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  • Introduction

  • Front

  • Back

  • Sides

  • Size Comparisons

  • In the Box

  • Handling

  • Screen

  • Indoor & Outdoor Use

  • Controls

  • Connectivity

  • Battery Life

  • Reading Books

  • Buying Books

  • eBook Formats

  • Newspapers & Magazines

  • eBook Battery Life

  • Music & Audio Controls

  • Music & Audio Management

  • Music & Audio Formats

  • Music & Audio Battery Life

  • Email

  • Web Browsing

  • Device & Specs

  • Screen

  • Battery

  • eReader

  • Internet

  • Device & Specs

  • Screen

  • Battery

  • eReader

  • Internet

  • Device & Specs

  • Screen

  • Battery

  • eReader

  • Internet

  • Conclusion

  • Introduction
  • Front
  • Back
  • Sides
  • Size Comparisons
  • In the Box
  • Handling
  • Screen
  • Indoor & Outdoor Use
  • Controls
  • Connectivity
  • Battery Life
  • Reading Books
  • Buying Books
  • eBook Formats
  • Newspapers & Magazines
  • eBook Battery Life
  • Music & Audio Controls
  • Music & Audio Management
  • Music & Audio Formats
  • Music & Audio Battery Life
  • Email
  • Web Browsing
  • Device & Specs
  • Screen
  • Battery
  • eReader
  • Internet
  • Device & Specs
  • Screen
  • Battery
  • eReader
  • Internet
  • Device & Specs
  • Screen
  • Battery
  • eReader
  • Internet
  • Conclusion

Introduction

Front

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Back

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Sides

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Size Comparisons

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In the Box

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Like it did for the Kindle WiFi, Amazon uses a spartan packaging, with very little in the box.

Included in the box is a USB/power cable, and a short summary of operating instructions.

Handling

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The Kindle DX is huge for a tablet, even larger than the iPad. Unlike previous models of Kindle, the thumb falls naturally on a control stick that affords the user much-improved browsing through the Kindle DX's memory and the Amazon bookstore.

The unit is relatively lightweight for its size, and shouldn't be a chore to port around. The biggest problem you may run into is where to store it when you're not using it.

Screen

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The Kindle DX is built around a 10.4 by 7.2 inch eInk screen that produces an image that looks very much like it had been ripped out of a book and put behind plastic. There is a drawback to this type of display, as it seems to have a weird effect where it completely inverts the image every time you do something that changes the image displayed on the screen, such as turning the page or hitting the "home" button.

So far, all eInk displays produce their image through a massive number of tiny round particles with one side covered in black ink. The particles will only show their light side in the absence of an electrical charge behind them, but when the particles are charged, they turn to display their inked side, showing an image. Due to the nature of this type of display, it requires ambient light to see an image on a screen, where LCD screens require a backlight to work. Because of this, you can bring the Kindle DX just about anywhere you would normally bring a book to read, with similar results.

Below is a short video of the Kindle DX's screen in use. Take note of the screen inversion every time we hit a button.

Indoor & Outdoor Use

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Due to the nature of eInk screens, the Kindle DX will work well in just about any level of light, as it shows an image very similar to that of an actual book. Still, if you're reading in a dark area or at night, be sure to grab some source of light for your reading, as the DX has no backlight like an LCD screen would.

Controls

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Most tablet readers elect to use virtual keyboards instead of manual controls, but like its predecessor the Kindle WiFi, the {{product.model}} takes the opposite approach. In addition to the normal controls on the sides of the {{product.model}} (power, volume, navigation) there is a full qwerty keyboard at the bottom of the front face of the unit. Unfortunately for Kindle buyers, the keyboard buttons have poor tactile feedback and size, so you can't expect to keep up the typing speed that you might have on your computer. After all, this was mainly designed for book title searches in a library or shop.

The controls on the top right side of the iPad body: volume, lock and power.

The buttons on the right side of the unit include two page turn buttons, a menu button, and a control stick that helps navigate the menus and rudimentary web browser offered by the kindle. On the top of the unit is a small slider which turns the DX on and off.

Connectivity

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Due to the somewhat limited playback options of the {{product.model}}, it's not surprising that the connectivity of the device is somewhat limited as well, which isn't a bad thing. For most of what you'll use it for, a simple USB cable is sufficient to transfer files from your computer, and the permanently-connected 3G of the {{product.model}} will give you the capability of grabbing books wherever you find yourself, so long as there is sufficient signal, regardless of whether or not you're in the US or abroad.

Here we see a Lightning dock in its natural habitat.

Battery Life

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It's hard to do better with battery life among eReaders than a Kindle. Due to their low power draw with their eInk screen, they can last for days on end on constant eBook reading. Using our disembodied finger apparatus in our labs, we set the Kindle DX up to read War and Peace, and 24 hours later, the battery was still going strong at about 40% of its full charge. You shouldn't run into troubles here, but if you do, you can always charge the DX from your computer via the included USB cable, or the wall charger.

The Kindle DX is not as good as its smaller sibling the Kindle Wireless in terms of battery life, but that's not to say it did a bad job; in fact it played audio for more than the 24-hour testing span, and left about 70% of the battery charge after that test was through. Because of this test score, we estimate that if asked to do it, the DX could play audio continuously for about 3.5 days, give or take.

Reading Books

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Much like its predecessor the Kindle WiFi, the Kindle DX is specifically designed to be an eReader primarily, so it's no surprise that it offers an excellent eReader experience. It doesn't have a backlight or an LCD screen for night-reading, but it provides a picture so close to ink that it can go anywhere you normally take a book; just don't take it in the bath lest you drop it in.

The iBooks program offers a range of controls for font and text size

Continuing with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" attitude Amazon took with this iteration of the Kindle series, file location and opening is a breeze. If anything, it's a little easier to navigate now with the improved controls on the side of the unit, with the drop-down menu simplifying navigation quite a bit. This allows you to browse content by author, collection, genre, etc.

Buying Books

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It honestly does not get any simpler to buy an eBook than it does on the Kindle DX. Once you're connected to a 3G signal, simply hit the menu button, select "Shop in Kindle Store" and buy the eBook you want using your keyboard and control stick. It's that easy.

Books can be purchased on the iPad through the iTunes store

Once you've purchased your eBook, it downloads to your device at a decent clip, depending on how strong your 3G signal is at the moment (here at the lab in Boston, it downloads eBooks very quickly). It's easy to forget that eBook files are very small in comparison to other files commonly bounced around on the internet, so first-time tablet owners won't need as much space as they think to store lots of books should they choose to load up their Kindle DX.

eBook Formats

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Be wary though, that the Kindle DX only supports Amazon eBooks like the Kindle Wireless before it, which can cause headaches if you can't find your desired eBook in Amazon's database. The option exists to drag and drop your .pdf, ePub, PDF, and HTML files to read on the DX, so if you can convert files on your computer, you can do this, even if it is a little less convenient than downloading on the 3G. At the lab, our test tablet for some reason simply would not read ePub files, so be aware that there may be some compatibility issues occasionally.

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Another option available to all WiFi/3G enabled Kindle users is the ability to email yourself text files via the service Amazon provides when you register your kindle. Though if you choose to download your files over 3G, a small fee applies ($0.15USD/Mb). Transferring them over USB is always free, so keep that in mind.

Newspapers & Magazines

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Much like the DX's predecessor, the Kindle WiFi, newspaper and magazine subscriptions are available through the Amazon marketplace, and new issues can be automatically downloaded whenever there is an updated issue. While you lose many of the pictures you'd normally see in the print version when reading on a Kindle, you gain the ability to read each article on any device you have the Kindle app installed on, potentially an iPhone, netbook or desktop computer. Keep in mind, though, that other eBook software generally maintains the look and structure of the articles in periodicals in a way that's much more true to the original, so if that is important to you, you may want to check out another format.

The New York Times is available on the iPad through their own app

eBook Battery Life

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Music & Audio Controls

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It's easy to tell that playing audio files was more or less of an afterthought in the design of the Kindle DX, but unless you're looking for a tablet that can fill a stadium with sound you should be satisfied with its performance. On the bottom of the unit are two tiny speakers, with a standard 1/8th inch headphone jack in the top, next to the power slider. Given the types of books currently popular amongst eBook readers, we suspect that users will most often elect to keep their media to themselves via headphones.

The iPod app shows the cover art while playing music

Music & Audio Management

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As far as music/audio playback options go, this has to rank among the worst possible. Not only is there no way of making a playlist, selecting a track to play or seeing how long a track has been playing, but the only control is play/pause. That's it. If you load more than one music file, you'll have to listen to all of them in alphabetical order, which is a giant pain if you have loaded a few audiobooks.

Audio files can be sorted by title, artist, album, genre or composer

Music & Audio Formats

Music & Audio Battery Life

Email

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Email is not supported natively beyond the extremely rudimentary browser in the experimental menu.

The iPad email app is basic, but adequate for most users

Web Browsing

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While a web browser is included on the Kindle DX, it is very rudimentary and not supported by amazon. Much like the audio playback, the web browsing feature is obviously something that wasn't really given a lot of time and attention to develop, as navigation is painfully slow, and difficult to anything beyond very basic browser tasks.

The iPad boasts a fully featured Safari web browser

If you set it up correctly, the browser might not be the worst thing in the world to check simple headlines or RSS feeds, but beyond that, the Kindle DX is not a viable option for portable web browsing.

Device & Specs

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This comparison serves largely to distinguish features of the Kindle lineup by examining the DX and the Wireless. While the two Amazon eReaders share many things in common, there are some small differences that we feel we should point out to you before you pick one over the other.

Screen

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Probably the most glaring difference between the two eReaders is sheer screen size. While the Kindle wireless has a more or less standard screen size of 6 inches, the absolutely monster DX has a 9.7 inch screen that will not be hard to lose. Both eReaders have very similar eInk displays, and consequently they both have very similar performances in terms of blacks and whites, no color display and similar resolution.

Battery

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Because both eReaders have similar screen technology that doesn't draw much power, they each have excellent battery life, lasting well over 24 hours of continuous use, may it be audio or eBook. You can't go wrong with either one here.

eReader

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Each Kindle offers a very similar eReader experience, with similar controls, interface and display. They share the same eBook store, and each is compatible with different formats that can be transferred via an included USB cable. They even both share the same "dip to black" effect when turning pages, though this seems to be fairly universal for eInk screens. Both models here provide a good eReader experience.

Internet

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Though the internet browser in each is under the "experimental" section, the Kindle Wireless actually does a bit better here, as it converts websites to greyscale, while the DX converts them to plain text. Still, you're probably not going to have the patience to use either as a web browser, as the kindle really isn't a good platform for that sort of thing.

The eBook and app store for the Kindle has a huge selection of content, and shouldn't leave you wanting. If, however, this is not the case, you can always convert files from other vendors using Calibre or Amazon's conversion service online.

Device & Specs

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The B&N Nook Color is a very different device than the Kindle DX, which you will come to see over the following sections. Not only does it abandon the eInk display in favor of an LCD screen (along with the troubles that brings), but it also eschews physical buttons in favor of a touchscreen. If a love of color and an inherent hatred of plastic buttons are qualities that describe you and your ideal eReading experience, the Nook may be a better bet.

Screen

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As previously mentioned, the Nook Color has a color screen unlike the black and white eInk screen of the Kindle DX, but what the kindle lacks in picture performance, it makes up for in size with its monster screen. The Nook also has a touchscreen-based interface, which allows for a more direct interaction with your device, but at the same time slows searching a bit.

Perhaps the largest advantage the Kindle DX holds over the Nook Color is screen reflectivity: where the DX's screen has a matte material that breaks up reflections pretty well, the Nook's almost mirror-like surface reflects sources of light with very little diffusing of glare or reflection detail, which is incredibly distracting if you're trying to read in a well-lit environment. We give the edge to the Kindle DX here, as this is almost never a problem unless there's a super-bright lamp angled directly at the screen up close.

Battery

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Because eInk displays draw a much lower current than a backlit LCD screen, the Kindle DX offers much better battery life than its Barnes & Noble competitor.

eReader

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Both tablets work well as an eReader, but the Nook was created with more than just eBooks in mind. The Kindle DX may be a better dedicated eReader, the Nook offers users music playback with a much better interface (read: has an interface at all) as well as video playback. So, if you are looking for an eReader that can do more than just read books, the Nook may be a better option. Still, the Kindle DX is as good as they come in terms of being a simple eReader, so if you're more of a bookworm, and additional media is not a chief concern of yours, it may be the better choice for you.

Internet

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The Nook Color wins this one hands down simply because of the range of apps it offers (the Pandora app and the email applications are especially nice to have). Still, depending on your intended use, these added bells and whistles may not be necessary for you if all you want your reader for is to curl up with a good book.

Device & Specs

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Needless to say, the iPad 2 and the Kindle DX are very different machines. For starters, the iPad more resembles a super-portable computer than an eReader. The two share virtually nothing in common outside of the capability to read eBooks and tablet-design. In the end, you the consumer decide what you want in your product, so we'll outline some of the differences here.

Screen

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Both tablets have very large screens, but the iPad's screen is probably more appropriate for what its typical user would want from it. Being a tablet that allows you to browse the internet, read documents, listen to music, watch video and employ a myriad of touch-sensitive apps, the iPad is more at home with its larger screen.

In terms of reflectiveness, the Kindle DX absolutely smokes the iPad 2 as its matte screen material diffuses and breaks up reflections fairly well, while the mirror-like surface of the iPad's screen can make reflections and bright lights super-annoying even in low light.

Battery

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Due to the nature of the different screens, it's really no surprise that the Kindle DX trounces the iPad 2 in battery life. The backlighting for an LCD screen draws a comparatively large amount of current, so anything employing the screen will suck the battery down very quickly. The eInk display of the Kindle DX only draws a nominal current, which is hard to compete with in terms of battery performance.

eReader

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As an eReader, the iPad 2 actually provides a rather unique experience, as its touch screen allows you to turn the page much like you would a book. While the experience is a more natural one, the LCD screen provides some drawbacks not shared by the Kindle DX. Namely, the LCD screen can get washed out in bright sunlight, where the eInk display works well in a much larger range of lighting conditions. Not to mention the fact that the battery of the Kindle DX will last you full days longer than the iPad's battery will without recharging. If you're looking for an eReader and nothing more, spring for the Kindle DX instead of the iPad.

Internet

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There isn't really any fair comparison in terms of internet features between the two, as the iPad has games, browsing, email, apps and all sorts of internet content that the Kindle DX just can't keep up with at all. Still, to many users the internet content either isn't worth the drop in battery life, or they only care about the eReader. This will have to be a decision you make at the store before you buy.

Conclusion

Performance

Overall, the Amazon Kindle DX is great for what it is: a basic eReader with a larger-than-normal screen. The constant 3G access for free is a great feature, and the Amazon eBook store has a massive library of titles. Additional media options are lacking, but if you're looking for a tablet that can bring a large portion of your library with you, the Kindle DX is a great replacement for a bookshelf.

Screen Performance

The eInk screen provides for a natural-looking picture that looks much like a book should, working well in a large range of lighting conditions, much like its cousin, the Kindle Wireless. It reduces reflections much better than most LCD-screened tablets, and this provides for a much more portable eReader.

Battery Life

Because the Kindle DX doesn't concern itself much with the bells and whistles common amongst tablets that go beyond eReaders, the battery life is great, whether you are just reading an eBook or even listening to audio. You will not need to recharge your Kindle DX for days of constant use.

Ereader:

It's tough to beat something that was designed primarily as an eReader and not much else. The battery life is amazing, the memory storage is more than ample, and the unit is very portable. Still, there are a couple things Amazon could have done to improve the eReader experience, but given that the tablets are relatively new, we're going to give Amazon the benefit of the doubt that they'll improve their design as time goes on.

Audio & Video:

Really, when we said that there are things that Amazon could improve upon, we were referring to the "experimental" features in the Kindle DX. The audio managing system is virtually nonexistent, and there's no way to control which audio files play or in what order. Honestly you may retain more sanity if you decide the Kindle DX is an eReader and nothing else, completely ignoring the audio playback function, as it's currently too much hassle to care about.

Email & Web Browsing:

Much like the audio feature, the web browsing feature is rudimentary in the extreme, and probably not worth using at all, given that even the much smaller kindle wireless handles it slightly better than the DX. Honestly, the DX has the worst web browsing on a tablet we've seen so far.

Meet the tester

Chris Thomas

Chris Thomas

Staff Writer, Imaging

@cthomas8888

A seasoned writer and professional photographer, Chris reviews cameras, headphones, smartphones, laptops, and lenses. Educated in Political Science and Linguistics, Chris can often be found building a robot army, snowboarding, or getting ink.

See all of Chris Thomas's reviews

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