Kindle Fire HD 10 – A nice widescreen tablet for the Amazon ecosystem

As an upgrade to my original Kindle Fire of 2011, I pick up the Kindle Fire HD 10. It’s a pretty nice  $150 tablet that thrives in the Amazon ecosystem. While not a laptop replacement, the Fire 10 is a large tablet in a widescreen format that works well for reading and watching movies. To start, I watched an episode of the Thunderbirds and the quality and sound was quite good. Music playback can sound a little thin, but I thought it was pretty respectable out of the side speakers. If you don’t already have an Alexa device, you do now, as it’s built into the Fire, so you can ask questions, get information, find out the weather and set timers. You can also pause movies, increase the volume and switch over to music. Alexa works the same as the self-contained devices, but includes more visual feedback. For example, if you ask about the weather, you see the weekly forecast. […]

The Kindle Fire HDX

I pre-ordered the original Kindle Fire the first day it was available and it was in Nov 2011 that it showed up on the doorstep. I have to admit I haven’t used the Kindle to it’s full potential since I’ve had multiple iPads the entire time. However, it’s been a pretty reasonable device. But I didn’t buy the device because I thought it would be better than the iPad, I bought one because of the potential I saw in the device and to encourage Amazon to continue it’s development. Besides, it makes a pretty decent, albeit small capacity MP3 player. See, it’s more than just the what the Kindle has under the hood, it’s about what it represents. The Fire is a true consumption device and Amazon is a supplier of almost limitless content. Apple has iTunes with an ever expanding library of apps, books and music. Amazon has their own vast library with a massive selection of music and […]

How about the new Kindle Fire HD 8.9?

I keep look at the new Fire HD and it has my interest. Now I keep toying with the idea of buying the 8.9 inch model. I like the size of the new Fire and the price is pretty reasonable for a 32GB model. Amazon is making some nice strides with their tablets. I still don’t think they will achieve the same level of success as the Apple iPad until they open up their App Store. There simply aren’t enough Kindle apps and you can’t install outside of Amazon. I don’t like that. Even though they have upped the resolution of the screen and watching movies would be better on the new model, I’m not sure if it’s worth an upgrade from the current fire. Ya know, I seem to have some sort of tablet envy going on here…

The Kindle Fire, long use review

With the iPad 3 (that’s what I’m calling it) out about town and other tablets hitting the streets, I’ve been asked quite a few times what I think of my Kindle Fire and am I still happy with the original iPad. As far as the iPad goes, I’ve never had a complaint. The software selection is amazing, the prices are usually very good (if not, wait for a sale and ask yourself if that app isn’t really worth the price of a Starbuck’s coffe), the crashes have been extremely rare, the updates haven’t caused me any problems and I’ve never regretted having one. I think the iPad is a fantastic accessory and jumping to the iPad 3 would be wonderful, but I simply can’t justify the price. I don’t feel the original is slow, I’m very happy with the graphics and reading capabilities and keep it with me all the time. Do I think the iPad 3 is worth it? […]