Kindle Fire Owners, Tell us what you think

**Kreative** · 11-15-2011, 08:50 PM

I preordered my Kindle Fire on September 28th and I have waited patiently anticipating its arrival. I live right up the road from the Amazon distribution center that was sending them out so I received my email announcing shipment yesterday and my Kindle today.

I only played with it briefly. I'll have a more indepth analysis after I have played with it more but here is my initial observation and impression:

It feels very solid in my hand. The backing is just like the HTC Evo so I already knows that means I won't be able to scratch or nick it up which is a definite plus for me. The glass is gorilla glass. I'm hell on devices and despite wear and tear I haven't scratched the glass on my HTC Hero yet...the rest of it is in deplorable condition though lol.

There are no external volume buttons (a minus) but the on board sound is pretty decent and loud. When held correctly the power is at the top so accidentally hitting it would be difficult (a plus).

It is thin, a definite plus for me.

I tried out the video, a movie. FANTASTIC images. It comes with one month of Prime so I've already found some movies the kids can watch in the car on road trips. It is WIFI only but my husband's Evo has tethering so that isn't a negative for us but may be for others.

The first app I got was Pandora which was as expected. My entire book collection is there with ease. Maneuvering around was easy to figure out without reading a manual (thank goodness). I downloaded a few more but haven't tried them yet.

When I get home I'm going to hook it up to my computer and get my music collection on board. I think it acts like an external to your computer...I'll find out soon enough.

The glare is atrocious. I will definitely invest in the antiglare coverings for it.

I don't own a tablet of any sort so my review is strictly from the viewpoint of someone just entering the tablet world.

I wish it had a microphone. I can live without a camera but being able to voice record with it would have been awesome. It takes a lot of apps out of the equation for me too.

So far I love it. My husband is playing with it now. I ordered his yesterday but his email just came through so he'll have his tomorrow.

I dont' agree with them shipping to us before others who may have pre-ordered months ago but like I said we are in close proximity so I'm sure that probably played a big part. A lot of people on the amazon boards were complaining about Amazon not keeping their word in that regard with those just ordering getting their Kindles before those who pre-ordered.

**Dani F** · 11-15-2011, 11:26 PM

I would love to have a Kindle Fire, but I can't afford it now, maybe in a few years.

**Princess Pamplemousse** · 11-16-2011, 12:02 AM

It's going to be my Christmas present to myself! I just received a Kindle for my bday in April so I feel kind of bad...but I have a little sister who just lives for my hand me downs lol (jk but I do think she'll be pleased to receive my old one). I'm hoping that by the time December rolls around, Amazon will be selling like...a Kindle Ice and that the Fire will be cheaper but if not, I'm willing to splurge. I WAAAAAAAANT! lol

**Kreative** · 11-16-2011, 02:05 AM

@Princess: I am hoping the next incarnation of the fire wouldn't make me kick myself too much for diving in first this go around. I usually always wait until the price of things go down. I'm still waiting for the Evo lol. I'm hoping it will go down before my next upgrade next April...if not I'll wait it out. Any phone that won't die after the years of abuse I put it through is worth keeping until it kicks the bucket lol. When I found out about the kindle back in September I just started saving for it. I have an Amazon Store card on which I had placed the preorder. When it shows on my account I'm going to apply what I've saved. It is six months no interest for any amount over $149. I told my husband he's paying for his own lol.

Anywho here's a continuance of my review:

I hooked it up to the computer and put my entire collection of music on there. I still have crazy space left on it.

You can download from the internet and other than accessing it after it is hooked to a pc I haven't figured out how to access it on the kindle. I'll find the help on that later.

I bought an el cheapo universal case from walmart which will suit its purpose. Walmart was selling both the kindle and the nook so it saved me a trip to Best Buy to see about accessories which were still obscenely expensive btw. I am going to order the antiglare coverings from Amazon ($

because that is the one downside to it if nothing else. It's like looking into a mirror in the sun or high light.

Updates done to your account via Amazon do not update immediately. I changed something several hours ago and my kindle still didn't update even after a restart so I unregistered and registered to get the changes (deleted some books and changed owner name).

The battery is so far so good. My husband and son were killing Angry Birds since I was at work until I pried it away from them not too long ago. I had charged it completely and there is still about 65% left with me surfing the internet, watching videos, playing apps and music since. It is pretty good in that regard.

I love the browser. It moves super fast and loads pages faster than my pc. Youtube videos show as good as expected. OUt of curiosity I tried hulu but hulu isn't available on the android platform even if you do have plus...that isn't too much of a big deal for me.

One con is that the touch isn't responsive sometimes and hesitates or fails to respond after the first or second touch. I guess I will have to get used to it for this not to be problematic.

Overall I won't get bored with it any time soon

**nappyeditor** · 11-16-2011, 02:09 AM

Ok, so the the fire doesn't have the e-ink at all? That's my fav part!

**lin19lyn** · 11-16-2011, 02:17 AM

My niece and I were just talking about the Fire earlier tonight and I was reading the reviews on it (I couldn't believe ppl were reviewing it already). It looks like something I would like. My only downside is that I already pay for cable/internet and don't want to pay an add'l $50/month for wifi for this. Seriously considering cancelling cable/internet, switching to wifi, and ordering the Fire. I've gotta figure this out...Idk.

**Kreative** · 11-16-2011, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by nappyeditor

Ok, so the the fire doesn't have the e-ink at all? That's my fav part!

None. I imagine long term reading isn't wise with it.

My niece and I were just talking about the Fire earlier tonight and I was reading the reviews on it (I couldn't believe ppl were reviewing it already). It looks like something I would like. My only downside is that I already pay for cable/internet and don't want to pay an add'l $50/month for wifi for this. Seriously considering cancelling cable/internet, switching to wifi, and ordering the Fire. I've gotta figure this out...Idk.

I have cable internet also. I just bought a third party router, instant (free) wifi because their option was too expensive. Ignore the threats from your cable company about not supporting it. I used to work for one of those companies. Just disconnect the router when you need assistance and don't tell them about it lol.

**Karibana** · 11-16-2011, 02:17 PM

Wait, they make you pay extra to have a wifi router?

**KoilyLocGirl** · 11-16-2011, 03:11 PM

^ Ya know? That's absurd!

**Kreative** · 11-16-2011, 03:53 PM

^^^Mine does...I think they are crazy too, that's why I got a third party one lol. When I worked in the field I'd find a roundabout way to inform customers of that rather than have them pay a high fee to get the router from the company. They bank on folks not knowing and not asking questions.