Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

SHORT SUMMARY: WHO SHOULD BUY A KINDLE FIRE ============================================= The Fire is an all-around excellent device, especially for the price. DO BUY IT, without hesitation, if you want to consume media by yourself or with one other person (max). For example, if you read books and other Kindle content, surf the web, look at photos and want to watch Amazon Instant Videos (Movies & TV) or web-based video sites, then the Kindle will serve your needs well. DON'T buy it if you consume as a group or want to do any creation other than the occasional social media post. Watching movies with many other people is hard (7" isn't that big), and the lack of keyboard options, Bluetooth, etc., makes this a very focused device that creators will soon tire of. Doing anything with maps is difficult or impossible, as are all the nifty apps that require a camera, so if those limitations are a deal-breaker then look at a Samsung Galaxy Tab (to stay small) or iPad (big and expensive). OVERALL STRENGTHS ==================== + The IPS screen is nothing short of fabulous. I've spent several hours staring at it now and am still amazed. It makes my friend's iPad 2 look grainy. Using this as a high-end photo frame on your desk is actually tempting because the colors are so rich. The screen is very close to 16:9 (15.36:9) and fits movies much better than a 4:3 iPad screen, which negates much of the 2.7" screen size difference between the two (but the reverse is true for old videos that are not widescreen). Overall, the video experience is good enough that you soon become immersed in the movie and you forget about the medium. Plus, since it's so small, you can carry with you more often. + The overall feel and construction is super-solid. The rubber/silicone backing gives such peace-of-mind; at this price, I don't plan on buying a case for mine in the foreseeable future. + Compact size. It's about the size of a "steno" pad. You can throw it in your backpack, purse, or coat pocket. Overall the Fire is a great balance between usability and portability--much more screen space than a smartphone (at about the same price) but lacking only one typical phone storage option: in your front pocket. + Simplicity and UI polish of the overall experience is tight. I wouldn't hesitate to give this device to a total tablet novice. This is a great gift idea for even the most technologically-challenged individual. + Speed is perfectly adequate for anything I've had to throw at it. I've tried at least half a dozen games now and they are buttery smooth. The crisp display and saturated colors make it such a joy to re-examine all my old apps. + The email client is slick! I have used apps like TouchDown and want to cry because they are so ugly and complicated. Not so with the Fire! Even though this is not a "creator" device, I am glad that they didn't skimp on a full-featured email client that actually looks nice. + Silk web browser! Side by side on the same wi-fi connection vs. my dual-core Android phone, the web browser doesn't seem that much faster. HOWEVER--they were both *very* fast! Keep in mind two things: 1) Silk is taking away bottlenecks, but if your existing wi-fi connection is already super-fast (i.e. no bottleneck), you won't notice the difference. 2) The "cloud" improvements will only begin to work when there is a large group of Kindle users who are sending data to Amazon so that they can start proactively caching. It should get faster and faster as more people start using it, so don't feel bad if you're not seeing any speed change out of the box. + Content, content, content. What sold it for me was the new Kindle Owner's Lending Library. For my $79 Prime subscription I'm getting access to a ton of shows that were are least partially available elsewhere, but no one else is giving away a book a month. I've seen at least a dozen titles I want to read, so my schedule is "booked" (sorry, couldn't resist) for a year solid. I was already a Prime member, but had never purchased a eInk Kindle because, so now I will have a "Kindle Device" that will qualify me to read a free book a month. OVERALL WEAKNESSES ==================== -No GPS or Google Maps is a disappointment. I wanted this thing to be a huge GPS to take in the car, but without a GPS chip that can't happen. -No Bluetooth limits its use as a creation device. The $30 Bluetooth keyboard I use for my Android phone is useless for the Fire. Please, someone, make a MicroUSB keyboard that works easily with the Fire or point me to one that already works with the Fire and I'll update this section (I couldn't find any on Amazon). -Lack of hardware buttons was at first a turn-off, but after the tenth time of accidentally hitting the home button playing a game on my Android phone, I now appreciate this minimalist approach taken by the Fire. There's the power-button that you may occasionally bump by accident, but you just need to turn the whole thing upside down and the power button is then at the top--problem solved. The remaining complaint is the missing volume button, but I can also understand the reasons behind that. The original iPod touch lacked volume buttons, but they eventually included hardware controls on subsequent devices. -Content Lock-in. This is the flip-side of the coin for having so much Amazon content. Since there's no HDMI, any movies you buy are going to be stuck on the device unless your TV also supports Amazon Instant Video streaming. I think the strength of selection outweighs this, but it's something to keep in mind! -(Minor) Does not play WMV files. My Android phone does this--why is this codec missing? -Battery life--The specified battery life is really a best-case: you'll want to charge this device at least every other night. It's terrible compared to an iPad 2 and great compared to a typical dual-core phone. It remains to be seen if the competition from the large bricks and mortar book store's new tablet is any better, but on paper they say theirs is longer. CREATIVE USES FOR THE FIRE ========================== + Fitness. Use your new Fire as an indoors exercise companion for treadmills, stationary bikes, elliptical machines, etc. Make yourself a commitment to not watch TV until you've worked-out first (while watching/listening/reading on the Fire, of course). It's the perfect size to strap-on or permanently adhere to your home fitness apparatus. This device and a Prime membership is about the same cost as two months for a personal trainer. + Schools and home schools. With the number of education apps out there (and ease of development), expect the Kindle Fire to become THE device for kids to use in their studies. This device, in 2011 dollars, is about the same price as my fancy graphing calculator in high school during the early 90s, so we can only guess what kinds of cool education-centric applications will come from this new class of gizmo. For parents, see a variety of great sites (like mine, Learn Richly) that make it easier to evaluate very fun products that make learning a breeze! + Small business elegance. What if your customers in the waiting room were each given Kindle Fires instead of magazines? How about giving your next sales pitch or presentation as an interactive HTML5 web page that allows your client to engage with the content even as you're explaining it? This also becomes the perfect Kiosk device because it's so open, inexpensive and ubiquitous. + Lists and reference. Putting a $700 iPad in your shopping cart while you check of grocery items makes me nervous, but somehow I'd feel safe doing that with my rugged-feeling grippy-backed Fire. Use it around the house for the kids' chore chart or as a "dedicated" to-do list while at work (what good is the task list in Outlook if I never look at it?)--this price point makes all sorts of things feasible, and especially if you buy multiple devices to establish a community of users in your office or home. APPS INCLUDED & MISSING w/SUBSTITUTE SUGGESTIONS ================================================= Built-in you will find already downloaded: + Kindle Reader App (with more layout options, such as line spacing and margins, than the current phone Android Kindle app) + Amazon shopping app + Integrated Music, Video and Web browsing (Silk) + "Docs" tab that takes documents you email to your @kindle email address and puts them in Kindle format + Audible audio books app (Amazon subsidiary) + IMDB (internet movie database) app for information about movies, actors, etc. (Amazon subsidiary) + Contacts app (looks like standard Android with Fire skin)--will sync with GMail contacts and probably others + Email app with built-in support for Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL and "other", i.e. POP for my ISP worked (not sure about IMAP). Attention: NO MS EXCHANGE/OUTLOOK :( + QuickOffice, which is a *viewer* for PowerPoint, Excel and Word--no editing at all + Gallery app for photos--looks like you'll need a MicroUSB cable and a computer to do much with it, though + Help & Feedback + Facebook--seems to be a link to the mobile site + Pulse--good, possibly great, news aggregator/reader + Other various popular apps/games that are links (but not already downloaded)--may be trials or ad-supported and you can get them from the AppStore anyway. Thanks for not installing them Amazon! This device is refreshingly free of "bloatware" Missing: - Task list & Memo / note- taking--I recommend ColorNote Notepad Notes that has both of these functions - Alarm clock--I recommend Alarm Clock Xtreme Free - Calendar--too many choices to recommend a replacement, but you'll probably get one with a paid Exchange email client - Calculator--I recommend Calculator Ultimate Lite - Weather--AccuWeather for Android or My-Cast Weather Lite both get good reviews Anything else I've missed? Comments welcome, thanks!