My one-word review for the Kindle Fire? Prettydamngood.

As I was waiting obnoxiously for my Kindle Fire yesterday, I remarked to my siblings that I was expecting "not quite an iPad, but better than just a big Android phone". My tech-loving friend whose Fire is due to arrive today also commented (my paraphrase) that he wasn't expecting an iPad but something good for $300 less than an iPad.

And by both of these standards, I can very readily recommend the Kindle Fire.

It's very sleek and surprisingly solid. It's got a bit of heft to it that I actually like but might be a little tiring to some. I've seen reviews with people complaining about lag, but I don't think our home wifi connection is anything special, and web surfing and streaming have been pretty zippy. Netflix, Pandora, and Amazon Cloud playing have been surprisingly nice, given that the cloud player on our laptop is a little on the slow side.

My biggest annoyance right now has been after downloading the Wired and New Yorker apps, I've been unable to sync up my subscriptions even after following the steps laid out in the app screens (and my username/password combos work fine online). I've got my e-mails into Conde Nast customer service right now because dammit, I want my instant gratification!

Also, the main screen, which shows stuff in the order you've used it, is a bit cluttery to me. They've got a little bar on the top where you can separate your content into books/videos/music/apps etc., but it seems like the front could be more clean.

And if you're not already a Prime Member, I'd strongly recommend it. Right now, it means an extra free viewing library that's decidely mediocre and unlimited cloud storage, but I find it hard to believe they won't be throwing more stuff up there in the coming months.

Looking forward to playing with this!