Like everyone else, I tuned in to see the amazing iPad announcement. Only problem was that it really wasn’t that amazing to me. I was really expecting more. I expected a price range from $800 to $1000, but it came at $500 to $830, which isn’t bad really. But the specs themselves were (are) simply not that impressive. The knee-jerk reactions have been about iPad being a “Kindle killer”. But it’s not. They don’t play in the same space, nor are they in the same price range. However, the Kindle DX *IS* in the same price range, so this is more of an “Apples-to-Apples” comparison I think. These are the specs I’ve gathered myself from the respective vendor web sites and from tech-review sites (where information was missing from the vendor site).
Items in green are what I consider to be the “winner” between the two products. So, you do the comparison math and see which one wins out in the end.
| Feature | Apple iPad | Amazon Kindle DX |
| Price | $499.00 | $489.00 |
| Overall Dimensions | 9.56 x 7.47 x 0.5 inches | 10.4 x 7.2 x 0.38 inches |
| Weight | 1.5 lbs | 1.2 lbs |
| Processor | Apple A4 1GHz | Freescale ARM11, 532 MHz |
| Wireless (Wi-Fi) | 802.11n | N/A |
| Cell Processor | ? | Qualcomm |
| Cellular 3G, Domestic (US) | Yes | Yes |
| Cellular 3G, Global | Optional | Yes |
| Cellular Modes | HSDPA, GSM/EDGE | HSDPA, GSM/EDGE, GPRS |
| Wireless Service Bundled in Price | No | Yes |
| Screen Size | 9.7 inch diagonal | 9.7 inch diagonal |
| Screen Type | 1024 x 768, 720p Color | 600 x 800 p, 16-lvl gray |
| USB 2.0 port | Yes | Yes |
| Screen Illumination [2] | LED Backlit | Passive |
| Cover/Case Included | No | No |
| Auto-Rotation Display | Yes | Yes |
| Accelerometer | Yes | No |
| Touch Screen UI | Yes | No |
| Web Browser | Safari | Proprietary |
| Storage (built-in) | 16 GB | 4 GB |
| Storage Max (internal) | 64 GB | 4 GB |
| Applications | App Store (iPhone apps) | Coming Soon |
| Supports Flash content | No | No |
| Supports H.264 content | Yes | No |
| Matte Display for Reading | Yes | Yes |
| Battery Life (Wi-Fi active) [1] | 10 hrs | 1 week |
| Battery Replacement | Sealed, Factory | Sealed, Factory |
| Book Store | Apple | Amazon |
| Book Format | ePub | Amazon |
| PDF Support | Yes | Yes |
| Magazine Subscriptions | Yes | Yes |
| Newspaper Subscriptions | Yes | Yes |
| Podcast Subscriptions | Yes | Yes |
| Blog Subscriptions | Yes | Yes |
| Geographic Maps | Yes | No |
| Calendar | Yes | No |
| Plays Games | Yes | No |
| Music Library [3] | iTunes | MP3 |
| Movie Library | iTunes | N/A |
| Photo Library | iTunes | (monochrome) |
| Dictionary Search | App Store (iPhone apps) | Built-In |
| Text-to-Speech ("Read to Me") | No | Yes |
| Bluetooth 2.1 | Yes | No |
| Requires Computer Synch | Yes | No |
| GPS Features | Yes | No |
| Ambient Light Sensor | Yes | No |
| Audio Formats | MP3, WAV, AIFF, AAC | MP3 |
| Keyboard Input | Touch Screen | Mechanical |
| Navigation Input | Touch Screen | Mechanical |
| Devloper SDK Available | Yes | Yes |
[Notes]
1. Battery life claimed by vendor under slightly different usage.
2. Depends on personal view. If used in the dark, backlit is better. If used outdoors, passive is better.
3. Depends on whether you value MP3 library content more than iTunes purchased content.
2 comments:
Doesn't the IPad require a data plan? If so, I'd figure than into the TCO. I guess you technically COULD use it w/o the plan.
Yep. Separate data plan required. To me that's the 2nd biggest failure of this release. The 1st being no Flash support. This is so unlike Apple it's just weird as hell.
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