Post #359,237
6/20/12 5:35:29 PM
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First impressions: Kindle Fire
I'm doing some Android programmering so I treated my need as an excuse to buy a bit of kit.
The hardware itself is solid and surprisingly heavy for reader. The screen is bright, the fit and finish nice, and all around it's a nice looking piece of hardware. My main complaint the is the flimsy-feeling and difficult to find on/off/sleep/wake button. This is not something I should have to hunt for. Size is just about perfect for reading: I can fit it in one hand. I am a bit concerned about the weight though. My wife agrees that it seems inordinately heavy for a reader.
I bought a gel case for protection, but the outside has a usefully non-slippery coating and it's easy to grip.
The Fire is, first and foremost, a vehicle for Amazon to sell things to Fire owners. Books, movies, apps, music, and the newstand represent these offerings, with two more sections for documents and the web. The home screen is similar to iTunes cover flow, with a stream of visual representations of books, apps, movies, and so on to flip through. Neat to look at but ultimately useless if you have more than a dozen things. Each type of media has a separate tab with a more useful interface, though. There is room for favorites at the bottom, slots at the bottom that can hold any type of media or application, and if you fill them up they scroll off the bottom.
Each type of media has a store as well: Kindle for books, Amazon Prime for movies, and so on. Having a link to the Kindle store for books directly in the reader will be a detriment to my pocketbook, but it's a welcome change from the Kindle apps on iOS I'm used to given that the purchase functionality is blocked due to Apple wanting a cut.
In general the UI is straight forward if a bit clunky. There's a back button on every page that is used to, unsurprisingly, go back to the previous page, and a home button as well. The button is a bit small to find quickly in my opinion, and it seems to move depending on what else is on the control bar. The top has indicators, but also a settings button that is very small and hard to hit. UI fit and finish is definitely not up to iOS snuff: transitions are abrupt, travel and inertia on scrolling controls is always just slightly off, and so on. So far Android is proving to perform as I have been led to expect; it has that somewhat unfinished feel. I don't know how a Fire compares to a typical Android phone, however, as it appears that Amazon has heavily modified the UI to their purposes.
Regards,
-scott
Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
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Post #359,262
6/20/12 10:21:50 PM
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The browser sucks...
The second site I went to (Android Developers, ironic) wouldn't scroll at all. Basically useless.
Derp.
Regards,
-scott
Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
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Post #359,264
6/20/12 10:35:53 PM
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Working as designed.
They want you going to Amazon. If other stuff breaks, well, don't do that.
;-)
Thanks for the reports.
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #359,273
6/21/12 7:05:09 AM
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I haven't played with a Fire...
... but all the reviews say it's really very different from a "standard" Android device. Most cite UI problems and inconsistencies between most of the visible apps: all or nearly all of which are Amazon's. Things like the tiny Settings button you cited, as well as hardware issues. Real Android devices have hardware volume buttons, for instance, something the Fire doesn't have. And it's based on Android 2.3, not the 3.x and 4.x the Android tablets are.
It may sound harsh, but if you wanted to play with an Android tablet, you should have bought something else. The Fire is, as you say, for selling Amazon content, not for being a general purpose tablet.
Wade.
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Post #359,281
6/21/12 10:28:15 AM
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I'm using it for development
Specifically, for the Amazon App Store. The Fire is a significant proportion of the traffic in that store.
I'll also be getting a "normal" Android device as well, but the Fire can be used to develop the interface to the Amazon in-app purchase APIs.
Regards,
-scott
Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
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Post #359,334
6/21/12 5:05:59 PM
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Ah...
A missing piece of information. :-) Now I see your choice was entirely valid.
Wade.
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Post #359,586
6/26/12 1:44:44 PM
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How is it just as a reader/viewer?
My soon-to-be-12-year-old wants one for her birthday. She loves reading and really does want it mostly for that. Sure, she'll watch videos on it, but it's mostly about books.
Since she's not planning on programming, or websurfing -- check that, I'm not planning on her websurfing -- how does it fare just as a reader/viewer?
And for anybody who has compared them, are there other devices in the price range worth looking at?
--
Drew
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Post #359,594
6/26/12 2:58:36 PM
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Just like the Kindle app on an iPad
Glossy screen, slightly bigger than a paperback. I'm reading LoTR to my son using it now and it's fine, easier to hold for long periods of time than the iPad. No oleophobic coating, however, so it gets crazy smeared with finger oils.
There's a $4 case that's worth getting too: http://www.amazon.co...31760_M2C_SC_dp_1
Nook has a tablet too, but I haven't looked at it. If I weren't tied to the Kindle store already and just wanted a reader, I'd get their backlit one that can be read in both bright sunlight and the dark. Regards,
-scott
Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
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Post #359,598
6/26/12 3:08:47 PM
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Hated the early Nook color
That had a really funky form factor. Haven't looked at their latest.
--
Drew
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Post #359,689
6/27/12 3:43:59 PM
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Re: Hated the early Nook color
You're probably better off with a Nexus7 at this point. $199 for the 8G version.
I am not horrendously impressed with this Fire for anything other than reading at this point.
Regards,
-scott
Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
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Post #359,742
6/28/12 12:27:58 AM
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Ooh, new and shiny
I'll find someplace to take a look once it ships.
--
Drew
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