Kindle Fire

[Michael Doyle]

I currently own a kindle and really enjoy it. I am thinking of asking for the Kindle Fire for Christmas. Does anyone have experience with this device that may be helpful from a pro`s and con`s perspective?

If I do not get it I will probably get an Ipad later in the year but I am quite sure the Ipad does more than I need.

 

[Southern Presbyterian]

I've had mine for over a week now. I really like it. Be sure to get a case and a stylus to go with it. The one con I have about it is that my fingers are too big for the onscreen keyboard.

 

[Michael Doyle]

Thanks James, sounds like it will more than suffice my needs

 

[GulfCoast Presbyterian]

My wife has one, and really uses it a lot. She likes hers. She does not like that she cannot easily organize her books, and the battery life is about 4 hours real time.

 

[Ask Mr. Religion]

Been using mine since Nov 17.

When it arrived ID'd my wifi network and I was up and running in about 1 minute.

After I registered the device at Amazon all my books synched up.

The browser is very fast as it uses the Amazon cloud servers as a back end.

The screen is wonderfully clear and the colors vibrant.

On some discussion sites that have pos/neg rep buttons I can leave reps but cannot add text to the Rep. For example, when I select the pos rep popup to enter content, the Kindle Fire's keyboard pop up closes the Rep window.

Also cannot respond to any posts at PB. Can read everything OK, but the keyboard will not pop up when responding to posts. Don't have this issue on other discussion sites and at least one other PB KF member says they have no problem with responding to posts. Anyone having any hints about my issue I would appreciate a pointer.

I have a stylus device for my Kindle Fire that greatly increases my satisfaction with using the small popup keyboard.

Amazon.com: AmazonBasics Stylus for Touchscreen Devices Including Kindle Fire, Apple iPad 2, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab, BlackBerry PlayBook: Electronics

My fingers are too fumbly using the popup keyboard for long posts.

Also have a leather cover for the device:

Amazon.com: Kindle Fire Leather Cover by Marware: Kindle Store

It is excellent. Has a nice elastic strap that I can insert my hand into to hold the KF. Without this I kept inadvertently shutting down the KF with my pinky finger as I cradled the device.

I also obtained an extended warranty knowing I will eventually drop and break it, especially with having four Shih Tzus running around at my feet all the time:

Amazon.com: 2-Year SquareTrade Warranty plus Accident Protection for Kindle Fire, US customers only: Electronics

If one has a microUSB-to-USB cable, when connecting the KF to one's computer it will appear as a 6GB hard drive and you can drag and drop files to it.

The standard method is to use the unique email address assigned to each KF (you can edit the email address) and you simply email files to the device that will appear in the device's Docs container. Prior to doing this you must first configure the KF with an approved email (or several email addresses) address at the Manage My Kindle web site.

Can also add Android apps for the KF. First set your KF to allow non-approved apps to be installed.

Then go to getjar.com and select an app. You will be prompted to install the getjar app first. Do that.

Your kindle fire will show a notification number, e.g., "1", at the upper left.

Select that notice and you will see that the getjar app is waiting for permission to be installed. Do that.

Now you will be taken to the getjar.com web site and, once you tell getjar.com what device you are using, you will be able to install many free Android apps, e.g., Angry Birds (!!!), task managers, alarms, Barnes and Noble Nook, Kobo Reader, etc.

This is not widely advertised by Amazon and it really opens up the Kindle Fire to many things not provided in the Amazon app store.

Finally, check this site daily after you get the KF:
Amazon Best Sellers: Best Kindle eBooks

All in all I get the fact that the KF is like a Chevy compared to the Mercedes iPad. But having never driven a Mercedes I don't feel deprived and like the smaller footprint when moving around.

AMR

---------- Post added at 08:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:40 PM ----------

My wife has one, and really uses it a lot. She likes hers. She does not like that she cannot easily organize her books, and the battery life is about 4 hours real time.

You have to turn off wireless if it is not being used and the battery life will move upwards to around six to seven hours.

AMR

 

[Southern Presbyterian]

Also cannot respond to any posts at PB. Can read everything OK, but the keyboard will not pop up when responding to posts. Don't have this issue on other discussion sites and at least one other PB KF member says they have no problem with responding to posts. Anyone having any hints about my issue I would appreciate a pointer.

Have you contacted Amazon Customer Service about this? I had to contact them about getting some books moved from my PC's HD over to my KF and they were most helpful.