I am definitely enjoying the kindle fire that my husband bought for my birthday.
Shortcomings: if you're not used to this interface, it can drive you crazy. I have read 2 library books and another book on it already. WONDERFUL for this.
its browser is so so, there are things i can't do, little things, like i couldn't figure out how to do a search on youtube, usually an easy operation.
One of the features on kindles that SOLD me was that you could have a different dictionary (instead of the english one) so you could easily read books in another language. To my utter disappointment, it doesn't work on Kindle fire. I called and complained and was told that they "are listening" and hopefully there will be an update in the near future that will solve this.
Another issue, not big yet, is that it will run out of juice on an international flight. the battery is supposed to last 8 hours. I turned the brightness all the way down, but i don't know how much time that buys me.
it's a great toy/tool.