Kindle Fire 2...

[Shyatic]

My wife's birthday is on the 10th, and Amazon is making an announcement on the 6th for the Fire. Do you think it will be available when they make the announcement, or do you think that it will be available some time after?

Otherwise, I have to get her the Google Nexus tablet, which is great for its price... but she has already said she wants a *Kindle*, so I'd hate to get this and then her want the new hotness

Thanks if anybody remembers from Amazon's last year announcement.

 

[vshah]

you could just install the kindle app on the fire...

no way the fire 2 will come with jellybean which is one of the biggest selling points of the n7 in my opinion.

 

[jiffylube1024]

You can get the Kindle app for the Nexus 7; I use it a lot.

 

[Phynaz]

When she says she wants a Kindle, does she mean a Kindle Reader? If so, don't get her a Fire.

 

[CA19100]

Find out WHY she wants a Kindle. If it's to read books, don't get her a color device like the Fire. The e-ink display is a totally different animal, and much easier on the eyes for reading. (I have the basic $79 Kindle, and absolutely love it.)

 

[sep]

Find out WHY she wants a Kindle. If it's to read books, don't get her a color device like the Fire. The e-ink display is a totally different animal, and much easier on the eyes for reading. (I have the basic $79 Kindle, and absolutely love it.)

Agree 100% - The Amazon commercial for the Kindle products is so true. The on e where the guy with an Ipad (assumed) says my device can do all that and the lady says my is perfect in the light and I have to two kindle fires for less then you paid for one.

My GF had the second generation Kindle fire and I fell in love with it. The new $79 kindle is ideal reading. Since then i've purchased 4 of them.

I've never used the NOOK or other e-readers. So I can't comment on them.

The colored products like K.Fire, N7, Ipad with books/mags are cool, look sharp and have fancy options. These don't compare with the e-ink kindles for long reads. My eyes crap out so quick, but not at all with the k.reader ; )

Good Luck!

 

[BladeVenom]

Find out WHY she wants a Kindle. If it's to read books, don't get her a color device like the Fire. The e-ink display is a totally different animal, and much easier on the eyes for reading. (I have the basic $79 Kindle, and absolutely love it.)

The Nook Color became popular with women for reading magazines. No one wants magazines in B&W.

 

[CA19100]

Yep. As I said, if it's to read books, the B&W e-ink devices are the way to go.

 

[Dulanic]

Find out WHY she wants a Kindle. If it's to read books, don't get her a color device like the Fire. The e-ink display is a totally different animal, and much easier on the eyes for reading. (I have the basic $79 Kindle, and absolutely love it.)

This... it sounds like she want's a e-ink device, but I would verify before dropping the money on the wrong item. If she says she wants a Kindle, she is probably referring to the e-ink device and wants that no glare book like feel.

 

[gorcorps]

Buy both, eink Kindle and Nexus 7. The eink devices are so cheap right now I could get one with the big jar of spare change on my dresser.

On to the OP: the original fire announcement was very close to release IIRC, but not right on.

 

[gorcorps]

Just googled it, and it was a bit over a month away from announcement to release. Not as quick as I thought.

 

[MrX8503]

My wife's birthday is on the 10th, and Amazon is making an announcement on the 6th for the Fire. Do you think it will be available when they make the announcement, or do you think that it will be available some time after?

Otherwise, I have to get her the Google Nexus tablet, which is great for its price... but she has already said

she wants a *Kindle*,

so I'd hate to get this and then her want the new hotness

Thanks if anybody remembers from Amazon's last year announcement.

Find out what she even means by that.

 

[notposting]

Couple things to add to your thinking:

Hopefully they will be updating the e-ink Kindles with built in lighting (ala Nook with GlowLight). If the Kindle Touch gets that kind of update and stays around $99 I'm getting one.

You can use the Kindle app on other devices, but you only get the free Lending Library books on Kindles (I think you need to be a Prime member for those). Same applies to the free Prime video streaming (I saw they released an app for iOS, but it sounds like the selection isn't all there?).

Good luck.

 

[cl-scott]

One more comment along the lines of the e-ink kindles are the ones to get for reading, the Fire is meant more of a tablet tied into Amazon's Prime services.

Then to the part of the question that seems to have been forgotten... Amazon seems to have a "tradition" of announcing a product, and then saying it will be available for sale in a couple of weeks. So if you're looking to have something on the day of her birthday beyond just an order confirmation, you probably want to look elsewhere, or just settle for the current model.

 

[Munky]

Nothing wrong with reading on a color LCD screen, I use the Nook Color to read all my ebooks, and my eyes are no worse for it. If you're spending money anyways, then why artificially limit yourself to a B&W screen and practically no features other than reading books?

 

[Red Storm]

Nothing wrong with reading on a color LCD screen, I use the Nook Color to read all my ebooks, and my eyes are no worse for it. If you're spending money anyways, then why artificially limit yourself to a B&W screen and practically no features other than reading books?

Cause it actually looks like a book page, rather than yet another LCD screen that for many people, like me spending all day staring at one for work, would rather not look at.

They're also generally lighter and thinner than many thin and light tablets.

 

[bearxor]

Just googled it, and it was a bit over a month away from announcement to release. Not as quick as I thought.

I was thinking it was like a month or so.

Without a huge price drop on the Fire after the Fire2 announcement, I'd wait it out if that's the direction you decide to go.

But really, there's nothing wrong with grabbing an eink reader and a Nexus 7. It's highly likely the Fire 2 won't be as powerful as a Nexus 7.

 

[Red Storm]

I was thinking it was like a month or so.

Without a huge price drop on the Fire after the Fire2 announcement, I'd wait it out if that's the direction you decide to go.

But really, there's nothing wrong with grabbing an eink reader and a Nexus 7. It's highly likely the Fire 2 won't be as powerful as a Nexus 7.

And even if it is, it's going to be running Amazon's Android so I'd definitely pick the Nexus just for that.

 

[Munky]

Cause it actually looks like a book page, rather than yet another LCD screen that for many people, like me spending all day staring at one for work, would rather not look at.

They're also generally lighter and thinner than many thin and light tablets.

How does it look like a book more than any other screen? The pixel density is the same for the B&W Kindle and the Kindle Fire. The color screen also has adjustable colors, contrast and brightness which can be customized to look like a "book" and without all the limitations of a B&W Kindle. I get the impression all the people ranting against a color screen never took the time to actually adjust the screen for a comfortable reading level. Either that or they use a crappy screen that's too big for its resolution (aka ipad and ipad2).

 

[Red Storm]

How does it look like a book more than any other screen? The pixel density is the same for the B&W Kindle and the Kindle Fire. The color screen also has adjustable colors, contrast and brightness which can be customized to look like a "book" and without all the limitations of a B&W Kindle. I get the impression all the people ranting against a color screen never took the time to actually adjust the screen for a comfortable reading level. Either that or they use a crappy screen that's too big for its resolution (aka ipad and ipad2).

Take it outside and you'll see why. E-Ink displays look much more like actual book pages than any tablet screen. And it's lighter, thinner, lasts a whoooooole lot longer on a single charge. If you really like reading books, a e-reader works much better than a tablet.

 

[Munky]

Take it outside and you'll see why. E-Ink displays look much more like actual book pages than any tablet screen. And it's lighter, thinner, lasts a whoooooole lot longer on a single charge. If you really like reading books, a e-reader works much better than a tablet.

You're still touting that it looks like a book page without quantifying how exactly it does. And even if that were true, it's not necessarily an advantage, considering it looks like a B&W book with at most 16 levels of gray. Not color books, not magazines, and not anything published online. Not to mention a tablet can do hundreds of things a Kindle can't.

 

[Red Storm]

You're still touting that it looks like a book page without quantifying how exactly it does. And even if that were true, it's not necessarily an advantage, considering it looks like a B&W book with at most 16 levels of gray. Not color books, not magazines, and not anything published online. Not to mention a tablet can do hundreds of things a Kindle can't.

Jack of all trades, master of none. If you need more than an e-reader, then obviously you get a tablet. But if you really like to read books a lot, as I do, then a dedicated reader makes perfect sense because it does the job better.

 

[zerocool84]

How does it look like a book more than any other screen? The pixel density is the same for the B&W Kindle and the Kindle Fire. The color screen also has adjustable colors, contrast and brightness which can be customized to look like a "book" and without all the limitations of a B&W Kindle. I get the impression all the people ranting against a color screen never took the time to actually adjust the screen for a comfortable reading level. Either that or they use a crappy screen that's too big for its resolution (aka ipad and ipad2).

No light in your face which is a major cause of eyestrain, backlighting of screens causes that. No reflections either which makes it easier on the eyes as well. It really is easier on the eyes.

I don't know what tablet you're using but unless you jailbreak/root a tablet, all you're going to be able to adjust is the brightness. Switching the background when reading to black doesn't solve the issue either.

 

[CA19100]

How does it look like a book more than any other screen?

Because it's not a backlight streaming through an LCD like most screens. It works by electrically moving little bits of actual pigment to the surface of the display. There is no backlight. The ambient light in the room (or, say, the reading light on an airplane) reflects off the pigments, just as it would on a real book. Take an LCD and an e-ink display outside on a sunny day, and the difference will be very apparent:

This article explains how e-ink works.

Trust me, try one for a few minutes and you'll see what I mean. I had no idea what I was missing until I got one as a gift. Now I wish I had done it years ago. Another bonus is that it only uses electricity to change the page, not to display content. Where an iPad will last 10 hours on a good day, my Kindle will last for weeks of regular usage on a single charge.

It's not that this is a better or worse screen than an LCD. It's a different technology, better suited for a specific purpose (reading text). Just as a color LCD is better for watching videos.

 

[Eug]

Yeah, in a room with low light, my Nexus 7 and iPad both sometimes give me a serious headache, even if I turn the brightness way down. I don't own an e-reader, but for the short periods I've tried them they've seemed way less straining on the eyes than LCDs.

That said, e-reader screens are slow, low pixel density, and B&W. They have one single purpose that they do well, but suck at everything else.