It’s really a late review but I reckon instead of just repeat all the specifications and then recycle those as a review, I would rather write you my review after finished six books with the Kindle 2 and the Kindle for iPhone. In other words, it is a review from a book reader point of view, especially living outside US. And I believe, some of the items below also applicable to the Kindle DX.
Kindle 2
- The Kindle screen is good, the eInk is really easy on the eyes, and when combined with variable font sizes it really makes a big difference to eReading experience.
- The device is very portable (not the DX though), and you can bring as many books as you like.
- You can read with one hand (or even one finger), it is really useful in bus, subway, restaurant etc.
- However, it is good for linear reading only – i.e. forget the random access to certain pages and also flip the pages freely to skim the book.
- I found that not all eBooks from Amazon are the same, some with better formatting, some with status bar indicator (it shows each chapter with a tiny dot and also your reading progress … with more dots), some without table of content – even though all eBooks are in .azw format. I suppose it depends on the digitize process from each publisher.
- The bottom location indicator is useless, that will be better if it shows which chapter you’re reading intead.
- Keyboard is usable but not great, it is a pain to add notes to a book, really.
- You can bookmark a page easily, but to retrieve it thru a search is not that easy – the search result page is not that useful after all.
- The built-in dictionary is good.
- There is no Kindle 2 Cover shipped with Kindle2, you have to buy separately.
- PDF support is a joke, but you can partially fix it.
Kindle for iPhone
- The screen is surprisingly good, and easy to read (with different background colors)
- Good for short books, and you can read it anytime even you don’t have the big brother Kindle with you.
- Next / Previous page gesture is even better than buttons in Kindle 2
- Version 1.1 includes orientational lock and paper color
- Whispersync is good (I tried it once in a trip to US), but not for non-US users
In summary, the Kindle 2 is not cheap but I think it worths every penny.
So, what are the books I finished so far with the Kindle ? Here you go:
- Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life; by Tony Dungy
- The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea; by John David Mann (I read it with Kindle for iPhone)
- The Last Lecture; by Randy Paush (I read it with Kindle for iPhone)
- In the Line of Fire: How to Handle Tough Questions…When It Counts; by Jerry Weissman
- Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story, Updated and Expanded Edition; by Jerry Weissman
- Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition; by Guy Kawasaki
Note: The above URLs link to the physical books, from there you can choose Kindle version if you want to.
