# New Kindle Fire vs mini ipad



## stevene9 (Nov 9, 2008)

I am looking to get a 7" screen. I have a KK and an Ipad 1. I originally bought the fire when it came out, but returned it because I thought it was rather heavy for a 7", and pretty rough on many other fronts. However the prime deal seems awfully good. It seems that they both may be out before Xmas. I couldn't find any current thread on this subject, but I was interested in other's opinions. I will use it for reading, web surfing, watching videos, and a few games.


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## Toby (Nov 25, 2008)

Good topic. We still have to wait to find out what amazon & apple will be offering when they make their announcements. I would also like to hear what others think.


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## Xopher (May 14, 2009)

I'm holding out until devices are officially announced and specs are released. I know I prefer the 7" form factor these days. The specs would have to be much better to upgrade from my current tablet, though.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Well, until the devices are actually announced, it's hard to say which feature set seems better...let alone real devices tested.  I'm anxious to learn about them both!

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

The biggest difference is that the Fire will be Android based and the iThing will be Apple based.  Apps purchased for one won't be usable on the other.  So that's something to keep in mind if you're already well invested in one or the other ecosystem.

I'm not personally interested in iThings; not really interested in another tablet at all -- but will be curious about what new features might be coming on the, presumably, soon to be announced new Fire.  As others have said, we won't really have a clue about that until they're actually announced.  

Observation:  The Touch model eInk devices are currently unavailable new (there are refurbished units available.)  The Fire is in stock.  This makes me think that there will not be a new 7" Fire, but there will be new Touch Kindles announced.  It's also possible, however, that there will be a 7" Fire that has some additional features to the current model.  But, I would also expect there to still be a Touch model without the light (which is what the smart money says is likely to be the main feature on a new model) and they're shown as 'not available'.  So why's the Fire still for sale?  Maybe they're just not sold out?  Dunno.  As I say, just an observation.  My conclusion -- which I'm not even willing to support very strongly -- could be completely wrong.


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

It's going to be very interesting to see what Amazon and Apple come up with next. I definitely think the 7-inch tablets will be the hot form factor for some time to come. For a combination of portability and price, the 7-inch screen is unbeatable, in my opinion.

Also, Amazon and Google/Asus have pretty much set the price point at $200 for the 7-inchers (with 6-8 GB of storage memory). If Apple does announce a 7-inch mini-iPad ("iThing"  ), I seriously doubt if they can do it for less than $300.

Interesting times!


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## stevene9 (Nov 9, 2008)

JimC1946 said:


> It's going to be very interesting to see what Amazon and Apple come up with next. I definitely think the 7-inch tablets will be the hot form factor for some time to come. For a combination of portability and price, the 7-inch screen is unbeatable, in my opinion.
> 
> Also, Amazon and Google/Asus have pretty much set the price point at $200 for the 7-inchers (with 6-8 GB of storage memory). If Apple does announce a 7-inch mini-iPad ("iThing" ), I seriously doubt if they can do it for less than $300.
> 
> Interesting times!


The rumors about the Ipad is 7.875 inch display, but very thin and light. It will not have the retina display like the Ipad 3, so it will be able to be much lighter (It will have the same type of display as the Ipad 1). The price they are talking about is about $250. Several Chinese Manufactureres have orders from Apple for parts which are unnamed, but certainly fit the form factor of a 7.875 screen.

I have many games for my Kindle. Do they play on the Fire? I'm not even sure that my Ipad apps will be transferable to a new form factor. It would have to be done through Itunes, and I have some doubt that Itunes will allow it. It will recognize the new Ipad as a completely different machine.


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## ginaf20697 (Jan 31, 2009)

I like that the new mini iPad will be a bit bigger than the Kindle. The Fire screen is just a wee bit to small for me but the iPad might be just right.


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## Shastastan (Oct 28, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> .....snip..... So why's the Fire still for sale? Maybe they're just not sold out? Dunno. As I say, just an observation. My conclusion -- which I'm not even willing to support very strongly -- could be completely wrong.


No, I think you're right. They are not sold out because of all the other units (B-N, etc.) that have entered the market thereby causing dilution. Also, all of the announcements/rumors have put a lot of potential buyers on hold that are waiting for the newer releases, Just my 4 cents worth.


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## Hadou (Jun 1, 2011)

Without seeing final specs and such for either device and all that....  My gut tells me that I'd go with the new Fire 11 times out of 10.  I've played with the iThings pretty extensively.  I just can't care about them in the slightest.  There's nothing about them that I find remarkable past the way their CS reps will jump through rings of fire while doused with kerosene to try to make your device/computer/lappy work the way it's supposed to.


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## jlee745 (Jul 27, 2010)

I have been waiting on the a larger ipod or smaller ipad for years. I was hoping the kindle fire would satisfy the desire but no such luck. I prefer
the ease of choosing between apps on the apple devices. I hated that i was always cleaning up my carousel. Wasn't a fan of the internet browsing. Links didn't want to work have the time. Email wasn't the best. I really tried liking it. I LOVE my kindle keyboard. Used it daily but when I heard there was a chance of an ipad mini I told my dh I had to have it so he said I better start selling some devices. Said i could sell my ipod touch 32g and my kindle to scrap up the money So I started spreading the word that my kindle w/oberon cover was for sale. Then one day out of the blue my dh was heading to the store to get gas and I ask him to get a  2 dollars scratch off lottery ticket maybe something with fruit on it(I rarely ever buy lottery didn't know names) so he picked me ONE up with cherries on it. Scratched the numbers on it and saw i had several winning numbers figured they would all be $1 but to my surprise they were $100. I won $500. Gave 200 to my dh and I am hiding 300 back hoping for an ipad mini. Sold my kindle fire for 150. So now waiting on the apple announcement. If its not true I'll try the new kindle fire.


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

jlee745, If you're not real happy with the carousel, you might want to look into another device, the Galaxy Tab 2 7". It's an Android device, has a micro SD slot, no carousel and, best of all, only costs about $250. I got my wife the new Student version which comes with a keyboard dock.

Hope I didn't offend any of you Fire folks by mentioning another brand on the Fire forum!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Hey, Happy. . .we're all comfortable in our love of the Fire.  Not threatened at ALL by your mention of other devices. Nosiree. 

Seriously, though, none of what you mention about the Galaxy is a strong positive for me over the Fire EXCEPT the possibility of a keyboard dock.  I'm guessing I'd use my Fire way more -- not that it sits and languishes as it is -- if there were the possibility of an external keyboard.  I also have a Xoom, which is a 'full size' tablet, and using the keyboard on screen is much easier with it than the size.  But, even though I don't have particularly large hands, it's not that easy in the Fire.  A stylus helps, but I can't come any where close to touch typing, so email and forum posting is problematic.  I tend to be somewhat verbose.


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

Ann, I agree, the Fire is a great piece of technology and to be honest, I haven't used the dock; haven't had a need to, yet. I guess the selling point for me was the SD card as I can move many of my apps to it and free up the 8gb for processing.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

HappyGuy said:


> Ann, I agree, the Fire is a great piece of technology and to be honest, I haven't used the dock; haven't had a need to, yet. I guess the selling point for me was the SD card as I can move many of my apps to it and free up the 8gb for processing.


See and that doesn't matter to me at all. . . .I don't have that many apps on it. . .I have a TON in the cloud. . . . many are ones I tried and then decided I didn't much like them or they didn't do what I expected, etc. I've not run into any sort of memory issues at all so, while an SD card is _nice_ it's not a _gotta have_ for me. In fact, if I felt the need for more memory, I'd rather just buy a device that had more memory -- like the Nexus -- rather than mess with an SD card.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

stevene9 said:


> I have many games for my Kindle. Do they play on the Fire? I'm not even sure that my Ipad apps will be transferable to a new form factor. It would have to be done through Itunes, and I have some doubt that Itunes will allow it. It will recognize the new Ipad as a completely different machine.


The eInk Kindle games will not play on the Fire. Though there may be Fire versions of some of them.

I think some iThing apps will add a version playable on the new form; so that the app would be good for the iPhone/iLittlePad/iPad just as now there are apps that will work on the iPhone and iPad. But some won't. It will be interesting to see how it shakes out. The size of my iPad is one of the things I like about it. And i have an i'Touch for when I want a smaller iThing.

I am definitely interested in a new Fire, depending on what features are available. It could be that a new Fire will be announced but not available until later in the year....

Betsy


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## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

stevene9 said:


> I have many games for my Kindle. Do they play on the Fire? I'm not even sure that my Ipad apps will be transferable to a new form factor. It would have to be done through Itunes, and I have some doubt that Itunes will allow it. It will recognize the new Ipad as a completely different machine.


Betsy hit on most of this, but in addition iTunes doesn't really care how many devices you put the app on if it is under the same iTunes account. I have some of my kid's apps on 8 different devices - touches, iPhones, iPad 1 & 2's. A couple of those are my parents devices and sync with their computer where I authorized my iTunes account. THis way they can play there crap on their devices and my parents didn't need to buy it. It's worked out well for us in this regard.

It is something to consider for anyone that is heavily invested in either android or iOS. Honestly, it makes no fiscal sense for me to consider an android device to replace one of my iOS devices. That said, I still do want a 7"ish form factor device. If the iPad mini comes to life I think there will be one in the house by Christmas. There are some apps my daughter needs to use on it and the smaller device will work better for her over the 10".

We shall see.....


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

stevene9 said:


> The rumors about the Ipad is 7.875 inch display, but very thin and light. It will not have the retina display like the Ipad 3, so it will be able to be much lighter (It will have the same type of display as the Ipad 1). The price they are talking about is about $250. Several Chinese Manufactureres have orders from Apple for parts which are unnamed, but certainly fit the form factor of a 7.875 screen.
> 
> I have many games for my Kindle. Do they play on the Fire? I'm not even sure that my Ipad apps will be transferable to a new form factor. It would have to be done through Itunes, and I have some doubt that Itunes will allow it. It will recognize the new Ipad as a completely different machine.


Games for the eInk Kindles don't play on the Fire - totally different technology.

But with iPad apps, they probably would, unless they were totally incompatible with the smaller screen. Most of our iPhone apps worked on our iPads when we got them, albeit not always optimally. Some iPad apps aren't suitable for the iPhone because of the screen size. Sometimes developers came out with new iPad versions of their iPhone apps when the iPad came out to optimize the bigger screen size. Apps are like music, though - once it's in your iTunes library, you can put them on any iDevice you'd like as long as it's registered to the same account, and as long as the developers have made the app compatible - and when the iPad came out, they did a lot of tweaking to iPhone apps and just rolled them out as updates - no repurchasing required.


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## sosha (Feb 9, 2010)

I'm going to decide between the 2 also.  The original Fire really didn't do much for me, but the improvements they've made are huge.

An 8.9" screen on the BigBoy is still .75" smaller than the full size iPad.  HD was sorely needed.  And bluetooth.  The $50/year 4G is a huge plus, as are the Prime member features.

The iPad (maybe mini) would hopefully boast a slim, trim form factor.  Rock solid, proven iOS.  A great user interface.  And all those apps I've already bought for my 1st iPad.  Solid, streaming HBO, Showtime.  Movies in bed again.  The Fire just frustrated me in that regard.

Ordered up Fires, to stay in the Q.  Anxiously awaiting Apple's blitz next week.


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## jlee745 (Jul 27, 2010)

I'll be waiting with ya. I'm thinking the ipad mini will b around the 299. Price. Its very tempting
to buy the 199. K.fire and the 199. K. Paper. I'm just not a huge fan of the fire's carousel.


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## romac (Jun 23, 2010)

I'm still driving myself crazy and feel like rambling about this, so here goes; I wanted the 8.9" Fire but waiting til November sucks :/ I'm so torn, I want that 1080p output mainly because I'd love to purchase seasons of shows and stream it onto my TV etc in full 1080. And the bigger screen would be nicer for reading websites, and general productivity apps. 

I had a Fire as my first tablet but shortly after getting it I got an iPhone and fell in love with Apples polished OS, and sold my Fire and put that cash toward an iPad. After months of the iPad going everywhere with me, I gave it to my fiancee to use for school/wedding planning/baby on the way and commandeered her Fire. The second time around with the fire I found myself liking the overall 7" size for general reading and playing and on the go use, but still found some sites to be difficult to read on (I'm a forum junkie and tapatalk addict, but some of my favorites aren't tapatalk enabled sadly). Once I heard rumors of a Fire 2 and iPad mini on the horizon, I sold the second fire while I could still get decent money out of it. Since that time I've been reading and browsing either on my phone or on my fiancees sad little netbook that I despise. We're very on board with tablet use and use the netbook mainly for printing and we no longer have a full featured PC (although it is in the plans).

I'm very torn on what to do. I'm probably equally invested in Amazon and Apple markets as far as apps go. 

I refuse to buy another full size iPad because as much as I love it, I just can't justify dropping $4-500 on one. I really loved mine, but it's too expensive when we have one in the house still. 

The iPad mini intrigues me naturally, because I could get back into the OS I enjoy, but again I'm comparing it to the admittedly clunky but clearly much cheaper Fire 1 (My only other tablet experience). Really it's going to come down to its pricing and features. I'm not Apple blinded to the point that I'll buy it simply because it's Apple. It will have to be solid for its size point spec wise, and more importantly, PRICE. I'm seeing wildly varying rumors. To me this is the key point, if the Mini is $300 then I'm out, for that price I will pick up the 7" Fire and save $100, or pick up the larger Fire. 

The 7" Fire I want because I can have it sooner (I LOVE instant gratification lol), and finally get rid of this damn netbook for reading/browsing in bed etc (which I've been doing since early July). But I'm afraid I'll regret the smaller screen down the road. At $199 though I think it's a hit. 

I guess I'll wait a couple days to see what Apple announces. If the Mini isn't meeting my expectations I'll pull the trigger on the 7" Fire HD because I can't see myself making it much longer without a tablet, as it's become such a staple in my daily life.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

sosha said:


> An 8.9" screen on the BigBoy is still .75" smaller than the full size iPad. HD was sorely needed. And bluetooth. The $50/year 4G is a huge plus, as are the Prime member features.


Just throwing this out for consideration--

The iPad3's dimensions are 9.5 x 7.31 x .37.
The KF 8.9's dimensions are 9.4 x 6.5 x .35

On my original iPad (9.5 x 7.47 x 0.5), when I'm playing a letterboxed movie from Netflix, the diagonal of the actual movie is.... 8.9". The Fire is shaped more like a movie screen.

So yes, the diagonal on the Fire is slightly smaller than the full screen diagonal of the iPad, but it's just about as wide (0.1 inch smaller) and a letterboxed movie should be about the same size on both devices.



Betsy


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## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

They really don't expect the iPad mini to be announced this week, more like a month from now, or at least 2 weeks apart. They might change their plans with the amazon announcement, or not since the products aren't shipping yet. I can almost see them flashing something on the screen and say see you next month as a tease. 

I'm waiting to see what happens.....


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## jlee745 (Jul 27, 2010)

I hope they don't put it off till Oct.   If they don't come out with an ipad mini I wll buy the Fire 7 in. to replace the one I just sold.(not a fan of the larger size tablets) but if they do I'll pay more for the ipad mini just because of the apps. You would think after a year Amazon would have about the same apps as Apple. Some of the apps I like that Amazon doesn't have is noaa radar, aim, local tvstations, pixelogic.


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## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

The October event was basically confirmed by 2 people known to get official apple leaks. Any mention of the mini this week will be a surprise. This week is supposed to be iPhone and iPod (and the iPod wasn't expected). It wouldn't be apple store to have 2 launches at the same time at the same event. It makes sense in a way if you look at how they do stuff. 

We shall see!


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## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

http://www.macrumors.com/2012/09/11/new-photos-show-ipad-mini-physical-mockup-in-hand/

Rumors... and more "october" being thrown around.

My next couple of weeks are insane - so I think i'm ok with October at this point! LOL!!


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## jlee745 (Jul 27, 2010)

I'm still crossing my fingers it will be tomorrow. There was rumors last min. that Amazon wasn't going to release a larger kindle fire so maybe they r wrong again. I keep playing my favorite apps on my ipod touch thinking how nice it would be to have a larger screen.


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## jlee745 (Jul 27, 2010)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/news/hardware/Apple-might-introduce-iPad-mini-iPod-Touch-iPod-Shuffle-iPod-nano-at-September-12-event/articleshow/16365318.cms

I hope this one is right. My daughter is wanting a new ipod touch with an iphone quality camera.


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## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

The iPod Touch today appears to be a go - i've seen notices of place holders. 

I'm going with 99% on no iPad Mini announcement today.... With all the stuff dug up so far as placeholders on apple's website - it would have popped up by now!

Look for another event probably a month from now.

They still might tease that event.... we shall see in a bit!! I will be in car line at the school too.... hmph. I spend most Apple keynotes in that place!


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## jlee745 (Jul 27, 2010)

No mini   I just don't understand why they want to give people a month to grab up the new Fires. I just have to wonder if there is a mini at all?


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## Finished (Feb 14, 2009)

TraceyC/FL said:


> The October event was basically confirmed by 2 people known to get official apple leaks. Any mention of the mini this week will be a surprise. This week is supposed to be iPhone and iPod (and the iPod wasn't expected). It wouldn't be apple store to have 2 launches at the same time at the same event. It makes sense in a way if you look at how they do stuff.
> 
> We shall see!


"official apple leaks"
That's really funny.


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## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

jlee745 said:


> No mini  I just don't understand why they want to give people a month to grab up the new Fires. I just have to wonder if there is a mini at all?


It is more of not wanting to steal the thunder from the iPhone, and as a new product it will have its own event.


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## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

Just Wondering said:


> "official apple leaks"
> That's really funny.


If you regularly follow apple rumors and leaks, there are people that have info and confirm stuff. It isn't as funny as you think!


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## romac (Jun 23, 2010)

Today's lack of announcement pretty much sold me on getting the Fire. However I do think I will try (try being the key word lol) to skip the 7" and hold out for the 8.9". I just think I'll be much happier with that down the road. 

It wasn't just that there wasn't a mini announced, it was also the announcement of the iPod touch that pushed me in the fires direction. With a base 4" iPod touch coming in at a whopping $299, what price point is the mini going to hit? At first I was hoping for a $250 mini but that seems impossible, I can't imagine it even being $299 if the much smaller touch is as well. So what happens, they bust in with a $349 Mini? In between a base touch and a new iPad 2 price wise? I'm just speculating, but like I said today's press conference pretty much killed it for me. Off to preorder my 8.9"!


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## jlee745 (Jul 27, 2010)

While I laid on the couch suffering from a stomach bug last night, My mind raced over what to do. I thought about ordering the fire 7in hd and then thought about what I had used my 1st gen Fire for. I mainly used it after hubby turned out lights to read and web browsing. The web browsing got on my nerves cause the links never wanted to work right. So I thought maybe I should just get the kindle paperwhite but I really like my page turner buttons on my kindle keyboard. It really stinks to win the lottery and can't spend it the way you want to: (
I am going to borrow my father in laws ipad 2 for a few days to see if I can get use to the size and then wait till Oct. to see what comes out. cnet seems to think there might not be a mini because of the price of the new ipod.
Can anyone tell me the diff. in the ipad 2 and ipad 3. Is it lighter?


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## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

jlee745 said:


> While I laid on the couch suffering from a stomach bug last night, My mind raced over what to do. I thought about ordering the fire 7in hd and then thought about what I had used my 1st gen Fire for. I mainly used it after hubby turned out lights to read and web browsing. The web browsing got on my nerves cause the links never wanted to work right. WansSo I thought maybe I should just get the kindle paperwhite but I really like my page turner buttons on my kindle keyboard. It really stinks to win the lottery and can't spend it the way you want to: (


I hate when I can't get what I want because it doesn't exist!



> I am going to borrow my father in laws ipad 2 for a few days to see if I can get use to the size and then wait till Oct. to see what comes out. cnet seems to think there might not be a mini because of the price of the new iPod.


The pricing gives one pause, what might be an issue with the screen on the Touch - with it being the same as the iPhone it might keep the costs up. Need to read more though. On the other hand, while it could still not happen - I haven't read that on the rumor sites I read. Again, there are a couple of writers that seem to be in the know and they have suggested it is coming.



> Can anyone tell me the diff. in the ipad 2 and ipad 3. Is it lighter?


Apple can - they still sell the 2!

http://www.apple.com/ipad/compare/

And, I highly suggest NOT studying the 3 too much if you like the 2. That screen will suck you in!

Also, check the Apple refurb store for prices - the refurbs are always great and carry the same 1 year warranty and are eligible for Apple Care. They really are (normally) like new.


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## sosha (Feb 9, 2010)

JimC1946 said:


> Also, Amazon and Google/Asus have pretty much set the price point at $200 for the 7-inchers (with 6-8 GB of storage memory). If Apple does announce a 7-inch mini-iPad ("iThing" ), I seriously doubt if they can do it for less than $300.


"Mini-iPad". Made me think of an old MadTV skit: http://youtu.be/lsjU0K8QPhs


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## kindlegrl81 (Jan 19, 2010)

romac said:


> Today's lack of announcement pretty much sold me on getting the Fire. However I do think I will try (try being the key word lol) to skip the 7" and hold out for the 8.9". I just think I'll be much happier with that down the road.
> 
> It wasn't just that there wasn't a mini announced, it was also the announcement of the iPod touch that pushed me in the fires direction. With a base 4" iPod touch coming in at a whopping $299, what price point is the mini going to hit? At first I was hoping for a $250 mini but that seems impossible, I can't imagine it even being $299 if the much smaller touch is as well. So what happens, they bust in with a $349 Mini? In between a base touch and a new iPad 2 price wise? I'm just speculating, but like I said today's press conference pretty much killed it for me. Off to preorder my 8.9"!


That is pretty much what happened with me, except I decided to go with the 7" model since I have no patience to wait. I happen to like the 7" size so it isn't a big deal.

Of course now Apple will announce the iPad mini and I will start craving it as well, at least if it isn't priced too high.


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## jlee745 (Jul 27, 2010)

I borrowed my fnl's ipad for a couple of days and the size wasn't as big as issue as I thought it would be so I'm going to get one tomorrow.
Yea! Can't wait.


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## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

kindlegrl81 said:


> Of course now Apple will announce the iPad mini and I will start craving it as well, at least if it isn't priced too high.


HA.

Happy to have someone "take one for the team" 

LOL!! Enjoy the new toy regardless of the brand!!!


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## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

jlee745 said:


> I borrowed my fnl's ipad for a couple of days and the size wasn't as big as issue as I thought it would be so I'm going to get one tomorrow.
> Yea! Can't wait.


I happy that you didn't find the size a big issue. I really don't think my iPad1 is that big (and I have a Candyshell case on it), and never found it a bother to carry around really.

Enjoy your new shiny gadget!!


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

The 32 GB Touch priced at $299 doesn't give me much hope of a iPad Mini priced competitively with the 32 GB 7" Fire HD @ $249.  Assuming the iPad Mini exists at all.  Reckon I'll leave my pre-order of the 32 GB Fire and see if there's any announcement from Apple before Oct. 25.


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## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

Regarding prices (as well as hardware and software, for that matter) apple pretty much does its own thing.


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