Hands on review: Kindle DX

Is bigger better?

That's the eternal question behind the Amazon.com Kindle DX, big brother to the recently released Kindle 2 -- and one which is not easily answered, as it turns out.

Consider first the tale of the tape: The Kindle 2 features a six-inch screen, 2GB of storage, a weight of 10.2 ounces, and a $359 price tag.

The new Kindle DX includes a much larger 9.7-inch display, 4GB of storage, a weight of 18.9 ounces, and a $489 price. It also has a few new features you won't find in the littler Kindle 2: An accelerometer lets you rotate the screen onto its side (and the text automatically reformats itself appropriately), and it has a native PDF viewer, so it can read any Acrobat file without the awkward conversion to Kindle format that the Kindle 2 and original Kindle require.

Before we delve into some of the Kindle's more obtuse features, consider first the size issue: Yeah, it's got a bigger screen... but is that necessarily a good thing? The more I read on the Kindle DX, the less I liked the oversize display. There was simply too much text on a page, and I found myself wishing I could "flip" pages more. It gives one a sense of accomplishment, I guess, zipping through a book. Plus, I realized I simply like reading in a smaller format, the same way I prefer to read from a paperback than from, say, a coffee table book. If you're looking at lots of tables and charts, the extra real estate probably comes in handy, but I expect the vast majority of users will never see a single graphic outside of those in the device's screen saver.

(On the other hand: My wife said she definitely preferred the larger screen over the Kindle 2... so really this is all just a matter of personal preference.)

The Kindle DX is also noticeably and substantially heavier than the Kindle 2, and you'll need to use both hands to read from it -- at the very least switching back and forth a bit during a reading session to keep your hand from cramping up. The problem, though, is that Amazon has removed the next/previous page buttons from the left side of the device, so your only choice is to tap the right side of the screen if you want to go to the next page. It's funny: I'm right-handed but found myself mostly holding the screen with my left hand because there are no buttons there that you have to avoid, then reaching to flip the page with my right. Not a huge deal, but I ultimately missed having both sets of buttons, as the Kindle 2 offers, to keep the rhythm of reading unbroken.

I save my biggest criticism for the accelerometer system, however, which is wonderful in theory but is far too touchy in the real world. I often found the screen turning sideways at the slightest provocation, then refusing to turn back to portrait mode without lots of prodding. Landscape mode really does nothing for me at all with the Kindle -- it only makes the lines even longer than they were before and reading completely uncomfortable. I suppose if you're showing off a PowerPoint presentation converted to black-and-white PDF on your Kindle, this would be a wonderful feature... but seriously, will this ever happen in the future history of this device?

Good news: You can shrink column width a bit and add margins to the sides, and turn off the auto-rotation altogether, without much hassle.

Bottom line: The Kindle DX, for me, is too large for easy portability, somewhat awkward to hold, and much more awkward to read. The PDF reader is a wonderful addition, but it's not worth the extra cost, at least for this critic. Others may find the extra real estate convenient and the PDF reader must-have additions, but for the average Joe, I'd suggest sticking with the near-perfect and much cheaper Kindle 2.

UPDATE: Just after publishing this review, my Kindle crashed and now looks like this.