Kindle Fire

[name]

seriously thinking about getting wife a kindle fire for christmas.  Differences, yes, but not sure that there are 3-500 dollars worth of difference.

[Phrubruh]

Speaking of Kindle Fire. I just got mine today! It's a Christmas present for the family. Don't tell anyone!

[Jesse James]

Paul, I'm curious on your thoughts about it, if you open and use it early.

[Phrubruh]

We just opened it about an hour ago. The 7" screen is nice and bright. It's a little heavy but feels very solidly built. The back is rubberized so holding it is easy. The only controls on the body are the power button, usb plug and headphones jack. There does seem to be a hole for a camera in the upper left corner but I haven't read anywhere of it including a camera. This must be for the next revision or software update.  When I turned it on, it let me choose my wifi connection and then logged in. It took about four minutes to download and install the new updates to the Fire. Then it allowed me to keep it register to me or I could deregister it and tie it to my wife's amazon account. It was a very easy setup.

After that the main bookshelve showed up. It already had access to amazon store. Facebook and a few other apps like email where already installed. A couple of the books we've read on the computer kindle app were already there too. I downloaded the free version of Angry Birds and setup my Netflix account. We played Angry Birds and then the kids watched Gnomeo & Juliet for a half hour. The picture was sharp and clear with no stops or breakup. The speaker was a little tinier sounding but I would use headphones anyway.

We tried the built in web browser and it was incredibly fast. Zooming in and out was very quick. The keyboard was very responsive. Youtube played very well in full screen. We tried some of the books and it preformed well. Since this is our first touch tablet device, it is taking a little getting use to controlling the device. There is a little big of a lag or maybe we just haven't figured it out yet.

Overall, it looks like a real winner for Amazon. There is so much stuff to run on it. I may have to buy another to keep the kids from fighting over it. We are still learning what this thing can do.  Personally I believe this is the first real competition to Apple because of the Amazon marketplace. Movies and mp3s are cheaper than on iTunes. They have a lending library and lots of storage in the cloud. So far I'm impressed.

[Phrubruh]

seriously thinking about getting wife a kindle fire for christmas.  Differences, yes, but not sure that there are 3-500 dollars worth of difference.

Well it is a media consumption device. What it is designed to do, read ebooks, browse web, photos, videos, Android apps, etc., it does very well. There is no expandabilty but everything goes to the cloud. You can't really do real work with it but I think someone is crazy to do real work on a tablet anyway. It's cheap but well made and the battery life is decent.

I think the big thing is the Amazon marketplace. Its just as good as iTunes marketplace but cheaper. 

[Jesse James]

Thanks Paul. 

[Tracy]

Okay - I am a dingwad when it comes to this stuff.  They way I understand it is that you can browse the interenet with a wi-fi connection, but not on the go like you would with a smartphone?  i.e., in my car or whatever.  There is no monthly subscription fee?  I am seriously considering this for me for Christmas.  Thanks!

[Jesse James]

Right...  You can load things on it you want and take it with you to read them, but you can't go to the beach and browse the net.

The only thing that seems "bad" with it are:

-No USB-type port for extra storage.
-Not a ton of onboard memory.
-Stucking using Amazon's pay-for-play type service similar to iTunes (which I think sucks as well, so I'm not saying it's worse, just that it sucks being stuck tethered to these companies).

[Phrubruh]

In order to browse the web on the go like a smartphone, you need a 3G connection. The Kindle Fire only has WiFI not 3G. You can't browse the web on the go like you can with a smartphone. However, the Kindle Touch 3G ($149) & Kindle Keyboard 3G ($139) both have free 3G. That means you don't need a service like the smartphone does. Amazon is paying for your 3G connection to browse their store for free. However both of these devices use eInk screens so no color.

[Phrubruh]

Right...  You can load things on it you want and take it with you to read them, but you can't go to the beach and browse the net.

The only thing that seems "bad" with it are:

-No USB-type port for extra storage.
-Not a ton of onboard memory.
-Stucking using Amazon's pay-for-play type service similar to iTunes (which I think sucks as well, so I'm not saying it's worse, just that it sucks being stuck tethered to these companies).

I read a forum post that someone used a usb microb to sd card reader to watch a movie from. I haven't tried it yet. Silly but it worked.

While there isn't alot of memory on it, all of your purchased videos, books and music are stored in Amazon's cloud so they stream to your Kindle when needed. So you really don't need alot of memory. You can also upload your mp3s to the cloud also.

I was able to get B&N Nook store to come up and buy & run stuff from their store. It isn't built in but you can do it. You can also upload files from your computer. Of course if you want the best of both worlds, the Windows 8 tables (available next fall) will allow you to buy from iTunes, the Amazon marketplace and the Windows marketplace.

[Tracy]

After looking around I am becoming more intrigued by the Nook Tablet.  2x the memory, more user friendly, faster, better screen and I can stream Netflix.  Has anyone else looked at the new Nook?

[Jesse James]

I have...  I found them fairly comparable ultimatley, and probably would've just gone Amazon I think, but I do find the internal storage better IMO.  Plus the little card thing there too...  I liked that a lot more than the Kindle Fire ultimately, but I wound up going route #3 and took a bite out of the choice I made.  Err, it took a bite out of me I guess.

[name]

Two kids pluse wife and I are each getting a Nook Color for Christmas.

I was already leaning toward a Nook Tablet, over the Fire but we had a chance to get in on an educator's deal that put the Colors at a price that was too good to pass up.  Tablet is $50 better the Color I think, but not $140 better.