Amazon - “Kindle Fire . . . ?

[Joe Louvar]

Amazon - “Kindle Fire“ . . . . ?
Who has/had one - is it worth $200 or not?

Yes? No?

Comments - wait until after the updates, etc?

[Chunk-O-Funk]

Don't really know at this point, I just ordered mine today.

So far I've only heard good things about it and did not read a lot of reviews. I'll have to get back to you on the good and bad. I'm sure it will be some time after the holidays.

[tplyons]

I got one for my Mom for her birthday... fun to play with. The touchscreen leaves something to be desired for but the rest seems great!

[Jared Lash]

My wife bought one and liked it so much she ordered one for me a few days later. I really dig it.

It has some limitations relative to the iPad, namely the lack of a camera, expandable memory, fewer apps (90,000 or so vs the half a million for the iPad) and I don't like where the power button is (too easy to accidentally turn off), the lack of volume buttons (volume is accessed via a slider in the menu) or the fairly cheap AC adapter that comes with it. The browser is also a bit slow.

Not a drawback for me, but it also doesn't have the ability to run on a data plan. You can use existing Wi-Fi or a wireless connection but you can't set it up as a device on your cell plan. I have zero interest in doing so, but I can see how others might be upset to not be able to use it online at any time.

Outside of those gripes, I have zero complaints. Like the iPad it's clearly a luxury item, but I can swallow that at a $200 price point vs a $500-$800 iPad. I actually greatly prefer the smaller size - it can be held in one hand which makes it much easier to actually read (something that I do a lot of with the Kindle) and there's tons of free content if you're an Amazon prime member.

I can't speak for everyone but I really dig the thing.

[iamlowsound]

The Kobo Vox tablet is much better, it has a full version of Android running on it and it is the same price. Although, I don't know if you can get them in the US.

lowsound

[Tsal]

I might be interested in the Fire.. if we got it here on the Euro side Maybe next year, then.

[pointbass]

It's worth the $200, yes, but it's not an I-Pad. My wife has the I-Pad 1 (she's upgrading to the I-Pad 2), I have a Nook Color and a co-worker has a Fire .... if you don't want to spend the I-Pad bucks either the Nook or Fire are good. But the Fire is the least well-built of the three.

As stated above, the Fire has a really **** charger, whereas the B&N gives you much more quality with accessories. The Nook also feels like better construction. The downside is that you have to root the Nook to get away from the B&N proprietary stuff if you want to work it as a real Droid unit.

When my wife gets the I-Pad 2 I'll likely take over her old unit. There is no comparison between the I-Pad and the others in terms of flexibility, speed, etc, but it is bigger and considerably more expensive.

Whatever you get, these tablets are actually a lot more useful than I originally thought they would be ....

[Joe Louvar]

Thank you very much for the help with the replies and insight.

[Marial]

Yes, it is absolutely worth $200. I bought one for my wife and she hasn't looked up much since... We've read the complaints about the Fire and neither of us get them. The screen is sensitive enough that she doesn't always even need to touch it, the browser works fine, and it's plenty fast. The only drawback that we've noticed is battery life. I'm looking forward to getting one myself when I can afford one.

[john grey]

My wife has had each model of Kindle since they came out (works for a University & got it funded through there). I have used each model myself. The issues are specific to what you are doing. Reading PDF's are my big detraction as they can't be advanced in size to the same degree as the native format. However you can alter many file formats through MOBI. That makes it simple to read MS Office and text files easily. The Fire is less robust than some earlier versions. We've owned about half a dozen of various types and the older Kindles can be dropped with little to no damage. Fire has a better display but the battery has about a 12 hour active life. While earlier versions can easily get 16-18 hrs active use.
A great deal depends on what you're going to use it for. If you are looking to use it like an iPad, obviously it's not as feature rich but 1/3 the cost.
There is NO question that you should also buy a leather folder for it. That will keep it in good shape regardless of what happens: some models can really take a great deal of use/abuse.
Re-charging the unit should be similar to most other rechargeable units - let it run down completely before re-charging for the first several times so the battery gets fully charged, etc.

[Joe Louvar]

Thanks everyone. I ordered a Kindle Fire with a zip case, screen protector and Amazon’s prime membership for my wife yesterday. Thanks for everyone’s help.

[Tmw2011]

I'll just leave this here.. (Hopefully, the article can be accessed without hitting the paywall. It didn't pose a problem for me.)
Pulp Friction: The Kindle Debate - NYTimes.com

I went with the Nook Tablet for my 11 year old for $50 more over the Fire.. My main concern was the lack of expandable storage in the Fire. But from the reviews by the pros, the Nook seems to do things a little better than the Fire. My problem with the Nook is that it's being a pain in the butt to lock down... Too many things popping up for 'Buy this now!' & 'Download this now!', especially on the daily shelf function. But the cool thing about it is that you can load an image of the Android OS on a micro-sd card and boot up from it and run it, having an actual plain android tablet. (You can do the same on the cheaper Nook Color, too).

[Joe Louvar]

I looked at the Nook too before ordering the Kindle Fire.

Anyway, my wife loves her new Kindle Fire - oh and Amazon just released the promised update software today (version 6.2.1), my wife’s Fire updated automatically while she was watching a video.

[MatticusMania]

Amazon Kindle Fire

[smeet]

Isn't the Fire just a regular LCD display as opposed to the electronic paper display of the old Kindle?

Electronic paper displays are fundamentally different, they use no power except when changing pages, and they read like real paper, reflecting light rather than emitting it.

I haven't tried the Fire, but light-emitting displays just aren't as good as reflecting non-glossy ones as far as I'm concerned, at least for reading.

[Joe Louvar]

The old Kindle is a better book reader - less glare, lighter weight and longer battery life.

The main reason why I picked the Kindle Fire over the Nook is because the Fire library is much bigger. Plus the storage is big enough for my wife and I can always buy her more online storage if need be, so the Nook isn’t worth the extra $50 for my wife’s use - also the Fire is really easy to use. Oh, and there are no popup ads on the Kindle Fire - I think that would drive my wife nuts too. Away, thanks for the quick Nook review.

[notverygood]

I like the fire. What i can't store on it I can store on the cloud drive, so the complaints about storage don't really apply to me I guess.