In case you didn't know, Kindle Fire is Amazon's latest Kindle revision which compared to earlier Kindles is quite an upgrade. It features a color display and can even play music and movies.
Out of curiosity, do any of you own one or plan to get one? It still hasn't been released in Europe so far.
I'm not a fan of digital distribution and especially hate DRM, but for reading books on the go this seems like a good product. After all, you can transfer your own DRM-free text files to it, too.
If you just want to use it for reading, get either the keyboard version or the new touchscreen. The Fire is just another tablet and they removed the 'ink like' screen from the previous versions. Staring at an LCD screen is too hard on my eyes after a day of being in front of a computer.
I use Calibre to load up text files or PDFs. Although, sometimes the PDFs format kind of funny.
From what I've read, the Fire has a pretty good screen, and of course much superior to those previous Kindles with low tech b/w LCD.
Forgot to mention it in the first post, but one of the main selling points is the price: 199 USD. For that you get an ebook reader that can also be used to surf the net, read/write emails and watch movies. It's not a full blown computer, of course.
Last edited by Friendly on Wed Feb 01, 2012 12:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I'm sure the new screens look nice, but the older kindles used some sort of screen that displayed like ink printed on paper. That's my main love of the original kindles.
It's a matter of preference: if you just want an e-reader; go with the original styled kindles. If you want a tablet to play with apps, use the internet, and read sometimes; go with the Fire.
What mesh control said. The old Kindle's screen is amazingly clear and easy on the eyes. For book reading I'd much rather have that than a traditional LCD.
By "old" I mean the 3rd generation Kindle; I haven't seen the older ones in person.
Chiming in with Mesh Control & Davey. Sorry Friendly, but you're wrong on this one. A lot of work went into those digital ink screens and its part of the reason I rather like my kindle, but its far from perfect.
Mesh Control summed it up best describing this as just another (low cost) tablet. It might be very nice, but it is not a kindle.
Randorama wrote:ban CMoon for being a closet Jerry Falwell cockmonster/Ann Coulter fan, Nijska a bronie (ack! The horror!), and Ed Oscuro being unable to post 100-word arguments without writing 3-pages posts.
Eugenics: you know it's right!
As someone who gets migraines even from the glare of natural light off a printed page, the e-ink in the older kindles has been a godsend. I even get my school textbooks converted to PDFs so I can read them more easily. I really hope they don't discontinue production on that type. Never know if I'll break it or something and become a sad panda indeed.
Friendly wrote:I had no idea people preferred the old type of screen to the new one. Thanks for enlightening me. I guess a direct comparison is needed.
Just compare reading words off a page with reading them off a screen. The digital ink idea was to make a 'screen' that was just as easy on the eye as reading off a page. I still think a backlight idea might not have been a bad one though.
Randorama wrote:ban CMoon for being a closet Jerry Falwell cockmonster/Ann Coulter fan, Nijska a bronie (ack! The horror!), and Ed Oscuro being unable to post 100-word arguments without writing 3-pages posts.
Eugenics: you know it's right!
E Ink screens aren't LCD at all. They're more similar to an Etch-A-Sketch - unlike most other flat display technology, they don't require any sort of active lighting and can maintain a still image without expending any energy at all. They really do just look like you're reading paper. It makes a staggering difference for static reading.
StarCreator wrote:they don't require any sort of active lighting and can maintain a still image without expending any energy at all.
Another huge difference between the Fire and original Kindle. The battery on the fire is only rated at 7-8 hours WITH Wifi turned off. I can leave my kindle on (with 3g turned on) and it lasts a couple of weeks. With the 3g turned off I get over a months use out of it, before it requires the charger. AWESOME
E Ink screens aren't LCD at all. They're more similar to an Etch-A-Sketch - unlike most other flat display technology, they don't require any sort of active lighting and can maintain a still image without expending any energy at all. They really do just look like you're reading paper. It makes a staggering difference for static reading.
I currently own a 3rd gen E-INK Kindle and I find it's useful when traveling. But the non-backlit aspect does present problems as well. I travel often and the lighting on planes is hit or miss. Of course I have the official Amazon case with the built-in LED lamp, but that's a bit bright and distracting as well.
If you travel a lot and do a bit of reading, then go for it.
If you're a casual reader, then I'd say steer clear for now. Remember, the device is one thing. Buying content is another. Yeah, you can be cheap and stick to the free classics (or strip the DRM or whatever these other guys do), but books cost money whether they're paper or digital.
SuperGrafx wrote:
If you travel a lot and do a bit of reading, then go for it.
If you're a casual reader, then I'd say steer clear for now. Remember, the device is one thing. Buying content is another. Yeah, you can be cheap and stick to the free classics (or strip the DRM or whatever these other guys do), but books cost money whether they're paper or digital.
I side with this, though I want to add the reason I went to kindle is because I was devouring a lot of books and simply felt I didn't have the space for them on my shelves. Reference books are one thing, but when you can read a book of fiction in less than a week, and it has six sequels (and you actually feel compelled to read them), the Kindle at least saves space. On the other hand, you can sell books, you can't sell kindle files.
Randorama wrote:ban CMoon for being a closet Jerry Falwell cockmonster/Ann Coulter fan, Nijska a bronie (ack! The horror!), and Ed Oscuro being unable to post 100-word arguments without writing 3-pages posts.
Eugenics: you know it's right!
I bought a cheap0 Kindle reader (the one for 80 bucks) for myself and a Kindle Fire for my mother. Ma' isn't quite tech-savvy and she digs it; I also got her an iPad some months back and she loved that one, too, so that's sayin' something. For myself, the only thing I'm wondering about my crappy Kindle is the ability to just download books from my computer and then upload them into the Kindle (i.e., I don't want to download them using the actual Kindle)... is that possible I'm very technologically-averse, by the way
THe other thing I wanted to point out with the Kindle...the upgrade process is absolutely dreadful if you're not using a wifi connection.
You download a file and place it in the device directory before it syncs and updates.
YOu'd think they'd make this a bit more seamless especially since most target buyers are older (likely less tech savvy) folks.
xbl0x180 wrote:For myself, the only thing I'm wondering about my crappy Kindle is the ability to just download books from my computer and then upload them into the Kindle (i.e., I don't want to download them using the actual Kindle)... is that possible I'm very technologically-averse, by the way
I'm not sure, but I was able to download Kindle ebooks for the iPad app from Amazon's website on the computer. The app automatically uploaded the books. I'm guessing that Amazon's devices would support this as well, but I'm not completely sure.
I was able (like Mesh Control) to convert pdfs (and other files) using caliber and load them on the kindle fine. I wish I understood what was going on with the US division of Amazon--there are so many books that are on kindle internationally, but are not on kindle in the US.
Randorama wrote:ban CMoon for being a closet Jerry Falwell cockmonster/Ann Coulter fan, Nijska a bronie (ack! The horror!), and Ed Oscuro being unable to post 100-word arguments without writing 3-pages posts.
Eugenics: you know it's right!
What I was wondering is if I am able to bypass using the Kindle to download books and upload them from my computer (i.e., download the stuff from my computer and upload them into the Kindle). I don't want to use the Kindle itself to download books, just read them
xbl0x180 wrote:What I was wondering is if I am able to bypass using the Kindle to download books and upload them from my computer (i.e., download the stuff from my computer and upload them into the Kindle). I don't want to use the Kindle itself to download books, just read them
Yes, that's what we're talking about. You can download to your computer, convert if necessary, then upload it to your kindle like a giant flashdrive.
Randorama wrote:ban CMoon for being a closet Jerry Falwell cockmonster/Ann Coulter fan, Nijska a bronie (ack! The horror!), and Ed Oscuro being unable to post 100-word arguments without writing 3-pages posts.
Eugenics: you know it's right!
Schweet I think I'm gonna start doing that. Download a buncha classics and then upload to my cheap0 OG Kindle. Most of the 200 books I have are classics with a few contemporary junk from 1960 onward. I am a luddite to an almost extreme in some instances, so I've been trying to buy books that aren't available electronically (in English, at least). Just bought a coupla books by Francoise Sagan and Pierre Louys. I also looked at the prices for the electronic version versus the printed book and saw there wasn't much of a difference, so I bought John Fowles's The Collector
I'm very technologically-averse, by the way 
I think I'm gonna start doing that. Download a buncha classics and then upload to my cheap0 OG Kindle. Most of the 200 books I have are classics with a few contemporary junk from 1960 onward. I am a luddite to an almost extreme in some instances, so I've been trying to buy books that aren't available electronically (in English, at least). Just bought a coupla books by Francoise Sagan and Pierre Louys. I also looked at the prices for the electronic version versus the printed book and saw there wasn't much of a difference, so I bought John Fowles's The Collector 
