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Kindle Fire
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Does anyone have one already? I was wondering how it is holding up compared to the iPad. Althouh we are “Macs” our finances just do not allow another “Apple toy” in the house right now. The Kindle Fire is lesss then half the price of the iPad. It seems it can do a lot of things the iPad can, like color display and and full site internet browsing, apps, etc.
It just came out for the first time on November 15th, so knowing how they’ll hold up has yet to be seen. Based on the other Kindles, we can hope it will be just as well. I’m also debating getting this for myself vs just a regular Kindle touch. I’m not even considering an IPad, mostly because of the price but for other reasons as well. I do wonder if getting a Fire makes sense for only $199, rather than a touch for $99. The extra features may be worth the extra $100.
I’d love to see if anyone else has any thoughts on this.
Amazon is positioning the Fire as mainly a device to consume their e-books and streaming video. It appears to be a pretty nice device for those uses. Here are a few things to keep in mind in comparison, though:
There are some apps available but nothing like the quantity and quality available for the iPad.
The Fire has a much smaller screen than the iPad so you will not be able to view 8.5″ x 11″ PDF files in a readable size without turning it sideways and scrolling. I know not everyone cares about that but for me it’s a big deal to see a full page PDF all at once, and a 10″ screen is pretty much the minimum.
Amazon had to build the Fire as a bottom of the line device to get down to their target price. I’m hearing initial reports that those wanting to use it for general apps more than just e-books are finding the slowness of the low-end processor to be limiting.
I always recommend finding a way to try the devices you are interested in and see how you like each one. Many look the same and boast similar features, but there are huge differences in how smoothly and intuitively they operate that you will only know once you get a feel for using them a bit.
Here’s a pretty balanced review of the Fire:
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/11/14/kindle-fire-review-good-product-despite-some-sacrifices/
Is there something you can apply to the screen to reduce glare, like a matte screen protector or something similar?
Thanks!
Sorry, i thought it was already out
. Seems it may not be the right choice for us after what I read. I want to take use of the many great educational apps and of course have a lot of pdfs, too.Is there something you can apply to the screen to reduce glare
I think there are stick on film screen protectors that can reduce the glare a bit. You might have to shop around or cut one to the right size. If use in bright light is very important to you then you might look at the black and white Kindle models since their screen technology has no glare and works well in even bright sunlight.
Sorry, i thought it was already out.
Amazon just released the Kinde Fire for shipping today.
While we’re on the topic…Doug or anyone else who may know….do you know of any similar device other than the Ipad that DOES handle PDF files well? My husband is an aircraft mechanic and wants to have a small portable type device like this to use with his PDF file maintenance manuals – ideally with a full-screen type view, and able to use the clickable table of contents feature so he can jump around in the manual without having to go through every page? He doesn’t think he wants an Ipad because it does much more than what he really wants it to do (and so he doesn’t want to pay for one). He was kind of eyeing the Kindle Fire, but now that you mention it doesn’t really do PDFs very well either, that’s probably not going to work for him either. Is there anything else out there that could do something like this, or would an Ipad be the way to go for an application like this? (Right now I think he just refers to these files on a laptop, but this can be cumbersome to take inside an airplane to refer to as he is ripping it apart. =))
Thanks for any suggestions!
Jen
The 3rd generation Kindles (the ones that came out a year ago, not this years…) had a larger Kindle 9.7″ screen that is supposed to be easy to read a full sized PDF page (8.5×11 page…) I don’t own one so can’t tell for sure.
Not sure if that would be the best option for PDF maintenance manuals…. (and they were more expensive than the smaller Kindles) but might be worth investigating.
like this one… http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-DX-Wireless-Reader-3G-Global/dp/B002GYWHSQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321323434&sr=1-1
This column from the WSJ ended up in my inbox today, thought it might help someone. I have a Nook Color and am very happy with it; I use it mostly to read books, magazines and ezines. My dh got a Nook Color, though, and has it loaded with apps and it runs more slowly than mine and crashes. So.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204190504577040110511886588.html?mod=djemptech_t
@MamaSnow, Yes, the Kindle DX does pretty well with full page PDF viewing. If the lighting inside where he takes it is dim then the Kindle would need a light to see the screen, whereas the iPad is backlit like a laptop. The big Kindle screen is black and white only, if that matters. The image quality on the screens of all of the black and white Kindle models is excellent.
The only thing with the DX is that you’re pushing much closer to the iPad price on that larger model. It’s not too much more money to get a huge leap in capabilities. If he does more than just read reference material then something other than the Kindle might work better. For example, he could also use a calculator, take notes, set reminders, use the camera to document findings, etc.
Thanks Doug. That makes sense. I have a regular/smaller Kindle, so I am familiar with its capabilities. Now that you mention the other things like calculator,camera, reminders, etc I wonder if perhaps the other capabilities of the Ipad might make it worthwhile for him. One other question – how much can the Ipad do without having to be connected to the internet? I’ve never used any kind of device that runs apps, but I think that a lot of them require an internet connection to work? I ask just because whatever we get we will be using overseas in a third world country context and I don’t necessarily think that there will be wireless internet in the hangar. So, he would need to be able to download things where we do have an internet connection, but then be able to use them away from the internet, if that makes sense. Would using an Ipad still be practical in this context?
Thanks!
Jen
It’s just like a computer in that once applications are loaded some need Internet access and others don’t. For example e-mail and Web browsing obviously need the Internet. An app that does something like load information from Wikipedia or Google Maps would need a connection too. But things like a calculator, reading books or PDFs, listing to music, or watching video you’ve already loaded on the device, along with taking notes, working with documents, etc., don’t require a connection.
That’s another big differentiator between the iPad and the new Kindle Fire. The iPad has lots of internal storage for your stuff and can use it without a connection. The Fire relies on having an Internet connection to store some of your stuff in the cloud so it doesn’t need as much internal storage.
. Seems it may not be the right choice for us after what I read. I want to take use of the many great educational apps and of course have a lot of pdfs, too.
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