The Nook Color, while comparably inexpensive at $249, doesn't offer the kind of ecosystem that Amazon does through its Appstore, and that extra $50 can make all the difference to the budget-conscious.

What's the Bottom Line on the Fire?

The Fire has no camera, GPS, or 3G access, or free-range access to the Android Marketplace. Only there will be served through the Amazon Appstore.

Exchange support is only available through third-party apps, but the Fire does ship with its own built-in email app with POP3 and IMAP support. It doesn't ship with a calendar app--but with over 15,000 apps in the Amazon Appstore, it's likely a calendar app will be made available. The tablet can also run the popular mobile productivity suite Quickoffice, but not Quickoffice HD, which needs the Honeycomb build of Android.

The Kindle Fire is, plain and simple, made to be an inexpensive media consumption device, which many businesses will be able to use immediately. If that sounds useful, then at $199 it's at least worth ordering to take on a test drive.