Why kindle did not light my fire
// November 30th, 2011 // 4 Comments » // review, tech
photo credit: Brian Tomlinson
I have been lusting over the Kindle Fire since it was announced. It is a beautiful tablet like device and it is directly tied to Amazon online media. I have been buying and storing mp3s on Amazon cloud, been buying a few kindle books, and both renting and purchasing videos with instant videos as well. I was hoping that the Kindle Fire would allow me to have access to all my media for use in my house.
On black Friday my wife and I went shopping for a Kindle Fire. I was really excited that I could go to Target and pick one up in person. Based on all the online hype I was thrilled that I could find one at the first Target store I went to and it was ready to go.
So, after breaking into the simple packaging and starting it up I suddenly realized that it was not going to work out for me…
To start, it is a really heavy little device for the 7 inch screen. I could learn to live with this, but I couldn’t understand why it was so heavy. Here is what ended my love affair, the Kindle Fire does not have HDMI and Bluetooth connectivity. If I am going to drop money on a toy for my media then I want my media to be available to my TVand my Bluetooth headphones/speakers. Why would I want a device that allows me to stream video only on my 7″ screen, even my phone can push streaming video to HDMI. #FAIL
I went out again on a new mission. I still had the itch for a tablet and I wanted to see if I could get a deal because it was still Black Friday. I went to Micro Center, Best Buy, and returned to Target. I wanted a tablet that was around the same price as the Kindle with Android and that had the missing connectivity I found on the Kindle Fire.
On this mission I came away with a Acer Iconia a100, and I now think I am in love. I found this device at BestBuy for less than $200 and it has HDMI out, Bluetooth, expandable micro SD, and one of the latest versions of Android. It’s still a little heavy, needs a special charger, and has screen issues, but… it is a good solid tablet and allows me to do everything I could have done on the Kindle.
One caviet, if you want to watch video from Amazon Instant Video you need to download the dolphin browser. In my frustration with Amazon not having a video app, I did find that Google rents movies as well directly. That is the only service from Amazon you cannot get directly in Android, the others (kindle, music, shopping) all have Android apps.
After this experience, I have to say… I can’t understand how Amazon couldn’t have made a 7″ android tablet with all the fixing if Acer can. It’s too bad that the color part of their kindle line is so weak. That all said, I still think a black and white kindle is worth getting for an ereader, it has superior battery life, no-glare viewing, and it’s weigh lighter than all the tablets out there.
Final thought: Acer Iconia a100 puts the smack down on the Kindle Fire
