Kindle DX (one month later)

I’m loving my Kindle.  I’ve been using it for over a month now.  First of all, battery life has been pretty good.  I charge it maybe once a week.  If I leave wireless on when I’m in a place with poor cellular coverage, the battery can drain in 3 or 4 days.

 

I finished my first book, Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food, and I’m starting on my second Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink.  As a book reader it is top notch.  My only complaint is the auto-oreinatation from portrait to landscape.  I couldn’t find a way to turn it off, and if I’m reading in bed or move around, it will sometimes switch to portrait and I have to wiggle it to get it to go back so I can continue reading.

 

One great thing about the Kindle is the ability to read in full direct sunlight.  So if you are looking for a device to read by pool or at the beach, it works nicely.

 

I’m loving the newspaper subcription I have delivered to it: The International Harold Tribune.  I am now keeping more up to date on current news as a result.  I was never a big newspaper reader and find that buying the Boston Globe was a huge waste of paper since I only enjoy one or two articles.  With an an electronic newspaper, I can worry less about the paper waste, not to mention the gas used by the trucks moving the newspapers from the printer to the store.  I imagine the carbon footprint is less, but then I don’t know how much coal we have to burn to run all the computers at Amazon, the New York Times (who owns the Harold), and Sprint (who provides the cellular service to deliver the paper to my Kindle.)  It is probably a wash.

 

Navigating the newspaper is a bit of a pain.  I always hit the wrong button trying to get to the list of articles.  Menu doesn’t work, back doesn’t work “<” doesn’t work.  The way to get to the article list after you open up a freshly delivered newspaper is to click the mouse/joystick button right in the center.  By default, the front page comes up and you have to click the “>” button to page though each article.  I like to scan the headlines, so I click the joystick (which is a bit painful) and then click on the numbers next to the section list article, then I can use the “>” to scan the headlines.  Not very intuitive or easy, even after getting used to the device.

 

Another interesting tidbit about newspapers, is that they get delivered only to my Kindle (you must choose one device.) This is different from when you buy a book.  When I bought In Defense of Food, I can read it from my computer or my Kindle.  The Kindle software will sync it to every device.  The newspaper I can not read from my computer, only the device.

 

One thing for sure, don’t buy a Kindle as a web browser.  Although I just read an excellent blog post called Why Clojure on the Kindle, getting there was painful.  Once there it was a great experience reading this article, but to get there I searched my name on Google, navigated to my twitter feed, and had to click the reference to bring up the twitter post, and still the link didn’t work.  I had to then manually type the bit.ly URL which finally allowed me to get to the article.  But the cellular connection is very slow.  The purpose of the broadband connection on the Kindle, is to deliver books and newspapers, and for that it is awesome.

 

I recenly popped into Borders Books and checked out their e-reader called the “Kobo” which was nice an small (probably same form factor as the smaller Kindle.)  It also has great clean crisp display.  The only downside is you need to sync it with a computer.  You can’t beat the Amazon Kindle’s system requirements: none!

 

So, I’ll still go to bat for Kindle as a great eBook reader.  Not much eyestrain, and easy to read wherever you can read a paperback.  If you are looking for something to feed your ADD addictions, then buy an iPad.  I image the iPad is lightyears ahead for web browsing and jumping around from task to task.  But if you like to read a book without distractions, the Kindle is ideal. 

 

Read about my previous posts on the Kindle:

• eBook Reader: Kindle vs iPad
• Kindle DX 3G 2nd Generation Review

 

Kindle DX 3G 2nd Generation Review

So I finally bit the $379 bullet (actually $416.69 after taxes, shipping, and the OCTOVO Faux Leather Kindle Sleeve.)  I am now a proud owner of a 9.7 inch diagonal 19 ounce grey-scale ebook reader.

 

Here is my product review of the Kindle DX Wireless Reading Device, Free 3G, 9.7" Display, Graphite, 3G Works Globally – Latest Generation.  If you read my earlier blog post on the subject, I compared two Kindles to the cheapest iPad.  The review included the Kindle 6" and the Kindle 9.7" (first generation.)  So I took my own advice (sight unseen not including videos) and purchased the Kindle as a book reader.  Note that I did not buy it to surf the web, read PDF’s, or newspapers.  So in this review, I will cover my full experience, as a book reader and for the other stuff I just mentioned that I have been playing around with over the past few days.

 

For full disclosure, my company is an Amazon Associate and around a decade ago we did pull in around $50 bucks or so from links of recommended technology books in the past.

 

My impression so far is mixed.  I do like the pure ebook reader capabilities.  I started out by downloading Kindle for PC (free) and purchasing a book "In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manafesto" by Michael Pollan.  I am also reading one of his earlier books, the Omnivore’s Dilemma in paperback form.  The great thing about the Kindle for the PC is that it remembers where you are when you open it back up.  I downloaded the software on 4 other computers (3 Windows computers and a Mac.)  Whenever I opened that computer, it downloaded the book from the "Archive" and jumped me right to the correct location so I could continue reading.

 

When the Kindle DX arrived, I opened it and started charging it with the simple and light USB cord that came with it.  Since I used a different Amazon account, the device didn’t know about the Michael Pollan book I already purchased, so I went into the Kindle DX settings and reregistered it to my account that I used to buy "In Defense of Food."  Within a few minutes, the ebook was there, right at the correct page so I could continue reading.  One of the main reasons for purchasing the Kindle DX was for the free global 3G network access.  No fuss with Wifi passcodes, SSID’s, or payment plans.  Just pure 3G EVDO connectivity (over Sprint I believe) with no, I repeat no contract.  I’m spending enough on my cell phone, home phone, internet, and other plans and frankly I do not want another plan.  Apple advertises two plans ranging from $15 to $25 per month.  But that quickly adds up to $200 to $300 a year.  Within a few years the plan becomes more expensive than the device.

 

So what exactly does Amazon give you for free?  Well, so far I have not purchased any ebooks from my Kindle, but the fact that I did not need to do any manual effort to synch the book I already purchased (no cables, no Wifi fuss, no sync software) was a beautiful thing.  Also, I have purchased a $10 monthly subscription to the Harold Tribune which is automatically delivered to my kindle every day except Sunday (weekend edition shows up on Saturday morning.)  The funny thing is when I purchased the newspaper subscription for the Kindle, I could only have it delivered to a single device, so I chose the DX.  Amazon keeps track of the different Kindles associated with the account (my Kindle DX, Kindle for Mac, Kindle for PC 1, for PC 2, etc…)  I tried manually downloading it on my PC (an option when your 3G is either too slow or you are having issues) and adding it to my Kindle for PC repository. Unfortuatly it appears the DRM (digital rights management) encoding must have prevented it from being read from any device other than the one subscription is registered to deliver to, because the Kindle for PC refused to open it.

 

So books can be purchased using Amazon and read on multiple devices around the house, but newspapers can only be read on one device.  That is the first limitation I found.  Remember, I didn’t purchase the ebook reader to read periodicals like newspapers, only to replace traditional books.  But so far, I have read a few articles and find it adequate for newspaper reading.  I may or may not continue my subscription with the Harold.  I just wanted to play around with it to understand how the device handles newspapers.

 

After the newspaper I tried loading some PDF’s from books I had purchased, such as Bill English’s MOSS Admin Guide and the Best Practices, plus a few other PDF’s of technical materials that I have gathered.  Reading these were challenging.  First of all, there is no indexing, so it is hard to jump to a particular location in the book.  Also, if you rotate the book vertically, it is just big enough to read the font, but when the Kindle DX is rotated horizontally (landscape) only half the page shows up, so the font is easier to read.  So not great but adequate.  Probably fine if you are going to read the PDF from beginning to end, but painful if you need to use it as a reference and jump around. 

 

The next thing I tested was the Basic Browser (found under the Experimental menu.)  This was painful.  It does provide a very raw text only with limited graphics access to web pages, so maybe if I were reading a spec published on W3C it may come in handy, but the browser is quite terrible for a number of reasons.  The primary reason is navigation.  The tiny joystick nob required to move around and click hyperlinks is very awkward, slow, and actually painful on my thumb.  I do have a previous injury that exacerbates it but, regardless, it is not a good browser.  It is labeled "experimental" and rightly so.  One thing I think is nice, is the connection to Wikipedia.  I am a heavy user of Wikipedia, and since their content is very text heavy, it lends itself well to the Kindle’s browser.  It may come in handy to do some quick research on a topic while reading if I’m nowhere near a computer.

 

Finally, the highlighting and typing interface and general menu system took me a while to get used to and figure out.  Something that is quite easy in the Kindle for PC has so far eluded me on the Kindle DX, is the ability to bump up the font size.  I’m sure it is in there somewhere and I’ll eventually RTFM to figure it out, but I have not stumbled on it anywhere in any of the settings menus.

 

The battery life is very impressive.  I leave it on and use it at random times over the past few days without charging it and it still has half the battery.  The cell reception here is not very good, but I haven’t noticed any issues waiting for content to arrive.

 

So here is my vote, using the scholastic A to F ratings:

A for ebook reading

B+ for newspaper reading

C+ for PDF technical book reading 

D- for web browsing

C- for general navigation

A+ for battery life

A+ for free wireless global Internet access with no hassles

A for the OCTOVO sleeve which I found to have the best reviews on Amazon.  Simple, light, and protective.

 

So my final vote as a simple replacement for paper based books for casual reading, I give it an A+ (A for ebook reading, A+ for battery life, and A+ for hassle-free connectivity.)  Now comparing it to the iPad and bringing the web surfing into play, that is a topic for next time when and if I get my hands on a read one and not just write about specs, videos I’ve watched, and hearsay.

 

One thing for sure, once I get an iPad, the first app I will download will be Kindle for iPad so I can compare the two plus any native ebook reading software that Apple ships with their device.

 

More information on the Kindle DX can be found on Amazon.

eBook Reader: Kindle vs iPad

With the latest release of Apple’s iTouch/iPhone/iPad device (yes it is a device and not a computer,) I have begun to contemplate forcing myself into the 21^st century by ditching tree based books for eBooks.  Truth be told, I am not a big reader of tree-based books (made from chopped up trees and that thing that is becoming more and more obsolete: “paper”.)  I probably read about 2 non-tech books a year and maybe buy 5 techie books per year that I don’t read cover to cover but instead use more as a reference most of the time.  Most of my reading is via blogs, tweets, and online articles on Wall Street Journal’s web site or other news sites.  But eye strain and the computer’s convenience is detracting, so I like backup reading material such as magazines, tech books, newspapers when I am in a situation that makes reading on a laptop or desktop inconvenient or prohibited, for example, taking off or landing in an airplane. Actually, writing this blog post makes me realize how much reading I actually do.  I always feel a bit ashamed because I don’t read very many “normal” books.  The last normal book I read was The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.  Most of the time the books I read are the likes of “Expert F#” by Don Syme or Joe Armstrong’s “Programming Erlang.”  Also just side note, I’m not completely new to eBooks.  I read the entire Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy on my Samsung SPH-i500 Palm Pilot SmartPhone back in 2003, a monumental feat on a very small 162 x 176 pixels screen.

So, if I dive into the world of eBooks as a true replacement of paper based books, I want to choose the best device for my lifestyle and needs.  I have narrowed down to two of the most popular devices: Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iPad.  For the Kindle, I am considering either the Kindle or the Kindle DX.  For the iPad, I’m considering the cheapest one.  The specs that are most important to me are price, weight, display, and convenience.  Convenience will be described in detail below.  So here are the specs:

	Kindle	Kindle DX	iPad16 GB Wi-Fi model
Price	$259	$489	$499
Weight	10.2 ounces	18.9 ounces	24.0 ounces
Height	8 inches	10.4 inches	9.6 inches
Width	5.3 inches	7.2 inches	7.5 inches
Thickness	0.33 inches	0.38 inches	0.50 inches
Display Resolution	800 x 600 pixels	1200 x 824 pixels	1024 x 768 pixels
Display Detail (Pixels per Inch)	167 ppi	150 ppi	132 ppi
Display color/gray scale	16 levels of gray	16 levels of gray	(specs not found on apple.com but assuming 32-bit color)
Display Size	6 inches diagonal	9.7 inches diagonal	9.7 inches diagonal
System Requirements	NONE	NONE	Mac (OS X) or Windows PC (XP or later) and iTunes 9.1
Battery Life	1 week with wireless on 2 weeks wireless off	1 week with wireless on 2 weeks wireless off	10 hours
Wireless connectivity	Global broadband	Global broadband	Wi-Fi
Cost to connect	Free	Free	Depends on the local Wi-Fi connection

 

So let’s interpret these stats with my priorities.

Price: The Kindle is half the price of the Kindle DX and iPad. Note that the iPad I’m evaluating is the cheapest one and does not include 3G.

Weight: The Kindle wins hands down in this comparison with the iPad as the heaviest device.  Ounces mean a lot to a road warrior and I’m always trying to trim down my luggage.

Display: The Kindle also has the best resolution measured in Pixels Per Inch (ppi).  As far as display real estate, the iPad sits right in the middle between the smaller Kindle and the Kindle DX which has 25% more pixels than the iPad (988,800 pixels on the Kindle DX vs 786,432 pixels on the iPad.)  The Kindle DX and the iPad actually have the exact diagonal display size of 9.7 inches.  The non-DX version of the Kindle may be a bit too small, but based on my conversations at airports with Kindle owners, they don’t have a problem with the 6 inch screen.

Convenience: Convenience will mean different things to different people, but for me it boils down to 3 things, battery life (I hate hunting for power outlets, especially in airports), connectivity, and dependency on a computer.  Well, I have to admit that the iPad completely fails in this measurement for me.  First of all the battery life in the Kindle is measured in weeks (not hours like the iPad.)  Second of all, the connectivity sounds so amazing in the Kindle that it does not even seem real.  Imagine a Sprint based global wireless connection that has no dependency on a home Wi-Fi, a hotel or airports Wi-Fi service, or any contracts.  Plus it is completely free.  If I need to download a book on the iPad what are my choices?  Well, I can connect the iPad via USB cable to one of my of computers.  Plus I need to make sure that the computer has iTunes 9.1 installed.  Plus I need to connect iTunes to the iTunes Store or synch a PDF or some other file into iTunes first and then synch it with my iPad. 

The alternative approach to connecting to a computer via USB cable is to use Wi-Fi.  Well, at home that may not be a problem (although iPad has been getting some bad press lately with the issues with some Wi-Fi routers.)  But what about at the airport, or hotel, or worse, sitting on the runway on an airplane?  Can I get free Wi-Fi, probably not.  So I have to pay $10 or $20 to connect for 10 minutes to download a book.  What happens if I run out of time and don’t find what I want?  It’s happened to me before where I end up paying for wireless at an airport and I end up not having enough time to do all the things I planned on when I shelled out the money for a day pass at the airport before my flight departed.  Plus the whole inconvienence of pulling out my credit card in an airport chair and typing the data into a Wi-Fi screen and agreeing to the contract can burn 15 minutes of precious time.  I’m not considering the iPad with AT&T 3G because first of all the device is too expensive for me to justify as an eBook reader. Plus the contract required will end up costing probably up to $600 a year, which is more than the price of the device itself.

So based on these specs the obvious choice, the reasonable choice, is the Kindle.  Either the small cheep one or the iPad size one which is the same price as the iPad.

So why am I having such a hard time resisting the iPad?  Is it the color screen?  Is it the accelerometer and all the snazzy apps?  You have to admit that the iPad is much sexier than the Kindle.  But to be honest, I should give my eyes a bit more rest by reading on the Kindle’s display over the iPad’s display.  I am told the Kindle causes less eye strain and is almost like reading a paper based book.  Well, once I make my decision and jump into the 21^st century of book reading I will update this blog post with the choice I made.  So what book reader do you have?  And what do you like about it?