Kindle News: Kindle DX 9.7" eInk eReader with free 3G web (slow) is back - $199, on a new, global product page (for however long it's available)

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.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button


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-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

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(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
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Kindle News: Kindle DX discontinued but Used pricing fluctuates wildly

While the Kindle 9.7" DX EReader seems to have been dropped

  ... the last noticed pricing was $199.

  Checking out the situation, I saw that, in the side box, they were announcing 9 used DX's available at only $9,999.00 each and then shown on the "Used" page:

  While pondering the effect of sudden scarcity, I saw that the box at the right of the product page has been changed to a more doable lowest price of $149, although the "Used" page itself had not been changed yet for 8 of the 9 devices, so I made a screenshot to show you how much you will have saved overnight if interested in a used, large eReader.

  However, I don't see the device in the Certified Refurbished, or Kindle Outlet Store page, although the $9,999 used-devices were listed as being shipped by Amazon.

  Hopefully, by the time you read this, that page's data will have been adjusted -- but I couldn't resist.

(Some may still like that this is a 3G eReader that has free but very slow 3G web browsing on it, not available on newer Kindles.)



Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle

(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Going from the Kindle 2 to, or adding, a DX

When Amazon released the Kindle 2 in February, many Kindle 1 owners decided to sell their Kindle 1's to get a Kindle 2.
  Soon, some Kindle 2 owners will move to or add Kindle DX units.

Amazon has a terrific feature which allows one person to share Kindle books purchased from Amazon with up to 5 other Kindle units IF the other Kindles are under that person's account -- meaning the account owner pays for all Amazon Kindle books ordered by any of the other Kindle users.

However, when it comes to subscriptions to Kindle versions of newspapers or magazines, this can't be done. Amazon explains that publishers have demanded that a newspaper or magazine be allowed on only one unit. A subscription owner can't share a morning newspaper with another household member, even, except to give up the Kindle for awhile.

Books purchased from Amazon are backed up and kept on their servers for owners to re-download when wanted if these had been deleted from the Kindle to save the mind from the sight of too many books in the listing.  Amazon even backs up (with approval) any highlighting or notes made so that these are also downloadable with the book as needed.

Preparation by Amazon
Amazon will need to address one area of confusion that will arise (and already has caused some unhappiness when an owner receives a Kindle replacement for a defective or malfunctioning unit).

The problem is the inability to open, for viewing on the replacement or subsequent Kindle, any older magazine or newspaper issues that were purchased more than 7 issues past.
  In the non-Kindle world, owners like to stack up older magazines to read individual articles later or to revisit them.

For Kindlers who buy magazines and want to keep them for reference (the library concept again, including the NY Sunday Times with its book reviews and its Sunday Magazine), the benefit is the ability to search their Kindles for references in those older book reviews or world news.

This traditional use of older periodicals is possible currently only if a Kindle owner keeps these older issues on the current Kindle and also keeps the current Kindle -- but it's not possible if wanting to view these on a replacement Kindle, even when upgrading and spending more for the next unit.

  When the old Kindle (even a malfunctioning one) is gone, so are the older issues.

The reason for the problem
Newspapers and magazines are kept on Amazon servers for only the last seven issues or so.  But these issues can stay on the original Kindle and of course they can be backed up onto the owner's computer(s) -- and therein lies a problem that will be seen more when customers add a DX to the household or move to the DX from the Kindle 2.

Why? Because many have decided to order a DX for reading the newspaper at home or for reading PDFs while at the office - while using the Kindle 2 as a more portable device outside the home for reading current news and books.  Or they are selling their Kindle 2, with old subscription issues on it.

Decision to be made
An individual who owns both a Kindle 2 and a DX will have to decide which unit will get the periodicals -- the one used when commuting to work?  Or the big one at home, which is marketed as better for newsreaders and PDFs?

As before, the DX is better for reading newspapers but older magazine articles won't be openable on the DX even if the user's Kindle 2 is sold.
  As mentioned, this happened to many when moving from the Kindle 1 to the Kindle 2.

There IS a solution, and I hope Amazon addresses this before the situation is a surprise to new DX owners moving from the older Kindles:

SOLUTION:
Allow Kindle owners to upload, to an Amazon area, the older magazine issues - those older magazine files have fields that give the specific ID of the older Kindle unit and, as a result, the older issues can be read only on the unit that has an ID matching the device ID number in those fields.

  Amazon could have a batch process in place that would replace the files' fields for device ID information with the ID for the owner's new current Kindle device.

This is a DRM (Digital-Rights-Management) or copyright issue - a very hot topic right now in the e-books area.  Respect for Copyrighted works is important to most creators of work, and to their publishers.
  However, there's such a thing as unnecessarily restrictive execution of copyright protection procedures that don't permit an owner of a purchased magazine to be able to read older issues except with one device which may no longer be functioning or which has been sold to another person.

  I've talked with customer representatives about this but they have received no information as to how this will be handled for the DX purchases.  I'm hoping Amazon will have a solution in place before the release though.

  A post to a forum today reminded me that Customer Service, while very responsive to any problems with individual Kindles, moves slowly on some issues important to Kindle owners such as the long standing one in which customer Ted Inoue has requested that Amazon let him know if his darker fonts installed by many happy Kindle owners might void the warranty.  He presented the recommended font-set sampes to the Developers via Customer Service some time ago.

  The Kindle-1 customizable-screensavers-installation (similar in scope of external modification) received assurances from Customer Service that the install would not void the Kindle 1 warranty.   Inoue is still awaiting word on his recommended font-sets (they exist as trials or tests) for use by Amazon, as are other Amazon customers, hoping to keep using the added fonts that help with screen-contrast issues for some. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle

(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!