Pandigital SuperNova 8 Android Media Tablet Versus Amazon Kindle Fire: What Should You Buy? (Photos)

Pandigital is showcasing SuperNova 8 Android Media Tablet at CES 2012 in Las Vegas and the specs pits it directly against Amazon Kindle Fire tablet. And, as they're both priced at $199 - what should you buy?

Let's take a quick look at Supernova's specs first.

Supernova has a black brushed metal look, its dimensions are 6.13x8.38x0.44 inches and it weighs 16.6oz.

The tablet has a 8-inch capacitive touch digital TFT LCD display (600x800 pixels).

Under the hood, you'll find Samsung S5PV210 Cortex 1.06Hz Proformance Processor with dedicated GPU, 512MB DRAM, 4GB shared storage (expandable up to 32GB via MicroSD card reader), and Android 2.3 OS.

The tablet also boasts of 3-MP rear-facing and VGA front-facing cameras, built-in speakers, stereo-mini headphone jack, WiFi, Bluetooth, Micro-HDMI Out, Mini-USB 2.0, 3400mAh rechargeable Li-ion battery, USB port and microphone.

Supernova's user-interface is sleek - the tablet's multitouch touchscreen interface, virtual keyboard, orientation sensor, ambient light sensor and 2-axis accelerometer ensure that you will never come across a dull moment, be it browsing the Internet, playing games, watching movies (MPEG4, Flash), listening to music (MP3, WAV, AAC) or sending an email.

Supernova also gives the user direct access to the Barnes and Noble eStore, where you can buy, read and borrow over 2 million books, newspapers and magazines.

And, the icing on the cake is that Supernova has full HDMI support, which means you can bring the entertainment direct to your living room.

However, in the apps department, Supernova is a big disappointment - the tablet does not have Android apps and you need to access the GetJar app market to get the apps you want.

However, can it stand up to Kindle Fire?

Kindle Fire reportedly is Amazon's best selling product ever and why not?

Priced at $199, Kindle Fire packs 7-inch IPS TFT multitouch display (1024x600 pixels resolution), 8GB flash memory, Texas Instruments Cortex A9 OMAP4 1Ghz dual-core processor, Android 2.3 OS, USB 2.0 (micro-B connector), 3.5mm stereo audio jack and top-mounted stereo speakers.

It also features WiFi, Amazon Silk Web browser, plays music in AAC, MP3, OGG and WAv formats and videos in MPEG4 and H.264 formats. It also supports Flash.

Other features include free cloud storage for all Amazon content

However, Kindle lacks camera - both front- and rear-facing.

Kindle Fire's dimensions are 7.5x4.7x0.45 inches and it weighs 14.6oz.

A quick comparison of the specs will make us lean towards Kindle Fire as it has a slightly faster processor, more built-in memory and a sleeker Web browser.

However, Kindle Fire's major drawback is it lacks cameras and it too doesn't have access to Android Market - with the tablet, you're stuck with Amazon apps, at least for now.

Moreover, with the Supernova, you get a bigger screen, front- and rear-facing cameras to capture those precious moments and a microSD card slot (for expanding memory). And Supernova's biggest advantage - full HDMI support.

In conclusion, Kindle Fire has the big brand name Amazon behind it, but when it comes to a face-off, Pandigital Supernova is the clear winner.