The Kindle Fire is the newest touchscreen pad to hit the market. For consumers looking for a quality tablet at a low cost… this may be the one.
The iPad is the market leader when it comes to touchscreen tablets. Amazon’s Kindle Fire could be a great alternative to the iPad depending on your desires and expectations. In general, it lacks a lot of “freshness” compared to the iPad. Having said that, this doesn’t mean it’s not worth checking out.
Price
The Kindle Fire is only $199.00. Cost-conscious buyers will no doubt find that low price attractive. Compared to the lowest priced iPad at $499.00. Today’s economy being what it is… Amazon is absolutely a competitor based solely on sale price. Only time will tell how much of an influence the Fire will have on the iPad.
Characteristics
The screen size is 7 inches.
Lightweight at just over 14 ounces
Wi-Fi enabled
8 gig internal storage (more storage is available via Amazon cloud storage)
Battery life up to 8 hours (approximately 8 hours of reading and 7.5 hours of watching video clips)
Application Availability Capability
Amazon Kindle Fire runs on the Android operating system. This means that you will have more than 200,000 apps available for download. The iPad has more than twice as many available apps available at around 450,000.
However, you will be able to download content from Amazon.com. Over 100,000 movies and TV shows, games, millions of eBooks, and over 17 million songs. Amazon also offers you a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime that gives you discounts on free delivery and streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows.
When it comes to capabilities most consumers have grown accustomed to… iPad has more to offer. The Fire does not have a camera or the ability to record audio. Again, it seriously depends on what capabilities you actually need.
Another thing to think about in terms of cost. Amazon Kindle Fire accesses the web only when a WiFi connection is available. No data plan required.
The iPad on the other hand connects via 3G. But that also means you will incur additional costs due to the monthly data plan required.
The Fire may come with a small amount of storage space compared to the iPad, but Amazon’s free and unlimited cloud storage space is a big plus. You won’t have to worry about running out of space for your songs, movies, and eBooks. Let’s not forget all the individual apps!
