Now that I have all three devices and have time to play with all of them, here are my reviews…well more or less a comparison

First lets do iPad 3 vs Kindle Fire

Cost – Kindle is $200 vs iPad which starts at $499

Functionality of Hardware – iPad takes the cake here. I can do a lot more with the iPad. For instance hardware wise it has a camera and microphone. It can also have 4G data if you have that version.

Functionality of Software – On the software side you have Apple’s app store (tons of apps) vs the amazon app store which is a limited version of Android market. I still believe Kindle isnt too far behind here for a majority of users but the apple store is better. Once Kindle gets the full Android store then I will say they are nearly the same.

Size – Kindle is much smaller than iPad. I thought I would like the size but soon realized its really not much bigger than my galaxy nexus phone. I would not want to watch a movie on this…although I would on a plane, etc. The iPad screen just feels much better due to its size but again, I wouldnt really want to watch a movie on this either. I just personally prefer the bigger size. If I were you, I would put both in your hands and see what you think.

Interface – Both have a good interface. I have no problems with either. I like both for different reasons and think both can be improved.

Web – Both connect to the web just fine. Kindle displays Flash which is awesome and iPad doesnt. This is great for me as many surf reports are in flash. However, a drawback with the Kindle is that the Facebook app actually connects to its web page so its not really an app. And one weird thing about the Kindle is that there is no email app? No idea why, its not that big of a deal but its weird that its not there. Instead I have to go through the web browser to access email. iPad has the mail app and has a facebook app.

Integration – iPad integrates well with Apple stuff and Kindle integrates well with Amazon stuff. If you are a user of one or the other that could help you make a choice between one.

Overall – both devices are pretty good and fun to use. If you have a cell phone and laptop but want a tablet to take to meetings, connect to the internet, view email, and facebook, either one should satisfy your needs just fine. I personally think the big things to consider here will be price and size because the other things are minor in my opinion. For business needs, iPad is probably better, for surfing the web, email, and facebook I would probably just get the Kindle because of the price but thats just because I am cheap and have a laptop/phone – the tablet is just a luxury to me. Again, it really depends on your needs and financial situation. Both do pretty much everything the other does and each has something that is better or worse than the other.

Now iPad 1 vs iPad 3.

If you have iPad 1, I would NOT recommend getting iPad 3 unless….You want

4G data – just so you know its $30 a month
Camera/Microphone – honestly are you really going to take pics with your iPad?

Besides those features, the rest are really minor and not worth an upgrade in my opinion. The new iPad has a much better screen resolution and this might matter to tablet gamers (is there a such thing?) and people who watch a lot of movies on their iPad and really need that HD. It is also slightly faster but I really couldnt tell much of a difference. Otherwise its the same interface, apps, functionality, size (for the most part – I cant tell a difference), etc.

Overall – if you have iPad 1 I would not upgrade unless you care about the 4G and Camera/Mic. while its a big upgrade for us techies it is NOT an upgrade for most iPad users.