Kindle Fire HD, will you get one?

I’ve been interested in the iPad since its announcement. If you haven’t jumped on board with the tablet frenzy, here are some more option: the Kindle HD 7″ or 8″. While most people will be happy with the $199 Kindle, if you’re into reading comic books and magazines – then you have to go large. For $199, it’s cheaper than an iPod touch, if you’re looking for a “portable” music player. 7″ will fit in large pockets, just don’t wear those tight, tight jeans.

I wouldn’t buy a 7″ iPad version (if that’s coming out). Remember, the size has to be large to display a whole comic book page without having to zoom in and out – so the larger the screen, the better. 10″ is not exactly “portable”, but it’s the right size for a magazine page.

Anyway, Amazon announced their competitor to the iPad, so let’s break it down with a side-by-side comparison.

Keep in mind the comparison is with the “new iPad”, which was released one year ago. Apple has yet to announce a new, new iPad for 2013, but I suspect they will upgrade and surpass the current model.

Right off the bat

The LTE pricing is awesome. It’s $50 a year to stay connected. Granted, 250mb is not a lot of data, but it’s really useful if you just want to check your email or update your status, etc. On the other hand, the iPad is no-contract, so you can turn off the internet anytime you want.

No GPS on Kindle?

I don’t think there’s GPS services with the Kindle. I don’t have the old Kindle, does that also mean no Google maps on the Kindle? The other bad news is that Amazon has their own app store, which isn’t as big as the regular Android store… and less big than the Apple app store. Most games also appears on iOS before other stores – and they’re generally cheaper (average iPad app price is $2.99).

Movie playback

I can’t comment on the new Kindle – but the old Kindle Fire does not support softcode subtitles or multiple audio tracks. Even the first gen iPad will playback 720p content with softcode subtitles and multiple tracks. The new iPad supports 1080p content, but to be honest, because of storage issues, I downscale my Blu-Rays to 720p. Also, if you stream content within your home, 1080p does tend to choke, especially if you’re using older Wi-Fi band (like the PS3’s wireless).

Anyway, it should be interesting to play around with the Kindle HD when it comes out to see what it can and can’t do. Right now, based on pricing and connectivity, the Kind HD is pretty hot. However, this could all change when Apple announce something this September 12th.

Other things to consider

Amazon does not support Epub, which is a popular e-book format. Amazon has its own DRM book format called AMZ, which no one else uses. Amazon also tout their prime service, but if you’re an iPad user, Amazon does offer an iOS app.

Amazon puts “special offers” as a special feature. It’s not a feature, these are advertisements. How would you feel if your computer’s screen saver started showing Microsoft ads?

ALSO: Kindle Fire HD has a built-in HDMI out. You have to buy a $30 dongle for the iPad. I would imagine iPad4 will have its own built-in output.