Yes, the new Kindle DX, like its predecessor, feels rather giant in comparison to most readers. That said, in our several weeks with the device, we grew accustomed to its size pretty easily and found it to be a more enjoyable reading experience than with many smaller readers. If you think of it as the difference between reading a cozy, convenient paperback and a large, stately hardback edition, you'll about have the feel of the size and weight difference. The DX feels heavier than the Kindle 2 or the Nook but light in comparison to its overall size, and while you will inevitably hold this reader with both hands, we'll go on record as saying that's how we hold most books -- even small ones -- anyway
Physically, not much has changed. The Kindle DX's new shell of gray is pretty appealing, and we definitely prefer it to the white housing of other Kindles. As an added bonus, it seems to boost the contrast ratio on the 9.7-inch screen quite a bit (more on the reading experience in a moment). Like the previous DX, the Graphite version is just about a third of an inch thick, weighs nearly 19 ounces (that's over double the Kindle 2), and stores 3,500 books -- just like the other Kindles. The DX's keyboard is unchanged from the original model and, in our opinions, still pretty abysmal. It is simply not very usable and delivers an awkward, uncomfortable typing experience. The unit is simply too wide, and the layout of the keys too cramped to get much done with it. That said, it's a minor complaint as we've never done a lot of typing with our readers anyways, so we'll be just as happy to never really use this keyboard anyway.
The refresh rate on this big boy is improved, too -- but then, where could it have gone but up? E Ink refresh rates simply cannot compete with LCDs or physical books. Our own experience also found that the refresh rate of the Nook (with its latest software update) is now about on par with this new Kindle refresh rate, so it's fair to say that some of the competition is catching up. Regardless, with this unit, we felt enough latency in the refresh rate to be bothered by it, but e-reader enthusiasts or people who really need to travel with an arsenal or reading material are probably more than willing to let that slide in the face of the other advantages.
One problem that was evident in the first generation Kindle DX persists in this model: the orientation sensor is a bit nuts. While reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in bed, almost any time we adjusted ourselves we found the sensor turning to landscape mode. Then again, when we wanted the sensor to kick in, it would do so only about 60 percent of the time, and again you'll see the effects of slow page refresh times of E Ink. Now, you can lock the orientation sensor and pretty much never encounter this issue again (we can't ever really imagine needing to read a text-based book with adjustable font sizes in landscape mode .
The battery on this thing is what we'd call decent -- it takes quite a while to get a full charge, and lasts about a week of regular use. Amazon says you'll squeeze two weeks out of it with the wireless off, and while we didn't put that to the test, we found the battery life was, as expected, far better with the wireless turned off. The other reason I want The Kindle is my collection of books is so out of control . So I 'm looking forward to doing something new ! ......
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