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Dave Lehnert
09-28-2011, 8:54 PM
Anyone have a comment on the new Amazon Kindle Fire (color) announced today?

The media keeps comparing it to the Apple I pad but look to me to be no comparison. The I pad is more computer vs the Kindle Fire is a fancy color e-reader.?????????? Not knocking it, I may even buy one. I would love to get my magazines and USA Today newspaper on one if they would not water it down for an e-reader.

Mike Henderson
09-28-2011, 10:25 PM
I see it has a browser. If you can put an e-mail client on it. I'd use it for travel. Essentially all I want when traveling is access to the web, and my e-mail. For $199 that wouldn't be too bad.

One problem I see is that it only works with WiFi - no access via cellular so you couldn't use it in a car.

Mike

Tim Morton
09-28-2011, 10:40 PM
I see it has a browser. If you can put an e-mail client on it. I'd use it for travel. Essentially all I want when traveling is access to the web, and my e-mail. For $199 that wouldn't be too bad.

One problem I see is that it only works with WiFi - no access via cellular so you couldn't use it in a car.

Mike

it has an email (web based) client...but as you noticed, no 3g...thats the limiting factor probably.

Derek Gilmer
09-29-2011, 6:53 AM
The kindle was a bit under sold in my opinion. Mainly because they focused on how "Amazony" it was. It has a very fast processor and is running Android 2.3 (the same os on lots of full tablets and smart phones) so other than 3g it is an impressive beast. And should have full access to add any app from the android market. If it can't out of the box I assure you people are working already to root the tablet to enable the installation of a normal Android OS to enable all the goodies. And it has the same rugged screen as an iPad with a little higher resolution. The main draw back to me is the 8gb of memory and no sd slot to let it grow. But for 1/3 the price of an ipad I can deal with that.

Plus most smart phones will for 0 to 20 bucks a month let you can add tethering/wifi hotspot to your plan and have a connection with you all the time anyway. For $199 a kindle fire is on my "honey I want it really bad" list.

Jerome Stanek
09-29-2011, 8:12 AM
I bought a refurbished netbook for less than $200 including tax that I like for travel. It has the extended battery and a 160 gig hard drive also.

Chris Kennedy
09-29-2011, 8:28 AM
I am a little disappointed that it doesn't have e-ink. One of the reasons I love my Kindle is that it is so much easier to read than backlit screens in my opinion. I don't have a tablet, but I may consider this one.

Chris

Bill Edwards(2)
09-29-2011, 9:20 AM
Don't "dis" the Kindle. I had to quit reading for entertainment over 30 years ago,
because book fonts are too smaill for my visual acuity.
My wife got me a Kindle 2 years ago and I average 2 books a month, not a lot,
but quite a bit more then 0 for over 30 years.:cool:

Robert McGowen
09-29-2011, 4:10 PM
I never thought much about the Kindle, but my son purchased one. It was $114. He is ALWAYS getting coupon codes to use on Amazon through the Kindle. I purchased a $600 laptop and used a $250 off Kindle coupon on it. They are one-use codes and I was thinking about buying another Kindle just for the coupon codes.

Kevin W Johnson
09-29-2011, 9:41 PM
Plus most smart phones will for 0 to 20 bucks a month let you can add tethering/wifi hotspot to your plan and have a connection with you all the time anyway. For $199 a kindle fire is on my "honey I want it really bad" list.

Better check the compatibility on that. We found out very quickly that my wifes wifi only kindle can NOT tether to our Droids, as the kindle doesn't support connecting to ad-hoc (or peer-to-peer) Wi-Fi networks. Some phones may have different capabilities as to the wireless network type they create, just know that you'll need to look into that.

Keith Outten
09-30-2011, 7:14 AM
Apple will raise the bar big time shortly when they post the new IOS 5 upgrades for the iPad, iPhone and iPods. They have an excellent track record of providing serious operating system upgrades and this one is supposed to offer about 250 new features. The cost of any machine is a one time expense, I don't think it should be the driving factor when making a decison to purchase a machine that will be used for many years.

For those of you who own more than one Apple machine the benefits of the new operating system should be substantial. Those who only own one machine are in a different situation but you probably shouldn't discount the possibility of expanding as PC's are diminishing and other machines are taking their place.
.

Derek Gilmer
09-30-2011, 10:05 AM
Apple will raise the bar big time shortly when they post the new IOS 5 upgrades for the iPad, iPhone and iPods. They have an excellent track record of providing serious operating system upgrades and this one is supposed to offer about 250 new features. The cost of any machine is a one time expense, I don't think it should be the driving factor when making a decison to purchase a machine that will be used for many years
.

I'm in the one apple product camp (iphone) and haven't been really impressed with IOS5 as a must have. The voice control deal looks cool but gimmicky. Other than that what other "must haves" are you seeing? Also, tablets like these aren't a multi year purchase for a lot of people. The next latest or greatest in a year or two will replace it. To me, old kindles are better at being long term keepers than ipads/tablets/kindle fires. The fancier items are sold on speed and new features. The kindle is sold with lifetime 3g, works great at reading books and isn't designed for much else.

Keith Outten
09-30-2011, 5:34 PM
Derek,

The list of new features is a long one but mail is the one that I like the best. A close second is how all of their machines will be able to automatically share notes, calendars, pictures, etc. I also like the idea of not having to connect to a PC or iMac anymore.

I own the first iPad, an iPhone 4 and an iMac. My iPad, even though it is not the current model, does the job for me so I am not one who has to have the latest and greatest.

I am an iPhone fan, I find it to be a much better phone than my old Blackberry and much easier to use.
.

Tim Morton
09-30-2011, 9:14 PM
I'm in the one apple product camp (iphone) and haven't been really impressed with IOS5 as a must have. The voice control deal looks cool but gimmicky. Other than that what other "must haves" are you seeing? Also, tablets like these aren't a multi year purchase for a lot of people. The next latest or greatest in a year or two will replace it. To me, old kindles are better at being long term keepers than ipads/tablets/kindle fires. The fancier items are sold on speed and new features. The kindle is sold with lifetime 3g, works great at reading books and isn't designed for much else.

voice to text is for sure a must have ...and apple has been lagging behind in this feature. I have seen voice to text work in ios5 and it really cool. The other must have is it is PC Free...another must have and why i am finally buying an iPhone if the iphone 5 releases next week. The ne mail program is cool too...as is the "cloud"...that feature is really cool.

i will also probably check out the kindle fire...LOL.

Derek Gilmer
09-30-2011, 10:48 PM
Derek,

The list of new features is a long one but mail is the one that I like the best. A close second is how all of their machines will be able to automatically share notes, calendars, pictures, etc. I also like the idea of not having to connect to a PC or iMac anymore.

I own the first iPad, an iPhone 4 and an iMac. My iPad, even though it is not the current model, does the job for me so I am not one who has to have the latest and greatest.

I am an iPhone fan, I find it to be a much better phone than my old Blackberry and much easier to use.
.

Yes, the iphone is going to be my phone for as long as I can jail break it. The firewall app alone to control what personal/impersonal data is sent out is one I refuse to give up. Just not sold on the ipad vs fire yet. I can buy a lot of tools and books for the $400 difference :)

The syncing looks kind of cool but I've got a google account that syncs all my contacts, email, calendar docs etc already from phone to multiple pcs.

Chuck Stewart
10-01-2011, 11:05 PM
My wife and I both have Kindles and love them for reading but it appears this Kindle Fire is for pushing Amazons online movie and music service thru purchase of an Amazon prime membership that costs 79 bucks a year, so add that into the equation if you want to stream movies or music. I see the specs say WiFi but not 3G so I'm assuming the prime membership is where the streaming capability comes, I'm not sure. Anyway it doesn't seem to me Amazon is trying to compete with any tablet here, in fact they refuse to call it a tablet, looks like there just trying to push their online services.