Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The idea seemed like a good one, an inexpensive tablet that delivered all kinds of media content, and in a small lightweight device...cheaper and more portable than the Ipad (which I also own) and based on the Android operating system (which I've used on phones and tablets.) The reality is this thing has some very serious problems, which should be able to be fixed in firmware, and some hardware limitations, that might get a little better, but put it squarely behind it's main competition, the Barnes and Noble Nook. Likes: Brilliant IPS screen, like the one on the Ipad. Nice simple interface. Amazon prime content, lots of free movies and TV shows for less than a Netflix subscription ($80 per year.) Very good battery life including excellent sleep life (a problem with previous Android devices.) Very clean looking design. Just OK: Speakers could be and are too easy to cover/muffle with hand. Cheap charger with mini-USB integrated instead of separate USB charger and cable. Dislikes/problems: Lack of a hard buttons make navigation cumbersome. The device should have a dedicated back button and a dedicated volume rocker (which the Ipad and Nook have) Lack of purchase password protection means anyone using the device and start ordering stuff with your account (which the Ipad and Nook have.) Lack of privacy means anyone picking up the device is greeted with a screen showing exactly what you were doing. Off switch is located in a very unfortunate place...very frustrating to keep turning the device off when watching a Netflix movie. Screen is too shiny. It has more glare than the Ipad or Nook. Browser real estate is very limited by menu bars on the top and bottom. (Nook hides bars.) Browser stumbles on some websites and is sometimes painfully slow. Touch screen can be frustratingly unresponsive. This is exacerbated by slow browser response. Sometimes I have to look to see if it is doing anything...then poke at it again...and again. I bought this device to enjoy Amazon content (like movies and books) AND to use as a quick portable web browser, and for other content (like Netflix.) It works pretty good for the Amazon content, with a few issues; the overly shiny screen and the poorly placed power switch. As a web browser, it works worse than the browser on my EVO Android phone. It's built in Silk browser (you can't download replacements) is slow on some websites and plain doesn't work on others and the menu bars hide too much of the page content. On top of that, Amazon built limitations into this device, that makes it less functional than other Android Gingerbread devices, like limited multi-touch commands. From a hardware standpoint, Amazon might have skimped a little too much. The Nook, with twice the memory, feels much faster and more responsive. The lack of hard buttons handicaps the device making simple things, like changing the volume, a button pressing, menu wading annoyance. This annoyance is made worse, by the unresponsiveness of the device to presses. I'm not sure if the device isn't as responsive as it should be because of the hardware, or the Amazon interface. I hope, for the sake of people who keep theirs, it is something Amazon can improve with firmware revisions. I miss the mic. It is useful on all kinds of Android applications, including speech to text applications and translators. The biggest showstopper issue I have with the device, though, is the total lack of security and privacy. Here is a device with no other security or protection other than a screen lock password. Hand this device to a friend and they get to see everything you've been doing with it. Hand it to your child and they can order thousands of dollars worth of content. God forbid this thing gets intercepted in the mail on the way to your house, as Amazon set it up with your account already active. Another limitation is video content can only be stored on the device's limited internal storage, or downloaded from Amazon's cloud content. You can't upload your own video content to the cloud and view it on the device. The day after receiving this device I stopped by a Barnes and Noble and picked up a Nook tablet. The Nook tablet is not as "pretty" as the Fire. I was skeptical...expecting something limited like the Kindle, but much to my surprise and delight, the Nook is everything I had hoped the Kindle Fire would be. It's screen is more responsive and has some kind of anti-glare coating that makes it much more readable. Taps work. Double tap zooms in the browser, like it does in all other Android browsers (other than Amazon's Silk browser.) Websites rendered properly. Despite only being a tiny bit lighter, the Nook feels much lighter...perhaps it is the wider thinner bezel or the weight distribution, but it is more comfortable and secure to hold in one hand. The Nook has a dedicated home button, and a dedicated volume rocker...much nicer. The Nook has a mic. Even Netflix looks sharper...like it is being delivered at a higher bit rate. I also learned Nook offers free wifi in stores and free book loans and one can lend books to other Nooks. Bottom line: Anyone not devoted to Amazon content, should consider the Nook reader as a real alternative. It is definitely worth the $50 difference ($25 if you buy a B&N membership.) I'm returning my Kindle and waiting for version 2.