More tips on using Kindle 3. And white-Kindle text vs DX Graphite text

Be sure to read the first Kindle 3 Tips and Cautions blog article here.

The picture on the left is of my white-bezeled 6" Kindle 3 next to the Graphite 9.7" Kindle DX.
  The Graphite DX does have a slightly greener tint under certain lighting, but a touch of green can make an image look brighter.

  Here's the larger image.  Following the larger version is a second, closer shot of the text of both.

  Further on down the page, I have a tip to get the Kindle text to a closer match with the DX text.

On Twitter, Jason Varner asked: "My very first Kindle is on its way!  What are the first things I should try/do w/it?  Tips from exp. Kindlers? /cc @kindleworld"

  Besides going to Amazon's Kindlestore to click on Books or heading straight for the Top 10 Free Bestsellers  (UK Top 10 Free Bestsellers) to try your first download of a free book for the new Kindle (UK Kindle), definitely do the following:

  Download to your computer FOR the Kindle 3, the very helpful Kindle 3 USER'S GUIDE for reading ON the Kindle.  After you get it you can transfer it to the Kindle "documents" folder via the USB cable that's part of the power cord.

  Also, get the PDF User's Guide for reading on a computer.

  For a general additional guide to creating and editing Collections ("folders" concept) and some other newer features, see the Introduction and Guide, which also gives you links to the apropos Amazon Help pages.

  There are also new Kindle 3 features added to those.

Here are guides to how to use some of the more advanced recent features:
    . Forwarding highlighted passages and notes to Facebook and/or Twitter
    . Some information on the filing of Personal Docs and Subscriptions/Periodicals
    . Collections:   Important tips to avoid problems or to solve them
    . How to Pan & Zoom in a PDF (similar for web pages).


TODAY'S KINDLE 3 TIP:
GOAL:  Getting the Kindle 3's font size and appearance closer to the default font size of the larger Kindle DX.  Click on the picture at the left to get the larger version of the text comparison.

  The smaller Kindle 3 has a default font size (#3 of 8 choices) that is smaller than the default font size of the Kindle DX.

  I played with the new options a bit.  Except for brightest light (when I sometimes use smaller font sizes), I like best the somewhat larger DX's default '3' size.



So I chose, for the Kindle 3,
  . Size 4,
  . condensed typeface (for tighter
      character spacing at the larger size)
  . medium line spacing (less space
      between lines), and
  . Words per Line default, which goes to
      the edges of that small screen.

If you click on the Kindle 3 and DX text photo just above, or on the Text-key settings on the right, you'll see the larger images for each.

And for those who installed special font-sets to get darker text on the Kindle 2, I think you'll love the sans serif typeface.   It doesn't get darker than that, and it's very clear.

As for the DX Graphite -- while the Kindle 3 text pops out at you, the Kindle DXG text is so sharp and crisp that it looks etched on the screen.  But the smaller Kindle does very well against the DXG with this setting and though you get less on the screen, the K3 is ultra light and the clarity makes reading it addictive the way the DX models have been for me.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers. 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!

My white Kindle-3 photos of screen contrast + web browser's Article Mode

LARGER versions of the pics below are at my PBase photos site.
    Essentially, the first 3 below are photo comparisons of my new Kindle 3, a white, not graphite one -- am I the first?  :-)

  The others show, at the New York Times:
  . the Home page in vertical and horizontal modes with the new Webkit-based web browser and then a sequence of:
  . zooming-in for options and choosing an article, and
  . getting that article in Article Mode.

 I took many more, so I'll be updating that photo site.

Reminder: You can (1) click here to see the page of larger versions of the shots below, or
  (2) click on a photo to get the larger one.

SCREEN CONTRAST: Kindle 3 vs Kindle 2

Kindle 3 and Kindle 2 with same screen-sleeper

Kindle 3's Birds screen-sleeper

Kindle 2's Birds screen-sleeper

BROWSING WITH KINDLE 3 at The New York Times

New York Times Home Page in Landscape mode

Portrait, w/ zoom-in box showing	Zoomed-in area
Chosen article. selecting Article Mode.	Article Mode version

Hope some of that helped!


ADDENDUM - an older photo of the Kindle 2 screen image

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Here, for commenter Anonymous who felt the K2 solo or close-up image was "just too poor" to be believed, is a smaller-sized version of the picture I took of the Kindle-2 birds screen-sleeper 1-1/2 years ago when I just enjoyed the image as it was.

  Note how close that is to the picture a week ago.  The Kindle 3 contrast is so much better, it makes the Kindle 2 image look "just too poor" for the commenter.  That older image is at the old Kindle-1 and Kindle-2 comparison page and was taken back in Feb. '09, which seems eons ago in this digital world.


Kindle 3   (UK: Kindle 3),   DX Graphite

---

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers. 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!

Photos: Kindle-2 vs Sony PRS-505 grays - M-Edge cover

I was putting together a set of cell-phone photos of a Kindle in the wild, to be used later on in this blog, but I decided to make a pointer here to the Kindle-related picture set now, for those who've been curious about any of the following:

Sony PRS-505 and Kindle-2 gray screens, at Target.  It's been said the Sony gray is lighter, but not particularly so, although it seems bluer while the Kindle leans more to a greenish tint.
  UPDATE: 4/24/09.  PC World's Melissa J. Perenson presents a "visual tour" contrasting the Sony PRS-700 and Kindle 2 units.

Posting a reply to a forum (to Ned-san).
The process is slow, and when you're through typing, the web-process tells you that you were unable to connect with the site, but the posting does goes through.  Same false error-message happens with Gmail-sends.


M-Edge Platform cover - upright on my lap in a dark, cool restaurant lobby on a hot day.  The food took so long I thought I'd take a pic of the Platform jacket in action, with a colorful background.  Not an uplifting news story though.


The M-Edge Platform, closed.
  Like the Amazon cover, it lies very flat but is 3/4" longer to provide the webbing that allows the front cover to be used as a stand.  As the pics indicated, it's also nicely padded.  The left-ledge is meant for an integrated light (separate purchase) when the new version is ready, but that edge makes it less fatiguing to hold with one hand, so I'm rethinking the separate light.
 While I like Amazon's notebook-style cover a lot, the M-Edge's stand-up feature is a real Plus. :-)  So I alternate the covers.  Their other covers. 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!

A Photo Comparison of Kindle Klassic and Kindle 2

I'll just start this off with a photo comparison I did quickly when receiving my Kindle 2 after having enjoyed the Kindle 1 (dubbed 'Klassic' or 'KK' or 'K1' by enthusiasts) for about half a year. Many wanted to know what the visual differences were and there had been some discussion (which continues) of not only the more photo-like grayscale capabilities but also the relative degree of grayness of screen backgrounds and the basic font's black density. The Kindle 2 has a somewhat thinner font that some perceive as 'crisper' or 'sharper' while others see it as 'lighter' and providing less contrast. It can be like comparing a fine-point pen to a medium one (as seen with the home page listings, which I have not photographed yet).

The K2's directness of access to the dictionary and to links without added pop-up boxes is a real plus.   I wish, though, that the 5-way were not anchored by the dictionary lookup for each word hovered over while passing through.  But web browsing is much faster.

TEXT and book preview images.  I used the same Amazon store page used by PC World in its recent K1 and K2 comparison.

    *CLICK* on images that don't quite fit on this page to see full original images.




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Here's a shot of both units displaying a page with very basic fonts for periodicals sent to the Kindle via plain-text RSS feed once a day from Kindlefeeder.




===============================================
OUR PERSONAL PICTURES UNDER 'PICTURES' FOLDER




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I chose text LINE spacing that was modified using the key-combo Shift-Alt-5 to match more closely K1's spacing between lines. (We can choose from Shift-Alt-[1-9], with '3' the somewhat cramped default.
Sample:    Leslie's The Amazon Kindle FAQ



 
    I used this sample to confirm that the fonts can be just as dark if they are specified as black somewhere in Amazon's coding.


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PLAIN TEXT FROM A BOOK ("The Spell of Egypt") - CLOSER UP
Again, modified the default Font '3' by pressing Shift-Alt-5 to expand line distance more similar to K1's line spacing

The Kindle Klassic first, followed by the Kindle 2.  This close-up pair had to be taken separately, to get that close, and my shadow looms over them.


 


    Most of the rest below were taken by lamp light, with the lamp at the left, closer to the K1, but aimed across the K2.  No scientific review here!

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WEB PAGE interpretation by K1 and K2
+ ESPN as example



The rows of links are quite sqeezed together by K2 browser.
They underline each link and highlight certain links.

  Someone or something does a terrific job dithering the 4-shades for the header image.

Here's a zoomed-in area to show what the text looks like if we're reading the page.


And here's a separate shot I took closer up of the K2 screen.  I used only the top part of the shot.



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WEB PAGE interpretation of
PEOPLE MAGAZINE -   



  Text with images are shown quite differently on these two.

K1's 4 SHADES and K2's 16 SHADES - using this People magazine page




  This was not a bad job of dithering for 4-shades (using diffusion to blend the dots). 


===============================================
MORE on K1s 4-shades vs the K2's 16 shades
using People Magazine still.  This one was for a big fan of Hugh Jackman   :-)



 


===============================================
JUST AN EXCUSE to put "Slumdog Millionaire" folks in this thread.



One last comparison -the K1 image is pretty nicely dithered:
 

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MY KINDLE 2,  AT REST ON THE LOUNGER



I hope this helps with the conflicting reports about less clarity vs the K1 while others say the screen is crisper and sharper.

  The 16 shades capability of the K2 will cause it to interpret colors as different shades of gray.

  You know how they say, "Just give me the basics - no grays"?

    The large differences from using only Black and White plus 2 other shades made up between them (for the K1) leads to inherently good contrast for the eyes at a loss of shading.  The 11 additional shades of gray (for the K2) means that some text will be in a lighter shade, depending on what the publisher or formatter decides to use for the font.

Nevertheless, a few Kindle 2's  (as with the Kindle 1's)  have seemed to have unreadable fonts in sunlight (which shouldn't be), so, for display anomalies do check with Amazon customer reps at 866-321-8851.

---

Check often:  Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers. 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!