Comparing the Various Versions of Amazon Kindle – Which is the Best Buy?

The Kindle is an e-reader or device which allows one to download and read electronic books as well as other digital media. It has been developed by Lab126, a subsidiary of online retail giant, Amazon.com and is currently one of the most popular e-readers in the technology market, other brands being Sony’s E-Reader as well as the Nook from Barnes and Noble.

Click here to see images and a video demo of the Amazon Kindle

In order to display its content, the Kindle makes use of electronic-paper display which is a new technology that creates a paper-like appearance for the electronic text. Other than this, books, newspapers, magazines and blogs can be loaded onto the device wirelessly via Amazon’s free EVDO network (called WhisperNet) and are published in a proprietary format for the Kindle. Kindle owners can also send files to Amazon to be converted and published onto the Kindle, and access blogs, newspapers, websites, and web-based email through the Kindle’s browser.

In all, there are four hardware devices which comprise of Amazon’s Kindle stable and which are unofficially known as Kindle, Kindle 2, Kindle 3 and Kindle DX. The first Kindle to be launched by Amazon was in November 19, 2007 and was available only in the United States. The device became such a rage that it was reportedly sold out in a mere five and half hours and remained out of stock for almost five months till late April 2008. In February 2009, Amazon came up with the second generation Kindle.  Known as the Kindle 2, this was slimmer than the previous version and came with an internal memory of 2GB as well as a text-to-speech option. In October the same year, Amazon introduced the international version of Kindle 2 and eventually discontinued sales of the earlier Kindle 2 model. Amazon was criticized for fixing the original retail price of Kindle 2 as high $359 USD. However over the next one and a half years, Amazon brought down the price and on June 21, 2010, it announced that the Kindle 2 would now sell for $189.

The latest generation Kindle comes in two versions, the Kindle DX and the Kindle third generation, unofficially known as Kindle 3. There are further sub-types of each but contemporary buyers especially those who wish to buy the device online need to choose from the above two versions.

Amazon Kindle Features

As far as display is concerned, the Kindle DX marked a substantial improvement on the previous versions with 9.7 inch (24.6 cm) display with 1200 x 824 pixel resolution. It is a little over 1?3 inch (about 8.5 mm) thick and has a 4 GB (3.3 GB user-accessible) storage capacity which can hold around 3500 non-illustrated e-books. Another major improvement on the Kindle 2 was that the DX came with support for PDF files natively, had built-in stereo speakers and 1xRTT wireless technology as a fallback option for when EVDO connectivity may not be available. The Kindle DX is the first model to come with an accelerometer which automatically rotates pages between landscape and portrait orientations if the device is turned on its side. However like the Kindle 2, the original DX did not have an SD memory card slot.

In July 2010, Amazon launched the third generation Kindle DX which comes with an e-ink screen with 50% better contrast ratio besides being available only in graphite color.

The Kindle 3 announced by Amazon in July this year is available in two separate configurations - the Wi-Fi only as well as Wi-Fi plus 3G models. The Kindle 3 moves up a notch over the Kindle 2 with its E-Ink ‘Pearl’ display which is supposed to offer 50% better contrast as well as a battery life of more than one month when the wireless is switched off. The third generation Kindle is 0.5 inches shorter and 0.5 inches narrower than the Kindle 2. It supports additional fonts and international  Unicode characters. An experimental browser based on the popular Webkit platform is included, as well as text-to-speech menu navigation. The Kindle 3 has an internal memory of 2GB with 1.4 GB available for user content.

The chief advantage of Kindle DX over Kindle 3 is that the former has larger screen and is also the thinnest device till date, besides possessing additional features like the accelerometer. The Kindle DX is being marketed as better suited for reading newspapers and magazines. Also the Kindle DX has a storage space for 3500 books while the Kindle 3 can accommodate around 1500 books. All these make the Kindle DX more versatile and allows for more types of content to be comfortably displayed on its screen. However while the Kindle 3G has a battery life of mover one month with wireless off, the Kindle DX has a shorter battery life of two to three weeks with the wireless off.

Amazon Kindle Price

The major advantage of the Kindle 3 is in its pricing. On the Amazon website, Kindle 3 (with Wi-Fi and 3G) is priced at $189 USD while the Wi-Fi only model is priced even lesser at $139. Kindle DX however comes for almost twice as much. The DX in white is priced at $359 USD while the one in graphite is pegged at $379 USD. This is because the latter packs an improved display, with up to 50% better contrast.

Shipping Costs for Amazon Kindle

The Kindle Wi-Fi only model as yet does not come with the provision of international shipping. However both the Kindle 3G plus Wi-Fi as well as Kindle DX are capable of being shipped to international locations which include around hundred different countries. However the time taken to ship to international locations may vary according to distance and ease of transport facilities.
Ultimately, your choice of Amazon Kindle will depend on what your requirements are.  The Kindle 3G and Wi-Fi are lightest on the pocket, both literally as well as figuratively but if you are located outside the US, only the Kindle Wi-Fi can be shipped to you. On the other hand if you want an e-reader which offers a more diverse experience, the DX might be the right choice for you.