How is the kindle fire 7 as a reading tablet?

[ensyed]

The Fire 7 at 35 (thanksgiving sale) was dirt cheap. I am wondering how it would work as a reading device. I am sure it's price will drop again. It would make a nice gift.

[gmercator]

I don't own the Fire 7 (but I came close to grabbing one at the sale price...)

This youtube video compares the PW3 to the Fire 7 with reading comparisons:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HqH5VB1s34

That should give you a good idea of what the reading would be like

I also found a written comparison review:

http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/201...-review-video/

[eschwartz]

Moved to the Kindle Fire subforum.

[leebase]

I wouldn't compare it to any eInk device as you are just going to dredge up the same old "eInk vs phone/tablet" debates.

It's a fine reading device. It won't be as nice as any of the "HD" or "Retina" screen devices, but "for the money" it's a great device that is just fine for reading:

- for those who don't otherwise have problems reading on an LCD device
- for those who don't want to pay a lot more money to get a higher resolution screen

I find it comparable to my non-retina iPhones and iPad's.

Of note, it's an Amazon device designed to sell Amazon content and services...particularly when it comes to ebooks. There are no competing reading apps in the Amazon store. So if you have kindle books and want to continue reading kindle ebooks, it's a fine device.

If you want to source your own books - you'll need to be more technical. Not "rocket science" technical, but just be forewarned. I just installed the Google Play store...and it was fairly easy and straight forward -- for someone like me who is technically inclined.

Again, "for the money" I highly recommend this tablet. I bought one myself at $50 and felt it was more than worthwhile. I then bought two more as gifts at the $35 price which I highly doubt you'll see again. Both recipients are very happy with their gift.

This device really comes into it's own if you are an Amazon Prime member. You'll get the Amazon Prime Videos (compares to Netflix) and Amazon Prime Music.

Even without Amazon prime you get access to 11,000 completely free apps. These are "for pay" apps that Amazon provides for free with all of the in-app purchases already included.

Of course you can purchase other games, and movie/tv content.

The Amazon app catalog is nothing like Google's Play Store in size, but lots of the important apps are included.

But you asked about reading. It's a "fine" reading device and a great one "for the money".

[Yolina]

It's a brilliant little tablet for £35, and I am most pleased with it but as I am used to the lovely 300ppi of the PW3, I wouldn't want to be doing much reading on it. Someone would need to check but IIRC the ppi of the Fire 7 is about the same as that of the good old Kindle Keyboard (and as much as I loved my K3 at the time I certainly wouldn't be reading on one now unless I had no choice.)

If you intend to gift it to someone who isn't too bothered then it should do the job just fine; if however they're used to better screens then it won't be so great.

[rjcchan]

Did the sale version come with special offers?

[Ricky D'Angelo]

Originally Posted by rjcchan

Did the sale version come with special offers?

Mine did. Also I just found the "Blue Shade" option under the settings >display tab. Does anyone recommend using this setting to read at night?

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Ricky D'Angelo

Also I just found the "Blue Shade" option under the settings >display tab.

It is also in the quick menu you get when you slide down from the top of the screen. You can change it there without leaving your current app.

[leebase]

Some more thoughts. I've been reading the Washington Post because there is a free 6 Month trial. When the text is small, you can really tell the screen resolution isn't high. What would be very readable on my iPhone isn't so nice on the Fire 7. However, when I read an article full screen, and the font is larger, it's just fine for reading.

So I guess the fact that I don't like reading tiny text anyway works in my favor.

Reading novels in landscape with two columns worked well for me. The 7 is a nice size for reading novels.

Not fond of the 16:9 aspect ratio for reading the web. And typing forums posts is unbearable. Then again, I've never liked Android keyboards compared to iOS.

For TV and Movies the size of the screen and aspect ratio are very nice.

Still, while "for $50" this is a fantastic tablet....I think it falls into "additional device" and "extremely price sensitive" options as a reader.

[Ricky D'Angelo]

Originally Posted by jhowell

It is also in the quick menu you get when you slide down from the top of the screen. You can change it there without leaving your current app.

Thanks for that. I now prefer to use blue shade with a sepia background to read at night rather than the night mode setting. Adjusting the brightness to 50% also helps to give a nice effect.

[TheBatman]

For £35 you almost have to buy one!
I bought mine primary for reading on the train and for that its been great. I also watch a couple of movies and that works well too. I wish it had a HD screen but I don't really notice the pixels at that size.

The thing that really let it down for me was the Amazon app store. Virtually no other ebook apps or audiobook apps (and also therefore no easy way to access Calibre) meant it was almost ebay time for my new kindle.
I found some instructions on the internet to install the google app store (which weren't as hard as they sounded) and now that I've got Aldiko I love my kindle again.

[leebase]

I believe Calibre Companion is in the Amazon App Store. But, like you said, it was fairly easy to install the Google Play store on it. Aldiko was a fairly easy install even before I installed the play store.

It's just that so far, none of the reading apps are as good as Marvin - my iOS reading app of choice

[NickyWithNook]

I got one for Christmas. It isn't as nice as my older Kindle Fire that was stolen, but it's very good for the money.

[Tarana]

I don't enjoy reading with a Fire as much as an ereader, but both my sisters have pretty much abandoned their ereaders to read on the Fire. Will the one sister pick up her Kindle Touch again? Probably in the summer as she reads outside all summer and nothing compares to eink technology there. The other sister gave me back the Nook I gave her. The biggest complaint is the power consumption. You MUST recharge every 7-8 hours, which is a real drag. My sister bought an extra long cord so that she could just stay plugged in while reading.

I have a higher end Fire. I use it for editing and apps and reading pdf files (mostly cooking/craft magazines), but I kept it mostly because of the superb Text-to-speech (I have vision damage). Otherwise, I prefer ereaders for the glareless enjoyment of reading as well as the low power consumption.

My Mom uses her Fire when Netflix is working poorly on the PS3 and to read the local newspaper. She prefers reading on her PPW.

As mentioned by another poster, the disadvantage of the Fire over other tablets is that you are locked down to Amazon unless you sideload. I can read Kindle, Barnes&Noble, Kobo on my Nook HD+ (as I could on any other tablet). I can only download from Amazon's cloud on the Fire. Not too annoying for me since I have Calibre and can load it, but I cannot benefit from cloud libraries with this restriction.

[NickyWithNook]

I have Dropbox on my fire. If you google "put Dropbox on Kindle Fire" you should find directions to do that. I also have the Nook app and Scribd on it.