Amazon Kindle Fire - What does everyone think of this?

[EllenFrasier]

It's $199 - what does it do? Can it do what a laptop does? Or is it just a way of downloading books? I am so out of the loop. And to confuse me even more, Amazon now has something called "Silk" a sort of cloud of processing I guess where you can access things as fast or faster than a desktop computer. Do you think they will have Black Friday deals on these?

 

[ellone]

It's $199 - what does it do? Can it do what a laptop does? Or is it just a way of downloading books? I am so out of the loop. And to confuse me even more, Amazon now has something called "Silk" a sort of cloud of processing I guess where you can access things as fast or faster than a desktop computer. Do you think they will have Black Friday deals on these?

It's similar to other tablets. You can have apps and surf the web on it...and you still can buy and read books on it like other Kindles.

I don't think there will be any Black Friday deals on it - it's coming out 11/15 and I highly doubt Amazon will be making any money on these as it is.

I've already ordered one for my husband. He's been wanting a tablet that works with Flash - and this one does.

 

[RitaE]

not a computer - it is a tablet. Sort of like an iPAD but it doesn't have a camera or a microphone.

It can

Display eBook
Surf the Web
Play Movies
Play Music

Download Apps from the Amazon App store.

etc etc

The Silk is the Amazon browser (like Explorer or Firefox).

It does not have 3G. It connects to the internet via WiFi networks

No sales. It wouldn't surprise me to see them run out of stock by mid-December. We'll see.

 

[Suz D]

I think it's a great answer for someone who wants an IPod touch for a kid. The screen is bigger which makes movie watching more fun, plus it makes it easier to navigate the apps. We're contemplating one for our daughter (it's cheaper than an IPod touch) but I may want to wait until some of the bugs are ironed out.

 

[thomas998]

Was hoping for more... I thought it might be a good Ipad alternative.... But, it has limited memory (sure unlimited cloud storage but it is only wifi so if you are in the middle of nowhere you will only have the 8GB... no SD slot, if it had one then the memory wouldn't be an issue.... Smaller screen than an Ipad... unclear what streaming will be available on it... will it be Netflix, HBOGo and other 3rd party capable like an Ipad or is it going to only work with Amazon Prime?

I think for the 200 it costs I would rather jump on craigslist and snag one of the HP Touchpads that people are trying to sell NIB.

 

[MrsPete]

It sounds like a less expensive iPad to me. I have an iPad, and I'm a bit underwhelmed with it. We really use it only for surfing the web.

I wonder if I've just found the kids' Christmas presents. I was considering getting them Kindles, and this is only a little more expensive. Must investigate . . .