Kindle Fire

[Santina]

I have quite a few amazon gift cards and was thinking of getting Kindle Fire. I already have a kindle reader which i was going to pass on to my daughter. I was wondering if the fire was good as a reader for books? Is their a backlight. I heard there is a lot of glare. Can you read outdoors? I guess I could still use my old kindle to read but i would really like to downsize devices.

 

[Passepartout]

I was wondering if the fire was good as a reader for books? Is their a backlight. I heard there is a lot of glare. Can you read outdoors?

Fire does have a backlight. The screen does have glare. You can read the 'old' Kindle outdoors better. The Fire has about 10 hours battery life as opposed to a month or two. Otoh, the Fire does wi-fi web access which the b&w Kindle doesn't do so good. So for instance you can do your email and keep up with TUG when traveling without lugging a laptop.

You can order the Fire, try it, and if it isn't your cup o' tea, send it back.

I'm keeping my Kindle 3 and waiting for the next Fire- at least.

Jim

 

[MichaelColey]

Although the Kindle Fire CAN function as an eBook reader, it's really not intended for that. The earlier, cheaper versions do a better job in that respect. The Kindle Fire is essentially a tablet computer. You can install games and other apps on it, check email, surf the web, watch movies, listen to music, and do a ton of other things.

It does work better for reading in at least ONE situation. Since it's backlit, it's good for reading at night / in the dark.

I have two of the older Kindles and a Kindle Fire, but personally I prefer using my iPhone. It's even more versatile and powerful, it's more portable, and I always have it with me. I have the Kindle app on my iPhone, and I regularly read books on it.