Kindle Fire Reviews Rolling In

[kjk]

http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/14/a...iew/#continued

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.

http://gizmodo.com/5858779/kindle-fi...us-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.

http://www.theverge.com/2011/11/14/2...le-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.

The advantage Amazon has is that there is only one Fire: developers can optimize apps for it, knowing a) the specs aren't a moving target and b) a lot of them are going to be sold.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/14/te...lso-shine.html

David Pogue is more entranced with the new Kindle readers-

This new Kindle is now so small, it fits in a pants pocket. But again, the news here is the price: $80.

Do you have any idea how astonishing that number is? The first Kindle, born four years ago this month, cost $400. This model weighs 40 percent less, occupies a third less space and stores seven times as many books — at 20 percent of the price.

At this rate, by next year, Amazon will pay you to buy a Kindle.

http://www.suntimes.com/technology/i...er-device.html

The Fire is a marvelous device. And Apple and Amazon couldn’t have created a more complementary pair of tablets if they’d colluded on it. Want a tablet that does everything, and which does books exceptionally well? Buy an iPad. Want something more compact, and you’re not terribly interested in much more than content consumption? The Fire is aces. I feel as if every potential tablet consumer will recognize themselves in one of those two descriptions.

http://www.wired.com/reviews/2011/11/kindle-fire/all/1

At the end of the day, the Fire must be judged by how well it executes in terms of its Newsstand, Books, Video, Apps and Web features. It does nothing very well, save video playback, running various Android apps, and making the business of Amazon shopping alarmingly fun and easy.

If you already have $200 in your high-tech hardware slush fund, and you’re not willing to splurge one cent more, I suggest you wait longer before pulling the trigger on a tablet. Let that nest egg build. Let it grow interest. Wait for the Kindle Fire 2.

[pastanley]

So the nook color is basically the same thing. It finally takes Amazon a full year to play ketchup...kudos amazon! you finally made the grade! Welcome to th real world Amazon!

[Blossom]

Thanks for the links. It looks like sideloading will be allowed!

[LoganK]

I only read the Engadget review but it seems unnecessarily harsh. Key concerns, though:

Originally Posted by Engadget

the Fire never delivers smooth, seamless performance

(to be fair, they were referring to non-Amazon applications ... I guess the Amazon stuff works fairly well, surprise surprise.)

Originally Posted by Engadget

browser performance itself didn't wow us

I also had not previously considered the lack of volume buttons on the Fire.

They mention that Amazon will let you download your own content as many times as you want, but I really want someone to try that with videos. The web page indicates you get two times and you are done.

Sorting options are limited, and the carousel is not terribly useful, but I always find myself using the search feature and favorites these days.

It sounds like Engadget has no idea what the Silk browser actually offers, but that's expected given the confusing information Amazon put out there. Recently visited home pages make the carousel ... interesting.

The stereo speakers are, in practice, mono because of their placement.

They criticize the video quality, but, given their snide comments, I bet it's just as good as on a PC.

I find it very odd that the Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire have different tap zones when reading books. I guess those developers don't have lunch together. It's a little frustrating that they didn't spend much time examining the reading aspect.

They don't include a data cable in the box!??!? Maybe they are trying to send a message about usage, but I find that obnoxious.

In the end, they almost had me sold on the Galaxy Tab Plus ... if it wasn't for the lack of really great reading ePub software outside of a dedicated device. Maybe I should buy this Mantano that everyone is talking about...

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by LoganK

I only read the Engadget review but it seems unnecessarily harsh. Key concerns, though:



(to be fair, they were referring to non-Amazon applications ... I guess the Amazon stuff works fairly well, surprise surprise.)



I also had not previously considered the lack of volume buttons on the Fire.

They mention that Amazon will let you download your own content as many times as you want, but I really want someone to try that with videos. The web page indicates you get two times and you are done.

Sorting options are limited, and the carousel is not terribly useful, but I always find myself using the search feature and favorites these days.

It sounds like Engadget has no idea what the Silk browser actually offers, but that's expected given the confusing information Amazon put out there. Recently visited home pages make the carousel ... interesting.

The stereo speakers are, in practice, mono because of their placement.

They criticize the video quality, but, given their snide comments, I bet it's just as good as on a PC.

I find it very odd that the Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire have different tap zones when reading books. I guess those developers don't have lunch together. It's a little frustrating that they didn't spend much time examining the reading aspect.

They don't include a data cable in the box!??!? Maybe they are trying to send a message about usage, but I find that obnoxious.

In the end, they almost had me sold on the Galaxy Tab Plus ... if it wasn't for the lack of really great reading ePub software outside of a dedicated device. Maybe I should buy this Mantano that everyone is talking about...

Mantano is great! The Market has a free Ad supported version anyone can try on any Android device 2.1 or higher. I use it all the time and love it.

Wait no charger cable in the box? That can't be right you have to be able to charge it.

[fjtorres]

MSNBC loves it. Video and all.
http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news...-its-that-good

Turn it on and you know what to do, like with an Apple product. So much like an Apple product that Apple should be scared.

It's a 7-inch tablet, which means that it's half as big as an iPad, and way closer in size to a paperback book. It could be a little easier to grip, but Amazon went minimalist here, rather than opting for some weird-looking ergonomics. Because of the size, reading is easier than on an iPad, though kids' entertainment and other engrossing interactive content isn't as fun. And because the Fire is widescreen, unlike the more 4x3 iPad, videos look almost as big as they do on Apple's much larger device. As far as screen quality goes, it's on par with the iPad. In other words, as an opening move, hardware-wise, Amazon's getting it right.

If you buy the Fire from Amazon's website, it comes with your login information already onboard, so you just confirm that you are you, and you're off. The top of the home screen has labeled categories: Newsstand, Books, Music, Video, Docs, Apps and Web. Any Kindle e-books you ever bought show up in the library archive, any music you bought or uploaded to Amazon's Cloud Player shows up in music, and any video in your locker is there, too.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by LoganK

In the end, they almost had me sold on the Galaxy Tab Plus ... if it wasn't for the lack of really great reading ePub software outside of a dedicated device. Maybe I should buy this Mantano that everyone is talking about...

Or try the really good (and free) Coolreader 3 for android.
Not sure that a FIRE owner would be interested in DRM'ed epub but both Aldiko 2 and Overdrive can handle that for free.

[elemenoP]

That's a lot of reviews. Did anyone compare it with the (now old model) Nook Color?

eP

[JD Gumby]

Originally Posted by LoganK

It sounds like Engadget has no idea what the Silk browser actually offers, but that's expected given the confusing information Amazon put out there.

It offers all of your browser traffic (URLs entered, clicks, form information, passwords, etc...) to Amazon by default - even SSL communications (they are basically a man-in-the-middle: it goes to them, is decrypted, then reincrypted and passed on to the destination you were intending. Same goes for the path back to you). That's what the Silk browser offers and one of the reasons why, even if they remove all geographic restrictions, I will never get a Fire.

[ScotiaBurrell]

Originally Posted by JD Gumby

It offers all of your browser traffic (URLs entered, clicks, form information, passwords, etc...) to Amazon by default - even SSL communications (they are basically a man-in-the-middle: it goes to them, is decrypted, then reincrypted and passed on to the destination you were intending. Same goes for the path back to you). That's what the Silk browser offers and one of the reasons why, even if they remove all geographic restrictions, I will never get a Fire.

It can be turned off.

[covfam]

Originally Posted by JD Gumby

It offers all of your browser traffic (URLs entered, clicks, form information, passwords, etc...) to Amazon by default - even SSL communications (they are basically a man-in-the-middle: it goes to them, is decrypted, then reincrypted and passed on to the destination you were intending. Same goes for the path back to you). That's what the Silk browser offers and one of the reasons why, even if they remove all geographic restrictions, I will never get a Fire.

you do know that ALOT of browsers do this and most all of them like amazons Silk browser give you an opt out feature

Originally Posted by Blossom

Mantano is great! The Market has a free Ad supported version anyone can try on any Android device 2.1 or higher. I use it all the time and love it.

Wait no charger cable in the box? That can't be right you have to be able to charge it.

Amazon website says there is a charger:

Included in the Box: Kindle Fire device, U.S. power adapter (supports 100-240V), and Quick Start Guide.

It doesn't specifically list the USB cable, but surely if they include the charger they would include a cable. Guess we will see...

[kjk]

More reviews:

http://mashable.com/2011/11/14/amazo...e-fire-review/

This is a product I wanted to love. The Kindle Fire’s unveiling was so impressive. Jeff Bezos hitting all the right notes in true Jobsian fashion, telling the tale of a product vision so clear it made my eyes tear up. Instead, now I’m discovering it’s a somewhat flawed gadget — a product that literally does not always know which way is up.

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/11/...fire-reviewed/

More than any other Kindle before it, the Fire is an initiation into an ecosystem where nearly every service is provided by Amazon. Often a not-so-subtle initiation. When you're shopping for an e-book, Amazon notes if the title is available to be lent to you. If you're jonesing for a video, the company points out that its Prime Instant Videos are "$0.00 for Prime members," while they're a la carte for everyone else. The Fire can be used without a Prime membership. But the message is clear: you're missing out if you're not a member.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by covfam

you do know that ALOT of browsers do this and most all of them like amazons Silk browser give you an opt out feature

But are most browsers attached to a place that I purchase from?

[kjk]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Amazon website says there is a charger:

Included in the Box: Kindle Fire device, U.S. power adapter (supports 100-240V), and Quick Start Guide.

It doesn't specifically list the USB cable, but surely if they include the charger they would include a cable. Guess we will see...

From PCMag's inevitable unboxing