Well the K2 is $360 compared to this at $490. I think they each have a separate market, though if you don't plan on using your Kindle for much more than just reading traditional books, there is no reason to get the big one.

As a college student I would be attracted to a KindleDX for something like a text book though something tells me the large cost of text books is not there to primarily cover the printing and shipping cost. Also, in the past five years or so, text books have gotten magnitudes better as color printing has become standard and the design and layout really play an important role in how your process the information you are seeing. With that said, if it offers a decent amount of savings I guess it is something I would consider as it would be nice to shed a few pounds of weight each day.