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Is the Kindle DX any good?
Legba
He did.Registered User regular
He did.Registered User regular
So I'm coming over to America next month. Obviously I need to get myself shiny new toys. One of them being a Kindle, which I've been desiring years now.
There are two main uses I want from my ebook reader. Obviously, I want to read books. But I also want to fill it up with my RPG book collection. Lord knows that carrying a backpack full of RPG books to sessions is a pain in the ass. The idea of having all of my books handy in a lightweight device I can put in my bag has a lot of appeal.
What I'm wondering is whether anyone else has done this, and how it's worked out. Is the DX too big to comfortably read from if I just want to chill out with a book on the bus? How is it for reading PDFs, when I'll mainly be sitting at a table surrounded by dice?
I've looked for reviews but it's hard to find anything talking about this generation of Kindles, and even then I'd really like the opinion of someone with first hand experience.
Finally if anyone has any alternatives that'll do the job as well or better, I'm not married to the Kindle itself.
There are two main uses I want from my ebook reader. Obviously, I want to read books. But I also want to fill it up with my RPG book collection. Lord knows that carrying a backpack full of RPG books to sessions is a pain in the ass. The idea of having all of my books handy in a lightweight device I can put in my bag has a lot of appeal.
What I'm wondering is whether anyone else has done this, and how it's worked out. Is the DX too big to comfortably read from if I just want to chill out with a book on the bus? How is it for reading PDFs, when I'll mainly be sitting at a table surrounded by dice?
I've looked for reviews but it's hard to find anything talking about this generation of Kindles, and even then I'd really like the opinion of someone with first hand experience.
Finally if anyone has any alternatives that'll do the job as well or better, I'm not married to the Kindle itself.
Legba on
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Ask here, you'll get a more in depth answer, as I imagine that somebody with that device will have tried it.
As for PDF's, the DX would be better for it, but it is much larger. You might want to go to Target or somewhere they have a floor model so you can look at it yourself. Reading PDF's isn't easy, but it works, especially if you have the ability to manipulate it.
Definitely head to a store to hold one in your hands though.
I'll be hanging out with some friends for a week or so before heading off for places unknown, so I was counting on ordering it before I head out to America and having it delivered to my friends.
There are good size comparisons and other comparisons here.
He's a bit obsessive and is in the process of printing out a 1:1 scale image of a DX that he can glue on the cardboard backing, but I'm quite happy with the crude ballpoint drawing. The difference between a set designer and a script writer, people!
I have to say it's a lot smaller than I imagined. The display isn't even close to 1:1 scale of the PDFs I want to show on it. Perhaps in landscape mode, but that's not exactly ideal.
Depending on what games you play, you may be able to just use it as a rules compendium. 4e has a very comprehensive compendium for 5 dollars a mo., which I subscribe to.
The Kindle is shittttty for web browsing.
The 3g burns the battery much faster than just getting on wifi when you need to buy a book, and it'll often lose connection and refuse to reconnect without rebooting the entire device.
That is great to hear. I've lusted after a kindle for a long time now--purely for reading books--but was unwilling to spend the 80 bucks for the 3g, but at the same time, terrified that I would be getting a bum deal without spending that money.
I used to think this, too. My wife ended up getting me the wi-fi only version for Christmas, and I have not run into a single time where I had thought "man, if only I had a 3G connection."
I turn it on to buy books, and turn it off again immediately to prevent it from drinking all of my precious electricity.
If you expect to be within range of your wifi or someone else's wifi the majority of your time though, the wifi only one is the model to get.
Although it's the Kindle 3, so it has BOTH 3G and Wifi, so whenever she gets internet again she'll have the improved speed by default. I'm guessing the older Kindles were either/or?
edit: also some sites don't work with is as it doesn't support anything that wants to pop up a new window, and some sites with login protection will lock your account because it looks like you're attempting to log in from Seattle if you're using the free 3G.