Kindle Fire HD 8.9" - Question

[rabernet]

So - other than the original Kindle Fire, I've never owned a tablet. Got my tax refund in and actually went to look at tablets earlier this week, but I have the Note II phone, and all the Android tablets seemed a bit redundant to me. In fact, I've had several sales folks at different stores even ask me why I want a tablet when I have the Note II.

So - I had also been considering trading in my Kindle Fire at Best Buy and upgrading it to an HD. Decided today to go with the 8.9" vs. the 7".

Been playing with it this afternoon, and it feels awkward to hold for reading, and I'm wondering if I made a mistake going with the 8.9". I do see that Best Buy allows you to return/exchange up to 30 days.

So my question is for those of you that have the 8.9" - is it just a matter of getting used to the size after using the original Fire?

Those that have the 7", do you think the screen is too small? I know it's the same as the original Fire, but I wondered if the HD is "wasted" on a smaller screen?

I told my boyfriend I think I'm going to take this back and get the 7" instead, but he thinks I should play with it more before making that decision.

I know it ultimately comes down to a personal choice - just wondered if there were others that made the change from 7" to 8.9" and got used to it, or preferred it, and why?

 

[timothyh]

I think the bottom line is what you will be using it for. I have a Thrive 10 inch (heavier and larger than your kindle). The Thrive is GREAT for reading magazines and pdf files. Surfing the web and playing games is also good---but it is awkward and heavy to hold. I also have a 7 inch nexus. Fairly good for surfing the web (can make the screen image larger if desired). For reading books it's great, and holds well. Magazines and pdfs--not so much--even though you can make the image larger. I used to take the 10 inch on vacation, but it becomes rather heavy after a while. The 7 inch isn't. Most of my reading of books are on the 7 inch and an e-ink kindle (much lighter, and REALLY easy to hold) Magazines and pdfs on an e-ink are terrible. I find the 7 inch the best for reading on a back lit screen. If back lit screens don't bother you, I would suggest that. Both nexus and knidle HD have excellent screens. I do think you will find an 8.9-10 screen to become awkward to hold rather quickly. I believe that the 8.9 kindle is not selling as well as predicted by Amazon. Oh, if you were happy with the 7 inch kindle fire, than the HD version will completely impress you---HD certainly is not wasted--everything is so much clearer and intense. For whats it worth.
Tim

 

[sergey]

I have a S3 and had a Android tablet before switching to a 8.9" Kindle Fire HD. I love it and have no desire to go back to an full Android tablet because my S3 does everything I need. So I totally agree with getting a Kindle.

As for size...

The 7" kindle is bumping too close to your 5.5" display on the note 2. But I can see the advantages of the 7"- small size, light, about the size of a paperback book. I almost got one because a coworker had a 7" tablet and it was really cool- he had it with him everywhere- he carried it in his lab coat pocket.

The 8.9" Kindle is great for watching videos, surfing the web, and the size lends itself more to the magazines/newspapers. There is also a significant difference in the screen size with your phone. But you lose the portability and it is heavier.

The deciding factor for me was that I surf the web/watch videos way more than I read books. And it's a home tablet that I really only bring on vacations. So I value the bigger screen size and portability wasn't as important. It is heavier, but I think it is worth it.

If I were more of a bookworm and really wanted to bring my tablet everywhere, I would have gotten the 7" Kindle.