Kindle Fire 7" Tablet Now Shipping $199 - New Kindles From $79 - Reviews are out

this is really annoying me but perhaps someone might know the solution?

when i watch Youtube videos through the mobile site, thebquality of the videos are low. HQ on and off looks the same.

but when i watch videos through the regular non mobile site, i get the full high quality... how do i fix this?
 
[quote name='integralsmatic']The stock Fire is pretty good. Dont know about making videos on it...but it streams well and resolution is clear and crisp. Been playing some games like madden 12 and NFS Shift and there is 0 slowdown on the Fire. I rooted the fire because i wanted the Google Market on there. Plus i wanted to load my emulators on it since i cant seem to find them on both market places. The nook color i hear is a little slower in general compared the fire. The Nook tablet is what you would want in terms of power and if you want the Android OS. I didnt get the nook tablet because i fear that B&N may not be around much longer and support for it could die. As for throttling users. i havent felt any of that yet since its over a WiFi connection. Couldnt see how their bandwidth would get destroyed unless people downloaded the same app at the same time.[/QUOTE]

Does rooting the Fire affect your Amazon content? I have many Amazon apps that I like to be able to have in the cloud and re-download whenever I want, plus music and videos from Amazon as well; I assume you can still get to all that stuff after you're rooted? And does it affect all the apps already installed?

One big problem I have is the deliberately limited space for apps. When I check the device memory, it says only 1.17gb are avaliable for apps, whereas 5.37gb are available for "internal storage" (newsstand, books, music, and docs). I'd like to be able to shift some storage from "internal storage" to "application storage", but I assume Amazon locks all that up with the default OS. I also assume that after rooting, you can use the onboard 6.5gb storage (total available) for whatever you want?

Besides the small amount of storage (both for apps and in total), which I know was intentional by Amazon to make you rely on the cloud, I love my Fire; games play great on it, browsing is OK (though I'd like to load Dolphin, Silk is sometimes laggy), email checking is fine, etc. Nice solid tablet, well-made and fun to use. A little heavy even, but that contributes to the solid feel of the device.
 
Rooting only affects Amazon Video, however, if you download OTA Rootkeeper, a free app, you can temporarily unroot and re-root your Kindle Fire at the press of a button in order to watch the videos and then switch back to su.
 
supposedly the newest update "prevents rooting" can anyone confirm if that is true? is there a way to skip updates? the inability to root Kindle Fire would honestly bring my interest down to zero. The tablet, on its own merits, is not very good. It sounds like rooting is basically what makes it worth owning.
 
[quote name='pdjones']supposedly the newest update "prevents rooting" can anyone confirm if that is true? is there a way to skip updates? the inability to root Kindle Fire would honestly bring my interest down to zero. The tablet, on its own merits, is not very good. It sounds like rooting is basically what makes it worth owning.[/QUOTE]

6.2.1....watch the video i just posted. I followed that video step by step and it worked for me. My Kindle updated an hour after i turned on the sucker. I came across nat3mill's video on youtube and his steps worked for me.

and the OTA Rootkeeper is a must for streaming Amazon Video.
 
The $79 Kindle is a beautiful device. The weight of books was a large problem with me and this device makes it so that isn't a problem. Build quality is great and even though it's really light, it's sturdy and will last quite a while.
 
Sadly, I'm shipping mine back. It not for me. a bit too heavy for such a small device and too unresponsive to touch commands.
 
[quote name='Daring']Sadly, I'm shipping mine back. It not for me. a bit too heavy for such a small device and too unresponsive to touch commands.[/QUOTE]

I agree on the weight, for a 7" tablet after reading or playing a game for a while my hand starts to hurt.
 
[quote name='JustYourAverageJoe']Does anyone have a suggestion for a decent, sub-$30 case for the Kindle Keyboard? Not seeing a whole lot around.[/QUOTE]

I got a Timbuk2 Kindle Fire nylon envelope sleeve for my Fire, and love it. It was $25 and is very sturdy, though it doesn't open up into a propped case (its just a sleeve). I think Timbuk2 makes sleeves for the Kindle Keyboard, but the only one I could find on Amazon was "currently unavailable":

http://www.amazon.com/Timbuk2-Kindl...Y0/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1325540558&sr=8-22

But overall I think the Timbuk2 products are very high quality; the Fire sleeve is excellent, though it is not a "book style" case and also doesn't open/prop like some others. HTH.
 
Anyone have a link to a Google music APK that works? I have the frame work installed and everything else works, but the latest Google Music force closes.
 
[quote name='Todd33']Anyone have a link to a Google music APK that works? I have the frame work installed and everything else works, but the latest Google Music force closes.[/QUOTE]

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1350164 (scroll down to the attachments and there's a link for the 4.1.511 apk)

Great app by the way. (I have like 6,000+ songs uploaded so I use it a lot)

I should note that often when things force close the Fire simply needs to be rebooted after the install in order to clear the relevant cache(s). That's not always the case as some things simply won't work and especially if there's some version mismatch with something vital like the Google Framework.
 
loving my delayed Christmas Kindle Fire. Snappy, beautiful display, good weight, love the soft touch matte finish on the back, battery life won't be an issue, great size for videos & games. Web browsing could use a few updates along the way to fix little quirks like not being able to tell when you've clicked a link until a few seconds later when you see a spinning progress circle up in the address bar.
 
I've given every web browser I could find a try and even the ones which claim to be built for tablets still feel like phone versions. (less nerfed but still very limited)

You can change the user agent in some and basically force them to display the normal 'Desktop' versions of websites but is it really too much to ask to just have the tablet versions as fully featured as the desktop versions except with touchscreen support?

I'm going to start digging into getting Ubuntu working on the Kindle Fire as perhaps mobile/tablet operating systems simply aren't robust enough for me. (many tablets rival netbooks in terms of system specs so a lightweight OS with touchscreen support doesn't seem too far-fetched)
 
[quote name='JustYourAverageJoe']Does anyone have a suggestion for a decent, sub-$30 case for the Kindle Keyboard? Not seeing a whole lot around.[/QUOTE]

I would check the targets around you if any. I got the official amazon lighted one there for my mother in law last week and it was on clearance for $17 - my wife has the same one in pink and it was $60 from amazon
 
Kindle Fire running Ubuntu :D
screenshot-1325755615016.png
 
I'm looking into buying a Kindle lately. I'm trying to decide between the touch and the $79 model. Are there any advantages the touch has over the basic version? I'm not going to use it for browsing, it's just strictly for reading.
 
The $79 one is good enough for reading and probably all you really need.

Of course, I ended up getting the touch 3G and love it..... >_
 
[quote name='jmeredi']I'm looking into buying a Kindle lately. I'm trying to decide between the touch and the $79 model. Are there any advantages the touch has over the basic version? I'm not going to use it for browsing, it's just strictly for reading.[/QUOTE]

I like the touch cuz i can tap and hold on a word to get a quick definition whereas the non-touch you have to use the janky cursor control. The virtual keyboard on the touch is surprisingly responsive. Although the overall performance of the touch is slower, but hopefully a software update will relieve that problem.

I actually highly recommend the over priced case with the built in light. It's super convenient to be able to just flip on the light and never have to worry about batteries. And even during daylight at certain angles lighting might not be ideal, so having the option to have a light is pretty useful.
 
so....i want to get a kindle....but I want to browse very basic text based websites, forums, nothing too fancy as well. I'm also going insane watching reviews on youtube. Anybody here recommend the keyboard 3G one or the Touch 3G one? I would get the fire, but im worried about battery life and it doesn't have 3G. Plus I hear it's heavy too. Any help with this??? haha
 
[quote name='AshesofWake']so....i want to get a kindle....but I want to browse very basic text based websites, forums, nothing too fancy as well. I'm also going insane watching reviews on youtube. Anybody here recommend the keyboard 3G one or the Touch 3G one? I would get the fire, but im worried about battery life and it doesn't have 3G. Plus I hear it's heavy too. Any help with this??? haha[/QUOTE]

Touch 3G doesn't allow you to use 3G for web browsing while KB model does. Best to just test them out at local store
 
[quote name='62t']Touch 3G doesn't allow you to use 3G for web browsing while KB model does. Best to just test them out at local store[/QUOTE]


ahhh did not know that! Wasn't mentioned in any of the reviews I read, thank you!
 
I have a Kindle Keyboard 3G, Asus Transformer EEE Pad + Keyboard dock, and an iPad 64GB first gen I traded my iPad 2 16GB for...even rooting, is there anything a Kindle fire will do for me that I can't get with those? Tempted to try one..
 
I can't find anywhere where I can mess around with a kindle, all the demo units have their demos installed on them and are extremely limited to letting me play with them too, sucks :(
 
[quote name='Alcedes']I like the touch cuz i can tap and hold on a word to get a quick definition whereas the non-touch you have to use the janky cursor control. The virtual keyboard on the touch is surprisingly responsive. Although the overall performance of the touch is slower, but hopefully a software update will relieve that problem.

I actually highly recommend the over priced case with the built in light. It's super convenient to be able to just flip on the light and never have to worry about batteries. And even during daylight at certain angles lighting might not be ideal, so having the option to have a light is pretty useful.[/QUOTE]

The cursor is pretty cumbersome to use for typing, but not really for getting word defs. It's not like I'm looking up words every 30 seconds and even when you do it works well. You can jump up to the line you need quickly and it jumps from word to word as you press left/right. It only take a few seconds to get to the word you want. I find it plenty adequate. Now typing... that's a different story. The main reason to type on the "keyboard" is to type in collection names. I wish they had a way to create collections on your computer and sych them over, but there's no such thing. You might want to search in the store too, but you can search for and buy books on your computer and sync them over, so that's not a big deal.
 
I like the keyboard model over the touch because it's a big larger. The new smaller kindles just aren't as comfortable to hold. The keyboard doesn't bother me at all, and I don't really look up definitions enough for it to become annoying.
 
So my free month of Amazon Prime I got from Kindle Fire is about to expire. However, I have Amazon Prime through the Amazon Mom program.
Won't this cover my Kindle Fire for prime benefits?
 
I went on and got one of these, gonna sell my Kindle Keyboard to pay towards it. I want to play around with ICS and this seems like the easiest way to do so. They keep coming out with new things to do and I'd rather root this than my Asus Transformer..
 
Trying to decide between the regular kindle and kindle touch...how do they compare with PDF reading?

I have a bunch of class notes I'd like to import to the kindle but I have heard that one is better than the other for it?
 
So hey, does anyone know where I can buy a Kindle Fire with my paypal balance? Most places that accept Paypal only do in-store only on the Kindle, with no option of pickup at store or anything... That I've found yet.

I don't want to do a random eBay auction for one, nor do I want to pay more than MSRP at all, aside from shipping.

Suggestions?
 
[quote name='ExplodingRat']So hey, does anyone know where I can buy a Kindle Fire with my paypal balance? Most places that accept Paypal only do in-store only on the Kindle, with no option of pickup at store or anything... That I've found yet.

I don't want to do a random eBay auction for one, nor do I want to pay more than MSRP at all, aside from shipping.

Suggestions?[/QUOTE]

Does Best Buy offer in-store pickup? If so you could get one there. Or you could do an in-store pickup for some Kindle cards at best buy and buy one from AZ.
 
[quote name='coopscohen']Kindle or Vita. I have over $300 in amazon credit. What should I do?[/QUOTE]

What are you looking for in a device? If you're leaning towards a pure gaming device that can also play music, videos, and browse, you'll want a Vita. If you're looking for a dedicated media consumption device with some gaming sprinkled in, you'll want a Kindle Fire or other comparable tablet.
 
I'm typing on my fire now and I love it. Cant be beat for the price. Don't watch to many movies, mostly use it for the web and playing genesis and ghat games
 
[quote name='eldergamer']So my free month of Amazon Prime I got from Kindle Fire is about to expire. However, I have Amazon Prime through the Amazon Mom program.
Won't this cover my Kindle Fire for prime benefits?[/QUOTE]

Probably not. I have Student Prime which does not include some of the features such as the free video streaming and your one free book a month. If you really want that stuff you might be offered Prime at a discount. I received an offer for 39.99 for Prime when my one free month expired (because I was signed up for Amazon Student).
 
[quote name='Rabbit19']Probably not. I have Student Prime which does not include some of the features such as the free video streaming and your one free book a month. If you really want that stuff you might be offered Prime at a discount. I received an offer for 39.99 for Prime when my one free month expired (because I was signed up for Amazon Student).[/QUOTE]


You can go ahead and get the "full edition" of Amazon Prime for only $39.99 if you already have Student. I signed up Student and automatically asked them to upgrade me to full Prime for only $39.99. Fast and simple.
 
[quote name='mr_bungle']I have a Kindle Keyboard 3G, Asus Transformer EEE Pad + Keyboard dock, and an iPad 64GB first gen I traded my iPad 2 16GB for...even rooting, is there anything a Kindle fire will do for me that I can't get with those? Tempted to try one..[/QUOTE]

I would say no. I really like my Fire, but it is a simpler version of any of those devices. Especially since you have an iPad, the Fire won't bring much to the table for you, unless you have a ton of digital Amazon products (videos, books, music) that you're dying to have direct access to on a color tablet. Reading on it is a lot better than I expected, but it won't be as nice as reading on your Kindle Keyboard.

I don't want to discourage other people since it's a very decent device, but aside from the price, I don't think it's surpasses the functions of other tablets. I can't speak to rooting though.
 
[quote name='Rabbit19']I would say no. I really like my Fire, but it is a simpler version of any of those devices. Especially since you have an iPad, the Fire won't bring much to the table for you, unless you have a ton of digital Amazon products (videos, books, music) that you're dying to have direct access to on a color tablet. Reading on it is a lot better than I expected, but it won't be as nice as reading on your Kindle Keyboard.

I don't want to discourage other people since it's a very decent device, but aside from the price, I don't think it's surpasses the functions of other tablets. I can't speak to rooting though.[/QUOTE]

Well my freaking ASUS Transformer died on me this morning. I've had it less than a week from AWD, it was about 70% charged last night but I plugged in the dock to let it charge too, this morning, bam, dead as a doorknob. I'm having to return it to AWD. I'm going to keep the KF just because rooting it will give me access to Android stuff. I was really liking this little tablet too.

On the bright side, I'll get about $400 back on this Transformer, and I found a MacBook Pro for $900, went ahead and bought that after I sold my laptop to a friend for $500. Good stuff.
 
[quote name='CookieMonster156']Would anyone recommend the Kindle Fire for general use and reading pdf files for school?[/QUOTE]

Can you deal with the small screen? That would be my only concern.
 
[quote name='62t']Can you deal with the small screen? That would be my only concern.[/QUOTE]

I can deal with it. I've been using my iPhone for a while to read books on the go. I just want to know if the Fire handles pdf files better than an iDevice.
 
I've been using my Fire for general use and it works great. I use it more than my laptop at home for web browsing. I didn't like the built in pdf reader, but there's probably something better.
 
[quote name='coopscohen']Kindle or Vita. I have over $300 in amazon credit. What should I do?[/QUOTE]

As was answered, that depends on what you are looking for primarily, but keep in mind that if you go Vita you're going to be dropping over $300 on the device plus memory card ($350 with the largest memory card) before you even start looking at the $40-50 games, so system & 32gb card & Uncharted will set you back $400. That's of course double the price of the Kindle Fire so kind of an awkward comparison.
 
[quote name='Brownjohn']I've been using my Fire for general use and it works great. I use it more than my laptop at home for web browsing. I didn't like the built in pdf reader, but there's probably something better.[/QUOTE]
General use is great. I think the pdf reader that comes with it is fine, I'm not sure what else you really want it to do?
 
I like mine I've had it since it came out. Everyone who has played with it said they think it feels really solid and great build quality and screen

I prefer the form factor to a 10" since I have smaller hands. A few complaints would be the stock browser and no android market support, but I rooted and put a 3rd party browser on it and access to the regular android market, then unrooted. Let me keep all the things I put on like android market, but still have access to Amazon video and everything
 
I basically bought the Kindle Fire as inexpensive entry into the tablet market and in retaliation of my laptop exploding. (GPU and CPU fried...so $400+ to fix that or $200 for a Kindle Fire)

It has become quite the little television companion and I love it for looking up things while I'm playing games. I just power-off the screen and it'll sit there for hours so in that sense it obliterates the laptop which it replaced.

Once the Android stuff is built into linux at the kernel level then we should be able to move away from emulation/virtualization and into full-on native installs as there are already plenty of distros built for the processor/architecture.

But I fully admit that I have as much fun hacking the thing as I do actually using it.
 
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