[greencat]

I think most of his points are valid. It mostly boils down to it being not quite as polished as it could (or should) be. Unfortunately, I find what he says to be true of most Android devices. Interface design choices are often quirky and unexpected. Amazon have bought their own peculiar take to the party too. For example, the placement and size of the settings icon. OK I never miss it when I tap but why is it there and not on the app screen? And...erm.. the carousel sitting in a bookcase? What's wrong with this metaphor? If I had a choice I'd dump the whole home screen and just have what you see on the others. Book cases which you can switch between. Personally, I was a bit disappointed that it didn't feel more Amazon-like.

Not to mention there are some real cranky hardware design choices. Stereo speakers on the narrow end? Who can tell if they even are stereo. No physical home button - boy I really miss that. Power button which is right next to the headphone socket and almost the same size.

It's not a bad version 1.0 though - certainly not as ugly or bizarre as the Kindle v1. I think it'll polish up much quicker too, providing updates are forthcoming. I like the ruggedness and cheap price of it. I feel quite happy chucking this in my coat pocket - my iPad wouldn't fit and is too heavy.

The size (and screen in general) is a pleasant surprise. It's a whole different feel to my iPad's larger screen and my Android phone's smaller one - and very nice quality. The responsiveness and accuracy is somewhere between the two. Like the fact I can hold it in one hand or peck out a message pretty accurately with my thumbs.

In short, Amazon haven't done a bad job and the price/quality trade off is very acceptable. And for a company that doesn't have a long track record of specialising in integrated software/hardware - it's very good indeed. There are plenty of tablets and other devices out there which are much worse.