4 ms·

The killer feature is that it reads PDFs natively now (i.e., without having to convert them). For someone who prefers to read on screen and who has to read a lo

The killer feature is that it reads PDFs natively now (i.e., without having to convert them). For someone who prefers to read on screen and who has to read a lot of PDFs, this is very exciting.

jamiequint 17y ago
This is really cool. I have the Kindle 2 and the PDF conversion on many books is really bad, but especially programming books. However, the Kindle DX looks huge. I'm not sure I could carry that thing around the same way I do the Kindle 2.
- neovive 17y ago
  As stated a few places. I think this may work well for students that need to carry around many large/heavy textbooks. Since it would still fit nicely in a book bag. However, the price tag is a bit high for students, unless the textbooks are already included :)
  - Xichekolas 17y ago
    Eh, eight semesters in college at $400 in books per semester comes out to $3200. An extra $500 wouldn't make a huge difference, and would make biking up the hill much easier. ;)
    - mblakele 17y ago
      Better add the cost of a replacement policy to that total.
  - gcheong 17y ago
    I'm thinking of getting my niece one when she goes to college, but that's still a couple years out so who knows what will be available by then. The point is, I'm sure many if not most of the students will not buy them directly but will have them bought for them by their parents, or others just as computers are now.
  - Herring 17y ago
    Noone else will say it, but I'm sure the piracy will pick up if it gets popular enough.
    - seldo 17y ago
      It sort of seems like it's massively in Amazon's interest if it does, right? They want eBooks to catch on like MP3s did, and the way to do that, it turns out, is a decade of massive piracy before the publishers finally give in.
      - andreyf 17y ago
        I don't know if it's in Amazon's interest or not, but at least from my experience at Rutgers, it's more than true. Internal file sharing networks had PDF versions of nearly every textbook used in the CS and Math departments...
henning 17y ago
Where can those PDFs come from? Can I just send it files from my computer's hard drive and then read them on the Kindle, like an iPod for PDF?
- kirubakaran 17y ago
  It has a USB 2.0 port.
- jamiequint 17y ago
  You get a kindle email address. You email PDFs to it and they automagically appear on your device. Although this costs $0.10 a pdf. You can also plug it in and it opens as a flash drive, then you just drag and drop. (In the case of the Kindle 2 you also have to convert to the right format, DX sounds like it will be easier)
  - rufo 17y ago
    Not anymore. http://pragdave.blogs.pragprog.com/pragdave/2009/05/amazon-tighten-their-grip-on-kindle-distribution-.html http://pragdave.blogs.pragprog.com/pragdave/2009/05/amazon-t... To summarize: The price of e-mailing your Kindle is now 15c/MB, rounded up.
    - adamc 17y ago
      Much less attractive.
      - sketerpot 17y ago
        The USB drag-and-drop still works, right? That's not quite as trivial, but still not particularly difficult.
        there 17y ago
        the kindle 2 supports downloading files that you navigate to via the kindle's web browser. i would imagine the new one still lets you do this.
juliend2 17y ago
can it read protected PDFs also? I suppose that i can enter my password with the keyboard.
- jrockway 17y ago
  You can always just strip the DRM off on your computer.
  - jmtulloss 17y ago
    Most NDAs aren't very lenient to stripping protections one of the parties has put on its data. Protected PDFs aren't really consumer products like video and audio, you usually want to follow the rules.
    - jrockway 17y ago
      Protected PDFs are how most technical e-books are distributed.
  - boundlessdreamz 17y ago
    How do you do that for simple password protected PDF's ?
    - inklesspen 17y ago
      Elcomsoft makes a product that can do it. They charge money, of course. Free alternatives can be found, if you care to look for them.
kqr2 17y ago
I'm an original Kindle owner and I hope that they backport the pdf viewing software. Pdf conversion using mobipocket creator gives mixed results. Also, I purchased some technical books via Amazon where the images appear to be fixed resolution. For example, when I resize the text, the illustration still stays small. Sometimes the text in these illustrations are barely readable. If I purchase the new Kindle, I hope that they will reconvert some of these books so it can take better advantage of the screen real estate.

The killer feature is that it reads PDFs natively now (i.e., without having to convert them). For someone who prefers to read on screen and who has to read a lot of PDFs, this is very exciting.

jamiequint 17y ago

This is really cool. I have the Kindle 2 and the PDF conversion on many books is really bad, but especially programming books. However, the Kindle DX looks huge. I'm not sure I could carry that thing around the same way I do the Kindle 2.

neovive 17y ago
As stated a few places. I think this may work well for students that need to carry around many large/heavy textbooks. Since it would still fit nicely in a book bag. However, the price tag is a bit high for students, unless the textbooks are already included :)
- Xichekolas 17y ago
  Eh, eight semesters in college at $400 in books per semester comes out to $3200. An extra $500 wouldn't make a huge difference, and would make biking up the hill much easier. ;)
  - mblakele 17y ago
    Better add the cost of a replacement policy to that total.
- gcheong 17y ago
  I'm thinking of getting my niece one when she goes to college, but that's still a couple years out so who knows what will be available by then. The point is, I'm sure many if not most of the students will not buy them directly but will have them bought for them by their parents, or others just as computers are now.
- Herring 17y ago
  Noone else will say it, but I'm sure the piracy will pick up if it gets popular enough.
  - seldo 17y ago
    It sort of seems like it's massively in Amazon's interest if it does, right? They want eBooks to catch on like MP3s did, and the way to do that, it turns out, is a decade of massive piracy before the publishers finally give in.
    - andreyf 17y ago
      I don't know if it's in Amazon's interest or not, but at least from my experience at Rutgers, it's more than true. Internal file sharing networks had PDF versions of nearly every textbook used in the CS and Math departments...

henning 17y ago

Where can those PDFs come from? Can I just send it files from my computer's hard drive and then read them on the Kindle, like an iPod for PDF?

kirubakaran 17y ago
It has a USB 2.0 port.
jamiequint 17y ago
You get a kindle email address. You email PDFs to it and they automagically appear on your device. Although this costs $0.10 a pdf. You can also plug it in and it opens as a flash drive, then you just drag and drop. (In the case of the Kindle 2 you also have to convert to the right format, DX sounds like it will be easier)
- rufo 17y ago
  Not anymore. http://pragdave.blogs.pragprog.com/pragdave/2009/05/amazon-tighten-their-grip-on-kindle-distribution-.html http://pragdave.blogs.pragprog.com/pragdave/2009/05/amazon-t... To summarize: The price of e-mailing your Kindle is now 15c/MB, rounded up.
  - adamc 17y ago
    Much less attractive.
    - sketerpot 17y ago
      The USB drag-and-drop still works, right? That's not quite as trivial, but still not particularly difficult.
      - there 17y ago
        the kindle 2 supports downloading files that you navigate to via the kindle's web browser. i would imagine the new one still lets you do this.

juliend2 17y ago

can it read protected PDFs also? I suppose that i can enter my password with the keyboard.

jrockway 17y ago
You can always just strip the DRM off on your computer.
- jmtulloss 17y ago
  Most NDAs aren't very lenient to stripping protections one of the parties has put on its data. Protected PDFs aren't really consumer products like video and audio, you usually want to follow the rules.
  - jrockway 17y ago
    Protected PDFs are how most technical e-books are distributed.
- boundlessdreamz 17y ago
  How do you do that for simple password protected PDF's ?
  - inklesspen 17y ago
    Elcomsoft makes a product that can do it. They charge money, of course. Free alternatives can be found, if you care to look for them.

kqr2 17y ago

I'm an original Kindle owner and I hope that they backport the pdf viewing software. Pdf conversion using mobipocket creator gives mixed results. Also, I purchased some technical books via Amazon where the images appear to be fixed resolution. For example, when I resize the text, the illustration still stays small. Sometimes the text in these illustrations are barely readable. If I purchase the new Kindle, I hope that they will reconvert some of these books so it can take better advantage of the screen real estate.