I'll preface this by saying that I own an iPad, and was not expecting a $99 tablet to perform at anywhere near that level. I have followed the early reviews closely, and after seeing enough satisfied customers, I figured I'd give the Kindle Fire HD 6 a try. I chose the base 8 GB with special offers and my plan was to use it as a secondary e-reader and a secondary or even tertiary vehicle for internet access. What I've found is a powerful little tablet, so far completely free of the bugs and laggy speeds mentioned in the early reviews. In fact, performance has so exceeded expectations that I consider this perhaps the year's best purchase.

First off the look is nice. It's sleek, (I ordered the black model) and though actually quite a bit heavier than I'd imagined, it's not heavy enough to be considered a negative. The display is fantastic, and its quality was the first big surprise. The touch screen performs incredibly well, and to this point, I have experienced immediate response. To the point where I have to say touch response so far is indistinguishable from my iPad. Based on early reviews, this was not the case, so I have been quite pleasantly surprised. The Fire is very user friendly and easy to intuit. For those who do not feel confident with navigation of a new device, there is an immediate onscreen tutorial (with an option to skip) to guide you.

I first checked out the e-reader function. My books loaded immediately and easily from the cloud and I really like the functionality of the reader. I am a big fan of the Kindle app for the iPad, and am far more accustomed to its functionality, but the Fire performed very well and my only complaint is that when searching the definition of a word, Wikipedia is used (versus google on the Kindle for iPad/Phone apps) which is a step down in quality imo, but certainly a small complaint overall, and in the quick 2 or 3 words I searched the answer was attainable from that page and did not require going over to the Wikipedia page as some have reported.

Next, I checked out Silk, the web browser. This aspect of the Fire probably received the most complaints as the early reviews came in. It was reported to lag and to crash frequently, even on amazon's own site. I expected this to be the case as I tested it, but I found that these problems must already have been addressed (your tablet loads the newest version of the software upon your registration) in subsequent updates as my experience was the ability to browse quickly and flawlessly across a number of varying websites. This was the second surprise for me, as I expected a far lower quality and especially a slower speed. I couldn't be happier with what I've experienced so far.

I browsed the app store and found it very functional and easy to maneuver, I set up my gmail within a matter of seconds, and I looked through a variety of sales and offers. At no time have I found slow speeds, poor touch responses, or any lagging.

The Kindle Fire HD6 has exceeded my expectations in every way, and I still can't believe I got it for $99 + tax. This thing is an incredible bargain, and so far its quality of performance holds its own against my iPad, something I absolutely did not expect at this price. I'm sure as I become more familiar with the Fire, the reasons for the price difference between it and the iPad will become more apparent, but when you consider the main reasons for which I purchased the Fire, it holds up marvelously well. Again, this may be the year's best purchase from a value standpoint. So far,I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone. Enjoy!