Unfortunately despite weighing a light 414 grams with 7 inch Gorilla Glass display and offering free cloud storage for anything you buy from Amazon via the device, it’s still not for everybody.
The $199 price tag seems very appealing considering it’s just below half of what the iPad 2 currently sells for but you could be inadvertently selling yourself short by purchasing this version of the Kindle E-reader.
I was to ask a friend to ship one over for me but decided to chill a little and do some more research on the device and here’s what I found out that made me practically run for the hills
No 3G Internet Connectivity: unlike the Kindle Touch 3G, Kindle Keyboard 3G and Kindle DX, Kindle Fire lacks 3G leaving users with internet access via Wi-Fi only. Well it so happens that over here in Nigeria, we are still “managing” 3.5G internet access with no hopes of Wi-Fi in the nearest future. Even Wi-fi in homes hasn’t become a widespread phenomenon. Unlike some tablets that come with USB 2.0 ports that allow the use of external internet modems like Huawei, I very much doubt if the Amazon Kindle Fire’s sole USB port supports that.
No Camera, No Microphone: the absence of these features means no Skype, Google Voice and the likes. Even if you were to use one of those headphone – mic sets, not all applications on the device will support/detect it.
No Bluetooth: there are tons of Bluetooth devices that enable you expand the features of your tablet device and thus do more with it but Amazon Kindle Fire isn’t cut out for that all.
No Google Android Marketplace Access: Yes, Mr. Kindle Fire runs on Android but you ain’t getting access to the vast apps available via the Google Android Marketplace. The only apps you are laying your fingers on are those available via Amazon’s App Store and it’s under stocked due to stringent safety measures that make app approval a pain in the *you know what* for app developers.
Low Storage Space: Of the 8GB of storage advertised, only 6GB is available for your movies, apps, documents and what have you. Everything else has to be uploaded to the cloud and accessed from there anytime you want. The problem with this in my opinion is that it’s a waste of bandwidth that also begs the question, “How do I access my files in the cloud, when I’m stuck without internet access?”
Left to me alone, the lack of internet access is a major deal breaker for me and thus I’d rather buy the simple black and white Amazon Kindle E-reader that costs just $79 with a battery that lasts close to 1 month on one charge.
If you already own an iPad 2 or you’ve worked on one before and loved it, do not make the mistake of getting Amazon’s Kindle Fire, ’cause you will be grossly disappointed but if you are looking for a cheap tablet for your kids or you just want to test the tablet waters, this reading device will do.
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