Related
The Verge: 7.5/10
http://www.theverge.com/2011/11/14/2560084/kindle-fire-review
If you're thinking about getting the Fire, you have to decide not just whether you want a tablet, but what kind of tablet you want. This isn't an iPad-killer. It has the potential to do lots of things, but there are many things I have yet to see it do, and I wonder if it will get there given the lean software support. It's my impression that Amazon believes that the Fire will be so popular that developers will choose to work on its platform rather than on Google's main trunk of Android, but that's just a theory right now.
Still, there's no question that the Fire is a really terrific tablet for its price. The amount of content you have access to — and the ease of getting to that content — is notable to say the least. The device is decently designed, and the software — while lacking some polish — is still excellent compared to pretty much anything in this range (and that includes the Nook Color). It's a well thought out tablet that can only get better as the company refines the software. It's not perfect, but it's a great start, and at $200, that may be all Amazon needs this holiday shopping season.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Engadget
http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/14/amazon-kindle-fire-review/
The Kindle Fire is quite an achievement at $200. It's a perfectly usable tablet that feels good in the hand and has a respectably good looking display up front. Yes, power users will find themselves a little frustrated with what they can and can't do on the thing without access to the Android Market but, in these carefree days of cloud-based apps ruling the world, increasingly all you need is a good browser. That the Fire has.
When stacked up against other popular tablets, the Fire can't compete. Its performance is a occasionally sluggish, its interface often clunky, its storage too slight, its functionality a bit restricted and its 7-inch screen too limiting if you were hoping to convert all your paper magazine subscriptions into the digital ones. Other, bigger tablets do it better -- usually at two or three times the cost.
Kindle Fire unveiled
Is a 10-inch Kindle Fire coming? Amazon says 'stay tuned'
Amazon focusing on 'lifetime' Kindle revenue, anticipating record device sales for Q4
So, the Kindle Fire is great value and perhaps the best, tightest integration of digital content acquisition into a mobile device that we've yet seen. Instead of having a standalone shopping app the entire tablet is a store -- a 7-inch window sold at a cut-rate price through which users can look onto a sea of premium content. It isn't a perfect experience, but if nothing else it's a promising look into the future of retail commerce.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gizmondo: 4/5
http://gizmodo.com/5858779/kindle-fire-review-the-ipad-finally-has-serious-competition
If you like what Amazon Prime has going on in the kitchen, the Fire is a terrific seat. It's not as powerful or capable as an iPad, but it's also a sliver of the price—and that $200 will let you jack into the Prime catalog (and the rest of your media collection) easily and comfortably. Simply, the Fire is a wonderful IRL compliment to Amazon's digital abundance. It's a terrific, compact little friend, and—is this even saying anything?—the best Android tablet to date.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bummer that all these lackluster reviews are all coming out one day too late for me to cancel my preorder. C'est la vie! Lesson learned. On the positive side, the flood of returns Amazon is likely to see may lead to an even cheaper refurbished option much sooner than expected.
The Engadget review, when read in its entirety (and not just the feel-good wrap-up), is more of a "meh" tablet whose sole saving grace is that it's cheap.
Wired also had a review, it was meh as well.
Personally, I found The Verge to be the most unbiased of the bunch.
I feel people are expecting to much from this device. For what it is I am hoping it will be a good device. First and foremost it is a Kindle NOT a tablet. Look at their page for the Kindle Fire. I did a search for tablet and the first mention of tablet was in the user comments, nothing at all from what Amazon has called it. Yes it uses Android but I think Amazon knows that this devices in NOT a tablet, it is a Kindle device that can do other activities such as stream music, watch videos and such.
Comparing this to full blown tablets I think is a bit much but it is what everyone is going to do because it runs Android so in must be a tablet.
For me I purchased this device because I wanted something a little larger than my Evo for reading books such. I didn't want to spend $400-500 for an eReader and the fact that I can also stream music and videos as well will be great I hope. I don't need something with all the bells and whistles and I expect that the vast majority of the public will use the device for what it was designed to do. Read books, magazines, watch some videos and listen to music. The people that are "power" users are less than 1% of the people that are going to buy this device is my guess.
For those power users I am sure someone will root this device soon enough and then you will be able to run probably whatever flavor of Android you want on it. I will reserve my "judgement" on this device until Wednesday when I get mine and have a chance to actually mess around with it. Worse case scenario is that I don't like it and I return it and maybe get something different, but at $200 if I can read books on it well enough, (better than on my Evo) then I will be happy and everything else is icing on the cake for me.
-Eric
>I feel people are expecting to much from this device.
The Engadget review mentions functions the KF has but didn't do well, eg the bad video streaming, the klunky navigation for comic (no pinch-zoom) and text reading, the fiddly home interface, the laggy sideloaded apps, the paltry storage, etc. These are all judging the KF on its own merit, not against a higher-end tablet.
e.mote said:
>I feel people are expecting to much from this device.
The Engadget review mentions functions the KF has but didn't do well, eg the bad video streaming, the klunky navigation for comic (no pinch-zoom) and text reading, the fiddly home interface, the laggy sideloaded apps, the paltry storage, etc. These are all judging the KF on its own merit, not against a higher-end tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will have those bugs ironed out before the years out I bet.
Even with that said, all the reviews claim that it is not an iPad killer, which shouldn't need to be said. It never claimed to be, and at less than half the price of the iPad, it should be a decent tablet for those who can't pay the fee to be in Apple's walled garden. Whether it is a fire or the Nook Tablet, the first thing I am doing to it is finding a vanilla rom to flash. I am buying for the hardware, not the skin.
>Even with that said, all the reviews claim that it is not an iPad killer, which shouldn't need to be said. It never claimed to be
That's more in response to the many pundits' predictions that the KF will be indeed that (sales-wise, at least). I think that if the KF had performed well within its limited feature set, then that may've been a reasonable assumption.
>and at less than half the price of the iPad, it should be a decent tablet for those who can't pay the fee to be in Apple's walled garden.
It's a wash. For the lower entry price, the KF is Amazon's (considerably smaller) walled garden. Most people won't root or use custom ROM.
>Whether it is a fire or the Nook Tablet, the first thing I am doing to it is finding a vanilla rom to flash. I am buying for the hardware, not the skin.
What surprised me are all the reports of laggy operations. For an OMAP 4430 running 2.3! It tells me that the Amazon custom layer is major bloatware. I do expect both the KF and NT to get CM9 support when that happens. But with custom ROM, many of the KF amenities will likely disappear, eg Amazon cloud access.
BTW, looks like ICS src is now available.
http://groups.google.com/group/android-building/browse_thread/thread/4f85d9242667a85f?pli=1
EABonney said:
I feel people are expecting to much from this device. For what it is I am hoping it will be a good device. First and foremost it is a Kindle NOT a tablet. Look at their page for the Kindle Fire. I did a search for tablet and the first mention of tablet was in the user comments, nothing at all from what Amazon has called it. Yes it uses Android but I think Amazon knows that this devices in NOT a tablet, it is a Kindle device that can do other activities such as stream music, watch videos and such.
Comparing this to full blown tablets I think is a bit much but it is what everyone is going to do because it runs Android so in must be a tablet.
For me I purchased this device because I wanted something a little larger than my Evo for reading books such. I didn't want to spend $400-500 for an eReader and the fact that I can also stream music and videos as well will be great I hope. I don't need something with all the bells and whistles and I expect that the vast majority of the public will use the device for what it was designed to do. Read books, magazines, watch some videos and listen to music. The people that are "power" users are less than 1% of the people that are going to buy this device is my guess.
For those power users I am sure someone will root this device soon enough and then you will be able to run probably whatever flavor of Android you want on it. I will reserve my "judgement" on this device until Wednesday when I get mine and have a chance to actually mess around with it. Worse case scenario is that I don't like it and I return it and maybe get something different, but at $200 if I can read books on it well enough, (better than on my Evo) then I will be happy and everything else is icing on the cake for me.
-Eric
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kindle Fire: #1 selling TABLET on Amazon.com
There's another review here :
http://jpae.squarespace.com/food-fo...kindle-fire-wont-kill-the-ipad-2-however.html
So, I'm an android fan and have been thinking about selling my iPad 1 and taking the cash and picking up the Fire. I've played with my co-workers and realize they are supposed to be compared. Was just wondering what you guys think?
You will probably be able to sell your ipad1 for at least 300 dollars. I guess it really depends what you want to do with the tablet. There are Android tablets out there with better specs than the Fire that you could get for 300 dollars, maybe cheaper with holiday sales. However, if you are mainly interested in surfing the web and consuming Amazon content, the Fire is the way to go. It probably meets my needs/wants about 80% of the time.
The main issues I have are that browser is not faster than my other tabs, not much storage space for offline content, and keypresses don't always respond.
Edited to add: lack of bluetooth is also a bummer.
brocja01 said:
So, I'm an android fan and have been thinking about selling my iPad 1 and taking the cash and picking up the Fire. I've played with my co-workers and realize they are supposed to be compared. Was just wondering what you guys think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are plenty of tabs out there that will service you better than the KF. If you get $300 for your iPad1 seriously think about looking around at other options. After using an iPad I truly doubt, in the long run, the KF will satisfy you. More memory, more options, a much better chance at HC or ICS (very much doubt the KF will get either) and overall better android experience. Comparing the iPad (any version) to the KF is not really valid no matter who says so IMO. The only things they really share, IMO, is that they are both serviced by closed gardens.
That said, welcome back from the "Dark Side".
What I wish I could do is have both. But the wife says only one tablet. Just kind of ready something for something new. The majority of what I do is Netflix, Hulu, and web browsing. I'm thinking the fire will do all those things well and hoping the developer community gets behind this and we get some fun roms.
brocja01 said:
What I wish I could do is have both. But the wife says only one tablet. Just kind of ready something for something new. The majority of what I do is Netflix, Hulu, and web browsing. I'm thinking the fire will do all those things well and hoping the developer community gets behind this and we get some fun roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can respect that. But don't buy something mainly because it's "new" and "flashy" or "because everyone is getting it". Get something that is scalable, stands good chance of upgrading and will provide you with a learning milieu that truncated e-readers likely will not.
Just food for thought.
Check out the HTC flyer at Best Buy for $299 and look at forums here. It has much better specs and will run netflix and hulu plus.
Edited to add link: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-ga...ablet-dont-forget-the-powerful-htc-flyer/5271
I really like the 7 inch size. The iPad can be too big sometimes.
It all depends on your needs. I for one love my fire. But you have to keep in mind it does have its limitations, aka memory. It has "only" 6.5 Gb of useable storage, personally I feel that is plenty of storage for my needs. I mean I've downloaded a ton of apps and have barely made a dent, but, if you plan on loading up the kindle fire with a ton of music and movies, you may want to think twice, me personallly ill just stream everything. I might load some music on it for a trip, but beyond that I don't see the point. Enough with my storage rant though. I'm really enjoying the kindle fire, I actually have grown to love Amazons custom skin it just makes sense to me, even though at times it can be a little frustrating because of some.minor lag, which I'm sure can be fixed with a software update. But, one thing I enjoy about the interface, is depending on what section you are in, aka books, apps, you can quickly access the store for that content, very User friendly, but if you don't like it then side load go launcher ex and you got an experiance like other android counterparts. And another feature I feel is well done is the search with a quick click of a.button you can choose to search device or web, fantastic. Plus watching Hulu plus on the fire is great, the $199 price tag is really a steal in my opinion.
Sent from my Kindle Fire using xda premium
I sold my ipad 1 around 2 weeks ago to make a switch to the kindle fire and loving it. The whole experience is much smoother, no more checkboards when I scroll down webpages and having multiple tabs open didnt make the tablet unusable. Though I do kinda miss the app store and itune university. I use my tablet mainly for browsing and reading so the smaller form factor is perfect. Before the kindle fire I thought about switching to the galaxy tab 8.9 its significantly easier to handle than the ipad weight just under a lb. I really liked it but for less than half the cost and comparable specs I took the kindle fire over it
brocja01 said:
I really like the 7 inch size. The iPad can be too big sometimes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The flyer is 7 inches. I don't have any big problems with Fire, you just might want to check all your 7 inch options before you decide. Of course with the Fire, you can't beat the price.
I sold my 16GB iPad 1 (WiFi) for ~$225 and got a Fire, I couldn't be happier.
I use an ipad2 as a college book and internet lol... if you can justify using it and getting a better experience go for it. I have an android phone so that would be too much android in my life. I'm sticking with the ipad and android together. Makes the one offset the other when one becomes lacking.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
I sold my ipad earlier this year and picked up a nook. I just couldn't stand iOS. Sold the nook and now i have a Fire. I like it a lot, and i'm really tempted to keep it. I have to say I am disappointed with the lack of storage. As far as i am concerned that is the only major drawback, albeit a large one for me as I can at times be without internet for several months at a time. This is primarily when I want a tablet for movies and reading.
As far as its intended function, as an e-reader, it performs quite well. With wi-fi turned off and the brightness at about 80%, i'm seeing an hour for every ten percent down to 15% before I plug it in.
I think it is a great size. For the most part it is quite portable. Its got some heft to it, but it feels right and solid. I'm sure you have read plenty of reviews by now, so no point in me going on about it.
I say bite the bullet and pick one up as it is quite cheap. If u don't like it sell it, i'm sure these things will be sold out for an amount of time some where, at that point you definitely shouldn't have a problem getting your money back. Heck, pick one up locally, most places now have an extended return policy because of the holidays. I've already bought two as gifts for my family when I go to visit them.
killerbicycle said:
I sold my ipad earlier this year and picked up a nook. I just couldn't stand iOS. Sold the nook and now i have a Fire. I like it a lot, and i'm really tempted to keep it. I have to say I am disappointed with the lack of storage. As far as i am concerned that is the only major drawback, albeit a large one for me as I can at times be without internet for several months at a time. This is primarily when I want a tablet for movies and reading.
As far as its intended function, as an e-reader, it performs quite well. With wi-fi turned off and the brightness at about 80%, i'm seeing an hour for every ten percent down to 15% before I plug it in.
I think it is a great size. For the most part it is quite portable. Its got some heft to it, but it feels right and solid. I'm sure you have read plenty of reviews by now, so no point in me going on about it.
I say bite the bullet and pick one up as it is quite cheap. If u don't like it sell it, i'm sure these things will be sold out for an amount of time some where, at that point you definitely shouldn't have a problem getting your money back. Heck, pick one up locally, most places now have an extended return policy because of the holidays. I've already bought two as gifts for my family when I go to visit them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have access to usb power source when you are away from internet, you might check out the seagate go flex satellite( 500gb hdd with built in wifi). You can sideload the app and stream media from the drive to your device. The app isn't terrific, but it does work on the fire. The hdd acts as a router and creates a network between it and your device.
Well, my problem has been fixed. I'm keeping the iPad, so the kids and wife can use it and I'll be buying a Fire right around Xmas. Talked the wife into letting me buy one after saving up some money. Thanks all for the recommendations.
I'm am thinking about getting a 7" tablet. Do you think the Iconia A100 is worth the extra 100 bucks?
The point on the Kindle I'm struggling with is that you don't know now if the custom roms will give you the ICS experience... Without the custom roms, the Kindle will be a piece of crap, because the ecosystem is so limited!
The Iconia will receive an ICS early next year and has all the additional features, everyone wanted to see (camera, BT, micro SD, micro HDMI, Tegra 2, 1 GB ram).
What do you think?
I think the iconia a100 price is coming down. I see that Best Buy has it available online for $250. This is $60 more than the black friday price but still a decrease from the previous $330 price. If you can't wait it is only $50 more than the fire. If you can wait, there are a fleet of other tablets coming out so that price might drop a bit more in the near future.
Had a Black Friday one for less than a day. The terrible viewing angles killed it.
If you plan to spend $300 on a 7" tablet right now I'd suggest the HTC flyer. You can only buy it at Best Buy but it's a single core 1.5 GHz tablet. Has an optional pen that only works in a few apps but that I find quite useful.
In general if you spend more you'll be buying a tablet that has market out of the box, a GPS, vibrator (thought that was gimmicky until I had a tablet with one), more memory both for storage and while running, usually some sort of SDHC card slot, possibly USB host. Quite a bit more feature-wise. You'll be giving up the tight integration with the Amazon ecosystem but everything but the silk browser can be gotten by running separate apps for each feature.
Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk
I returned the a100 after seeing how inferior the screen was to my wifes Fire. My eyes would hurt on the a100. I now have a Fire of my own.
Scott
I agree, the A100 is a nice snappy tablet, but the screen and awful battery life kills it for me, such a shame.
aimfire72 said:
I agree, the A100 is a nice snappy tablet, but the screen and awful battery life kills it for me, such a shame.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True. Had mine for a week. Loved the build quality and responsiveness but screen and battery was a deal breaker.
Bit the bullet and rather than compromise on a minimal tab like the KF, got the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus. Fabulous little tab! Snappy, great battery, HC (ICS coming). Bit pricey but you get what you pay for these days.
bsoplinger said:
vibrator (thought that was gimmicky until I had a tablet with one)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A vibrator, you say... well that gives me an idea!
how is the tab? I bought one for my parents as a gift and got a fire for myself? no point in getting a tab for myself when quadrant core tablets are tint around the corner
Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk
Avoid the A100
I looked at it at Best Buy and the screen was horrible. If you slant it on any angle it has this reflective view. It is really bad. I bought the Fire and it is a LOT better. I don't regret it at all.
Wow, I'm surprised by the hate for the A100. I may be coming from a different perspective than most but I like it. I've had a Viewsonic G tablet for a year. It has the same hardware as the A100 and I've found it to run terrifically. The Viewsonic G really does have terrible viewing angles but this never bothers me. I either use it while holding it (and it is easy to hold it with at a good viewing angle) or I put it in a case with a kickstand. I almost never hold where I'm trying to look at it from odd angles. I guess from that background I find the A100 screen to be way more viewable. Maybe the Kindle Fire has an amazing screen (I don't know) but I have no issues with the A100 screen.
For comparison, both have 1GHz, duel core processors but the A100 has double the RAM. The Fire doesn't have an sd card slot so you are locked into 8 GB but the A100 does have an sd card slot so when you start building up a movie and music collection you can swap out cards. The A100 has a good GPS in it so you can use it for offline navigation while the Kindle does not. The Kindle doesn't have a microphone while the A100 does. I've used Groove IP and it creates a nice VOIP phone but you might want to use headphones for this or you will look a little silly holding the A100 to your ear (LOL).
I really think it depends on what you want to do with it. I like using the Amazon App Store but it is limited in its selection so it is nice having both markets on the A100. From my perspective, if you want a full featured tablet I'd get the A100. If you want a more closed system that keeps things simple but is optimized for media content (except for the 8 GB limit) then I'd get the Fire. The closed system approach is very Apple-esk so I see the Fire as the cheap version of the iPad. Then the question becomes do you want the smaller screen for the (much) cheaper price?
Also, just a note about the Samsung Galaxy Plus. The Plus looks like an awesome tablet. The A100 is definitely a lesser qualified tablet in comparison. I got the A100 for $190 so it fit into my price range and I wanted a full functioning tablet. But if I were willing to spend $400 for a tablet I'd definitely get the Plus.
GiageJoe said:
Wow, I'm surprised by the hate for the A100. I may be coming from a different perspective than most but I like it. I've had a Viewsonic G tablet for a year. It has the same hardware as the A100 and I've found it to run terrifically. The Viewsonic G really does have terrible viewing angles but this never bothers me. I either use it while holding it (and it is easy to hold it with at a good viewing angle) or I put it in a case with a kickstand. I almost never hold where I'm trying to look at it from odd angles. I guess from that background I find the A100 screen to be way more viewable. Maybe the Kindle Fire has an amazing screen (I don't know) but I have no issues with the A100 screen.
For comparison, both have 1GHz, duel core processors but the A100 has double the RAM. The Fire doesn't have an sd card slot so you are locked into 8 GB but the A100 does have an sd card slot so when you start building up a movie and music collection you can swap out cards. The A100 has a good GPS in it so you can use it for offline navigation while the Kindle does not. The Kindle doesn't have a microphone while the A100 does. I've used Groove IP and it creates a nice VOIP phone but you might want to use headphones for this or you will look a little silly holding the A100 to your ear (LOL).
I really think it depends on what you want to do with it. I like using the Amazon App Store but it is limited in its selection so it is nice having both markets on the A100. From my perspective, if you want a full featured tablet I'd get the A100. If you want a more closed system that keeps things simple but is optimized for media content (except for the 8 GB limit) then I'd get the Fire. The closed system approach is very Apple-esk so I see the Fire as the cheap version of the iPad. Then the question becomes to you want the smaller screen for the (much) cheaper price?
Also, just a note about the Samsung Galaxy Plus. The Plus looks like an awesome tablet. The A100 is definitely a less qualified tablet. I got the A100 for $190 so it fit into my price range and I wanted a full functioning tablet. But if I were willing to spend $400 for a tablet I'd definitely get the Plus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to say that the A100 screen looks really nice if you hold it in landscape with the home button to your right. The sucking starts when you use it in portrait. If you view it head-on in portrait, the image tends to look good when you view it from your left eye but becomes dark and inverted when you look through your right. The effect is really distracting.
I also bought the a100 on black Friday and I agree with everyone here, horrible viewing angles and poor battery life but to me the other features outweigh the cons. HDMI out, SDcard slot, and of course Honeycomb. I'd rather have a close to desktop like OS than a more locked down OS like the Kindle Fire. But if you don't mind that the Kindle Fire has excellent build quality and screen.
lcd swap???
I just bought one also on black Fri. ($189) .
I have to agree though the panel is pretty horrible, wonder if we could find a better LCD to swap with..
Is the kindle fire`s LCD the same res and dimensions . Might be willing to take apart my iconia for that.
Though we do not know if we can find a panel with the same exact ribbon connector.
The Fire has IPS and over just better screen quality, IDK the general specs on the a100 screen but as far as I know in general the Fires screen is specs wise superior
I was still set on getting the iconia even after hearing about the screen...until I got to Best Buy and tried it out for myself. I got the Kindle.
Sent from my Kindle Fire using xda premium
GiageJoe said:
Wow, I'm surprised by the hate for the A100. I may be coming from a different perspective than most but I like it. I've had a Viewsonic G tablet for a year. It has the same hardware as the A100 and I've found it to run terrifically. The Viewsonic G really does have terrible viewing angles but this never bothers me. I either use it while holding it (and it is easy to hold it with at a good viewing angle) or I put it in a case with a kickstand. I almost never hold where I'm trying to look at it from odd angles. I guess from that background I find the A100 screen to be way more viewable. Maybe the Kindle Fire has an amazing screen (I don't know) but I have no issues with the A100 screen.
For comparison, both have 1GHz, duel core processors but the A100 has double the RAM. The Fire doesn't have an sd card slot so you are locked into 8 GB but the A100 does have an sd card slot so when you start building up a movie and music collection you can swap out cards. The A100 has a good GPS in it so you can use it for offline navigation while the Kindle does not. The Kindle doesn't have a microphone while the A100 does. I've used Groove IP and it creates a nice VOIP phone but you might want to use headphones for this or you will look a little silly holding the A100 to your ear (LOL).
I really think it depends on what you want to do with it. I like using the Amazon App Store but it is limited in its selection so it is nice having both markets on the A100. From my perspective, if you want a full featured tablet I'd get the A100. If you want a more closed system that keeps things simple but is optimized for media content (except for the 8 GB limit) then I'd get the Fire. The closed system approach is very Apple-esk so I see the Fire as the cheap version of the iPad. Then the question becomes do you want the smaller screen for the (much) cheaper price?
Also, just a note about the Samsung Galaxy Plus. The Plus looks like an awesome tablet. The A100 is definitely a lesser qualified tablet in comparison. I got the A100 for $190 so it fit into my price range and I wanted a full functioning tablet. But if I were willing to spend $400 for a tablet I'd definitely get the Plus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am really not seeing why all the hate for the A100 either..how exactly are you people looking at this thing? I have no problem with the "viewing angle" because im staring straight in front of the screen! This looks fine to me. Not sure why i would hold it from an angle. Plus the usb, hdmi, sd slots do it for me over the kindle fire, with the addtion of android market...to say the thing is "horrible" is overkill
Well, if you could afford the extra 100 bucks, then why should you turn to the Acer Iconia A100? There are many products you can choose, HTC flyer, Tab...
To me, I would like to go for a Kinlde fire, as the warranties and the lighted cover they offer, and I read the comparison between iPad and kindle fire in iFunia, think the Kindle fire is worthy investing
I owned the Acer for a short time. I think the screen and battery make me prefer the Fire. The Acer is a full tablet experience, but I guess they aren't features I need on a 2nd tablet. if I needed a deluxe 7" I'd spend the bucks for the Galaxy Tab, it destroys the Acer.
I was introduced to the Acer Iconia after I purchased my Kindle Fire.
The hardware seems nice; cameras, bluetooth, HDMI out, etc...
Everything my Android phone has and I thought this is interesting especially for only $50.00 more...
Then I saw how the Acer gets charged... and I'm glad I got the Kindle Fire because I can use the same charger for the Fire as I can for my Epic 4G Touch!
Still looks like a nice tablet though
I'm 90% of the way to ordering a Kindle Fire to root and unlock but after hearing of Google partnering with Asus to make a sub $200 tablet, I'm not sure anymore.
The big thing that gets me is the lack of SD Card for the Kindle Fire and the prominent lack of hardware acceleration on custom ROMs that are available right now.
Anyone else in this dilemma? Anyone who owns a Kindle Fire care to comment?
EDIT: Articles:
http://techland.time.com/2012/03/21/will-google-race-to-the-bottom-with-a-150-nexus-tablet/
http://www.tabletpcreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3158&news=asus+google+tablet+nexus+android
after seeing the non existent support for the problems with the original nexus 'Google phone", I would not buy any hardware product from them.
go with the fire.
Meh...there are enough people interested in the Fire for legitimate Kindle use (Prime, movies, reading, etc) that I'm confident I can sell it for the $150 I bought it for and then get whatever tablet I want at that point in time.
I just got a KF on Monday. Love it! I'm currently running CM7. Everything works. I tried CM9 which is really nice, but HW Acceleration is a deal breaker for me. I don't think it is too far off.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk
I dunno, unless someone was planning to root / flash an alternate ROM then I wouldn't suggest the Kindle Fire to anyone but my mom. Not sure what the draw is to Prime, or anything else, and the Amazon app store is sad as all hell.
If you wanted a device to read on, maybe browse the web and add a few apps, then I might say get the Kindle. Always the option to root and unlock, until, if ever, it gets locked down.
BUT, if you want an Android tablet, a cheap 7 inch, I'd say wait for the Nexus tab. The Nexus devices have continued to be some of the best option when it comes to phones, so in this case I'm not sure why it'd be any different.
Basically just depends on what you want out of it. IMO the Kindle Fire, stock, is one sad little piece. It really is. There is no way around it. I would say wait. But then again it is as cheap as it gets. I know I'll be copping that tab when it drops, keep my fire for maybe couch / throne duties.
bleedblue said:
I dunno, unless someone was planning to root / flash an alternate ROM then I wouldn't suggest the Kindle Fire to anyone but my mom. Not sure what the draw is to Prime, or anything else, and the Amazon app store is sad as all hell.
If you wanted a device to read on, maybe browse the web and add a few apps, then I might say get the Kindle. Always the option to root and unlock, until, if ever, it gets locked down.
BUT, if you want an Android tablet, a cheap 7 inch, I'd say wait for the Nexus tab. The Nexus devices have continued to be some of the best option when it comes to phones, so in this case I'm not sure why it'd be any different.
Basically just depends on what you want out of it. IMO the Kindle Fire, stock, is one sad little piece. It really is. There is no way around it. I would say wait. But then again it is as cheap as it gets. I know I'll be copping that tab when it drops, keep my fire for maybe couch / throne duties.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried CM7/9 on the fire?
They would have to make a really good screen to convince me to buy one.
The screen on the kindle is really well for me, especially when watching videos/movies.
Well....... you did ask this in the fire forums so what do u think were gonna say . Get the fire for sure.. wait for kernel 3.0
~ BiteBlaze via SGH-T989
isaiahhhhh said:
Have you tried CM7/9 on the fire?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah running an ICS build right now. I really only used my Kindle for reading up until today ... was hungover and mad as hell at the state of my couch / bed device and rooted / flashed.
The only real positive I have taken from this experience is that I could get real use out of a tablet, something I questioned before. Maybe a little harsh to say it is a sad device, by it's pretty bad in its stock state.
For the Android enthusiast I say wait. There really is no reasonable draw for the Kindle fire.
Great replies everyone, thanks for the opinions.
For me I figured if it had an SD card slot, I could load up movies and watch them on the tablet.
Does it have enough processing power to watch 480p/720p/1080p videos?
Because that I think will be a big difference or the deal breaker between the KF and the google tablet for me.
Honestly, I find the KF to be just fine for what I do. I watch movies on Netflix. I browse the web. I read books. I just haven't found tablets to be as laptop-replacing as they've been marketed. I carry my Kindle in my inner jacket pocket, where it sits just fine on the go. I pull it out occasionally when I'm bored to read a book or play a game. Otherwise, it sits mostly at home, where I pick it up to watch movies or surf the internet. I haven't even replaced the stock ROM, just rooted it to get the Google suite and market. I don't mind the stock OS as some other around here have. And I don't see where hardware acceleration is necessary for any of the above tasks. $200 was well spent on this little thing.
One flaw I will admit though is the terrible screen. It's almost offensive to my retinas. While the colors are nice, it will reflect ANYTHING, which really cuts the viewing experience. You have to actively not focus on the reflection. In sunlight, the brightness needs to be insanely high to see plain text in a book. Even in a pitch black room, it'll reflect the light reflecting off the your face. If you need a mirror as well, this device kills two birds with one stone.
Otherwise, the Nexus tablet looks interesting. I'm a big fan of the Galaxy Nexus, so hopefully this will be on par. Only time will tell though
nxtfari
i have a KF and the wife and daughter use it mostly to play games and watch a movie or two. i use it to read, which is really what it was intended to do
but IF the google tablet comes out i will get one of those for me to tinker with
so if you have not gotten a KF yet then you need to figure out what you want to do with your tablet before you decide which one to get
Full disclosure here. I have had every version of the iPad to date and love version 3. BUT.. it is just a bit too big so I've been looking for something a bit smaller for quite a while. I've bought and sold a number of 7 or 8 inch tablets, Samsung, Pandigital, Ainol to name a few and ended up selling them on. The Pandigital was the most fun. I just hung on to the coat-tails of the smart boys who hacked the hell out of it and made it more than what it was. When the Nexus 7 was released it looked like I had a new best friend but there was nowhere to try the darn thing so I held off. When good old Jeff announced the Fire HD I was intrigued and when there was one on display at Best Buy I fondled it and bought one.
The one thing I really like about the iPad is the aspect ratio of 4:3. Everything has gone to 16:9 and I detest the bloody ratio. I purposely stayed away from them both at home and work and have Dell 16:10 ultrabrights and love them. I have gone from T-Mobile S2 to Note and refuse to look at the S3 or Note 2 because the screens have become longer and thinner. Don't even get me started on the iPhone 5 :silly: I seldom watch movies on a small screen or monitor and with the iPad it is apps like Zite or magazines or comics and it excels at that.
OK, now before you start saying that the screen on the Fire HD and Nexus 7 are the same.... yes I agree. Same aspect ratio but not quite same colour saturation etc, but where the Fire HD beats the Nexus 7 for me is that the Nexus 7 looks and feels far longer and thinner. In reality it is only a smidgen longer but the decrease of width makes it feel like a sausage. I don't have massive hands and to be honest I don't find there to be much difference holding either the Nexus 7 or the Fire HD.
Initially, the closed wall and adverts of the Fire HD were off-putting rather than annoying, but after rooting, which ultimately needed installing the SDK to get my computer to be able to ADB into it, and now there is a hack to remove adverts, the device has grown on me. I was able to install the Play Store and pull down apps like Bloomberg, Aldiko, Currents, MX Player and Skype. I couldn't get Zite but I pulled it from my phone and sideloaded it. I installed Gmail and set up my personal and office mails. The one thing I couldn't get to work was QQ Launcher. ADW launcher works but I find myself using it less and less as I just go to the Apps tab.
Now I can easily watch videos or read ePub files with no problem. I have pretty much most of the things I have on my iPad and I find the size and weight of the Fire HD to be very comfortable.
There was definitely an extra smoothness with the Nexus 7 but was it a "holy mackrel, that just blew my eyelids off".....? Nope. The Fire HD works and works fast enough. The only real slowness, if you could call it that, is a slight hesitancy in scrolling PDFs which have been zoomed. The screen is definitely better than the nexus 7, and if it was possible to get QQ Launcher to run then for me the darn thing would be perfect.
The Nexus 7 was a nice unit. Fast and hackable to the cows came home but the long and thin of it ultimately killed it for me. Also one thing I noticed was that with Zite for example, the Nexus 7 rendered it slightly different to the Fire HD. Text was smaller and not quite so clear. There was also something that may have been a bit dodgy about the Nexus 7 and it was very reluctant to switch on at times. I had to plug it into a power source and then it fired up. The battery was almost fully charged but sometimes it just refused to wake up.
So there you have it, one guys absolutely, purely subjective, non scientific rational as to why the Nexus 7 went back this morning and the Fire HD is still here. Your mileage may differ.
I have similar prefs. I like iPad's 4:3 AR, and prefer a reader for "print" media rather than videos. But I also want a larger size than 7" since legibility matters more than portability.
Presently, my eyes are set on the Nook HD+ for its 3:2 AR, not quite as good as 4:3, but better than the standard 16:10. Since I want it mostly for reading and web browsing (in portrait mode), I don't need cam/GPS/HDMI. But I don't want to be stuck in B&N eco, so am waiting to see if it can be unlocked, or at a minimum rooted.
I like the Nook HD+'s $269 price, which is about the same as the Nexus 7 16GB. The KFHD 9 is $309 w/ charger, and it has 16:10 AR and no SD expansion.
I have a Nexus 7 and picked up a Kindle Fire HD. I'm thinking about switching for other reasons. But I actually think the feel of the Nexus 7 is one thing in it's favor. Both tablets have the same 16:10 sized screen, it's only the bezel that is more narrow on the Nexus 7. And that narrow bezel makes it a lot easier to wrap my hand around the back on portrait mode. While the Kindle Fire is larger and heavier. I can wrap my hand around the Fire HD too, but it's not as comfortable to hold that way.
PS. Though one thing the Fire HD has in it's favor for people that like 4:3 ratios is it's on screen buttons and menu do a much better job of getting out of the way. So I have more screen spaces on the Fire HD than the Nexus 7.
I went the other way around. I started with the KFHD and about after a week, I picked up the N7 and unfortunately, the KFHD is going back to Amazon. I love the better colors, sound and more solid feel but at the end of the day, KFHD is a severely gimped version of android. Amazon left out enough code that this device will never fully function as a true android device without a custom ROM. Rooting helps but not enough. Different strokes for different folks, it just depends on what you want to use the device for. The Amazon entertainment ecosystem just isn't for me.
P.S. I have smaller hands but I prefer the thinness of the N7 over the KFHD. Its easier to hold with one hand, IMO.
I chose the Fire HD over the Nexus 7 also. Couldn't be happier.
Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk 2
It just depends your taste.
I'm thinking of getting a Kindle Fire HD for my dad. He's not that Android savvy, but appreciates a device he can put his music and videos on. And a simple UI. Is this a better device compared to the Nexus 7 for these purposes?
Also, I suppose I can root the device and increase the space allocated for personal content?
fuyoo said:
I'm thinking of getting a Kindle Fire HD for my dad. He's not that Android savvy, but appreciates a device he can put his music and videos on. And a simple UI. Is this a better device compared to the Nexus 7 for these purposes?
Also, I suppose I can root the device and increase the space allocated for personal content?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm... For me I'd think the primary reason to get a Kindle Fire HD is if you are an Amazon user. Because you give up quite a bit in the way of customizability and apps with the Kindle OS. However the UI is pretty simple and easy to use and if he's okay with the limited app selection and primarily wants it for music and videos. Then he'll really like the better looking screen and much better speakers.
The 16GB model comes with 12.63GB available to the user. So I don't think there is any need to reallocate space (it's no like the Nook Color).
fuyoo said:
I'm thinking of getting a Kindle Fire HD for my dad. He's not that Android savvy, but appreciates a device he can put his music and videos on. And a simple UI. Is this a better device compared to the Nexus 7 for these purposes?
Also, I suppose I can root the device and increase the space allocated for personal content?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If someone has never used or owned an android device, phone or tablet, then the Nexus 7 will have a learning curve. Not so much for the KFHD, Amazon keeps it pretty simple and easy to navigate. If I just wanted a pure entertainment device, then I would of stayed with the KFHD. Whispersync is great for readers, which you get with the KFHD, not to mention you can send documents and books to your kindle email and hosted by Amazon. The screen and speakers are fantastic. Amazon app store is limited compared to the google play store but there are ways around that.
The N7 is more of a general purpose device (handles video just fine, sound could be better but its fine with headphones) but the world is at your finger tips..
Well I'm not rooted on either and I still prefer using the KFHD to tell the truth. I just installed an alternate launcher on the kfhd so I'm happy to get away from the carousel.
The video quality? No way is the Nexus 7 equal to the KFHd, not to my eyes. As mentioned, the color on the kfhd blows away the Nexus 7 and color is part of the video quality equation as far as I'm concerned. And the audio quality on the KFHD blows the Nexus 7 as well. And is the ppi on the Nexus 7 even equal to the KFHD?
Read reviews. There are enough that mentioned the video quality isn't up to snuff on the Nexus 7.
And the build quality? Well I was fortunate to get a good Nexus 7 from Walmart but there is enough written from folks who have had issues.
Apps? Well I can sideload and I have more than enough to keep me happy with the kfhd. I equate it to channels on a TV. So what if someone has far more than another, as long as you have the ones you want to watch who cares!
If I decide to get the Nook Hd +, the Nexus 7 will be the one I trade in.