John D. Emerson asked:




There are a lot of ebook readers out there on the market, but it makes the most sense to compare the Kindle DX vs. the Sony Reader Daily Edition if you are looking for the best quality ebook reader money can buy..

What’s so special about the Reader Daily Edition and Kindle DX readers? They both represent the “Top-of-the-line” ebook reader designs for Sony and Amazon. Both have more robust features than their cheaper counter-parts; the Kindle 2 and Sony Reader Touch and Pocket Edition.

Here’s a detailed comparison between the two big boys on the market.

The Display Screens for both the Kindle DX and Daily Edition use the E-ink technology that is used for the majority of ebook readers on the market today. Pictures and text look sharp and clear, in 16 shades of gray. Text can be resized to much larger or smaller, depending on the reader’s needs.

The Sony Daily Edition has a touch screen navigation, whereas the Kindle DX is push button navigation on the bottom and sides. This seems to be a hot point of debate for many. Seeing a touch screen, to many people, means that it must be easier to use, more advanced, and therefore better right? On the contrary, it could be seen as actually getting in the way during the reading experience, since if you touch the screen with a swiping motion the page changes. Obviously, it’s user preference when making the choice.

Screen Size- The Kindle DX has a 9.7-inch screen, whereas the Sony Reader Daily Edition is 7-inches. The DX obviously has more display screen and reading screen space, and will in turn be a larger device.

Rotation for Landscape View- Both the devices let you read in a “landscape” or “wide-screen” view, just by turning it on it’s side.

Standard Memory Space for the Readers differ widely, as the Kindle DX is 3.2 GB (3,500 books) and the Sony Reader Daily Edition is 1.6 GB (“hundreds” according to Sony). However, you can add an SD card to the Sony Reader to add more memory.

Wireless- Both the ebook readers allow you to download books, magazines, and other publications wirelessly without the need to hook up to a computer. Download time for a book is around a minute with both devices.

Global Wireless? However, only the Kindle DX works in other countries outside the U.S.. Meaning, you can’t hook up wirelessly to the network to get new publications (daily newspapers) or new book titles when travelling abroad, or if you simply live outside the U.S..

Document Types and Number of Books and Publications Available- The DX and the Reader Daily Edition allow you to read PDF’s, and other document types as well on the device. Amazon has just over 350,000 titles available, whereas the Sony has those same titles, plus the “public domain” works that Google has compiled over the last few years. These are older books that no longer have copyrights applicable to them.

Taking Notes on the Device- The Sony Daily Edition has a “stylus” that comes with it to allow you to take notes in the books and on documents, etc…

And last but not least, the pricing of the two – The Kindle DX is priced at $489 whereas the Reader DE is priced at $399.

So there you have a detailed comparison of the features of, arguably, the best two ebook readers on the market today.

Hamish Hayward asked:




The latest in Amazon’s Kindle ebook reader family – the DX was announced in early May, just a few weeks after the launch of the Kindle 2 in February. Ever since then Kindle owners and prospective owners have been speculating about just how big the changes and enhancements in the DX in comparison with the Kindle 2 actually were. If you’re an existing Kindle owner or if you’re an avid reader wondering which of the two devices would be the best for your needs, then check out the comparison below:

Display

The Kindle DX has a 9.7″ screen (measured across the diagonal) – which is two and a half times larger than the Kindle 2′s 6″ screen. Apart from the obvious size advantage, the DX screen has an auto-rotate feature which allows you to switch from the standard portrait mode to landscape mode simply by rotating the device. This makes the DX better for reading newspapers, magazines and other text which contains graphics.

Overall Device Size

The DX has overall dimensions of 10.4″ X 7.2″ X 0.38″ and weighs in at 18.9 ounces. The Kindle 2 has overall dimensions of 8″ X 5.3″ X 0.36″ and a weight of 10.2 ounces. So, whilst the Kindle DX isn’t too large or heavy to carry around, the Kindle 2 is the more portable of the two devices.

On Board Memory Storage Capacity

The DX has 4 GB of internal memory – which equates to storage for approximately 3,500 books. The Kindle 2 has 2GB of memory, enough for about 1,500 books – not too shabby, and enough to keep most people supplied with reading material for a long while, but still some way short of the DX.

PDF Support

The Kindle 2 can read PDF files – but only after you e-mailed them to Amazon for conversion. There is a fee – very small admittedly – for the conversion. All in all, a bit of a hassle. The DX on the other hand has PDF support built in so you can just load up your PDF files and read them with no conversion, no fee and no fuss.

Price

The Kindle 2 is currently available for $299. When the DX ships on June 10th it will cost you $489. It’s hardly surprising that the price is somewhat higher than the Kindle 2, the larger screen is one of the most expensive items in the device so a higher price point is to be expected. If you compare the DX’s $489 ticket price with the $859 of the iRex Illiad – a comparable 10″ ebook reader device – the DX doesn’t look quite so pricey anymore.

Final Analysis

Although the Kindle 2 is relatively new, and was itself a big step forward in comparison with the original Kindle, the DX offers significant further enhancements. The larger display and the ability to handle pdf files is more than enough to justify you spending a little extra – especially when you consider the price of other similarly sized ebook readers on the market. Unless Amazon make a further significant downward adjustment of the Kindle 2 following the launch of the DX, go for the DX option.