I was doing some browsing at Amazon when I noticed that the Kindle DX has been added to the Kindle family box at the top of Kindle pages, with a new lower price of $299. Previously it sold for $379.
And it looks like the price drop is permanent because on the product page for the Kindle DX it just lists the $299 price without a slash through the old price, and there’s no mention of a sale or special offer.
Left abandoned and forgotten by Amazon, the Kindle DX is well over 2 years old now and is thoroughly outdated from a software standpoint compared to the newer Kindles. It doesn’t even have the same features as the Kindle Keyboard, and there have been 4 new E Ink Kindles since then. Amazon doesn’t even mention the Kindle DX in press releases anymore. Yet they continue to sell it.
Even at $299, I can’t imagine a good reason for purchasing the outdated Kindle DX instead of an 8.9″ Kindle Fire HD for the same price. It’s kind of crazy when you think about it. Unless you really have the specific need of a 9.7″ E Ink ereader with a bare minimum of features.
Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see what the price cut really means. Maybe Amazon is planning to finally release an updated model to the DX line, perhaps one with a Paperwhite display. Or maybe Amazon is going to sell off the rest at a lower price and then phase out the Kindle DX altogether.
One of those two things needs to happen because they can’t keep on selling the DX in its current feature-deprived state forever. A Paperwhite Kindle DX would be a nice addition to the Kindle family.
I noticed this price cut yesterday as well! I bought a Kindle DX last Black Friday when it went on sale for $270, and, despite its age, I thought it was an excellent device. It has all the features you would expect from a good eReader (notes, dictionary, highlights, PDF navigation features), plus the 9.7″ screen is just amazing to read on. I sold my DX on eBay a couple months after I bought it, but I really regret that now. I am anxious to see what happens this coming Black Friday; if it gets a severe price cut, I would consider repurchasing. I tend to think that they are trying to phase the DX out, so I would look for a huge discount this holiday.
“… I can’t imagine a good reason for purchasing the outdated Kindle DX instead of an 8.9″ Kindle Fire HD for the same price. It’s kind of crazy when you think about it. …”
It is even more crazy to leave the DX priced higher than $299.
The lack of buyers isn’t going to push the price too low. Short production runs are going to lead higher prices.
This more like they are keepning the DX around as a “replacement” and “highly niche” item. Like the book that is ranked 42,000 on the best seller list. It is still there in the Amazon online catalog.
I think Amazon is very confident about how many will buy this and just kick off a short production run to last them a year. Inventory overhead is just weaved into the price. I wouldn’t expect a firesale for Holiday season as that would add noise to the prediction calculation.
Paperwhite would be problematical. The buttons would probably disappear, so button-lovers would drop out. Second, throwing the light from the bottom to the top is a bigger issue. There is grumbling about the uniformity on 7″ screen. The 9″ screen would only be more pronounced. And if they try to use the long edge to throw light across, the issues at the low light transitions creep into one of the margins.
That would be cool if they decided to keep the DX around, as Lyman suggests. I know that in my field, there are a lot of reasons to have a 9.7″ eReader for PDFs. But, at that price, I could just spend $200 more to get an iPad 3 with retina display, and that would display PDFs just fine. You would have to be one of those people that loves E Ink so much that you couldn’t bear to use a backlit tablet.
I predict the larger screen DX is going away. There are other e-ink readers with similar size screens (Onyx, Pocketbook, Icarus, etc.) that have better firmware and features than the Kindle DX. And this niche is too specialized for high volume/main stream Amazon.
The DX is the only choice left in the US for a large screen e-ink device. Pocketbook isn’t selling here anymore and if checked all the others with the same results. There is only one other device with a 9.7 inch screen and e-ink and that is the new Jetbook Color. The Triton display is pretty nice but the hardware is not very good that is driving it. If they put more memory and a faster processor in it, I would pay 500 bucks for the Jetbook Color. I just bought a used DX that was supposedly a couple of months old with a scratch on the bezel (and later I discovered three very slight scratches on the screen ) for 180. That was yesterday and today I find the price from Amazon down to 299.
Personally, I would like to see an XGA screen, revamped hardware (i.e. faster processor and more memory), and current firmware with more features. No backlight is needed, just a higher contrast XGA screen would be lovely. I have an iPad and for reading, I prefer not having a backlit screen. I have over a dozen ereaders varying in size from 5 inches to 9.7 and I enjoy the DX the most. Having more text on the screen means less page turns and allows you to go back a bit to read a previous paragraph without having to go to a previous page.
You’re forgetting the Icarus Excel. It’s $50 more than the DX but has a Wacom touchscreen and vastly superior software.
Its now selling for 139 on Amazon
Uh, no it’s not.
Don’t make the mistake of buying the DX without checking how it really works first, at ANY discount price.
I bought it with reading PDF scientific papers in mind, but PDF support is total crap compared to today’s smartphones and tablets.
You supposedly can surf the web for free almost anywhere but the “experimental” browser drives you nuts! I soon found my old SE W810 dumbphone was more useful for surfing the web! And seeing no official fw updates despite the availability of unofficial ones was like a slap in the face.
It is okay for reading e-books though.
A little hint if you desperately need to use the web browser in the middle of nowhere and have absolutely no alternative, and the connectivity is miserable as ever, and even reboot doesn’t help. Visit the Kindle store, the connectivity might magically improve a bit. Then go back surfing your own business, and the connectivity might remain better.