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Kindle Fire |OT|

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BFIB

BFIB

Member
I went w/ this case:

41ThJ1zFfgL._AA300_.jpg


I am bummed there is no official Amazon case yet, but this will suffice hopefully.
 
C

CzarTim

Member
nemss said:
I went w/ this case:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41ThJ1zFfgL._AA300_.jpg[./img]

I am bummed there is no official Amazon case yet, but this will suffice hopefully.[/quote]
+1
Click to expand...
 
U

upandaway

Member
Do you think a case will be necessary? I already decided I can't get one (for a decent price) but I'm wondering how much I'll suffer because of it.
 
C

CzarTim

Member
upandaway said:
Do you think a case will be necessary? I already decided I can't get one (for a decent price) but I'm wondering how much I'll suffer because of it.
Click to expand...
I thought that way about my iPad, but the case helps a ton.
 
B

bangai-o

Banned
does this Fire charge via same adapter as regular Kindle?

kindle2-charger.jpg


edit:

and I still hear no word on Comixology. wtf Amazon better not be trying to do their own comic app.
 
S

Scalibur

Member
That charger will work just fine. As for comics, according to an Amazon press release:

We're excited to share that when Kindle Fire customers across the country start opening their boxes next week, they will be able to choose from several thousand of the most popular Android apps and games, including Netflix, Rhapsody, Pandora, Twitter, Comics by comiXology, The Weather Channel and popular games from Zynga, EA, Gameloft, PopCap and Rovio. In addition to these new apps, customers will also be able to access Amazon's incredible selection of 18 million movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, and more.

Kindle Fire customers will be able to download these apps and games without the hassle of having to register multiple times with multiple providers. Instead, with just a few taps, Kindle Fire owners can download these apps and games using the Amazon account their device is registered to and with the convenience of Amazon's simple and secure 1-Click payments technology. All apps are Amazon-tested on Kindle Fire for the best experience possible, and once downloaded, can be accessed directly from Kindle Fire and other Android-based devices.

With the Netflix app, Kindle Fire customers who are Netflix members can browse and instantly watch unlimited TV shows and movies and resume watching where they left off on their TV or computer. Additional examples of apps and games that will be available to Kindle Fire customers include Allrecipes, Bloomberg, Cut the Rope, Doodle Fit, Doodle Jump, Fruit Ninja, Jenga, LinkedIn, Zillow, Airport Mania, Battleheart, Pulse, The Cat in the Hat, Quickoffice Pro, Jamie's 20-Minute Meals, IMDb Movies & TV, and Monkey Preschool Lunchbox.

Customers in the U.S. can pre-order Kindle Fire at www.amazon.com/kindlefire, which starts shipping on November 15.
Click to expand...
 
T

The_Player

Member
Oh, the thread I was searching for. Just yesterday heard about device, almost instantly made a pre-order, and now I'm thinking whether I did right or not. Can I find any use from it in a non-US country?
 
O

outunderthestars

Banned
Wired's review seemed a bit harsh in comparison with the others. I wish they would compare it to other 7" tablets like the HTC Flyer instead of an ipad that is 2.5 times more expensive.

That said, it does sound like the Fire could benefit from a firmware update or two. All in all it sounds like a perfect $200 tablet for watching video and listening to music. Can't wait for mine to get here!
 
P

Polari

Member
Reviews are pretty much what I expected - the Fire is very much a "1.0" product. Obviously as the software matures it will get better and I expect the second iteration to be vastly improved.
 
G

Goldrush

Member
I'm buying this as a gift. Anyone know if I have to worry about Amazon personalizing the Fire for me. Just want to be sure the device won't auto-load my account or name.
 
O

outunderthestars

Banned
Goldrush said:
I'm buying this as a gift. Anyone know if I have to worry about Amazon personalizing the Fire for me. Just want to be sure the device won't auto-load my account or name.
Click to expand...

I believe you can select "this is a gift" so it doesn't come preloaded.

Also: looks like Amazon has sold out of their first shipment of Fire's. Now showing a wait of up to five days....
 
D

dLMN8R

Member
The reviews aren't enough for be to regret my order, but at the very least this is Amazon - if I'm disappointed, I can return it for a full refund :)
 
T

Talon

Member
Yessh. Wired and Pogue (NYTimes) were pretty harsh in their assessment. The Verge was a bit more middling.

The pinch to zoom and scrolling looks pretty bad. Like 2010 Android bad.
 
J

jvm

Gamasutra.
That Wired review came across quite aggressively. Just a hair too aggressive, actually. Ah well.
 
T

Talon

Member
Well consensus seems to be:

Good:
Very good video device
Excellent integration with the Amazon store
Solid display

Bad:
Browser is slow - even compared to other 7"
Pinch to zoom and scrolling aren't up to speed
Page turns for books are slow - really surprising
Magazines don't scale well

Personally, I'm fine with it. I was planning on using the Kindle Fire to hold me out until the iPad 3 launches in March/April.
 
X

x-Lundz-x

Member
nemss said:
I went w/ this case:

41ThJ1zFfgL._AA300_.jpg


I am bummed there is no official Amazon case yet, but this will suffice hopefully.
Click to expand...

Same exact case I purchased, I was going to go with the zip sleeve at first but this seemed so much more functional. I hope it's good quality.
 
V

Vyer

Member
Scrolling and zooming performance in that Engadget comparison is disappointing, though I guess not unexpected.

So too is the fact that pinch to zoom is not universal across the applications on the device.

Still going to let mine ship, try it out for myself. If I don't like it I'll return/sell, try the Nook tablet. And fuck it, if that doesn't do it either I'll just keep the money and save up for the iPad 3 launch.
 
BFIB

BFIB

Member
Stormwatch said:
Amazon just announced that the Kindle Fire will ship today. Mine just shipped!
Click to expand...

Awesome news! I'm still stuck on "shipping soon".

Also, thanks to Jayayess1190 for the reviews link, added those to the OP.
 
BFIB

BFIB

Member
CyReN said:
Mine just shipped!
Click to expand...

Mine still stuck on "shipping soon". Come on Amazon!

Checking out engadget's video review, the comic app looks interesting. I like the double tap to zoom feature on the panel, though I'm not sure how annoying that could get when reading for a long period of time. I like comiXology's app on the iPhone, hopefully it works the same on the Kindle Fire.
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
As a gadget geek, I'm a little disappointed that the review range is basically: "It's better than Android tablets in some ways, but not as good in others" to "It's better than most Android tablets". I was kinda hoping this was going to be the megaton that caused the entire category of discount/7 inch tablets to have a shakeup.

Full disclosure: I already have a smartphone, Kindle and an iPad and a Macbook Air, so I really have no NEED for a 7 inch tablet.

I'll probably still buy one eventually, but the reviews have really cooled any priority on doing it.
 
B

Blackhead

Redarse
Stumpokapow said:
As a gadget geek, I'm a little disappointed that the review range is basically: "It's better than Android tablets in some ways, but not as good in others" to "It's better than most Android tablets". I was kinda hoping this was going to be the megaton that caused the entire category of discount/7 inch tablets to have a shakeup.

Full disclosure: I already have a smartphone, Kindle and an iPad and a Macbook Air, so I really have no NEED for a 7 inch tablet.

I'll probably still buy one eventually, but the reviews have really cooled any priority on doing it.
Click to expand...
... Reviews don't determine a megaton—the iPad wasn't universally acclaimed either! Do you feel you have a need for a Kindle or iPad (or even a smartphone and laptop)? I think the Kindle Fire is already a megaton due to its combination of price and media delivery even though I'd never buy one.
 
L

LCfiner

Member
Greyface said:
... Reviews don't determine a megaton—the iPad wasn't universally acclaimed either! Do you feel you have a need for a Kindle or iPad (or even a smartphone and laptop)? I think the Kindle Fire is already a megaton due to its combination of price and media delivery even though I'd never buy one.
Click to expand...

the initial iPad reviews were universally positive. (but that's to be expected since Apple is careful who they give review units to) It was the talk by folks who hadn't used it, before the launch, that was less positive.

As for these Kindle reviews, the most disappointing part to me is the sluggishness of the browser and the zooming. that's a shame.

the stuff I read about the purchasing experience seemed positive (easy to use; lots of content) and that's really what Amazon had to focus on. If they get that part right, then they will have done more than a lot of these other iPad competitors and it's viability as a market disruption is still possible
 
BFIB

BFIB

Member
Hopefully the browser issues can be fixed via patch.

For those who's orders have shipped, I'm wondering if the early shipping is for Prime Members?
 
Z

zou

Member
That wired review is pretty ridiculous.

The Fire isn’t a dud, but its real-world performance and utility match neither the benchmarks of public expectation, nor the standards set by the world’s best tablets. [...]
And unlike most of its tablet competitors, the Fire lacks a camera, 3G data connectivity, and a slot for removable storage.
Click to expand...

So an iPad Wifi is shit and behind the times? Other than the horrible camera, these would apply to both the Kindle Fire as well as the iPad...

It all sounds good in theory, but the Kindle’s 7-inch screen is still too small for any semblance of an immersive reading experience — even if that reading experience mostly involves looking at pictures.
Click to expand...

Paperbacks?

In total, Prime alone would seem to justify a Kindle Fire purchase — if not for the fact that the service is open to all Amazon customers for just $79 a year. This means one month of free Amazon Prime access is just a $6.58 value-add for anyone who buys the Kindle Fire.
Click to expand...

Amazon Prime is great, but it's too cheap and you only get one month free. Never mind the fact that without a Kindle Fire you're stuck with using a web browser and videos only play on flash enabled tablets.

Besides the features I already described, the Fire also has main menu items for Music and Docs. Neither feature deserves much discussion.

Music hooks into Amazon’s awesome, exhaustively well-stocked library of audio tracks and albums. You can buy music right on the Fire, and access it anywhere you like, care of Amazon’s cloud storage. But is a 7-inch tablet a convenient portable music player? No, our smartphones and iPods own this function. Case closed.

As for Docs, it’s a simple container for image, text, and PDF files that you’ve uploaded to the documents section of your Kindle Library. Huzzah.
Click to expand...

Music and Docs are lame. Music is great, but iPod. Docs could be interesting, but I, as the reader, wouldn't know. Huzzah

By the time iPad 3 comes out, Apple’s cheapest iPad 2 will almost certainly be even cheaper. And this could very well be the tablet for you: 9.7 inches of uncompromised screen real estate, a processor that rips through web pages like a chainsaw, and an app and digital content ecosystem that’s already commensurate to (if not better than; let’s be serious) anything Amazon offers.
Click to expand...

Music is great. Video is great. When it comes to books, Amazon got Apple beat. But Apple's content offerings are clearly better. What?

---------
I don't really think there's anything wrong with saying the kindle fire is only a great (video) media consumption device, it's pretty much what I expected and what I use my iPad for. But other than the (apparently) solid video playback/content options, I don't really learn anything new about the device. I would have liked to read more about the music functionality. Or why the docs feature is crap. And I could do without the snarky bullshit.

Also, reading the engadget review, they didn't seem to have any issues with slow browsing. So dunno.

Edit: gizmodo saying the same. The wired article is starting to sound like someone is butt hurt.

Oh, and that much bandied browser, Silk? It works just as well as Amazon said—pages rendered fine and rapidly, thanks to the cloud-crunching, and can be bookmarked, emailed (via Amazon's capable little native client), Facebook shared—and yes, tabbed. Silk is as real a browser as mobile Safari, and ultra legible thanks to that book-worthy display. Pinch it! Zoom it! It's great. The best part is it'll only become faster as more beings start caching their online journeys for the rest of us. Thanks, fellow Kindle Fire owners! We're in it together!
Click to expand...
 
B

bangai-o

Banned
i didnt see the parts where they said the browser was slow. Are we comparing the browser to a desktop pc? because all the youtube reviews of tablets have shown me very slow browsers anyway.
 
Z

zou

Member
bangai-o said:
i didnt see the parts where they said the browser was slow. Are we comparing the browser to a desktop pc? because all the youtube reviews of tablets have shown me very slow browsers anyway.
Click to expand...

--------------

Sounds great in theory, but throughout my five days of testing, I found that total web page load times took anywhere from 100 to 300 percent longer on the Fire relative to an iPad 2.
Click to expand...

Besides poor load times, the Fire’s browser lurches in fits and starts when swiping through already loaded web pages. And sometimes the browser doesn’t react to touch gestures at all, requiring that oh-so-annoying second tap or swipe instead
Click to expand...

Regardless, the Fire’s web browsing experience is emotionally draining. It makes you work for your page view, and that’s a user-experience fail.
Click to expand...

Pretty much all text must be tapped into a magnified view, and that’s a telling indicator of why so many people avoided 7-inch tablets the first time they were floated to the public last year: They suck for web browsing. And that’s a problem because web browsing is a key tablet responsibility.
Click to expand...

Oh that's why the Fire sucks. It's because 7" tablets suck for browsing and browsing is why people buy tablets. Silly me.
 
BFIB

BFIB

Member
Just read the Wired review, and while I appreciate unabashed reviews, this guy clearly has an agenda on his mind.


Its a bit ridiculous to be flat out comparing the iPad to the Kindle Fire. Both are tablets, but that is pretty much where the comparison ends. One is high-end, one is not. For what the Kindle Fire does, it seems to do well. What more are people expecting for $200?

EDIT: My order just shipped also.
 
G

giga

Member
Watching videos of it show the same choppiness that most other Android 2.x devices suffer from. Shame that they couldn't start with the 3.x source code (well done, Google). That means no hardware acceleration and the additional tablet specific APIs. The third party apps from the app store will basically be apps designed for phones and smaller devices.
 
Z

zou

Member
This is pretty much what I hoped for, so I'm happy.

Gizmodo said:
If you like what Amazon Prime has going on in the kitchen, the Fire is a terrific seat. It's not as powerful or capable as an iPad, but it's also a sliver of the price—and that $200 will let you jack into the Prime catalog (and the rest of your media collection) easily and comfortably. Simply, the Fire is a wonderful IRL compliment to Amazon's digital abundance. It's a terrific, compact little friend, and—is this even saying anything?—the best Android tablet to date.
Click to expand...
 
dream

dream

Member
zou said:
--------------









Oh that's why the Fire sucks. It's because 7" tablets suck for browsing and browsing is why people buy tablets. Silly me.
Click to expand...
Isn't browsing generally considered the killer app on tablets?
 
D

Dreams-Visions

Member
outunderthestars said:
I'd rather pay a buck or two more to not have to rip the dvd. I have no desire to ever buy another dvd. My free time is worth more than that to me.
Click to expand...
Unless you don't know how or are under a time constraint, that's hella lazy.

Handbrake is like 2 clicks and the rest of the process is automated. in about 30 minutes or so you have an impeccable digital copy for free.

edit: oh hey, mine shipped today too!
 
B

Blackhead

Redarse
LCfiner said:
the initial iPad reviews were universally positive. (but that's to be expected since Apple is careful who they give review units to) It was the talk by folks who hadn't used it, before the launch, that was less positive.

As for these Kindle reviews, the most disappointing part to me is the sluggishness of the browser and the zooming. that's a shame.

the stuff I read about the purchasing experience seemed positive (easy to use; lots of content) and that's really what Amazon had to focus on. If they get that part right, then they will have done more than a lot of these other iPad competitors and it's viability as a market disruption is still possible
Click to expand...
the ipad had its own problems at launch (not that these were mentioned much in the reviews): there was that wifi bug that Apple didnt fix for months and mobile Safari had problems loading pages because Apple skimped on RAM. it didnt stop the iPad from being a megaton though. i guess what im asking is what's your criteria for labeling something a megaton? is it a subjective or objective thing?
 
dream

dream

Member
Well, the iPad had the entire market to itself when it launched, so customers weren't conditioned to expect a fantastic and smooth experience.

Then again, the $99 TouchPad shows that the right price can override horrific performance and an atrocious operating system.
 
V

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
giga said:
Watching videos of it show the same choppiness that most other Android 2.x devices suffer from. Shame that they couldn't start with the 3.x source code (well done, Google). That means no hardware acceleration and the additional tablet specific APIs. The third party apps from the app store will basically be apps designed for phones and smaller devices.
Click to expand...

This IMO has always been the big road block at least in my mind. The source was still gingerbread, and that's just not going to cut it in today's market tablet wise.

I'm still happy this market exists, and hopefully they can carry this on over to ICS for a refresh this time next year. I'm pretty much over getting 1st gen products these days anyways.
 
O

outunderthestars

Banned
Brettison said:
This IMO has always been the big road block at least in my mind. The source was still gingerbread, and that's just not going to cut it in today's market tablet wise.

I'm still happy this market exists, and hopefully they can carry this on over to ICS for a refresh this time next year. I'm pretty much over getting 1st gen products these days anyways.
Click to expand...


Why does the source code matter when the UI has nothing to do with Android as it is currently known?
 
L

LCfiner

Member
Greyface said:
the ipad had its own problems at launch (not that these were mentioned much in the reviews): there was that wifi bug that Apple didnt fix for months and mobile Safari had problems loading pages because Apple skimped on RAM. it didnt stop the iPad from being a megaton though. i guess what im asking is what's your criteria for labeling something a megaton? is it a subjective or objective thing?
Click to expand...

I'm not saying the iPad is without fault. I'm just saying the reviews for the ipad were generally more positive than the reviews for the Kindle Fire. When people start getting the Kindle Fire in their own hands, then we'll start seeing whether people are happy with it regardless of, say, pinch to zoom performance or whatever.

As for whether something is a "megaton" I think it's a combination of things. Internet buzz is not enough. total sales matter. support from other companies/ developers matter. If it forces other companies to change product lines/ sales / marketing - that matters.

so, I think we can agree that the ipad accomplished all those things. The question now will be whether the Kindle Fire is enough of a success to get Apple to adjust strategy. Do they sell a 400 dollar ipad next year? Do they make adjustments to their policy of in app purchases and external content stores? Does Apple see a marked slip in sales this holiday quarter for the ipad 2?

Does the Fire cause other Android tablets costing over 300 bucks to essentially evaporate?

If it can do any of those things (not all, just any of them), then I'd say it's a megaton type release, regardless of how it was reviewed.
 
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