I've been on Fire since last Friday and thought now would be a good time to see if you guys had any questions or concerns with purchasing this device. Here is my list of pros and cons:
Super Cool:
- Bright, colorful and backlit!
- Very quick
- "Bookshelf" layout for organization making the device easy to navagate through
- If Amazon doesn't have an app, chances are you can sideload it from the Android market fairly easily
- The price/ the size
- Great sound and picture for clear movie watching (Access to Hulu, Netflix and Prime)
- Magazine subscriptions/ kid books
Not So Super Cool:
- The glare when using my Fire outside or in a room with bright lights.- No Hanging With Friends game
- No 3G. (No tablets have this though)
- The price for magazine subscriptions/ kid books
- A bit heavier
Overall, I think that this is the perfect tablet for someone who wants a simple, basic Android device. It also comes with a free month of Amazon Prime. So I've been trying to find a good book to test out the new lending system Amazon has developed that you get when you subscribe to Prime but I have not found a single book in our genre outside of The Hunger Games series. That's a bit frustrating. The movies also don't seem to include much that isn't already on Hulu or Netflix and the TV series are mostly just season 1 that's available for free.
I was also stoked to get my school books on my e-reader. Turns out that no matter what site I get them on, the e-book rental is about $30.00 more than just renting the physical book. How does that make sense? So that won't be happening...
UPDATE on school books: This could be different for different people/ schools but when I went to get my books in e-format, I found out that it is in e-format, but not for your Kindle (or Nook). Instead you get it specifically for your computer. Their excuse is that e-readers are hefty enough devices to support textbooks with all of their photos and such. I don't think that's true but I don't make the rules...
No matter what, I won't be getting rid of my Kindle 3 Keyboard anytime soon. Nothing beats the lightweight, e-ink simplicity that baby brings to my life. Not to mention how distracting it is to have all that extra stuff when you really need to be focusing on reading.
Have any of you gone out and gotten your Kindle Fire yet? What are your first impressions? Does anyone have any questions or concerns about the device?
2 comments:
I am thinking about getting my 10 year old daughter one hoping it will encourage her to read more... but you think the apps are distracting.... hmmmm maybe I will look into the kindle touch! Thanks Jordan for the review!!
Lola, I love how it can do all of these things. But I have found in moments when I need to be focusing on reading, those are generally the times when I know Facebook is only a click away! Or movies, or games... :)
I love the backlight though and the fact you can change how you view the page: black and white, white and black, or tan and brown. Which is great so that you can adjust it to the light around you.
Yeah, Cory's mom is thinking about getting one for his brother who's about 10 too. He keeps playing with Cory's Fire and can't keep his hands off of it! So it could be a great encouragement to read (as he needs), or it could be a huge distraction from reading.. hard call!
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