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How to Use a Kindle DX as a PC Display

22.07.2012
Compared with other Kindle models, Amazon's is gargantuan. Its 9.7-inch E Ink screen provides ample space for reading books and viewing graphs and images. But what if you could use all of those E Ink pixels for something more creative, such as displaying your Windows desktop? As it turns out, with a few simple tricks you can use the Kindle DX as a computer display that can show anything your usual monitor can show. (Granted, 's grayscale display can't perform or refresh as quickly as a color LCD can, so you're best off using this screen for static content such as documents or Web pages.)

In this guide I'll explain how to do it. First, however, some credit where credit is due: People originally showcased this method on , demonstrating the procedure on a Mac. After working with those folks, I was easily able to apply it to Windows 7 as well. Setting your up as a second monitor is a great trick, but it also can be useful in situations where screen glare on your regular monitor is hurting your eyes.

To get started, you need a Kindle DX, its USB cable, and a PC. You also need a few software components:

Obviously you're about to do something the Kindle DX wasn't meant to do out of the box. To make it smart enough for this trick, you have to jailbreak it. Jailbreaking is a pretty painless procedure. Start by connecting the Kindle DX to your computer and waiting for Windows to mount it as a USB storage device (this should happen automatically after a moment). Next, from Kindle-jailbreak-0.10.N.zip, extract the file called update_jailbreak_0.10.N_dxg_install.bin. Place this file in the root of your Kindle (not in the documents folder).