How much (visible) difference between 7 inch an 8.9 inch Fires?

[YoshikiUk]

I'm looking to get a Kindle Fire in a few weeks when I return home from travelling. I have an iPad (1st gen) and want to change it for something else, I have had my eye on the 7 inch Fire HD, it looks a nice little device, and the locked down OS doesn't really bother me as I will either sideload apps or root and use a custom rom if I feel the urge.

However, the 8.9 inch was released in the UK recently, and I love the idea of that 1080p screen! I was originally looking at the 7 inch because I wanted more portability, but still feel the 8.9 inch would be more portable than my chunky iPad 1g. How much difference is there between the screen on the 7 inch and on the 8.9 inch, in terms of just looking at them, despite the size difference of course? Would the 7 inch's screen be a visible upgrade to my iPad 1? I will mainly be using whatever I get for e-reading, Internet browsing and comic book reading. I'm a bit concerned that comics will be hard to read on the 7 inch, especially in portrait, although I have pretty much 20/20 vision so...

I am also aware of the nexus 7, and the fact an upgrade is coming, apparently in July, but i am in the market for one now, not two months away, I will have the money in a few weeks but don't know where I will be financially by July so would prefer to grab a tablet sooner rather than later, and I might upgrade the Fire to a second gen nexus at Christmas. It's just the display that's got me thinking, I'm a sucker for nice screens!

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

I'm looking to get a Kindle Fire in a few weeks when I return home from travelling. I have an iPad (1st gen) and want to change it for something else, I have had my eye on the 7 inch Fire HD, it looks a nice little device, and the locked down OS doesn't really bother me as I will either sideload apps or root and use a custom rom if I feel the urge.

However, the 8.9 inch was released in the UK recently, and I love the idea of that 1080p screen! I was originally looking at the 7 inch because I wanted more portability, but still feel the 8.9 inch would be more portable than my chunky iPad 1g. How much difference is there between the screen on the 7 inch and on the 8.9 inch, in terms of just looking at them, despite the size difference of course? Would the 7 inch's screen be a visible upgrade to my iPad 1? I will mainly be using whatever I get for e-reading, Internet browsing and comic book reading. I'm a bit concerned that comics will be hard to read on the 7 inch, especially in portrait, although I have pretty much 20/20 vision so...

I am also aware of the nexus 7, and the fact an upgrade is coming, apparently in July, but i am in the market for one now, not two months away, I will have the money in a few weeks but don't know where I will be financially by July so would prefer to grab a tablet sooner rather than later, and I might upgrade the Fire to a second gen nexus at Christmas. It's just the display that's got me thinking, I'm a sucker for nice screens!

Honestly, if you're going to root and ROM it, just get the Nexus 7. Even if the new version is better than the current version, the current version is still worlds better than the Kindle Fire HD in its current form.

Comparing the two Fire's, though, the 8.9 has a faster processor and higher resolution display. That's about it.