Alternatives To The Kindle Fire

Erik K Veland · Bond
The fact is that there are only two viable alternatives in all of the tablet market: iPad 2 for the "high" end, and the Kindle Fire for the cheap low end. The rest is just me-too crud.
Reply · 21 ·  · September 29 at 5:48pm

Chris Monachino · Digital Sales Lead at Barnes & Noble
All for the low, low price of $199, a 2 month wait, vendor lock-in, and no sd expansion... no thanks, I'll wait for the other tablets dropping in at that price point this holiday.
Reply ·  · about an hour ago

Erik K Veland · Bond
Dumbest article ever. "Why would anyone purchase any of these turds over the Kindle Fire?" indeed.
Reply · 19 ·  · September 29 at 5:47pm

Chris Monachino · Digital Sales Lead at Barnes & Noble
One reason is they are actually available... another is expansion (no sd card in the Fire, really?), another is a non-bastardized version of Android and the FULL Android market, another is you can already get Amazon's apps on these other tablets...
Reply ·  · about an hour ago

Angel Villagomez ·  Top Commenter · Little Monster at Lady Gaga
Or you could just buy an iPad.
Reply · 6 ·  · September 29 at 9:00am

Michael A. Robson ·  Top Commenter · Shanghai, China
After all, the Kindles won't be on the market for another couple months.
Reply ·  · September 29 at 9:14am

Scott Thompson · Marlborough, Massachusetts
you know of a $300 price point iPad? share with the class, if not you missed the point of the article. <$300 is an entirely different market space than the iPad goes for.
Reply · 1 ·  · September 29 at 10:27am

Mohammed Ameen Khan · Anna University
Scott Thompson I believe iPad 1st generation refurbs sell for $299 for the 16 GB Wifi version. Most i.e., All apps except Machinarium work with the first iPad.
Reply · 4 ·  · September 29 at 11:47am
View 2 more

Jason DAngelo · Ceramic Engineer at Matt's Italian Cuisine
They are alternatives, but hardly comparable. They are more expensive, half the quality and horribly obsolite. (Most of the alternatives. OS's that are semi-propriatary are useless because one year later, they fail to be supported. Just like notebooks with "special novelty drivers and software." We are tired of dead-end products. Kindle Fire, will be supported for years and years to come. Simply because it is not an end-of-the-line product. It is a product that promotes itself and the goods delivered by amazon and others. That is the only thing apple has in its favor... support. Even though apple doesn't seem to be able to actually support its own products.)
Reply · 5 ·  · September 29 at 7:25am

Jason Berardi
The Kindle Fire as pretty much identical specs as the Nook Color, which has been out for about a year now.
Reply · 1 ·  · September 29 at 1:18pm

Tim Sullivan
Jason Berardi Riiight, but by now everyone's figured out that specs are meaningless, and that without a content-rich ecosystem and ease of use it doesn't matter if it's got a million hours of battery life and a processor from our grim future. Haven't they?
Reply · 6 ·  · September 29 at 5:56pm

Jason Berardi
Tim Sullivan Which BN and the Android Market both provide on the 1 year old Nook my 3 year olds fight over.
Reply ·  · about an hour ago

Igor Oliyarnik ·  Top Commenter · Cleveland State University
A new Transformer for $300? Where?
Reply · 5 ·  · September 29 at 7:02am

Anthony Clauser ·  Top Commenter · Rochester, New York
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=TF101-A1&hl=en&bav=on.2%2Cor.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.&biw=1440&bih=705&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=10112004010858817202&sa=X&ei=TICETsflKcqRgQeM2ejvDw&ved=0CH0Q8wIwAA#scoring=tp
Reply ·  · September 29 at 7:29am

Raoul Teeuwen · Project-/interim-(IT)mgt, consultant at Tipping Point
+1
Reply ·  · September 29 at 7:39am

Igor Oliyarnik ·  Top Commenter · Cleveland State University
@ anthony. I doubt buying from any of those retailers is a good idea.
Reply · 2 ·  · September 29 at 7:48am
View 4 more

Peter Deep · Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco
If this list represents the TOP 6 alternatives to anything, then that anything has absolutely nothing to worry about. Recommending a Playbook? Really? And a Dell Streak? Come on, now, how can you do that with a straight face?
Reply · 2 ·  · September 29 at 7:25pm

Nick Lanctot · IHD Tech 1 - W@H at CenturyLink
The only way you're going to find an Asus Transformer new for only $300 is out of the back of a van after it "fell off a truck".
Reply · 2 ·  · September 29 at 7:11am

Scott Thompson · Marlborough, Massachusetts
I bought two from Target.com for a 1 day sale this week. I can't imagine more sellers won't be doing the same soon.
Reply ·  · September 29 at 10:25am

Matthias Breuer
When I read the title, I thought (hoped) maybe he was being cheeky and talking about the six flavours of iPad (different sizes and connectivity options)...now that would have been funny. This is just lame...
Reply · 1 ·  · Friday at 9:26am

Michael A. Robson ·  Top Commenter · Shanghai, China
By the way that Asus wallpaper is pure genius. Does anybody in the Marketing department... What can I say, can anybody read that? Who thought that wallpaper was a good idea for marketing materials?
Reply · 1 ·  · September 29 at 9:13am
t_manifest (signed in using Yahoo)
Amazon isn't selling tablets here they are selling shopping.
Reply · 1 ·  · September 29 at 7:00am

Manish Jangid · Works at Rama cylinders pvt ltd
The Top 6 Alternatives To The Kindle Fire.
Reply · 1 ·  · September 29 at 7:00am

Christopher Drum · IOS Developer at Eveo
Top 6 alternatives, eh? According to this very article:
1. Asus Transformer - "$300...if you want a reputable dealer".
2. Playbook - "It's hard to love the Playbook..."
3. Dell Streak - "...oldest of the bunch..."
4. Archos - "...buyer beware."
...See More
Reply ·  · Friday at 8:48am

Eric Welch ·  Top Commenter · Oceanside, California
Don't forget dead trees. Because they're better than any of these alternatives. The Kindle Fire is better yet. Though I think I'll be getting an ad-free Kindle Touch 3G. iPad still for the other stuff.
Reply ·  · September 29 at 6:27pm

Hampton ScorpioRising Maxwell · University of California, Santa Barbara
Is there some way to mod this article down. This reeks of the typical tech article where you list X number of turds and present them as valid competitors to the established good choices.
Reply ·  · September 29 at 11:18pm

John Vincent Keogh
No - there can only be one alternative. More than one is a choice. Never pluralize the word alternative. Also, I'll take the iPad every time.
Reply ·  · Friday at 12:12am

Felipe Adams ·  Top Commenter · Jobs, Cellphones, Music & Deals at Digitalundivide.com
Good alternatives to the Kindle Fire are the HP Touchpad at $250 and the Google Android 7 Touch Tablet Internet Media Player for $73.88. http://pnoy.me/9F
Reply ·  · September 29 at 7:28am

Ben Nettesheim · Blogger at Bnetty.com
I've had good experiences with Archos. Currently own the Archos 70 250GB version and looking at possibly upgrading to the G9.
Reply ·  · September 29 at 8:09am

Joel Witherspoon ·  Top Commenter · Founder at Mimir Holdings
Stay away from the Velocity Micro Cruz. I've owned two T301's for development. No updates and no Android Market. Not a good buy.
Reply ·  · September 29 at 7:44am
i6700i (signed in using Yahoo)
And they're all unusable. I realize we don't have any real hand on time with the fire yet, but it's going to be the second nicest tablet to use.
Reply ·  · September 29 at 6:55am

Justin Allison · Property Manager at Tweetsie LLC
unusable? You have obviously never modded a nook the way I have. You don't even have to do anything to lose warranty anymore - just put some files on an SD card an you have an iPad killer. I don't need no stinking cameras.
Reply · 1 ·  · September 29 at 7:09am

John Michael Law · W. Kentucky
@Justin Allison. Sure I could "mod" one, but why should I? I expect the product to ship with an operating system. i6700i claimed they were unusable, which I grant is hyperbole. But reading some guy's blog on a step by step process to "mod" a tablet hardly ranks high on the usability scale.
Reply · 4 ·  · September 29 at 7:33am

Matt Wright · Texas Tech
Justin Allison I guess the Fire is for the 6 billion people on the planet who don't want to do that to make their tablet usable?
Reply ·  · Friday at 3:46am
View 1 more

Lifuchi Interz · Paris, France
After owning a Playbook, I was so disappointed by RIM once again. I just might try the kindle....
Reply ·  · September 29 at 7:03am

Junaid Ansari · Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
This is a lame article. Why was it not published when iPad(2) was launched?
Reply ·  · September 29 at 11:35am

Gordon McAlpin · Minneapolis, Minnesota
It was. http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/12/seven-alternatives-to-the-apple-ipad/

Twice. http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/02/seven-more-ipad-alternatives/
Reply · 3 ·  · September 29 at 5:38pm

Junaid Ansari · Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
Gordon McAlpin Then prob'ly the thing which was lame was my comment ;)
Reply ·  · September 29 at 9:56pm

Jeff Brister · Lanier High School
Gordon McAlpin that's 14 solid turd tablets. Great job.
Reply ·  · 21 hours ago
View 1 more

Nitin Pandey · International Management Institute, New Delhi
this helps…precise, objective and relevant.
Reply ·  · September 29 at 6:58am

Shravz Smiley · Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies
Tabs on quite a whril.. I'm loving it.. ;)
Reply ·  · September 29 at 6:55am
aidanla (signed in using AOL)
I'd rather buy a book. Any book.
Reply ·  · September 29 at 7:00pm

Matt Wright · Texas Tech
Is it April Fool's Day?
Reply ·  · Friday at 3:44am