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

The lighted case is nice because it's form fitting, it's leather on the outside, it folds back flat, it's weight balanced (not top heavy as most add-only lights result in), the light is solidly mounted (no wobble), permanently attached (always easily available) and draws power from the Kindle so no batteries needed. Had I paid more for the Kindle, I'd have paid more for the combination. So I'm not sure I see your logic.
 
My point is that it's way too expensive. If you feel the need for a case that probably costs $10 or less to make and costs $20 less than the device you bought it for then by all means, seems pretty silly to me. It's not like I'd feel any differently if the Kindle was more money, I still felt those cases were rip-offs when the kindle sold for $150+, but it looks even sillier now that the device itself has come down in price and now the case costs almost as much as it does.

Just wondering, If Amazon dropped the price of the Kindle to say $59.99, but the cover still stayed the same price, would you still get one?
 
[quote name='ssjmichael']My point is that it's way too expensive. If you feel the need for a case that probably costs $10 or less to make and costs $20 less than the device you bought it for then by all means, seems pretty silly to me. It's not like I'd feel any differently if the Kindle was more money, I still felt those cases were rip-offs when the kindle sold for $150+, but it looks even sillier now that the device itself has come down in price and now the case costs almost as much as it does.

Just wondering, If Amazon dropped the price of the Kindle to say $59.99, but the cover still stayed the same price, would you still get one?[/QUOTE]

Why wouldn't I? It would have cost me $20 less (the combination). Note too that the combined price is less than the Kindle alone use to cost.
 
lol, different strokes for different folks I guess. My rule of thumb is if an accessory and/or a warranty costs close to or the same amount as the product I'm buying it for, I'm paying too much. Thankfully there are usually alternatives that are much cheaper that will satisfy my needs.
 
[quote name='ssjmichael']My point is that it's way too expensive. If you feel the need for a case that probably costs $10 or less to make and costs $20 less than the device you bought it for then by all means, seems pretty silly to me. It's not like I'd feel any differently if the Kindle was more money, I still felt those cases were rip-offs when the kindle sold for $150+, but it looks even sillier now that the device itself has come down in price and now the case costs almost as much as it does.

Just wondering, If Amazon dropped the price of the Kindle to say $59.99, but the cover still stayed the same price, would you still get one?[/QUOTE]

Everything is relative, but the point is if you price out a decent case($30), and a decent clip on light ($20), that's just 10 bucks away from a far and away superior and integrated case.

You also don't have to see the ugly straps on each corner when using a 3rd party case and never have to worry about the battery for your clip on light which is a pain to store when not using.

The light will fold itself in automatically when you close the cover, really clever design, and the overall light output is just right for reading at night. There's a lot of mixed reviews on amazon, but thankfully i ignored them. I love this case and consider it well worth the cost.
 
For those of you that have had the fire now for a little bit what are thoughts on it. I know it's not e-ink but how is the reading of books on it, any eye strain? Comics read good? And how is prime. Is it worth it to get a year after the tria aside from free 2 day shipping? Thanks
 
Sort of an odd question, but does anyone know if you can use BBY Reward Zone Certs on a Kindle Fire? Last time I tried it with an iPod Touch, the computer wouldn't let me do it. It would be awesome if I could use my $50 in certs towards a Kindle Fire.
 
[quote name='DarkRider23']Sort of an odd question, but does anyone know if you can use BBY Reward Zone Certs on a Kindle Fire? Last time I tried it with an iPod Touch, the computer wouldn't let me do it. It would be awesome if I could use my $50 in certs towards a Kindle Fire.[/QUOTE]

No idea, but worst case scenario you can buy $50 worth of "Kindle" gift cards (which are just regular Amazon GCs) and use them towards a purchase on Amazon.
 
[quote name='DarkRider23']Sort of an odd question, but does anyone know if you can use BBY Reward Zone Certs on a Kindle Fire? Last time I tried it with an iPod Touch, the computer wouldn't let me do it. It would be awesome if I could use my $50 in certs towards a Kindle Fire.[/QUOTE]

There should never be a restriction when using an RZ cert.
 
[quote name='tooshorty6432168']I second this question, really could use a recommendation on a case for the Fire as well.[/QUOTE]

OK so my case arrived today, it seems pretty solid. It's like the typical amazon brand kindle cases except it has notches for propping the fire up. The reviews complained about the rubber straps, but they were a tad tight to get over the fire. I havent had any trouble with them (But then again I dont twirl it around. It has another elastic band that can be used to close the lid against the fire. I have been reasonably impressed by it (but then I also just got it today). Plus, it is a lot cheaper than the alternatives.
 
I bought this case a while ago.

It's pretty good for $8. It fits perfectly and is high enough quality where I keep thinking it came with the Fire.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/300612581438?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649


Oh, I guess I can put updated impressions. Hmmmm. I still like it. I've been checking the app store once a day to check out the free app. Some apps are really good. The email app, the weather channel, mapquest, pandora. The best games I've played are where's my water, cut the rope, fruit ninja, angry birds, dabble.

I was looking at my brothers kindle with the electronic ink. For books the electronik ink kindles are probably better (the fire is backlit). They flip up black or white pixels so it only uses electricity when loading a page. That's pretty cool.

For websurfing it doesn't really work good for websites like CAG, that have small print and small things to click on. It's works best on stuff like youtube or facebook. I use it for good quick apps like email, weather, or maps. Reading forums... I just use my PC.

There's some mismatch between apps and app version versus the real android marketplace. I think the fire marketplace is everything that's on amazon which is different than what's available on the android marketplace.

The reviews for all the apps are general app reviews. The game majesty crashes frequently on my Fire (only app I've had crash multiple times), but it has really high reviews, because it works fine on other platforms. The amazon marketplace has an older version, so maybe a new version would be more stable, but who knows if amazon will ever update to the newer version.

When downloading and installing apps the fire can run fairly slowly. It can be hard to scroll across and it can be somewhat unresponsive until everything is downloaded and installed.

There is something called Pulse which I think is Amazon's news headlines. I used it when the Fire was first out and I absolutely hated it. Ideally I would like my to use my Fire to read headlines and news, but so far I haven't found anything to do this well.

All the video and music streaming seems to work very well.

Battery life seems to last about 4-5 hours of use over a couple of days.
 
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Could one of you who have the Fire answer a question for me.

Do Marvel Digital Comics work on the Fire? I read one place that it did and another where it loads up then crashes as soon as you get inot the comic. Do one of you guys know the answer?
 
Pulse is just an RSS reader, right? I don't think they have anything to do with amazon.

Marvel Digital Unlimted does work. You have to be in single page mode, though, and the screen is a bit too small to read comfortably even with full screen enabled. It also makes double page spreads extremely difficult to read. However it works well enough that I bought a sub because of it.

If you try reading in non single page mode it will eventually crash.

The browser is kinds wonky in general, though. I still have absolutely no idea how it figures out which tabs to save when you close the browser and open it again. But it is cool to be able.to use flash sites on a tablet.
 
[quote name='fujishig']Pulse is just an RSS reader, right? I don't think they have anything to do with amazon.

Marvel Digital Unlimted does work. You have to be in single page mode, though, and the screen is a bit too small to read comfortably even with full screen enabled. It also makes double page spreads extremely difficult to read. However it works well enough that I bought a sub because of it.

If you try reading in non single page mode it will eventually crash.

The browser is kinds wonky in general, though. I still have absolutely no idea how it figures out which tabs to save when you close the browser and open it again. But it is cool to be able.to use flash sites on a tablet.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the reply. I think I'm going to make the plunge on the FIRE.
 
[quote name='hamcore']For those of you that have had the fire now for a little bit what are thoughts on it. I know it's not e-ink but how is the reading of books on it, any eye strain? Comics read good? And how is prime. Is it worth it to get a year after the tria aside from free 2 day shipping? Thanks[/QUOTE]
My biggest concern coming in was, am I going to enjoy reading on this thing. The answer is a resounding yes! I own an ipad 2 and fell quickly out of love with it because it was just too big to read comfortably on for any amount of time. The Fire on the other hand, is good at a lot of things, ultra-portable, and syncs all of my Amazon stuff.

As for the Prime question, I don't think it's worth it at this point if you aren't going to take advantage of the 2 day shipping much. I've watched a little bit of the tv show, Lost, but other than that nothing has caught my eye. They recently put the first two seasons of Sons of Anarchy on there, so they are continuing to move in the right direction. The loaning library is nice, but the selection is limited and you can only check out one book per month per account. My wife and I both have Kindle's and since we use the same Amazon account, we are limited to sharing the one book per month.

There's a lot to consider, but like everyone else says, for $200 it's a great little gadget.
 
Has anyone tried rooting their Fire? I have watched a few videos on how to do it on youtube but I'm not sure how easy it is. That seems like the way to go to get the regular Android Marketplace on it and be able to use widgets.
 
Can anyone tell me how well the Fire loads kids sites?

(PBSKids, nickjr, lego, etc) Those sites are always pretty flash/video heavy.
 
[quote name='eldergamer']Can anyone tell me how well the Fire loads kids sites?

(PBSKids, nickjr, lego, etc) Those sites are always pretty flash/video heavy.[/QUOTE]

most site aslo have mobile version that don't use flash
 
[quote name='ccm0628']Has anyone tried rooting their Fire? I have watched a few videos on how to do it on youtube but I'm not sure how easy it is. That seems like the way to go to get the regular Android Marketplace on it and be able to use widgets.[/QUOTE]

You can use widgets if you install a different launcher. I use the Go Launcher Ex, and I can install widgets. I wont be rooting mine until after my 1 year warranty is up. I don't want any problems if I have to send it back to Amazon.
 
For those of you who have rooted: does all the functions still work (streaming, cloud, etc) also if you laoded the market (google) do you still have access to the amazon market? Please PM me if this is against site policy.
 
[quote name='jgiovanni']For those of you who have rooted: does all the functions still work (streaming, cloud, etc) also if you laoded the market (google) do you still have access to the amazon market? Please PM me if this is against site policy.[/QUOTE]

I don't have one, but all the things you mentioned should definitely still be functioning the same as before
 
[quote name='jgiovanni']For those of you who have rooted: does all the functions still work (streaming, cloud, etc) also if you laoded the market (google) do you still have access to the amazon market? Please PM me if this is against site policy.[/QUOTE]

Yep. The only thing that's a little iffy is the Amazon Streaming stores. But you can just download OTA Rootkeeper and root and unroot at the press of ab utton on your kindle.
 
How do I even see what apps are avaliable for the Kindle fire? Amazon's listing only seems to have the best sellers of "Popular Kindle games and active content"

Are all apps from the android store compatible with the kindle?
 
[quote name='jgiovanni']@realwords, did the 6.2 update kill the google market on your kindle?[/QUOTE]

Well, I updated to 6.2 first and then I rooted. I bought it last Thursday. Either way, I sideloaded it through Root Explorer anyways along with the rest of the Android and google apps.
 
ever since i learned that android is having that .10 app deals and a free app every day, i cant stop downloading apps into my fire. i have so many apps and games its not even funny..
 
I got my lighted leather case for the cheap Kindle, but I won't be able to test it out until Xmas. Gift for me. Oh well. It looks pretty thin and feels light, though. So I'm at least happy in that regard. Will have more comments once I get it and can try it out.
 
I really like the Kindle Fire, I use it more than the iPad. I do wish it was faster, lighter weight and better battery life. Your hand does get tired holding it if laying down. Looking forward to seeing what Fire 2 will have.
 
[quote name='hamcore']For those of you that have had the fire now for a little bit what are thoughts on it. I know it's not e-ink but how is the reading of books on it, any eye strain? Comics read good? And how is prime. Is it worth it to get a year after the tria aside from free 2 day shipping? Thanks[/QUOTE]

If you're a Netflix subscriber, it's hard to make an arguement in favor of Prime unless you love the 2-day shipping. Prime members can take advantage of the Kindle lending service, but right now it's limited to only one book a month.

Something worth noting: for a limited time only, if you subscribe to any of Amazon's PAID Cloud storage (cheapest is only $20/year), you get unlimited storage for music files; in other words, although you only get 20GB's for your $20/year, you theoretically get an infinite amount of online space to store your music. Pretty sweet deal if you have lots of music that you want to back up and have access to via the Amazon Cloud Player (eg. on Kindle Fire).

In any event, I'm actually loving my Kindle Fire: it's does a terrific job of surfing the web (better than my wife's iPad 1 b/c Silk-based browser doesn't get bogged down web lots of tabs are open) and streaming content (Netflix, Amazon VoD, Amazon Cloud Music, Hulu Plus, Pandora, home media server, etc.); and it's also a Kindle (great eReader); and it's also an Android-powered device (great library of apps). IMHO, its price alone makes it an easy sell, but I'm even more happy with the device than I imagined I would be--it never leaves my side.
 
Anandtech showed that the browser is actually slower with Silk enabled then with it off, in spite of Amazon's claims to the contrary. I was wondering if that's been your experience?
 
[quote name='crunchewy']Anandtech showed that the browser is actually slower with Silk enabled then with it off, in spite of Amazon's claims to the contrary. I was wondering if that's been your experience?[/QUOTE]

I haven't tried comparing, but I wonder if their tests included the use of multiple tabs? The specs of the Fire were designed around the idea that, when browsing the web, much of the "heavy lifting" is being done via external servers; and I've noticed this phenomen when comparing the browsing experience to that of my wife's iPad: when you have multiple tabs open on the Apple device, things really start to chug, and that's even with them skirting Flash from running. When I have the same tabs open on my Fire, I don't see the loss of responsiveness that I'm seeing with the wife's iPad.

In any event, the MAIN reason I bought the Fire was to have pad that can efficiently and effectively browse the web without costing me an arm and a leg; in other words, if the browsing experience was lousy, I would've returned the device immediately. Like I mentioned, I still have the Fire and have come to prefer it over my wife's iPad, so that should speak for something of the web browsing experience.
 
FYI, the iPad 2 doesn't bog down with multiple tabs, at least not that I've noticed. I have no experience with a 1st gen iPad so don't know about that one. The iPad 1 had less ram, so that might be why it would bog down with multiple tabs open if so.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']FYI, the iPad 2 doesn't bog down with multiple tabs, at least not that I've noticed. I have no experience with a 1st gen iPad so don't know about that one. The iPad 1 had less ram, so that might be why it would bog down with multiple tabs open if so.[/QUOTE]

I'm sure the iPad 2 doesn't have bog down while browsing with multiple tabs, but it also costs 3 times as much and doesn't support Flash.

I guess what I'm saying is, the Kindle Fire is terrifc at browsing the web--with tabs, Flash, etc.--and there's really no other similarly priced device that even comes close to being comparable.
 
[quote name='AwRy108']I'm sure the iPad 2 doesn't have bog down while browsing with multiple tabs, but it also costs 3 times as much and doesn't support Flash.

I guess what I'm saying is, the Kindle Fire is terrifc at browsing the web--with tabs, Flash, etc.--and there's really no other similarly priced device that even comes close to being comparable.[/QUOTE]

This has gotten off track. I'm not bashing the Fire - i think it's nifty as far as I can tell, especially for the price. What I was wondering was if anyone had verified that it is faster with Silk turned off. If it is it seems like that would make it even better than it is (plus your browsing wouldn't all go through Amazon's hands), which seems pretty relevant. It would definitely be interesting to know if having multiple tabs open makes it faster with silk on vs. off, or if it's still faster with silk off.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']This has gotten off track. I'm not bashing the Fire - i think it's nifty as far as I can tell, especially for the price. What I was wondering was if anyone had verified that it is faster with Silk turned off. If it is it seems like that would make it even better than it is (plus your browsing wouldn't all go through Amazon's hands), which seems pretty relevant. It would definitely be interesting to know if having multiple tabs open makes it faster with silk on vs. off, or if it's still faster with silk off.[/QUOTE]

Good point and good question--I, too, would like the answer to this. I've also heard that the Silk doesn't increase the page load speeds of non-Amazon sources, but one has to think that this can be significantly affected by bandwidth speeds and the strength of a person's home network, since Silk is essentially a trade name for "streeming web browsing".
 
I turned off the silk caching a day after I bought my kindle fire. It seems to make it faster. I'd say a small percentage seconds maybe. I know they did the speed test and it was faster with it off. Amazon said that silk takes time to learn people and websites over time it gets faster.

Either way it seemed like something took 9.1 seconds on and 8.5 seconds off.
 
I use Dolphin Browser HD and it's leaps and bounds faster than silk.

With the .10 sale I've bought an inordinate amount of apps, too. It's kinda sad.
 
I just got my kindle touch from glide for $50 bucks. I'm loving it and I had no idea you could get books from the local city library. Freaking awesome
 
quick question - I bought a kindle for my gf for xmas, and I have an amazon prime account. Is her kindle linked to her amazon account, or is there some benefit of her using my prime account to get her books?

Thanks.
 
Alright so I might be getting a Fire for Christmas and I was just wondering, how's the internal memory? Any of you finding that 8GB just isn't enough?
 
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