KINDLE DX WIRELESS READER
Amazon have just announced the latest incarnation of their KINDLE range of eReaders, which will be available within a matter of weeks from now (January 2010).
WORLD WIDE 3G DOWNLOAD SUPPORT
This new Kindle has a host of functions, one of the most interesting is the almost universal support for downloading books from Amazon via 3G networks (free for the greater part too!). Effectively if you are in any part of the world that supports 3G mobile phones, you will be able to search for and buy books from Amazon. Up to now this possibility was only available for people using their Kindles in the US, now they have opened it up for the rest of us. So no more fiddling around with downloading books onto our computers and then transferring them to our eReaders. In fact, if we only used our computers to download books, we can now throw the thing away.
WORLD-WIDE AVAILABILITY:
This Kindle can be purchased and delivered to almost any country in the world, which will be a relief for those of us who have had to go through all manner of contortions in order to buy any of Sony's eReaders if we happen to live in countries where those eReaders are not for sale - which at this moment, seems to be pretty well the entire world!
On this topic, I have contacted Sony to see if they can explain their sales policy in regard to eReaders, and when (and if) they reply I shall post their thoughts on this one for you all to read, which I hope will clarify this rather mysterious policy.
On this topic, I have contacted Sony to see if they can explain their sales policy in regard to eReaders, and when (and if) they reply I shall post their thoughts on this one for you all to read, which I hope will clarify this rather mysterious policy.
SUPPORTED eBOOK FORMATS:
Like all the other members of the Kindle range, this one only works with Amazon's own eBook format, which seems a great pity to me as it automatically closes off the rest of the world's eBook sellers as a source of reading material, some of whom offer very good bargains regularly. I understand that Amazon wants us to buy books from them, and sees no point in producing an eReader that can give other companies a profit, but it remains a strong minus point in my mind.
Having said that, I have to recognise that Amazon have an impressively large number of books, periodicals and other reading material on offer, and their prices are not unreasonable by and large.
TEXT TO SPEECH:
Now this is a good function that they have put into this newest toy. Simply put, almost 60 000 of the available books can be purchased with the very pleasing additional property of being able to be audio books as well as simple text. Apparently there are some geographical limitations on this, a matter of publishers copyright restrictions.
So one simply has to switch from text to speech, put on earphones or speakers, and Voila... listen to a soothing male or female voice - your choice - reading the book to you, and to make it even better, the eReader turns the pages as the voice reads them, so all you have to do when you wish to get back to reading is to switch off the voice, and just carry on reading from that point.... no hassles in finding the last read page....
This is something that would go a long way in persuading me to buy a Kindle for my next eReader! As they say on their website, over breakfast one enjoys reading one's latest book, and then out to the car to get off to work, and simply continue listening through speakers as one drives along.... sounds good to me.
DICTIONARY:
Another useful addition to this eReader is that it has a very comprehensive dictionary built into it (New Oxford American Dictionary) which you can access at any time without leaving the book you are reading at the time, so it is simple to check on the meaning of any word you happen to read that you don't understand. Something that happens to me regularly, and in my case this means hunting around for a paper dictionary, since my own eReader isn't fitted out with a dictionary (note to self....get online and buy a dictionary!).
WIKKIPEDIA:
Using the 3G system, it is also possible to access Wikkipedia, which is something I would really love to be able to do on my eReader as I am always looking up things there while working on my computer, and am a devoted fan of Wikkipedia. Good move, Amazon!!!
ADOBE PDF FILES:
They have also fitted this new reader out with a PDF reader, but as all eBooks, to a greater or lesser extent support PDF files and given that this PDF reader can't change the way the text flows with PDF files, I am not convinced that this is any real improvement on other eReaders in this respect. In fairness I have to report that it is possible to convert PDF files to the Kindle's own format, which would obviously make them much easier to read.
Rotating the screen from Portrait to landscape (which Kindle does very well) will help when reading PDF files.
SIZE:
This Kindle is rather larger than previous models, which in my view is an improvement. Unlike mobile phones, in which smaller and smaller appears to be the aim, reading a book is a much more pleasant experience when the page is at least the size of a typical paperback. In this respect Amazon have made a good decision here in making it a bit larger than their previous models
TEXT SIZE:
There are a total of 6 font sizes available on this eReader, which is something that appeals to me a lot. As I said in my review of the Sony PRS-505, I find that I use this function a lot and to have the choice of 6 sizes would be a real advantage to me, and I am sure to a lot of you out there too..
TEXT INPUT:
As with the earlier Kindles, this one has a keyboard which can be used to annotate books one is reading, or when working with Wikkipedia or ordering books from Amazon.
PRICE:
489 US Dollars.
So, there is a look at the main functions in this newest contestant in the fierce battle for eReader supremacy. It has many other functions obviously, which you can contemplate at your leisure on their website (see side-bar for the link).
CONCLUSIONS:
The various comments I have read about it on the web (amazing how fast such comments appear, isn't it?) are generally favourable, there are several recurring complaints though, for example the fact that all the controls are now only on the right hand side of the eReader, making it tricky for left-handed people to work it, others have complained about the bad balance of its weight or the fact that the keyboard only has 4 rows of keys, so you have to use an Alt-key combination to enter numbers and not least, its price, which quite a few commentators found to be waaayyyyy too high. And as ever, the reoccurring comments about only supporting Amazon's own eBook format.
In spite of these various negative comments, this eReader seems to me to be an ideal machine for most readers who are looking for an eReader with a basically good collection of functions, well made and well supported by its manufacturer, and the almost world wide 3G support is a very powerful reason to buy this eReader.
Here I should admit to having a fondness for Amazon in general, having bought books and other things from them since they started up, and have always been vastly impressed by the safe arrival of those well known cardboard boxes in the most unlikely parts of the world - I have traveled and worked in a few rather far flung places - but they always got the things to me.
POINT TO NOTE:
6" WIRELESS KINDLE
The smaller sister of the Kindle DX Wireless, the 6 " Kindle Wireless has world wide 3G support, as well ,and is much cheaper at 259 US Dollars.
I shall be reviewing this little baby very shortly... so come back soon and read all about it!
Images source: Amazon.
TEXT SIZE:
There are a total of 6 font sizes available on this eReader, which is something that appeals to me a lot. As I said in my review of the Sony PRS-505, I find that I use this function a lot and to have the choice of 6 sizes would be a real advantage to me, and I am sure to a lot of you out there too..
TEXT INPUT:
As with the earlier Kindles, this one has a keyboard which can be used to annotate books one is reading, or when working with Wikkipedia or ordering books from Amazon.
PRICE:
489 US Dollars.
So, there is a look at the main functions in this newest contestant in the fierce battle for eReader supremacy. It has many other functions obviously, which you can contemplate at your leisure on their website (see side-bar for the link).
CONCLUSIONS:
The various comments I have read about it on the web (amazing how fast such comments appear, isn't it?) are generally favourable, there are several recurring complaints though, for example the fact that all the controls are now only on the right hand side of the eReader, making it tricky for left-handed people to work it, others have complained about the bad balance of its weight or the fact that the keyboard only has 4 rows of keys, so you have to use an Alt-key combination to enter numbers and not least, its price, which quite a few commentators found to be waaayyyyy too high. And as ever, the reoccurring comments about only supporting Amazon's own eBook format.
In spite of these various negative comments, this eReader seems to me to be an ideal machine for most readers who are looking for an eReader with a basically good collection of functions, well made and well supported by its manufacturer, and the almost world wide 3G support is a very powerful reason to buy this eReader.
Here I should admit to having a fondness for Amazon in general, having bought books and other things from them since they started up, and have always been vastly impressed by the safe arrival of those well known cardboard boxes in the most unlikely parts of the world - I have traveled and worked in a few rather far flung places - but they always got the things to me.
POINT TO NOTE:
6" WIRELESS KINDLE
The smaller sister of the Kindle DX Wireless, the 6 " Kindle Wireless has world wide 3G support, as well ,and is much cheaper at 259 US Dollars.
I shall be reviewing this little baby very shortly... so come back soon and read all about it!
Images source: Amazon.
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