Kindle Fire Review: Tablet or Not?

With the release of the Kindle Fire, Amazon has officially wandered into tablet computer territory. Full color, games, email, apps of all kinds, movies and TV shows, and features that mimic tablet computers, with an eReader to go with it, of course. For $200, you’re getting a pretty good deal on a small tablet, just a 7 inch screen, diagonally, weighing 14.6 ounces, and just under half an inch thick. The full dimensions of the Kindle Fire are 7.5 inches by 4.7 inches, which makes it slightly more portable than other tablet computers.

As for storage space, the Kindle Fire does have the most storage available when compared to other Kindle eReaders, but isn’t leading the Tablet market by a long shot. 8GB, which we know are not all free for users to use can seem like plenty, but with apps, movie downloads, and books and music, you’ll run up against your storage limit sooner rather than later. The only bright side is that Amazon allows you to store everything in the cloud, so that you don’t have to keep all that you have bought on your device at all times. Well, up to 5GB for free, after that you pay for additional storage space.

The Kindle Fire is not a tablet, however, and this is why: a tablet computer should allow you to use your own content, select vendors, and share your choices and ideas with social networking tools. The Kindle Fire does none of these things. While flashy and exciting in some ways, looked at in a different light, the Kindle Fire is really a tool that ensures that Amazon customers remain faithful. You can purchase anything you want as long as Amazon is selling. Perhaps this is why the Kindle Fire is so inexpensive when compared to other tablets: because it is not a tablet. It is tablet-ish, but only in the way it looks, not the way that it functions. And that’s right, there’s no Facebook or Twitter (at least not yet) or any other interface between what you buy, read, watch, or listen to.

Click here to visit the Kindle Fire page

The Kindle Fire is our favorite tablet-style eReader.

That said, there’s no reason not to like the Kindle Fire for what it is. If you want to be able to watch TV shows and movies on a 7 inch screen, check email, read books, and buy what Amazon has to offer, this is the device for you. The backlit screen makes for a less comfortable reading experience, which is what eReaders are so great for, so the reading aspect of the Kindle Fire is somewhat less exciting. The great thing about the previous Kindle products is the fact that they are not back-lit, that they make reading lots of books easy without having to carry extra weight, and that they function as your own compact library. The Kindle Fire can kind of do that, too, but mostly it’s a fun, full-color entertainment device, best for watching movies, and maybe for looking at magazines or comic books.

For a lot of people, the Kindle Fire is that in between item that is priced in their range and gives them something fun to play with. Viewing PDFs is also better with the Kindle Fire, so if you like to study up on your way to or from work, the Kindle Fire is a good all-around viewer. And most people read using backlit screen all the time, when reading email, websites, and whatever else they see on their computer. So short reading stints are not impossible with the Kindle Fire. But Amazon has gone beyond eReader with the Kindle Fire and not quite far enough to be tablet worthy. As long as you know that going in, and are happy with what it has to offer, the Kindle Fire is a fun and exciting product as well.

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Kindle Fire Technical Specs

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Price	$199
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Design
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Touch Screen	Yes
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Screen Size	7”
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Screen Type	LCD
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Resolution	1024 x 600
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Overall Size	7.5″ x 4.7″ x .45″
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Weight	14.6 ounces
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Content
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EBooks	2.6 million
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Magazines	368
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Newspapers	131
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Memory & Battery
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Memory	8GB for 6,000 books & apps
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Battery Life	8 hours