I bought a Kindle Fire gen 1 from Woot! last week. I have an old Kindle, but this was a refurb for $100. The description had some wrong information that are features for the gen 2. I got an e-mail from Woot! today fessing up to their mistake and offering to take the Fire back or refund me $20. What are the substantive differences between a gen 1 and gen 2? For the record, I’ll be using it as a reader and a web browser.
StG
I just traded my 1gen for the 2gen. It was worth the upgrade to me, but only because I had some Amazon gift cards saved up.
The 2nd gen has a noticeably nicer screen which is much easier on the eyes than the original model. I didn’t enjoy reading on the 1gen. I found it caused eyestrain - but of course, my eyes are in bad shape. I don’t know if most people feel that way. On the whole, I still prefer reading on my Paperwhite.
The web browser is also noticeably faster. The whole thing is faster overall. Plus, they redesigned the UI so that the Favorites, which are displayed as a bookcase in the 1gen, are offscreen and in a slicker presentation. The 2gen version includes a really nice calendar feature, too. The speakers in the 2gen are Dolby certified, but I don’t listen to music on it very often.
I think the 2gen is a worthwhile upgrade if you have the money. OTOH, $80 for a refurb 1gen is a pretty ok deal.
Thanks, Merneith. I’ve decided to keep it. I can plug it in at night.
StG
You can add Dolphin or another browser if that one (Silk?) is too slow. I just got a new one the other day, anyway. Based on that, I’m gonna guess gen 2.
Speakers are a little underpowered IMHO, but otherwise it’s fun.