The second generation of Amazon's e-book reader Kindle saw several improvements over its predecessor. It has a better display (16-level grayscal versus the original Kindle's 4-level), PDF support (added in November 2009) and more internal memory.

Comparison chart

Kindle (original) versus Kindle 2 comparison chart
Edit this comparison chartKindle (original)Kindle 2
  • current rating is 2.86/5
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
(21 ratings)
  • current rating is 3.19/5
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  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
(43 ratings)
Kindle (original)Kindle 2
Power rechargeable, replaceable battery rechargeable, replaceable battery
Internal Storage capacity 256MB 2GB (1,500 books)
USB port Yes Yes
PDF support No Yes
Accelerometer (changes page orientation from portrait to landscape when the device is rotated) No No
Content formats supported Kindle (AZW), TXT, Audible (formats 2, 3 and 4), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion.
Dimensions 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.7 in 8.0 × 5.3 × 0.36 in (203 × 135 × 9.14 mm)
Weight 10.3 oz 289 g (10.2 oz)
Display 600 x 800 pixel, 6 inch E Ink display 600 x 800 pixel, 6 inch E Ink display
Memory card slot Yes No
Connectivity Amazon Whispernet using EVDO/CDMA AnyDATA wireless modem (Sprint network) Amazon Whispernet using EVDO/CDMA AnyDATA wireless modem (Sprint network)
Price $200 $259
Input USB 2.0 port (micro-B connector), SD card (original model only), 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack built-in speaker, AC power adapter jack USB 2.0 port (micro-B connector), SD card (original model only), 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack built-in speaker, AC power adapter jack
Manufacturer Foxconn for Amazon.com Foxconn for Amazon.com
Type E-book reader E-book reader
Release date November 19, 2007 February 9, 2009
Operating system Linux-2.6.10 Linux-2.6.10

Price

Current prices for various kindle models are available on Amazon.com.

References

About the Author

Nick Jasuja

Nick Jasuja has over 15 years of technology industry experience, including at Amazon in Seattle. He is an expert at building websites, developing software programs in PHP and JavaScript, maintaining MySQL and PostgreSQL databases, and running Linux servers for serving high-traffic websites. He has a bachelor's degree in Computer Science & Engineering.

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