KindleDX : Bigger is Better for Technical Books

KindleDX : Bigger is Better for Technical Books
I have used the 1st Kindle for a year and a half and really love it. The only down side was that I couldn’t read some of my technical books. The problem was with the images and tables that didn’t fit the size of the original kindle. The larger size of the KindleDX allows me to carry my reference books and read them with ease. I have used my original Kindle for all my recreational reading every day since I purchased it. I will now be using the Kindle DX for all my recreational reading and for all my technical reading. I was just looking around my library and realizing all the room I will save when I donate my books to the library. (I’ll also be saving a lot of trees in the future.) Oh and I gave my wife my orignal Kindle. She was dead set against purchasing a Kindle. Now she can’t put it down.
Protective case: I purchased the KindleDX cover with the KindleDX. However I wanted more protection for the Kindle DX when I carry it in my backpack. Targus makes a Netbook Slipskin Peel mini-notebook case that fits up to a 10.2″ widescreen netbook which fits the KindleDX in it’s cover like a glove. Targus TSS11101US Neoprene Slipskin Peel Netbook Case for up to 10.2-Inch Netbooks (Black/Blue)

By Daniel E. Balsley "Dan"

Not perfect, but darn close! (Goodbye 3-ring binders)
My primary reading material is technical — either paperback books, many with more than 1000 pages, or PDF documents that I have printed as a 4-up / double sided pages stored in large 3-ring binders. This means I usually have about 5 to 10 pounds of printed matter to carry to and from work.
I became excited when e-readers first began hitting the market. I picked up the Sony PRS-500, thinking I could use it in place of the tomes I now carry. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations. The display was too small to read most PDFs. Also, on larger documents with diagrams, it sometimes took 40 seconds or more to flip to the next page. After a month, the Sony reader started collecting dust.
When I heard about the KindleDX and its large display, I was eager to see if it would fit my needs. After the release, I started seeing some negative reviews of the device, specifically it’s PDF features. So I hesitated, but finally decided to give it a try, as I could return it within 30 days.
Once I received the device, I was amazed! Yes it has a few rough edges, but it is incredible and it far exceeds most of my expectations.
First, the PDF viewer is not "slow" as some have written. I have opened a 150MB PDF in about 5-6 seconds, and turning to the next page is about 1 second. This is about 40 times faster than the Sony PRS-500 for the same document.
The display is exceptionally crisp and readable, even for 8.5ื11 formatted PDFs. My eyesight is still fairly good and I am used to reading them printed 4-up (4 pages reduced to fit on one side of a single sheet of paper). The KindleDX lets me see the documents much larger than I am accustomed. The KindleDX display reproduces a full 8.5ื11 page reduced to about 75 - 85% of its original size, depending on how much of the margins it is able to crop.
On the downside, the DX doesn’t have the ability to annotate a PDF, but this is something I rarely need. The KindleDX lacks "folders" to organize the hundreds of documents I carry on it, but by adding a keyword to the title of the document, you can quickly search for what is needed. The Kindle DX is missing support for hyperlinks in the table contents of a PDF, but this is not a deal breaker; you can still navigate to a specific page by selecting a menu option and typing the page number. The keyboard lacks a dedicated row of buttons for numbers, making page number entry cumbersome. My final gripe is that the leather case, an essential accessory, is not included.
Overall, I am very pleased with the KindleDX and I have no plans of returning this to Amazon.

By RJ