Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've been an apple guy since 1994. I learned how to program on the Iic and have been using just about every version of the macbook and iPhone since it's inception. I've also been a very proud iPad owner since day 1. I still have my original iPad and bought both the iPad 2 and most recently the iPad air. The iPad air is a remarkable device, it is gorgeous, thin and light. I realized quickly however that iOS 7 was not ready for primetime on the iPad air. Not to mention that I was having memory crashes 5-6 times per day. On mobile safari, I would have two web pages open and the device would slow down. If I opened a third tab and went back to one of the original two, they would both need to reload. On top of all that, even though I am fully vested in the apple ecosystem (I purchase all my apps, music and movies through iTunes), I was quickly realizing that the competition was catching up very quickly. That's what lead me to the 8.9 HDX, mind you, I tested out the Galaxy note 10" as well as the Nexus 7 for a "true" android experience. I found jelly bean to be no different than ice cream sandwich which was marginally better than the last version. I know android purists will say there is a huge difference and jelly bean was designed for tablets, but in all honesty, android is just a boring experience. Even with a gorgeous screen as there is on the nexus 7, it has the occasional stutter, and I don't find the operating system intuitive with the exception of google now, I swear they've got spies in my house. With all that said, the HDX is the first truly different tablet experience in almost four years. You will be truly dumbfounded by how light this thing is. I mean after holding an iPad air, you'll feel like this weighs nothing. But even with the lightness there is a "heft" to the device, one that gives it a presence. And 8.9" is the perfect size. I mean PERFECT. You can hold it in one hand in landscape easily. And the rubberized plastic feels phenomenal. From an iPad guy, this thing is neck and neck when it comes to design. Yes, it doesn't have an aluminum back, but the front screen feels so much better. The iPad Air screen felt plasticky in comparison to previous versions. The OS on the HDX is good. I like the launcher. It doesn't give me the feeling of completeness that IOS does by allowing me to customize and launch different apps, but it does it's job well. I've always wondered why Apple didn't just have a live screen that automatically selected the apps I use most often and put them on the front page. That's where Mojito's (as an aside, dear Amazon and Android, stop. being. cute. Just give me a OS Version number, I can't wait for Android "lifesaver" or "mint julep") carousel comes into play. It updates as you use it. Oh, and I know some folks like to use tablets for productivity, but let's be honest, they are purely entertainment consumption devices. I realized that quickly with my previous iPads. As much as I liked having email, iMessage, FaceTime, office suites, etc, the reality was that I used my iPad to browse the web, shop, read, and watch movies. Guess what, that's what the kindle fire focuses on. This is not a laptop replacement, this is not a post-pc device, it's the dessert you know you shouldn't have but realize after eating that it was the best thing ever. Prime Content is not exactly amazon's strong suit unfortunately. I love prime, I've been a prime user for a very long time. The streaming features of prime are ok. Decent shows (like the most recent daily show) and movies (most of Marvel's latest flicks) are available. But I'm paying 7.99 for netflix and until Amazon shows me content like that, I'll stick with my buddy. Prime again is ok, not bad, not great, it does the job, but don't buy this for prime. You can obviously buy all the same shows and movies on amazon that you could on iTunes, but from a free content perspective, prime isn't the driving factor behind this device. So, should you get the HDX, here's a few questions for you: How vested are you in google's or apple's ecosystem? Have you purchased dozens of apps, more importantly, do you use the dozens of apps you've purchased? How important is productivity software to you? Do you have to check email constantly on your tablet, open attachments, edit documents? Or do you find that using a laptop or other PC a better solution for that? Do you play lots of tablet games? Finally, where do you get most of your content and do you purchase, torrent, stream? There are ways to get movies from both the play store and iTunes to the kindle fire legally and easily. I found for myself, that a laptop is the best solution, and with today's ultra books and the macbook air, you can get a small, light laptop for under $1000 that does exactly what you need. But for content consumption, the kindle fire is very hard to beat.