Multitool.org Forum
+-

Hello Lurker! Remove this ad and much more by logging in.


Kindle Fire -- Shipped Today!

us Offline ICanFixThat

  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 4,534
Kindle Fire -- Shipped Today!
on: November 15, 2011, 02:32:44 AM
My 2nd Kindle Shipped today.  Not sure how much I'll use this one, but it looked like fun.



us Offline Heinz Doofenshmirtz

  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 2,902
Re: Kindle Fire -- Shipped Today!
Reply #1 on: November 15, 2011, 05:52:29 AM
I look forward to hearing about your experience with it.  My wife bought a Nook a few weeks ago and really likes it.  She was thinking about getting one for our kids too.  Clearly the big appeal for us is the price.

I'd like to get an iPad 2, but I'm not sure yet.  I have several relatives who have them and love them, but I honestly don't *need* one.  It would just be a big iPod for me.
The first Noble Truth: life is suffering.  Only by accepting that fact can we transcend it.


us Offline ICanFixThat

  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 4,534
Re: Kindle Fire -- Shipped Today!
Reply #2 on: November 17, 2011, 05:20:07 AM
The Fire is in my hot little hands.... but too busy with work to do anything with it much yet.  Screen is nice.  Music player works OK, uploaded 12 albums to the cloud and that worked pretty well.  Discovered some glitches, but nothing too serious.

Started a movie, the Jetsons I think, but just wanted to see if I could really watch it for free... ha ha... there is a lot of content if a person had time they could get their $200 back just by watching all the free content. 

I still am not sure about touch screens... get grubby prints all over it and then watch a movie??  I mean really... good thing I already carry a micro-fiber cloth.... but really...

It's quite heavy compared to my K3 Kindle... too heavy as a book reader to hold in your hand I think.  I did get a case though that has a hand strap on the back and that does make holding it for reading much nicer. 

Dedicated page forward and back buttons really would be nice.

More later as I collect some apps and actually use it for a while.

So far I'm sure it is worth it, I won't regret buying it, now it's just a matter of how much I'll love it.


us Offline captain spaulding

  • *
  • Absolute Zombie Club
  • *********
    • Posts: 20,793
  • What's the matter, kid? Don't ya like clowns?
Re: Kindle Fire -- Shipped Today!
Reply #3 on: November 17, 2011, 06:48:12 AM
I just left a friends house and he just received his Kindle Fire. I don't think he talked to me the whole time I was there.  :D
I'm the milk man!


ca Offline jzmtl

  • Absolutely No Life Club
  • *******
    • Posts: 8,551
Re: Kindle Fire -- Shipped Today!
Reply #4 on: November 17, 2011, 06:49:11 PM
Can you install apps from elsewhere on it, or are you limited to amazon's market?


us Offline ICanFixThat

  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 4,534
Re: Kindle Fire -- Shipped Today!
Reply #5 on: November 19, 2011, 12:30:14 PM
Can you install apps from elsewhere on it, or are you limited to amazon's market?

Yes, many people have side loaded several different apps.  That means they were downlaoded to another device then transfered to the Kindle by USB (drag and drop).  With no camera or microphone some apps are not going to be suited to the device.  It will take a while for people to come up with a good list of compatible Apps.  NetFix and Hulu Plus have been officially announced, they may have tweaked versions for the Fire.


ca Offline jzmtl

  • Absolutely No Life Club
  • *******
    • Posts: 8,551
Re: Kindle Fire -- Shipped Today!
Reply #6 on: November 19, 2011, 05:45:41 PM
Neat, so even though it has no access to android market, I can just yank apps off my phone to put on it, though compatibility is going to be a problem.


us Offline ICanFixThat

  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 4,534
Re: Kindle Fire -- Shipped Today!
Reply #7 on: November 20, 2011, 12:22:36 PM
Turns out you can also download direct from other sites. You first have to enable downloaded from unknown sources, and acknowledge that you accept the concequences. Google app store may not work though.  Turns out the B&N Nook reader works which is cool.

Ps. Sent from Amazon Fire


gb Offline Neil

  • Multitool.org Main Site Manager
  • *
  • Zombie Apprentice
  • ********
    • Posts: 15,287
Re: Kindle Fire -- Shipped Today!
Reply #8 on: November 20, 2011, 02:18:54 PM
Apparently it sulks over loading Google apps.  But if you download the Google Services Framework APK and the APK for the relevant Google apps you want it'll work :tu:

Looks like a great device for the price but due to licensing issues may take a long time before its available in the UK (if ever).
I'm not taking any more mod orders at present, sorry.


us Offline ICanFixThat

  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 4,534
Re: Kindle Fire -- Shipped Today!
Reply #9 on: November 25, 2011, 06:21:15 PM
I've been able to install the Slideme Appstore App and purchase and install an app from Slideme.  Was pretty easy to do once 3rd-Party apps are enabled from the settings/applications.  I did it all from the device, no need to tether it with a USB cable.  Actually I did pay from the App directly on the website from a different computer.  I'm sure I could have purchased it though their app SAM as well though.


us Offline ICanFixThat

  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 4,534
Re: Kindle Fire -- Shipped Today!
Reply #10 on: November 27, 2011, 10:50:36 PM
Streaming videos has been perfect, and picked up a few magazine subscriptions to checkout.  never did that on the K3 because I felt the color was important. 

Although reading on the Fire is fine, no eye strain for me in normal or no lighting, I think the other kindles with their better battery life are more suited to it, I hate to always be charging any device.  So I'll probbaly limit the Fire to Mags and Video, some minor productivity apps, email, and some web surfing. 

I'll leave the K3 to normal run of the mill books, and move newspapers and B&W pdfs to the DX.

Still experimenting though, I feel I want to have the fire with me all the time because of it's general tablet functionality.

Very happy with the device, good value, and works better out of the box that most new gadgets.


us Offline parmenides

  • Full Member
  • ***
    • Posts: 132
Re: Kindle Fire -- Shipped Today!
Reply #11 on: November 28, 2011, 10:43:55 PM
I bought and returned a Kindle Fire.  Very, very nice device.  Operating System presents a nice experience.  Screen is brilliant.  I think it is/will be a great option in the tablet space.

Unfortunately, mine was to be a gift for my 13 y.o. son.  I pre-ordered weeks ago so I did not have the benefit of a comprehensive review before I purchased.  As the device shipped reviews started coming in indicating a lack of parental controls with respect to accessing adult content.  I wasn't too worried as I'm a technical person, as is my son.  The gripes were stupid user stuff, I thought.

In reality, what Amazon has created here is a "buying machine".  The entire experience out of the box is designed to funnel you towards amazon content and consumables, and to get you to buy these things.  Not a problem for a reasonable adult, big problem for a teenager.  Further, the default experience is one-click, so it's very easy to make "mistaken" purchases.

No worries, you might think - just turn off purchasing rights, etc., on the device.  Trouble is, you can't!  To get access to even the free content in the app catalog you need to have a live credit card associated with the user's account.  You cannot pre-load the account with a gift certificate, for example, and set that to default payment type.  You must have a live CC.  The service does not support AMEX PASS, a pre-paid CC designed for teens - I tried.  It may be feasible to play games with debit cards, etc. - by the time I got to this point I decided the device wasn't right for us.

Hopefully new versions of the Kindle experience will be targeted towards younger users who need both content filters (with respect to the amazon catalog) and a currency system for allowing a predefined purchase amount on a monthly basis, etc.  Further, there's no reason why a user should need to provide billing information to access free content.

It's a shame, as I think the device is brilliant but it shuts out a large market.  Kids would be all over this thing.

My $.02 as you think about holiday gifts.


us Offline ICanFixThat

  • No Life Club
  • ******
    • Posts: 4,534
Re: Kindle Fire -- Shipped Today!
Reply #12 on: December 10, 2011, 04:03:01 AM
Ya, there are a few privacy things, and the CC issue.  I heard someone was able to use a pre-pay CC card  for it.  You can certainly use a debit card, so that part seems workable, but a bit of a hassle.  Too busy last week to play with it, but the movies have been working great, and it made me buy a Roku box so I could watch AMAZON prime on the big screen... you need a CC for that box to even if you NEVER want to buy anything from their box... this always needing a CC on devices now is getting very annoying.


 

Donations

Operational Funds

Help us keep the Unworkable working!
Donate with PayPal!
March Goal: $300.00
Due Date: Mar 31
Total Receipts: $379.86
PayPal Fees: $19.62
Net Balance: $360.24
Above Goal: $60.24
Site Currency: USD
120% 
March Donations

Community Links


Powered by EzPortal