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The Kindle DX: My First Impressions – PDF Files

July 9th, 2009 |

Author: Doug

Since Amazon first introduced the Kindle I have watched and waited. Watched because the Kindle was due. It was time for a personal reader. Technology had gone beyond paper years ago and it was time for a device to carry the written the word. Waited because I didn’t want to be first. Sometimes first is disappointed and that wasn’t going to be me.

This terrific reader has so much inside that I want to write separate articles as I master the options in the DX. First I want to share what I know about reading PDF’s.

My needs in a personal reader included PDF capability. Having joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary in 2008 I was regularly printing large, multi-page PDF files used for personal study. My home library already had at least two wheel barrels full of training materials. There just had to be a better way.

When the Kindle DX was introduced in June 2009, I figured I was ready to make the purchase. The DX was a larger size and to me size mattered. The closer the Kindle was to 8 1/2 x 11 inches (actually 9.7) the fonder I would be. Larger is readable when your eyesight isn’t as good as it used to be. I’m one of those that carries reading glasses to read the fine print. The Kindle DX was bigger and therefore better.

The price was a tough one at first but what finally sold me was that no subscription was required. Subscriptions ruin my appreciation for a service when the subscription prices begin to climb. I like the idea of being able to read my own PDF files, and purchasing Kindle books when I wanted to. What a great surprise to also find that Amazon.com has some free titles that include genres of interest to me! When you compare what you get with some of the other high tech devices out there today and you don’t want a cellular telephone contract to enjoy book reading the Kindle looked great at $489.

The Day Came

The Kindle was delivered to my mailbox. Strange that $500 worth of technology is delivered by the post office to a rural mailbox but that’s how it came. It even sat in the mailbox overnight because we didn’t check the box on a Saturday afternoon. Thank goodness it wasn’t stolen or that the Summer heat didn’t bake it. The box it was delivered in was obviously from Amazon but to the casual observer it probably looked like a book. Save the box and packing kit when you get yours. It was substantial and may come in handy someday.

When I opened the box there was the Kindle DX , an AC charger/adaptor and a tiny getting-started pamphlet. The Kindle had a half charged battery so I was able to try it right away. The actual manual was inside the Kindle as a readable book file. It’s been a week and I have yet to read the entire manual. Basic operation for the computer geek and former software professional was intuitive. My guess is the average reader will also find it as easy to use.

First on My List was the PDF

First on my list to try was reading Pmy DF files. I connected the supplied USB cable to my computer and the Kindle and then copied several PDF files to the Kindle. I was pleased but on a scale of one to ten I give the Kindle DX only a seven with the current implementation. Here’s what I discovered when reading PDF files:

There is no control over character size in a PDF. Zooming in to make the page bigger isn’t possible. Small text is very small requiring reading glasses and occasionally a little eye strain.

While in PDF mode you can’t highlight text and save it to the clippings file. When I read my paper files I mark text with yellow highlighter regularly. Adobe and Amazon need to get together on this with a version of PDF for the Kindle!

Large PDF files take a little longer to load than smaller PDF files.

When you use the “Go to Page” menu function you get to the right place but you cannot use the back button to return from whence you came. You must go back to the page number you left. Going to page 608 takes you to page 608 but pushing back takes you to page 607. Perhaps the button could work two ways or it would wait until you push page forward and a new return default of “the page you actually left” could be bypassed. That’s an enhancement request from me to Amazon.

PDF document search works very well. I searched for a combination of two words in a 618 page document. The Kindle found all of the occurrences I expected it would find. You can also bookmark a page. A very tiny, and I mean very tiny folded page corner appears on the upper right corner. You have access to your bookmarks from the menu button. This is an appropriate way to save an important page. The keyboard on the DX reminds me of the keyboard on a cellular telephone. In order to access numbers you first press the ALT key, find the number and press that key. Numbers are shared with the first row of letters. Using the chicklet style buttons requires my reading glasses.

So far images in PDF files are reproducing just fine. When I run into one that doesn’t appear correctly I note it under this article.

Anytime I’m going somewhere where I expect to have to wait I take my Kindle. Hey if the other geeks are all wearing their Bluetooth© headsets I can carry my Kindle. It goes to work so I can read on my lunch hour and with me to the doctor’s office.

So far I am very pleased with my Kindle DX. I hope to write as many more articles on using it as I find interesting topics to warrant the time.

[errata: 071109 DougWeb - It is possible to return to the page you came from after a jump to a page in a PDF file by pressing the "back button underneath the five-way control. The Prev Page button does exactly what it is supposed to do.]

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