Amazon sent a wave crashing through the mobile industry when information technology appear that its Android based tablet, the Kindle Fire, would land with a price of $199. Its custom UI looked good, Amazon promised tons of available apps and media content, and information technology seemed poised to steal some thunder from even Apple's vaunted iPad 2, which costs more than twice as much.

And at present information technology's here. Do the expectations mesh with the reality of the device, at present that we've been using it? Aye and no. Information technology'due south still likely the best value in a tablet on the market, and volition make tablet computing accessible to many people that either couldn't beget Apple'due south iPads or couldn't tolerate Android Honeycomb based tablets. While somewhat restricted compared to other Android tablets when information technology comes to apps and content providers, nobody can argue that Amazon doesn't provide a great self-contained ecosystem. Amazon's streaming services, books and other "print" media offerings, and Appstore - all backed past its cloud storage - give users plenty of opportunities to find stuff to purchase and pass the hours with.

Hardware

In an obvious try to keep manufacturing costs down, the Amazon Kindle Burn down sports one of the most basic hardware designs always seen on a tablet. Not only are the typical Android domicile, back, and carte buttons missing (replaced by on-screen controls), but you will also notice a lack of volume controls and cameras. The simply interesting bits on the Fire's exterior are a very poorly placed power push button, a micro-USB charging/data port, and the iii.5mm headphone jack - all of which sit in a cluster on the bottom edge of the tablet.

The rear of the device is covered in a soft-touch on black paint that hides prints well enough, but offers naught at all in terms of style. Powering the Kindle Fire is a dual-core 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage. There's only 6.5GB of storage bachelor to the user, and in that location's no microSD expansion slot, but Amazon's cloud-based storage for apps and media softens that blow since things tin be deleted and re-downloaded from the cloud as needed.

The 1024 10 600 pixel resolution, 7-inch touchscreen display works well, and is both bright and adequately sharp, though it is maybe somewhat lacking in the viewing angle department. The Fire's 190mm x 120mm 10 11.4mm (vii.5in x iv.7in x .4in) and 413g (14.6oz) weight arrive easy to hold for extended periods, too.

Amazon's cost saving design could drive some consumers to consider the Barnes and Noble Nook Tablet instead, as the Nook offers a more than interesting look, real hardware controls, and microSD storage expansion for but a little more money.