Kindle Fire And iPad 2 - A Comparison Review

It's amazing; only two or three years ago the market for tablet and tablet computing really wasn't very big. Indeed, laptops were still the rule, rather than the exception in the fight for market share and then came Apple's first iPad and the landscape shifted. It was more like the landscape turned upside-down as Amazon came after Apple with its own line of tablets called Kindles and Barnes and Noble brought out the Nook.

Here's an even more interesting fact that though Apple shifted the market forever with its iPad, it created an opportunity that others are filling - lower cost devices that are nearly as good. For example, Amazon recently brought out its new Kindle Fire and I've had a chance to put my hands on one and look it over. Apple's iPad is still list priced at US $499. Some users may like the 7-inch Kindle Fire form factor as it is smaller and easier to handle than the larger iPad and other than having both WiFi and 3G access - no big issue in most of the country - and dual cameras, both devices are pretty much the same.

Also I forgot to mention that you are locked into Apple's IOS operating system and its proprietary applications - yes there are lots of them. What this means is that Apple will let you play with Apple devices. The Kindle Fire, on the other hand, can share apps with any Android-based device, Windows 7 devices and any Internet-ready device. So, after using both devices, the user might ask himself why should he spend $300 more for a proprietary device, when an open device like the Kindle does nearly everything the Apple will do and actually has better pixel density (169 ppi versus 132)? Yes, some users may admit the Kindle Fire is smaller - about two inches -- but it also offers the same 16 million colors that the Apple iPad offers.

Like the Apple iPad the Kindle lets you view the image at different angles automatically. It also offers the same type of dual-core 1 GB processor speed, so speed is not an issue and neither is image technology because both of them offer in-plane switching technology (the images move as you move the device). And, after using the Silk browser that is available on the Kindle Fire, which is an open-style browser, would the user want to go back to a proprietary browser like Apple's Safari? It is true that Apple has loosened the fetters a bit on its browser so that you can use it under Windows, but you still need to download additional support software to make it work with your Windows device.

The advantages one might see to the Apple iPad: Its larger display; Dual camera; 3G access capability; Larger internal memory 16 GB versus 8GB for the Kindle Fire - not really an issue as there is automatic switching to a cloud drive for storage.

Maybe for some users the Kindle Fire makes more sense. Okay, the user would have to give up two cameras by not having the iPad, but he is also not locking himself into Apple's closed system. The Kindle Fire also offers background updating and syncing with your library and other choices. Its choices seem to be larger than Apple's librarying. Another item that some users may find important, email, is a non-starter because the it handles your email needs too. It also handles a wide variety of formats including DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, AZW files and more. Finally, it recognizes security formats such as WEP, WPA and WPA2 that our router offers.

For some users considering the type of intuitive touch-screen interface, lighter weight and smaller size (which are more convenient) and very reasonably sized screen, the Kindle Fire may come out on top in comparison, specially if one also considers the price. It's just that the supposed advantages may just not be worth the extra $300 for the iPad when the Kindle does nearly the same thing, only in a smaller package.

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