I posted about my Amazon Kindle a few months back and someone asked me about the other generations of Kindle and which I liked better and why. I met a friend of mine (shout out to Lisa) at a restaurant where I brought my Kindle 2, Tom’s (my husband) Kindle DX and she brought her Kindle 1. I took a quick video (more after the video)…
Kindle 1 – I like that the WhisperNet has a physical button on the device. It’s really easy to flip it on and off. You want to keep it off unless you need to download a book so that it doesn’t drain your battery so fast. I don’t like the “Next Page” and other buttons on the side of the Kindle 1. They are really easy to hit on accident.
Kindle 2 – They got rid of the data card slot. I’m ambivalent about this for myself because I cannot imagine myself having more than 1500 books waiting to be read where I’d need a data card. I really don’t like the WhisperNet being software controlled, but it’s not a deal breaker. The big difference is in the controls. The buttons on the side are pressed inward towards the screen so it’s harder to accidentally change the page. They also moved to a small joystick (which can be fidgety at first, took me a while to get used to using it).
Kindle DX - My husband likes this one, but I don’t… It does have native PDF and you can flip the screen long ways to see better and it automatically knows and turns the screen for you. But for me, it’s too big. It doesn’t fit in my purse and it’s a little on the heavy side. The big thing for me is that there is no “next page” on the left. Their answer is you can read it upside down, but then the keyboard and controls are all on top – it’s awkward.
The bottom line is that there are different Kindles for different needs. My husband likes his DX because he doesn’t have a purse and it fits in his briefcase. It’s also good for magazine/newspaper reading as well as his technical documents. I like the 2 for the portability and the ability to use that left “next page” button.
It is a very cool device – either way 
Written by Candy Beauchamp
EMAIL Candy.
Candy Beauchamp is the owner of OffAssist Virtual Bookkeeping, founder of Texas Virtual Assistance League and chief question answerer at 2 Minutes With A VA.
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I love big screens! For the KindleDX size issue, buy a bigger purse. LOL
Personally the price is a bit daunting still, kind of waiting to see the prices go down and implementation of color. I also don’t want to pay for blogs when you have them free on a computer so I’m hoping Amazon get’s with the program gets internet access and a browser for the Kindle. Just sayin
Hi Nancy… it actually does have an internet browser (very limited capability). I guess, for me, it’s my BOOK. It’s not a laptop or netbook or tablet. It’s my BOOK. I need to be able to read it. If they add color, it will be messy – how exactly does that work with e-ink technology? I don’t know that it will without going to a backlit situation and I don’t want that. I like the e-ink technology because of the eye strain you get from starting at a monitor. I dunno, at $300 for a book that can hold 1500 other books that I can read on the go, maybe I’m just silly, but I don’t mind spending it.