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[reKon]

If you have 6 six kids... you know what to do. I wonder what kind of GPU is running in this thing because that will be important as well if they want to play semi-demanding games.

It kind of hurts to see Amazon get rid all of their high-end tablets. There are already barely any bang for you buck tablets on Android and the there is a severe lack of higher end tablets. The only companies who seem to still be making them are Sony and Samsung. After this next year, we may not see ANY high end tablets unless Chinese companies continue to make them.

It's such a shame because it's definitely a niche market at this point and since tablets spend most of the time at home, it's less likely they fall and break. That means continuously decreased sales over time and being swallowed by the phablet market when people no longer use their tablet.

I... better just stop now before I go on a rant about tablets lol

 

[Like the hat?]

Preordered. If anything it's a $50 digital picture frame.

 

[Burger]

$50 US
£50 UK

Wut.

 

[sonycowboy]

Bought a Amazon tablet for my nephew last year and it was pretty decent. I would have bought one also but I could not stand that interface and how much of the screen it takes up but I may be able to live with it for $50 being that my Nexus 7 is trash since the update and I cant imagine this performing worse.

I wonder how this compares to the Nexus 7 at $150.

1.3 Quad core (??) vs Nexus' Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro (1.50GHz Quad Core)
1024 x 600 (171 ppi) vs 1920x1200 (323 ppi)
1GB Ram vs 2GB
Fire OS5 vs Stock Android
2MB / VGA vs 5 MP Rear w/flash, 1.2 MP front...

AT the price it's just crazy, but the specs just seems a tad too low for me to take a flyer on...

(I shopped for 7' tablets during the holiday season for the kiddies and couldn't find a better one than the nexus at that price range)

 

[Insaniac]

Well I guess this would be the place to ask: I'd like a compact tablet to bring to work, cause bringing my personal laptop and work computer is too much. Would you guys suggest this, or something else? I like Android OS, never tried the Fire, and I am flexible up to 75ish dollars.

 

[Somnid]

It looks like one of the major features of FireOS5 is that it will load up freespace with movies just in case you happen to be without wifi (but will transparently remove if you actually utilize the space). I like this idea, when you actually have an SD card or something with a decent chunk of space it makes sense to load up to mitigate connectivity issues. It would be cool if they could expand that to news articles or things like that. I wonder if they'd try something similar with their new Underground service?

Another thing seems to be a speed read mode for Kindle books. It looks a lot like that prototype thing that appeared a while back that flashes words in a box. Seems like it'd be fairly useful for reading on a phone but, well, there's no more of that.

Well I guess this would be the place to ask: I'd like a compact tablet to bring to work, cause bringing my personal laptop and work computer is too much. Would you guys suggest this, or something else? I like Android OS, never tried the Fire, and I am flexible up to 75ish dollars.

Your alternative is to find an older device in good condition but anything new around $75 will be garbage, the difference is that Amazon is promising some build quality and a return policy. But really this is not a computer replacement in any sense unless you want to do some light web browsing and not much else.

 

[diehard]

$50 US
£50 UK

Wut.

Its just being safe, the ratio was almost 1:1 earlier this year.

 

[Vyer]

Preordered. If anything it's a $50 digital picture frame.

With that display it's not too far off

 

[Rafy]

Does anyone know the battery capacity? For 60 euro I could be persuaded as I wanted to enter the Amazon ebook ecosystem for a while now by replacing my Kobo mini with a Kindle Paperwhite 3. This would also allow me to read comics on the go, which I've been dying to do, along with having music and apps available at half the price.

What do you think GAF, should I do it? I'll wait for reviews OFC to see how it performs.
I have a very old Android smartphone right now until I see what comes out of Google at the end of the month and this could hold me over until I upgrade my phone.

It being so cheap also makes me hopeful that modders will jump at the opportunity to make ROMS and develop all sorts of hacks for it.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Years ago people were going crazy over the HP $100 Touchpad firesale.

Low resolution.

I will wait for reviews.

I still have my Touchpad, it's running CM 12.1 (Android 5.1.1) these days. As a book reader and light game tablet it's fine even today. Actually because the screen has the 4:3 aspect ratio it's a better book reader than any 16:9 tablet.

 

[BronsonLee]

Years ago people were going crazy over the HP $100 Touchpad firesale.

That's because the Touchpad was godlike

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

$50?!

Hot damn!

 

[reKon]

I sold my HP touch pad for the same price that I brought it at. That thing served me so well...

 

[TheCrackInTime]

Its just being safe, the ratio was almost 1:1 earlier this year.

I don't know where you read that, but it's not true at all. Even during the financial crisis in 2008, it didn't come anywhere close to being that low.

 

[PackerinMN]

I'm going to buy one for my 2 year old.

Spoiler

he likes cat videos

 

[linkboy]

My son will be 5 this December and I'm highly considering getting him one of these for Christmas or his birthday.

He doesn't live with me and this would give him a mobile device that's his and he wouldn't have to use his mom's iPhone.

 

[Acidote]

Are the ads on this too annoying? I'm thinking of picking up one for my mother but I don't want her to be too annoyed with them and the ad free version is 75€ in Spain. And there's no 6 for the price of 5 either =(

Can we expect custom firmwares? Because if those are feasible I might pick up one for me too to tinker with it and buy some comics.

 

[Volimar]

The ads aren't annoying at all. They basically replace the cover screen when you start it. Swipe right and it's gone. No big deal.

Will this run Hearthstone?

As long as you aren't running anything else, then yeah it runs hearthstone. The kindle gets hot after about 3 or 4 matches though.

I got mine in January just to stay online after my laptop broke and I really like it.



Note that mine is the Fire HD, so I can't speak to how well the non HD will work.

 

[Acidote]

Then I guess my mother is going to have a week late birthday present.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

I just bought a $50 tablet from walmart for my 3 year old....

Boned in gaming, boned in life.

 

[kami_sama]

Will wait for reviews. But it looks to be a great tablet for the price and right now I want a tablet for video watching and web browsing.

 

[Volimar]

Will wait for reviews. But it looks to be a great tablet for the price and right now I want a tablet for video watching and web browsing.

If that's mostly what you want it for, then the fire is perfect.

 

[kami_sama]

If that's mostly what you want it for, then the fire is perfect.

Only thing I'm not sure about is the amazon ecosystem. I haven't used it for anything else than the free apps and I'd love to be able to use google services. Is it easy to sideload them on other fire devices?

 

[Volimar]

Only thing I'm not sure about is the amazon ecosystem. I haven't used it for anything else than the free apps and I'd love to be able to use google services. Is it easy to sideload them on other fire devices?

I've never done it, though I have been tempted for Fallout Shelter.

 

[Volotaire]

I would consider one for my parents! This is a great price. of course, I'd like to see how it runs basic apps and video.

 

[Slayer-33]

171 ppi on a 7" screen, eek

Need to see more specs

Might be worth getting to supplement a couple of gifts to my friend and his wife to be all in the meanwhile getting myself 4 tablets for my parents, gf and myself.

 

[Rimon-hanit]

Only thing I'm not sure about is the amazon ecosystem. I haven't used it for anything else than the free apps and I'd love to be able to use google services. Is it easy to sideload them on other fire devices?

Very easy on Fire Phone, but I do remember I had to root my original Kindle Fire back in 2012.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

Fifty dollars = fifty pounds.

Sigh. Good job.

 

[MarkusRJR]

Are these tablets coming to Canada?

 

[acm2000]

171 ppi on a 7" screen, eek

Need to see more specs

Might be worth getting to supplement a couple of gifts to my friend and his wife to be all in the meanwhile getting myself 4 tablets for my parents, gf and myself.

7-inch 1024 by 600 display. Quad core 1.3GHz processor (mediatek?), 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of storage (along with a microSD card slot)

this thing is awful, FireOS is the worst and although this new version looks better im gonna hazard a guess that amazon will fuck it up hugely as usual.

 

[oti]

Wish Amazon Prime Video in Germany would also offer movies without the awful German synchronization. Watching shows offline on my daily commute for just 60€ would be awesome.

Also neat idea with the six-pack. That's basically one Christmas sorted out. A tablet for the family, everyone can then Skype call and chat with each other. Especially for fragmented OS families (half my family uses iOS, the other half Samsung phones) a cool way to connect.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

I heard this is pretty useless outside US, and that it doesn't use Google Play Store. Any of it true? I'm tempted to buy this! :O

 

[teruterubozu]

$35 Black Friday maybe? That would be nuts.

 

[BigFwoosh]

I heard this is pretty useless outside US, and that it doesn't use Google Play Store. Any of it true? I'm tempted to buy this! :O

Yeah, it uses Amazon's app store. No Googly stuff to be found.

 

[Lucifon]

Ran it through Bespoke Offers and got it for £40, I'm happy with that. Would like one of the official cases which can stand it up, but I'm struggling to justify paying £20 for a case when the thing itself was only 2x that cost.

 

[hardcastlemccormick]

If you want this without Amazon Fire OS, you could go with a Digiland:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/digiland-7-8gb-black/8610212.p?id=1219354106671&skuId=8610212

It's basically the same tablet with less RAM and stock Android.

 

[18-Volt]

I heard this is pretty useless outside US, and that it doesn't use Google Play Store. Any of it true? I'm tempted to buy this! :O

It is, it uses IP lock for Amazon Appstore. You can buy apps for other android devices on Amazon Appstore but you can't donwload them to a Kindle Fire, as it blocks access from outside of US. You need to buy apps from amazon site of your country. I have tried using VPN or DNS to access the US store, but nope. Amazon knows exactly where I am.

 

[Rafy]

It is, it uses IP lock for Amazon Appstore. You can buy apps for other android devices on Amazon Appstore but you can't donwload them to a Kindle Fire, as it blocks access from outside of US. You need to buy apps from amazon site of your country. I have tried using VPN or DNS to access the US store, but nope. Amazon knows exactly where I am.

what if I just buy books and music on the US store?

Yeah, it uses Amazon's app store. No Googly stuff to be found.

Eventually people at XDA will find a way to sideload GApps like the have done before. With the device being so cheap and it's appeal, I can see modders and coders using it to develop all sorts of stuff

 

[18-Volt]

what if I just buy books and music on the US store?

Haven't tried that, but I don't think buying music or books is any different. Especially music is a much more complicated subject.

 

[Volotaire]

Ran it through Bespoke Offers and got it for £40, I'm happy with that. Would like one of the official cases which can stand it up, but I'm struggling to justify paying £20 for a case when the thing itself was only 2x that cost.

I heard this is pretty useless outside US, and that it doesn't use Google Play Store. Any of it true? I'm tempted to buy this! :O

Fifty dollars = fifty pounds.

Sigh. Good job.

$50 US
£50 UK

Wut.

If you're in London or Birmingham, then you can use the offer BIRMINGHAM or LONDONNOW to get £20 off anything you spend over £50 on orders, if it's in the Prime app (selected items) and you have a Prime account (free trials count). It's 2 hour delivery.

Therefore, you could potentially get this for £30! Cheaper than a US conversion without tax.

I will definitely be purchasing this for my family given this deal.

 

[Rafy]

Haven't tried that, but I don't think buying music or books is any different. Especially music is a much more complicated subject.

I just googled around a bit and it looks like as long as I am using an amazon account with a US address I should not have any issues when it comes to books. I have a dedicated US account so it looks like at least that is possible.

 

[Chesskid1]

you people

yeah people buying $50 tablets care about the ppi

 

[sonycowboy]

you people

yeah people buying $50 tablets care about the ppi

The issue is people see Amazon Fire and expect (reasonably or not) a certain level of quality. This tablet isn't any different than that $50-$100 tablets you can buy at Walmart/K-Mart.

There's absolutely a big market for such tablets for kids and folks who just want really simple web browsing, but this really is a pretty poor device.

 

[Mindwipe]

If you're in London or Birmingham, then you can use the offer BIRMINGHAM or LONDONNOW to get £20 off anything you spend over £50 on orders, if it's in the Prime app (selected items) and you have a Prime account (free trials count). It's 2 hour delivery.

Therefore, you could potentially get this for £30! Cheaper than a US conversion without tax.

I will definitely be purchasing this for my family given this deal.

Depends. Those offers end the same day this ships.

It would not surprise me if Prime Now have no stock that day, Prime Now has been a fucking mess in my experience with virtually no product.

 

[Volotaire]

Depends. Those offers end the same day this ships.

It would not surprise me if Prime Now have no stock that day, Prime Now has been a fucking mess in my experience with virtually no product.

Ah, I thought it was out now. Technically, the offers always finish at 23:59 so there is a chance. Given it's dispatched and delivered by Amazon too, hopefully it's in the Prime app.

EDIT: Hmm the value proposition is still challenging when used Nexus 7 devices are about £40 on ebay.

 

[Linkark07]

It is, it uses IP lock for Amazon Appstore. You can buy apps for other android devices on Amazon Appstore but you can't donwload them to a Kindle Fire, as it blocks access from outside of US. You need to buy apps from amazon site of your country. I have tried using VPN or DNS to access the US store, but nope. Amazon knows exactly where I am.

Really? Well, they lost a potential buyer.

 

[Lucifon]

Really? Well, they lost a potential buyer.

You can just sideload any apps you want. It's pretty simple from what I've read. I believe there's even a way to get the Play Store on there.

 

[Walter White Walker]

Good timing for me as my daughters Fire recently bricked itself. She just uses it for videos, music, and a few games so this will be fine.

 

[TCRS]

this is perfect for a coffee table tablet. and maybe for my mum, but I don't want to be cheap.. hmm..

 

[Samara]

This sounds tempting, but after buying Blackberry's Playbook, (terrible tablet btw)
I am not buying a non google play tablet because of the no youtube casting feature