Kindle Fire HD (2013)

I received a Kindle Fire HD as a Christmas gift and for the past month, I've been 'getting to know' my new Kindle. ;-) 

I previously had a Kindle Paperwhite, that has now been gifted to Joe. He loves having his own ereader now. I tended to 'hog' it quite a bit, when we only had one ereader to use.. ;-)

You can read my review of the Paperwhite here. It was a tough act to follow as I love the Paperwhite for reading. 

But my new Kindle Fire HD has so many new features that I am also really enjoying. 

At the top of that list, the amazing C-O-L-O-R! 

Looking at them online really doesn't tell the whole story in this regard. The colors are so vivid and clear. And what a treat it is to now browse and enjoy books with images in them, in color. Such a visual treat.

The price for the new Kindle Fire HD is currently $139. at Amazon.com. IMO, that is a real bargain especially considering how much ereaders of this quality were selling for, only a short while ago. 

The Kindle Fire HD is a bit heavier than the Paperwhite, but still not uncomfortable to hold, for long periods of time, when reading. 

The screen size is generous. Dimensions are 7 1/2" x 5" overall, a bit larger than the Paperwhite, which was a nice surprise. I actually thought that the Kindle Fire was longer and narrower than the Paperwhite, but it's just as wide but longer.  

Battery life is about 8 hours based on tracking this a couple of times so far. I have used the Fire for trying out a few games too (for review purposes only, of course LOL) and that may account for the less than 10 hours of battery life that these are suppose to have. If it goes down any further for battery time though, I may be calling Amazon to check on this.

There is a lot to learn with any new gadget and the Kindle Fire HD is no exception. I feel like I've just scratched the surface so far, of what this ereader is capable of doing. 

I purchased a Kindle Fire HD users guide recently that was recommended to me (I'll also be reviewing that ebook soon) and that is helping with the learning process. 

The user/help info. included with the Kindle Fire HD itself, leaves a lot of questions unanswered. At the very least, for first time ereader users in particular, I think Amazon should be including some basic info in the printed booklet that comes along with the Fire. There was not even a mention of how long to charge the unit for the first time, in this booklet and that's about as basic as you can get. 

On the plus side re: help, the Amazon support team has been great for answering my questions, in a timely and knowledgeable way when I've phoned them. So help is close at hand, if needed. 

There is still a lot more that I hope to use my new Kindle Fire HD for. It really is so much more than just a new way to read books. And speaking of reading, it is easy on the eyes, in spite of the high-gloss screen. Now if I could only find a way to minimize all the smudges from using the touch screen features. ;-) 

So many freebies to enjoy. Games and all kinds of apps. Organizational tools. Streaming video, watching TV and movies (not sure if that's available in Canada but not a priority for me anyways). I did recently move my Amazon.ca account to Amazon.com, so I'll have to look into what added features that may allow. 

What's New about the Kindle Fire HD from the Amazon product review page:

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If you've been considering buying an ereader for the first time or are looking to upgrade to one with color like I was, the Kindle Fire HD (2013) is a tough one to beat and for so many reasons. 

Overall rating for this product: Very Good. 4 out of 5.