Just in case it goes that far, I just read that in the world of Android e-reader / pads, the Kindle FIRE now outsells ALL other competitors COMBINED, and for only $199.
Just sayin'

Believe it or not, I owned a Fire prior to buying the iPad. Loved my Fire, and I never lost it! When I bought the iPad, my daughter claimed the Fire. I won't even entertain her ever giving me that Fire back though. I can hear it now, "Your loss old man...what a sucker my dad is!"

Ohhh... Been there...LOL. I won an iPad at company christmas party. I let my wife "look" at it. It's not "lost", but I haven't seen it for 4 months.

OK folks, let the betting commence. I just decided that tomorrow I am picking up the 7" Samsung Galaxy 2 Android Tablet for $250 at Best Buy. I stopped by to look at tablets today and really liked this device. It's no iPad, but what I really appreciate about it is the size. I think it will fit perfectly inside my jacket pocket, which will make it easier for me to keep tabs on it.

So let the betting commence: how long will I have this tablet in my possession?

- less than 1 week

- less than 1 month

- less than 1 season (expires June 20th, first day of summer)

- less than 1 year

- less than 1 lifetime (if it lasts through 2012, that counts as a life time of ownership )

I hope you come to hate it. If you do, you won't be able to lose it, perhaps breaking the curse.

How can you go get it if you don't know where your car keys are?

Way ahead of you, Tim. I'm going to order it online using my iPad.


Oh crap...

James, assuming you are able to hang on to that new tablet more than a week, how about giving us a little comparison between the android tablet, the ipad, and the kindle? I'd like some real-life feedback.

Ha ha! Let the record show that I am still in possession of my Samsung Galaxy 7.

I was just thinking about writing such a comparison earlier today, so I'll just offer a quick review here.

My favorite tablets in order of best to worse (and none of them are "worse", just not all are best):

1) Apple iPad. Slam dunk, no question.

Admittedly, this is my tastes. I can easily see why someone else might argue that the Samsung (especially their 10" model, which is the same size as the iPad), is a better device. But since this is my review

2) Samsung Galaxy II. I really like this thing! I've only had it for a day (which means I have a good 3 more days of enjoyment coming my way ), but it's really nice. First of all, I love the 7" format as it's much easier to carry around. Second of all, the library of media for this thing is endless! Movies, book, music, and from several vendors, too -- if it's available on Android, it's available to this device.

It comes with the Kindle app, among countless other apps installed, and this tablet is a MUCH better reader than the Kindle Fire. The screen is higher resolution and more intelligent (auto adjusts brightness with conditions). This device comes with everything you'd expect, plus GPS, plus Bluetooth, plus IR emitter (for remote control of TV and other devices), plus 2 cameras (front facing/rear facing) and they support video and video chat -- the Kindle Fire has none of these things. Oh, and a major plus with this device is that it has a micro-SD slot, so you can add up to 32 GB of storage per micro-SD card! Not even the iPad has this feature. What I intend to do is to buy a few of these micro-SD cards, and then dedicate each for a specific type of content -- movies, music, pictures, etc.

For only $50 more than a Kindle Fire, you get a whole lot more tablet, that's for sure. As much as I love the iPad, I expect that I'll be perfectly content with this $250 device. For more details, check out this formal review.

3) Kindle Fire. Not a bad tablet for $199, but it's heavier than the Samsung, far more limited (no Bluetooth, no GPS, no cameras, no nuthin'!), can only read Amazon content from it (no Netflix, no books from other providers, and can only run Amazon sanctioned Android apps that you buy from Amazon. Don't bother with it, pay the extra 50 bucks and get the Galaxy.

You won't be sorry you bought the Fire; it's a very nice tablet. But you'll be missing out on all that a device like this can offer.

4) Amazon Kindle e-Readers: basic readers that are fine for text only. Lightweight, power misers (you can go forever on a charge), but very simple and no frills devices. Of these, get the Kindle Touch WIFI for $99, that's the best bang for the buck right there.

I was going to find a link to mitten clips for you. But now my bad karma has caught up with my smartass self; I've lost my Kindle e-reader. It was with my two pairs of glasses, inside my helmet on it's way to my tank bag this morning. When I stopped for lunch, the glasses were in there but not the Kindle. I spent my lunch reading road maps and tourist brochures. I have a mental snapshot of it with the glasses inside the helmet when I openned the basement door, but none of actually putting it in the tankbag. Then again I don't have a mental snapshot of putting the glasses in either. All I can think of is that it either dropped out of the helmet basket during the ten steps to the bike or I unloaded the helmet on the bike seat and set everything down to unzip the tankbag. The glasses made it into the bag, the helmet made it onto my head (after putting in earbuds) and the Kindle stayed on the bike to fall off during my ride. I walked the first mile of my route looking for it on the side of the road with no luck. But it was six hours after it would have fallen off.

So I just wanted to humbly apologize for even thinking about giving such a smartass respose to your problem. I now realize that it could have happened to any mentally defective careless person of a certain age.

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