My new toy

For the last few weeks, I have been enjoying my new toy, the Kindle DX. The DX is a version of the Amazon Kindle with a larger screen. This is a wonderful device, and all the more wonderful, for me, because I got it as a very special gift.

The dimensions are more or less similar to those of a regular hard-bound book, larger than a soft-cover.

The fonts are crisp and clear, and although the grey background doesn’t provide as much contrast as a white page, it provides plenty. The font rendering is better than that of many soft-cover books, which can be chunky. A good hard-bound book still has superior fonts. In this photo, I recommend that you click to enlarge, zoom in, and move to the bottom of the photo.

I’ve bought a little zippered case so I can carry the Kindle in my backpack. Battery life is great: so far it seems to get over a week of autonomy before I need to recharge it.

The thin little device (it’s slightly thinner than a CD case) can carry several thousand books. So far, I have around twenty on mine. One of them is the latest translation of War and Peace. Having that tome in the Kindle is an unequivocal improvement over handling a printed edition.

I couldn’t be happier.