So I ended up getting my mom a 16gb Kindle Fire HD last Saturday. I got it delivered to my house on Thursday and I had a couple of days to play with it before handing over to her a few hours ago. This was my first experience with a tablet and I gotta say, I liked having it around. Amazon's ecosystem is decent with Prime but I think when I get a tablet for myself, I'm gonna go with a Nexus 7. I think I'd appreciate the more open Android approach.
As far as the Kindle as a piece of hardware, I thought it was real nice for a $200 device (that's what I paid for each of my kids 8gb ipods last year). Streamed HD movies from Netflix and Amazon looked great and the audio was real impressive. Initially, I didn't think that something like Dolby Digital Plus would make a difference on something so small but it really stood out. I also like the idea of having a mini-hdmi port as I was able to quickly plug into my plasma and watch movies. Is it a complete necessary thing for me? No because I could watch that stuff using my 360 but it's quick and simple with the tablet. That's what I noticed about using the tablet in general, everything is so quick and simple when it comes to doing basic stuff. I'm also interested in the direction they are going with mobile devices when it comes to using them for your TV, like controlling them. It seems like being able to watch TV on a tablet could be a cool little perk too. I'm hoping that the next Nexus 7 to be released has upgraded audio and the mini-hdmi port. I could think of some other things to want but keeping in that very friendly sub-$300 price range, I don't expect more.
So that's it, I'm on the super cheap tablet bandwagon now waiting to see what, if anything, Google does next with the Nexus 7.
I LOVE paying for Xbox Live! I also love that my love for it pisses off so many people.
