
Kindle DX's basic Web browser works well to read simple, text-centric Web sites such as Google and Wikipedia. Need to find a movie listing or look up a sports score? Now it's easier than ever to find the information you're looking for right from your Kindle DX. The experimental Web browser is not currently available for some customers outside of the U.S. Check your country '
The [Countries table, sourced from Amazon UK shows the countries that have that access.]
Reminders for those not familiar with this eReader model
The Kindle DX has 3G access but NOT WiFi
Kindle DX includes Free 3G wireless that works globally, like the older Kindle Keyboard model. It does not have WiFi. Here's Amazon's wording on the product page [emphases mine] :
' Wireless Access to Wikipedia
Kindle DX also includes free built-in access to the world's most exhaustive and up-to-date encyclopedia--Wikipedia.org. With Kindle DX in hand, looking up people, places, events and more has never been easier. It gives whole new meaning to the phrase walking encyclopedia.
Search (Older, "primary" product page wording)
Kindle DX's keyboard makes it easy to search within a book, across your library, in the Kindle Store, or even the Web. To use the Search feature, simply type in a word or phrase you're looking for, and Kindle finds every instance in your book or across your Kindle library. Looking for the first reference of a character in your book? Simply type in the name and search. You can extend your search to the Kindle Store to find related titles you may be interested in. Explore even further by searching Wikipedia and the Web. Web access is not currently available for some customers outside the U.S. Check your country '
Bear in mind that the web access is ULTRA slow on e-Ink and can tax anyone's patience, but it is useful when you have a need for it to quickly check mobile versions of email webpages or to do lookups that are primarily text-based.
Amazon UK has a page linked to from the countries in which the 3G can be used when UK (or US) residents are traveling there. I updated it in November 2013 as it became 59 countries rather than 61, with Russia and the Ukraine not included in that table anymore.
The Kindle DX Graphite
If you click on the image at the top of this blog article, you'll get the larger image. Then if you click on "Next" while there -- at the top-right while viewing, there's a zoomed in version of that photo so that you can see the font display better. The smaller Kindle is the older Kindle 3 Keyboard version, which also had free 3G web browsing.
For more on the DX Graphite model, here are Day 1 reports on it in the Kindle forums after it was released
Also, here are reactions to the DXG by the tough-minded Mobileread Forum folks, a crowd which tended to favor the Sony display before the Kindle Graphite DX was released.
A 6" Kindle? Or the largish 9.7" DX?
This was a common question I was asked at the time. I wrote a blog article, when the first Kindle DX was released, about questions you should ask yourself before deciding between a smaller, more carryable Kindle and the larger, more readable one.
The advice would be the same for the current 6" models and the DX Graphite Kindle though, except that the current 6" Kindle Keyboard, Kindle Touch and Paperwhite have considerably darker fonts than the old Kindle 2 had.
Screen examples of older DX model (White) showing PDFs, landscape mode, sheet music
Here are examples of material (PDFs and sheet music) as displayed on my older Kindle DX before they improved the model with the DX Graphite which has darker fonts and higher contrast.
These will still give you an idea. Click "next" at upper-right of the image page to get more examples as you go.
I use the Kindle Fire more, but for many PDFs, I reach for the DX Graphite, as it's easier on the eyes for more sustained reading. The words look etched on the screen and fewer page turns are needed, but it's also heavier. I've used it only in the house but brought the DX with me on a 3-week trip to Egypt where I wanted to be able to check the many diagrams I'd saved from web articles.
Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. Top 100 free bestsellers. Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.
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I have mixed feeling about this beast called the Kindle DX. A few months back, I thought of picking one up for proofreading my books on that large screen. It was only then that I discovered, as you note, that it doesn't 'do' WiFi. "Doesn't do WiFi," I thought, "that makes no sense."
ReplyDeleteOf course today that makes no sense. But when that aging beast was born, WiFi wasn't a must-have. People were actually excited about that cellular, get ebooks almost anywhere in the world capability, not seeing its downside.
I'm disappointed that Amazon hasn't updated it, adding WiFi. Some people. i.e. lawyers, find that large screen helpful for looking at PDFs of 8.5x11 documents. On the other hand, the screen size is virtually identical to that of regular iPads, so any iPad with a Retina display will do as well or better.
I'd love to see Amazon (or someone) create an up-to-date, large screen epaper reader, but I doubt that'll happen. Given that an iPad will do the same thing but for battery life, there's not that large a market. This beast is the last of its kind.
Where I suspect there would be a market is for a pocketable, smart-phone-sized epaper reader ruggedized to take a lot of abuse. It'd be great for parents who hesitate to hand a regular Kindle to their children and also great for adults who want an ereader that fits into something smaller than a coat pocket. That smaller size just might mean the price could drop into the $49.95 range of impulse purchases and birthday gifts.
Will it happen? I don't know. Given the 'men are stupid' tone of Amazon's first epaper Kindle ads, it's clear they targeted those devices at women. Whether Amazon creates a pocketable Kindle may hinge on whether they want to draw children into the ebook market.
At the links pointed to above, the sellers are not Amazon, but 3rd parties -- and none of the KDX's on offer are new. Perhaps this was different yesterday?
ReplyDeleteI don't see the need for the KDX anymore. I have a pre-graphite KDX that was my main kindle for a couple of years. I initially got the larger sized KDX to read PDFs. My experience with this was merely OK not great. The KDX also has the ability to store a ton of books, and after it stopped being my main reading device, I used it as an offline ebook storage device for a year or so.
These days I rely on Amazon for all my ebook storage. For PDF reading I find my Kindle HD 8.9 to be quite good. I put all my PDFs in Amazon's personal document store. I read them on the KFHD89, or (since personal docs are now on the Amazon Cloud Drive) with my MS Surface 2 tablet. On the latter device I can read PDFs using Adobe's reader or MS's reader in addition to Amazon's reader on the KF89. Each reader program has its pluses and minuses. There are also a bunch of more feature rich reader apps out there, but they introduce a degree of additional UI complexity that just isn't (IMO) worth it.
Ed -- As you can see, I've not been around and got behind on Comments.
Delete-- The *very first link* -- which is bolded -- points to the right page and they're new. The other link you may have clicked on was identified as the 'primary' page for =info= on the model, but the DX is sold on the Int'l or global page for it currently. I had both DX's and the black-graphite one was FAR better for me and for others in a big way as you may have seen in my link to the forum discussions when this darker one with much better font contrast came out.
-- I understand your preference for your color tablets for reading (i read mainly on my Kindle Fire HDX but others do prize an e-Ink tablet for good reason -- it is far easier on the eyes for long stretches of reading in novel format (continous reads across the page in serial fashion rather than non-fiction in PDF format.
But those like you with no problems reading for long stretches on LCD tablets or laptops won't benefit from the eInk eReaders, that's true. I've gone back to an eInk reader at times after looking at LCD screens for too many hours and it is amazing how much easier it is when the eyes do become tired from LCD reading...I do prefer PDFs on a tablet app though.
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