Kindle Fire input needed

[Quiet]

What I'm looking for...
Primary use = e-reader
Secondary use = watching tv/movie via apps

What are the pros & cons for the Kindle Fire?

And is the Kindle Fire HD worth the extra $40?

[lazyworm]

I'd suggest you go to a store such as Best Buy and check them out yourself.

My impression for the fire is that it is thick, kinda heavy and slow.
There have been a lot of reviews (google it) about the performance issues.

If you're going to choose between a fire and fire HD, go with the HD.

For me, I've settled on a hacked Nook Tablet (with CM10). I inherited it,
so it was free. It performs pretty well with the full Andriod OS. With full Google
Play access, I have loaded both the Kindle and Nook readers among
tons of other apps.

[Laser Sailor]

If you plan to use it for anything other than media consumption, eBooks, movies, etc... Get a real tablet. The kindle has almost zero productivity value when compared to, lets say, the iPad.

I own a kinde fire, like it for what it is, if I had to choose again I'd go with a full blown tablet as they can do so much more.

[sholling]

The Kindle Fire HD is a media consumption device with a great display and tablet features. It's customized for idiot proof Amazon shopping, playback of Amazon videos, and reading Kindle books and its access to applications is limited to what's in the Amazon App Store. For videos you absolutely want the Fire HD over the plain Fire. Strangely enough Amazon does not include a charger and you'll need to spend $20-30 on a high output charger.

Google/Asus' Nexus 7 is a bit sleeker looking, a bit faster, and a lot more flexible. It has full access to the Google Play Store and you can side-load (manually install) the Amazon App Store and you can download Amazon's Kindle and shopping apps directly from the much larger Google Play app store. It can playback Netflix videos and most others but not Amazon's videos.

Here is a very dated comparison of the two. Both are now available with 32GB of storage for about the same price and because neither accept add-on storage and I strongly recommend going with the 32GB version of whichever you choose. I went for the Nexus 7 because I'm a bit of a techie and the locked down Fire would make me crazy but what's best for you depends on how you use it. One is a media consumption and shopping device with tablet features and the other is a true generalist tablet that can be used for media and shopping. With either you'll want to invest in a case to protect the display and act as a stand.



Edit: Fixed terminology error.

[troysland]

Got my wife a Fire HD, and it's great. She mostly uses it as an e-reader. Only issue I have with it is the USB charger slot you plug into seems a bit flimsy. It will charge, just that you have to jiggle the plug a bit before the battery level indicator turns green. Other than that, the picture quality is super sharp. Better than any of my laptops

[Jeepers]

we have the "fire" and the old "keyboard" the fire is cool but the old b&w keyboard with no back light is so much easier on the eyes to read but no video so like the old saying "jack of all trades master of none" comes to mind when i think of the fire as a e reader

[cjskalka]

32GB of flash, not RAM. I have a Nexus 7 and enjoy it.

[sholling]

32GB of flash, not RAM. I have a Nexus 7 and enjoy it.

Sorry force of habit - now corrected.

[winnre]

I went through SEVEN Kindle Fires in a year then they upgraded me to the Fire HD for free. The charging port is very wiggly and WILL break on you even if you are a watch repairman in your delicacy with it.

[MaHoTex]

Kindle Fire HD 8.9 and it is great.

[siggysour]

I'm using the fire7 inch screen as I type this message, was bought for my daughter as a Christmas gift...so I only have used it a handful of times, browsing the internet is as if I'm using a tiny laptop with touch screen, and watching movies is pretty good, using the homes with WiFi, speakers are loud and clear....and amazon has a lot of choices for books and etc....and couldn't beat the $120 price.

[Futurecollector]

I bought my mom the 7inch non hd version. I paid $129 and its been great for her. She only uses it for web browsing and media (video/books)... the HD is nice but for me I couldn't really tell a difference....

If I wanted a tablet, I would get a Galaxy Tab 7in or 10in...

[Quiet]

Thanks for the input everyone.

[K5Ken]

I have fire HD, using right now, and its great for books and internet browsing. My son has fire and my wife has an ipad. The video quality on my HD seems to be just as good as the ipads, to me anyway. If price is a concern the standard fire is good choice it browses the internet just fine and reading books on is good, except in direct sunlight. If money is no object get the ipad, my wife watches movies, tv shows, listens to the radio on it reads books shops, I think she likes it better than she likes me. Anyway just my 2 cents good luck picking one.