# Fire review from the New York Times



## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

David Pogue weighs in with his opinion of the new Fire:

*More Soot Than Sparks From This Fire*
By DAVID POGUE
I'm not exactly sure what's been seeping into the water supply at Amazon's Seattle offices, but it's making the executives a little loopy.

They're hailing Amazon's new touch-screen tablet, the Kindle Fire HD, as "the best tablet at any price."

Well, let's see now. The Fire HD has no camera on the back, no GPS navigation, no speech recognition, no to-do list or notes app. It trails the iPad in thickness, screen size, screen sharpness, Web speed, software polish and app availability. It can only dream of the iPad's universe of accessories, cases and docks.

Now, read my lips: The Kindle Fire HD is not a disappointment. It's not! Or it won't be, once Amazon finishes polishing the software.

The prices are the lowest ever; $200 for the 7-inch screen, $300 for the 8.9-incher, $500 for the 8.9-incher with cellular Internet ($50 for the first year, $15 a month thereafter). The prices go up by $15 if you wish to eliminate the full-screen ads for books and movies that appear on the "sleep" screen.

In each case, that's either much less expensive than similarly equipped rivals, or much better equipped than similarly priced ones.

The 7-inch Fire HD, the one I tested, will be available on Sept. 24; the larger models arrive in late November.

These Fires shoot off plenty of sparks. The biggest one is the "HD" - the screens are better than the first-generation Fires, very bright and very sharp. Amazon also says that they have a wider viewing angle than before. Great, although who complains about viewing angles on a 7-inch screen that you hold directly in front of you?

Incidentally, despite the name "HD," the screen can't actually show you movies in hi-def. It may have the requisite number of pixels, but most of them are dedicated to black letterbox bars; the screen is the wrong shape for movies. And you can't enlarge the playback to fill the screen, as you can on an iPad.

to read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/technology/personaltech/more-soot-than-sparks-from-amazons-kindle-fire-hd-state-of-the-art.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

L


----------



## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

The fellow sounds like an Apple fanboy to me.


----------



## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

JimC1946 said:


> The fellow sounds like an Apple fanboy to me.


You are not the first one to make that observation. 

L


----------



## Xopher (May 14, 2009)

Because, you know the iPad's 3:4 format is so much closer to movie formats... :/


----------



## B.C. Young (Aug 15, 2011)

I laugh when I see stuff like this. These guys think power and finesse is what makes good hardware, and to an extent they are correct.

But Amazon isn't looking for power or sleek design. They are looking for functionality which makes you want to buy their products and services. Let's face it, from that perspective, the Kindle Fire (any version) beats the iPad easily in that department.


----------



## TraceyC/FL (Mar 23, 2011)

It sounds like a lack of "finesse" on the software - but a step up from the last version. 

Amazon's website and mobile versions haven't been all that great until recently - so that will trickle over as they get more UI in the tablet space under their belts. They are coming from behind in this area and appear to be on the right track. Feedback, and the willingness to listen to that feedback will push them. They have shown they are listening (in my opinion), and the device is aimed at selling content - so yup, they are going to keep improving.

Oh and my iPad 1 didn't come with a clock or alarm or stopwatch either.... it drives me nuts because the one on my phone and Touches works so well.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I like David Pogue's stuff, but there hasn't been an Amazon product yet he's written a good review of...

Betsy


----------



## Anita (Jan 3, 2009)

JimC1946 said:


> The fellow sounds like an Apple fanboy to me.


Yes, David Pogue is a notorius Apple fanboy. Sometims I don't think he would criticise an Apple product if his job depended on it.


----------



## Finished (Feb 14, 2009)

I love the New York Times. However, you can never rely on David Pogue for any rational analysis of anything Apple does (he is always over the top), or anything about Amazon (he really can't admit that Amazon has ever done anything right). I am surprised that his editor hasn't sent him for some deprogramming.


----------



## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

Agreed with everything above. Plus, I just can't think of Pogue the same way after he posted his marriage proposal video. Some things are meant to be private!


----------



## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I imagine him sitting in his office, surrounded by his beloved i-thingies. Then they come in and pry the ipad from his fingers. All the while he is wailing. Nooooooo. 
Then they put in his hands a Amazon device and he is starting to break out in sweats as he is separated from his beloved ipad. So his brain shuts down and all he thinks is ipad ipad ipad. That must be the reason why he has to bring it up in the "review" in every sentence. 

And he is calling the Amazon Execs a little loopy?   I mean really? That isn't even a review. Its a write up at how this device is not a Ipad. That is it. There are many other tablets out there. But his brain if full of apples, poor dear.


----------



## RobertKindle (Nov 22, 2011)

I don't know which part of his review indicates that he is a biased.  It was a real informative article talking about the positives and negatives


----------



## tbsteph (May 3, 2009)

Mr. Pogue can definitely be called an Apple fanboy (For example, he has written many books on OSX and other Apple products.)  

Nevertheless, he and Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal both made the same misstatement concerning the Amazon claiming the Fire being the "best tablet ever."  The quote is accurate (See Amazon's home page) but it is quite specific. They are talking about the 8.9 inch Kindle Fire with 3G not the 7 inch Fire that both reporters had to review.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

RobertKindle said:


> I don't know which part of his review indicates that he is a biased. It was a real informative article talking about the positives and negatives


Well, from past experience, we know he's very pro Apple at best neutral toward Amazon. But, yeah, he wasn't too obnoxiously down on the device. That said, his tone, to me, clearly says, "wait a bit and get a real tablet from Apple". 

And tbsteph is right. . . .the 'best tablet ever' quote came when they introduced the 8.9" Fire. . . . .not the 7" HD model. So that's a case of not paying close attention.


----------

