Kindle Fire that is. After a mostly impatient wait...I have one. I am in the main pleased with it. Hard to find something else that costs $200 that is as happy making these days. I'll kinda give you my first impressions here.
I have had it for all of two days so...grain of salt yes?
First...out of the box impression? It's big...but also, small. It was big enough that I notice it because I typically have my iPhone attached to my hand. It is, obviously...bigger than my iPhone. It is also small. Smaller than my netbook...and my reading Kindle (an ancient but still awesome gen 1)...and of course, smaller than an iPad. I've never held an iPad...but this little Fire has a bit of heft. A solid feel vs a hefty one. Just enough that I knew I'd want a case almost immediately to give me a way to distribute that heft a bit and balance it. It was nice in feel...sleek and nothing portruding or glaringly ugly. The rubberized stuff on the back imprinted with KINDLE, is pretty snazzy. The glass display looked shiny and sleek too.
I found the wee button and pressed it and she awoke. I admit to being extremely giddy at this point. I plugged in the AC and d/l the software update that was present. The Fire came with no instructions really aside from plug her in and turn her on, and honestly? If you are used to either Apple products or Kindles you don't really need a "book" here...just your brain and your fingers! She woke up completely after the post d/l restart and we were ready to rock n roll.
After connecting her to the house wi-fi (no 3g here folks, so hotspots and house wi-fi are your choices unless you want to buy something else)...I poked around the home screen and found the on board manual, which I mainly ignored in favor of self guided exploration. I am SUCH a maverick! I figured out most of it inside an hour...but the web experience took longer.
The web browser...is different. I will say that. But it is FAST...faster than my netbook by a BIG margin. The cloud seems to indeed, hasten things up online. The keyboard is rather a interesting conundrum. It's big enough where thumbs are not gonna cut it. It's small enough that two hands are probably too much. I have been hunt n pecking a lot, and I've yet to find a truly comfortable way to use it. I have a feeling this will take some run in time on my part.
The movie streaming experience on Netflix at least was smooth. The more devices in your home using it at the same time tho, the crappier the picture. This is not a Kindle issue, but a bandwith issue. Once we had just the Kindle running a movie...it was sharp, clear, and beautiful. I have no quibble with the display...it's lovely. The sound on high...is not very loud...BUT, most of us use headphones of some type when listening to music or watching streaming content online I think? It's hardly a medium for crowds to gather around and share. But for what it is...the sound is nice.
Reading...what's it like to read on a FIRE? Depend on where you are, and what you're reading. I knew going in that a backlit display was NOT my preference for long term reads. Articles, comics, magazines etc? GREAT experience. Most format nicely and the page turning is seamless. Books? I will always prefer e-ink for that. There is a rather hardcore glare on the screen in ANY type of outdoor setting. I would wager this is par for the course using anything with glass up front. I am going to look into anti glare coatings/coverings. If there are none out now...there will be soon almost for sure.
Oh! Battery life seems pretty darned good too...especially considering it uses wi-fi and the amount of streaming content we've had going. 7-8 hours straight takes it down quite a bit...BUT...that's MUCH better than my iPhone gets truth be told!
Gaming? Angry Birds and similar games run smooth and look fabulous. There is every now and again a bit of a brainfart on where your finger is. the touch response is not like iPhone...BUT I believe iPhone has the most sophisticated and above everyone else kind of finger sensitivity. I am used to such quick tapping that often my Fire doesn't even know I was there LOL! I have to get used to leaving my finger there perhaps a 1/4 second longer. I loaded up and played my kids Animal Jam flash based game just fine. The screen size can be an issue...bit to narrow lengthwise in landscape, and in portrait too. But the game played fine, not quite the way it does on the puter with the mouse....but MUCH improved of the painfully slow grinding progress of the netbook.
In short...if you will or will not like the Fire will depend VASTLY on what you are buying it to replace. Your reading Kindle? Your computer? Your super fast lightning quick 3g use anywhere laptop? Nah, probably wouldn't bother. There are better options. It's not going to replace your camera or phone obviously because it IS none of those. But if you, like me...bought a netbook when those were so "in' for gaming, checking email and websites from where ever you are at home or at a hotspot, watching streaming content on a bigger screen than your phone while not occupying the home TV set? then the Fire is probably a great buy at $199. the app store was a lot more fleshed out, than I thought it would be too...and hopefully Amazon will see to it that it continues to grow.
Kids, also...will love this. It is just enough tablet to sate their iPad frenzy...but it is cheap enough that you can give them one and not wince every time they shake it or halfway sorta drop it. Kids apps and books are amazing looking and there are lots of interactive storybooks on offer for FREE in the app store...others that cost a very little. I have had VERY little time with my Fire owing to my kids simply being fascinated with it. especially it's capacity for streaming content...it's like a tiny TV they can carry off to where ever they want to watch.
I am sure I've left stuff out...I always do when I try to organize my brain in ANY form or fashion ;) Feel free to drop a comment if you have a specific question and I'll do my best to give you my honest opinion! Love all! Kindle on!
