I had an iPad 2 which, generally speaking, I was very happy with. However, I write short stories and I used to write them on the iPad on the train to work as it’s really the only decent writing time I have. Anyway, one day it just up and died and I lost all the work for that day, about 1,000 words of stuff, some of it quite good IMO. Unfortunately, because it was so recent, I hadn’t had a chance to back it up so that stuff is pretty much gone forever. The whole experience has left me feeling pretty disillusioned with Apple products and recently I’ve been thinking about getting a Kindle Fire instead. The iPad broke down outside of the warranty so there’s no chance of a free replacement, and Kindle Fires are considerably cheaper than iPad 2s. I’ve checked out the specs online but that stuff is pretty abstract. What I’m after are some comparative reviews from people who have used both. What should I go for, iPad 2 (standard 16 gig wifi model) or a Kindle Fire?
I should mention that I mainly used the iPad for watching videos, listening to music, surfing the net and occasionally writing stuff. Price-wise, I’m prepared to spend enough for a new iPad 2 but no more. Price is an imporetant consideration, however, and if the Kindle Fire offers a comparable experience to the iPad 2 then the price difference might well swing it for me.
Hmm. I’ve got both, currently: Kindle Fire HD and iPad 3. Bottom line, if I had to give up one I’d ditch the Kindle. The areas where I find the Kindle stronger are directly related to Amazon content - I like being able to read books free, it’s a bit better for other Amazon Prime functions, and it’s handier to read from. For everything else - web browsing, Youtube, e-mail, Words with Friends and other games, I use the iPad.
Moving from Cafe to IMHO.
(Sorry about your story!)
I think the best review of the Kindle Fire put it this way: if you compare the Kindle to an iPad, it will come up short. If you compare it to Nooks, previous Kindles or other tablets geared primarily for reading, it’s great.
I’d think of the Kindle Fire as a reading device with a lot of nice bonus features, rather than as an iPad.
I can’t provide a comparison, since I don’t own an iPad.
However, I do own a Kindle Fire. Good book reader.
But word processing isn’t its forte. Since I want to be able to do a bit of writing, and I want the output to be compatible with Msoft Office stuff, I bought Quickoffice Pro. It’s not all that I’d hoped; its worst feature is a tendency to crash every ten minutes or so, taking all my work with it. 
My sister has a Kindle Fire and she gets cranky if she has to write short emails using it. I have not used one at all, but based on her experience I’m not sure you would enjoy writing stories on it.
I don’t own an iPad but some of my friends do. I have the Fire, though, and we have put them side by side and compared them. They’re pretty equal; there are certain things that one will do better than the other and they seem to even out.
I prefer the Fire overall, but that is just MHO.
If you’re using it for tablet-y things instead of Kindle-y things, you might also consider the various Android tablets made by Samsung, Asus, and others, including the Nexus 7 & 10 available directly from Google. I believe the Kindle is cheaper as Amazon is subsidizing it as a means of driving ebook sales, but it’s constrained in some ways that others aren’t. Many Samsung’s are well integrated with stylus input (Note series) if that’s your thing, and the Asus Transformer series has very nice keyboard docks that turn the tablet into a mini-laptop for an excellent keyboard entry solution.
I have an iPad3 and a Kindle Fire and I find the Fire almost painful to use when trying to use the web to look something up.
I absolutely adore my Kindle Fire and I do use it for surfing the web, answering emails [briefly], reading, watching movies, listening to music, …all kinds of stuff. But writing? Nah.
To be fair - I wouldn’t write on the iPad either (other than short emails).
Here’s a big check in the Pro Column for iPad vs. Kindle: http://toucharcade.com/2013/06/03/star-wars-knights-of-the-old-republic-for-ipad-review-a-must-play-star-wars-rpg/
I have an iPad2, a Kindle Fire, and a Galaxy Tab. Of the 3 the iPad is far and away the best. Galaxy is second and Kindle Fire runs a distant third - except for reading a book. Then it is my go-to device. But for a multipurpose device I’d only go with an iPad.
That said, my Galaxy is more than a year old, and Android tablets may have come along in the meantime. If I was to go a’purchasing today I’d comparison shop between those and an iPad. With the Fire still a distant third, and just for reading.
Note that with the free Kindle app, you can read all your Kindle books on the iPad. You have to buy the books using a web browser, though, because Apple only allows in-app purchases through them, and Amazon can’t pay Apple’s cut and take their own at the same time. The app’s decent, though.
The most recent models (not the iPad2), including the mini, have dictation built in, which can help with writing. Also, you can easily use a Bluetooth external keyboard with them.
BTW, even if it was out of warranty, did you take the busted one to an Apple Store? They can be surprisingly flexible about repair/replacement if it failed for some reason other than “you dropped it” or “you left it out in the rain”.
My mother has a Kindle Fire HD. It wasn’t that cheap, and she finds the web browsing terrible. But she mostly uses it for reading, and it’s fine for that.
I have a Kindle Fire which is great for reading and watching video, so-so for web surfing and audio. But I wouldn’t use it for writing stuff. If you want to write on a regular basis you want something other than a Kindle.
I have a 10" iPad2 and a 7" Kindle Fire HD. I won them in contests, so price was not a factor for me. I am very happy with both, but in the past year, I’ve probably used the Kindle at least twice as often as the iPad. If I were mugged on the street and some thug demanded that I give him a tablet computer, I’d hand over the iPad and keep the Kindle.