Kindle Fire

[MissHailey]

Is it really as great as everyone says it is?

[booklover6]

To me, it is! And I was very skeptical! But once I got one, I immediately changed my mind! I think the Fire is fantastic! I don't have a smart phone or a large tablet of any kind. I do have a Nook Color. I like the Fire MUCH better. Good thing the NC is my kids', I am not sharing my Fire!!!

[ApK]

If you need/want what it is, it's a very good one of 'em.

If you want stuff it doesn't have, it's not a good choice at all.

Some people note stuff it doesn't have (camera, GPS, sd slot, standard android build) and can't fathom how anyone could want it.

I got Fires for my family when they were on sale in February, and am very glad I did.

[jbcohen]

I have a Kindle Fire and a Ipad2 at home and I did a foot race at one point. Both tablets loading the same web site on the same wireless network, the fire wone by a long shot. I find it faster, smaller and not to mention cheaper then the ipad and I am sold.

[Quelch]

How hard on the eyes is the Kindle Fire ?

Is it dramatically more tiring than a Kindle Touch ?

I'm considering buying a Kindle Touch but would pay the extra for a Kindle Fire if it's reasonable for long reading sessions

[Casey57]

Originally Posted by Quelch

How hard on the eyes is the Kindle Fire ?

Is it dramatically more tiring than a Kindle Touch ?

I'm considering buying a Kindle Touch but would pay the extra for a Kindle Fire if it's reasonable for long reading sessions

IMHO, it is somewhat tiring for reading, but I do not like back-lit screens and don't even read much (except maybe a magazine) on my iPad either. I much prefer the K3 or Touch for long reading sessions.

[jbcohen]

Trying to decide between the Kindle Touch and the fire is a simple question. The touch is a dedicated ebook reader the fire is not. The fire will do other things besides reading ebooks such as browsing the web and other apps that you find in the amazon app store. I know the touch will also browse the web but the fire is much better at it then the dedicated ebook readers are. So the question is:

How much extra is it worth to you to be able to surf the web and run apps that you find in the amazon app store?

[Crossroad Press]

I miss the text to speech, but honestly don't mind not having a camera or all of that other non-book related functionality because all of that is on my phone. I like the Fire because in an emergency I can check e-mail or browse, whatever, but mostly I use it to read. In bed at night, having the screen with the backlight is a nice change over my older Kindle (which my 8 year old daughter loves, by the way)

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Quelch

How hard on the eyes is the Kindle Fire ?

Is it dramatically more tiring than a Kindle Touch ?

I'm considering buying a Kindle Touch but would pay the extra for a Kindle Fire if it's reasonable for long reading sessions

That is 100% subjective, and only you can say. You should at least go to store with demo units and spend a few minutes reading typical text if at all possible.

Some people claim to find back lit LCDs just as easy on the eyes, or easier, than eink. I think those people are insane.

That being said, the screen on the Fire is good, so if you are ok reading on backlit LCDS (insane) then the Fire should be a good one for it. It's very sharp, and has decent color, font and brightness controls.

[Synamon]

Do you read outside? LCD screens are terrible in sunlight and e-ink is fantastic.

[CRussel]

I have a Kindle Keyboard (K3, same screen as Kindle Touch), and a Kindle Fire. I read The New Yorker on the Kindle Fire, but read my books on the Kindle Keyboard. OTOH, when I'm sitting at Canadian Tire, waiting for my car to be ready, and don't feel like reading, I can play Angry Birds on my Fire. Can't do that on the K3. But if I _do_ feel like reading, I can simply open the book I'm currently reading, sync to the current location, and read. And when I'm sitting in a hotel room, bored and not ready to hit the sack, I can watch a movie for free on my Fire. Again, can't do that on the K3. but when it's time to tuck in for the night and read a bit? I put down the Fire and grab the K3.

If I could only have one? Easy -- the Kindle Keyboard. Books are FAR more important to me than the things the Fire does.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

I have a Kindle Fire and a Ipad2 at home and I did a foot race at one point. Both tablets loading the same web site on the same wireless network, the fire wone by a long shot. I find it faster, smaller and not to mention cheaper then the ipad and I am sold.

This is absolute nonsense. The Kindle Fire is most assuredly not faster than the iPad 2 or 3. The Fire's hardware is essentially based on that of the Blackberry Playbook, a rather low-spec Android tablet (as you'd expect at the price). It's not even in the same ballpark, performance-wise, as high-end tablet like the iPad, or Android tablets from the like of Samsung, Motorola, etc.

The Fire is excellent value for money, but you're delusional if you think that it can compare with an iPad or a Galaxy Tab, in terms of performance. You get what you pay for.

[CRussel]

I love my Fire, but Harry's right -- it's not even trying to be comparable to the iPads. Which is fine, I didn't pay iPad prices, either, and knew exactly what I was getting.

[RainingLemur]

It's a great device, even more so if you're knee-deep in Amazon's services and such.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I love my Fire, but Harry's right -- it's not even trying to be comparable to the iPads. Which is fine, I didn't pay iPad prices, either, and knew exactly what I was getting.

Indeed. I'm sure there is the odd web page here and there that Slick might render faster than Safari, but I took my Fire into an Apple store, and side by side, there was no mistaking that the iPad is in a seriously different class.

But getting three Fires for the price of one iPad, and being able to carry it around in a cargo pants pocket assuaged any feeling of jealously the iPad fostered....