That’s a good deal, considering that the Netflix streaming-only plan costs $96 a year, and you don’t get free shipping of any Christmas gifts with that. But if you are an Amazon Prime member (all-you-can-eat shipping for $79 a year), you get Instant Video thrown in. You can also watch movies through Netflix or Hulu Plus, which both have apps available on the Fire. The pictures are sharp and I’ve watched entire episodes without any hiccups over a strong WiFi connection. You can either stream the movies directly or download them for later viewing. The selection is pretty decent, with a mix of old and more recent movies and TV shows. It ties in directly to Amazon’s Instant Video store, where you can either buy or rent video downloads. Although, the Kindle app on the iPad is otherwise perfectly fine.ĭespite its smaller screen size, the Fire is an excellent video viewing device. It is a much more pleasurable reading experience than the larger iPad, which is a little unwieldy by comparison for extended reading periods. You can hold it in one hand and flick through the pages with your thumb. It is about the size of a large paperback. Mostly, that is because of its smaller form factor. The Kindle Fire also blows away the iPad as a digital book reader (as you would hope it would, coming from Amazon). It also is much easier to highlight passages or look something up on the web straight from the text. I, for one, am used to it and find backlit screens more readable than E Ink. Yes, I know backlit screens are not as good for your eyes as E Ink, but who are we kidding? Many of us are staring at screens for 8 to 12 hours a day. The New Yorker magazine looks great on it. It is much better, even for reading digital books and magazines. No, if you are going to buy a Kindle buy the Kindle Fire. The flicker of the E Ink screen in between every page turn also gives me a headache. I’ve been playing with a Kindle Touch as well, and the responsiveness of the screen is so temperamental that it is frustrating for me to use. Let me address each of these areas individually:Ī better comparison than the iPad is to other Kindles. It is more limited in its capabilities than an iPad, but in these areas it holds its own. The Kindle Fire is purpose-built to find and consume digital media: books, movies and TV shows, music, magazines, apps, and the web. I sneak it away from the bedside table when everyone is asleep at night to watch old episodes of Arrested Development. My wife will have none of that, she’s reading Joan Didion’s latest book on the Fire. Even my two-year-old, who loves the iPad, is increasingly eyeing the Kindle Fire and scheming ways to get her Mom out of the room so she can play with it. Fruit Ninja is the new obsession with my young children. The Fire is kid-tested, and mother-approved. The device passes my first test: my family fights over it. I’ve been using a Kindle Fire for the past two weeks (that is, when my kids or wife haven’t absconded to another room with it). The Fire is a standout media tablet that does a few things very well and I am going to tell you what they are. Some reviewers are disappointed that it is not an iPad, but that is the wrong way to look at it. David Pogue at the NYT thinks it is “sluggish,” lacking “polish or speed.” But the Kindle Fire is still selling like hotcakes. When the Kindle Fire first shipped a couple weeks ago, the reviews were mixed.
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