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Kindle Fire reviews are out

The Verge: 7.5/10
http://www.theverge.com/2011/11/14/2560084/kindle-fire-review
If you're thinking about getting the Fire, you have to decide not just whether you want a tablet, but what kind of tablet you want. This isn't an iPad-killer. It has the potential to do lots of things, but there are many things I have yet to see it do, and I wonder if it will get there given the lean software support. It's my impression that Amazon believes that the Fire will be so popular that developers will choose to work on its platform rather than on Google's main trunk of Android, but that's just a theory right now.
Still, there's no question that the Fire is a really terrific tablet for its price. The amount of content you have access to — and the ease of getting to that content — is notable to say the least. The device is decently designed, and the software — while lacking some polish — is still excellent compared to pretty much anything in this range (and that includes the Nook Color). It's a well thought out tablet that can only get better as the company refines the software. It's not perfect, but it's a great start, and at $200, that may be all Amazon needs this holiday shopping season.
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Engadget
http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/14/amazon-kindle-fire-review/
The Kindle Fire is quite an achievement at $200. It's a perfectly usable tablet that feels good in the hand and has a respectably good looking display up front. Yes, power users will find themselves a little frustrated with what they can and can't do on the thing without access to the Android Market but, in these carefree days of cloud-based apps ruling the world, increasingly all you need is a good browser. That the Fire has.
When stacked up against other popular tablets, the Fire can't compete. Its performance is a occasionally sluggish, its interface often clunky, its storage too slight, its functionality a bit restricted and its 7-inch screen too limiting if you were hoping to convert all your paper magazine subscriptions into the digital ones. Other, bigger tablets do it better -- usually at two or three times the cost.
Kindle Fire unveiled
Is a 10-inch Kindle Fire coming? Amazon says 'stay tuned'
Amazon focusing on 'lifetime' Kindle revenue, anticipating record device sales for Q4
So, the Kindle Fire is great value and perhaps the best, tightest integration of digital content acquisition into a mobile device that we've yet seen. Instead of having a standalone shopping app the entire tablet is a store -- a 7-inch window sold at a cut-rate price through which users can look onto a sea of premium content. It isn't a perfect experience, but if nothing else it's a promising look into the future of retail commerce.
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Gizmondo: 4/5
http://gizmodo.com/5858779/kindle-fire-review-the-ipad-finally-has-serious-competition
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.
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Bummer that all these lackluster reviews are all coming out one day too late for me to cancel my preorder. C'est la vie! Lesson learned. On the positive side, the flood of returns Amazon is likely to see may lead to an even cheaper refurbished option much sooner than expected.

The Engadget review, when read in its entirety (and not just the feel-good wrap-up), is more of a "meh" tablet whose sole saving grace is that it's cheap.

Wired also had a review, it was meh as well.
Personally, I found The Verge to be the most unbiased of the bunch.

I feel people are expecting to much from this device. For what it is I am hoping it will be a good device. First and foremost it is a Kindle NOT a tablet. Look at their page for the Kindle Fire. I did a search for tablet and the first mention of tablet was in the user comments, nothing at all from what Amazon has called it. Yes it uses Android but I think Amazon knows that this devices in NOT a tablet, it is a Kindle device that can do other activities such as stream music, watch videos and such.
Comparing this to full blown tablets I think is a bit much but it is what everyone is going to do because it runs Android so in must be a tablet.
For me I purchased this device because I wanted something a little larger than my Evo for reading books such. I didn't want to spend $400-500 for an eReader and the fact that I can also stream music and videos as well will be great I hope. I don't need something with all the bells and whistles and I expect that the vast majority of the public will use the device for what it was designed to do. Read books, magazines, watch some videos and listen to music. The people that are "power" users are less than 1% of the people that are going to buy this device is my guess.
For those power users I am sure someone will root this device soon enough and then you will be able to run probably whatever flavor of Android you want on it. I will reserve my "judgement" on this device until Wednesday when I get mine and have a chance to actually mess around with it. Worse case scenario is that I don't like it and I return it and maybe get something different, but at $200 if I can read books on it well enough, (better than on my Evo) then I will be happy and everything else is icing on the cake for me.
-Eric

>I feel people are expecting to much from this device.
The Engadget review mentions functions the KF has but didn't do well, eg the bad video streaming, the klunky navigation for comic (no pinch-zoom) and text reading, the fiddly home interface, the laggy sideloaded apps, the paltry storage, etc. These are all judging the KF on its own merit, not against a higher-end tablet.

e.mote said:
>I feel people are expecting to much from this device.
The Engadget review mentions functions the KF has but didn't do well, eg the bad video streaming, the klunky navigation for comic (no pinch-zoom) and text reading, the fiddly home interface, the laggy sideloaded apps, the paltry storage, etc. These are all judging the KF on its own merit, not against a higher-end tablet.
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It will have those bugs ironed out before the years out I bet.
Even with that said, all the reviews claim that it is not an iPad killer, which shouldn't need to be said. It never claimed to be, and at less than half the price of the iPad, it should be a decent tablet for those who can't pay the fee to be in Apple's walled garden. Whether it is a fire or the Nook Tablet, the first thing I am doing to it is finding a vanilla rom to flash. I am buying for the hardware, not the skin.

>Even with that said, all the reviews claim that it is not an iPad killer, which shouldn't need to be said. It never claimed to be
That's more in response to the many pundits' predictions that the KF will be indeed that (sales-wise, at least). I think that if the KF had performed well within its limited feature set, then that may've been a reasonable assumption.
>and at less than half the price of the iPad, it should be a decent tablet for those who can't pay the fee to be in Apple's walled garden.
It's a wash. For the lower entry price, the KF is Amazon's (considerably smaller) walled garden. Most people won't root or use custom ROM.
>Whether it is a fire or the Nook Tablet, the first thing I am doing to it is finding a vanilla rom to flash. I am buying for the hardware, not the skin.
What surprised me are all the reports of laggy operations. For an OMAP 4430 running 2.3! It tells me that the Amazon custom layer is major bloatware. I do expect both the KF and NT to get CM9 support when that happens. But with custom ROM, many of the KF amenities will likely disappear, eg Amazon cloud access.
BTW, looks like ICS src is now available.
http://groups.google.com/group/android-building/browse_thread/thread/4f85d9242667a85f?pli=1

EABonney said:
I feel people are expecting to much from this device. For what it is I am hoping it will be a good device. First and foremost it is a Kindle NOT a tablet. Look at their page for the Kindle Fire. I did a search for tablet and the first mention of tablet was in the user comments, nothing at all from what Amazon has called it. Yes it uses Android but I think Amazon knows that this devices in NOT a tablet, it is a Kindle device that can do other activities such as stream music, watch videos and such.
Comparing this to full blown tablets I think is a bit much but it is what everyone is going to do because it runs Android so in must be a tablet.
For me I purchased this device because I wanted something a little larger than my Evo for reading books such. I didn't want to spend $400-500 for an eReader and the fact that I can also stream music and videos as well will be great I hope. I don't need something with all the bells and whistles and I expect that the vast majority of the public will use the device for what it was designed to do. Read books, magazines, watch some videos and listen to music. The people that are "power" users are less than 1% of the people that are going to buy this device is my guess.
For those power users I am sure someone will root this device soon enough and then you will be able to run probably whatever flavor of Android you want on it. I will reserve my "judgement" on this device until Wednesday when I get mine and have a chance to actually mess around with it. Worse case scenario is that I don't like it and I return it and maybe get something different, but at $200 if I can read books on it well enough, (better than on my Evo) then I will be happy and everything else is icing on the cake for me.
-Eric
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Kindle Fire: #1 selling TABLET on Amazon.com

There's another review here :
http://jpae.squarespace.com/food-fo...kindle-fire-wont-kill-the-ipad-2-however.html

Thinking of selling iPad 1 for fire!

So, I'm an android fan and have been thinking about selling my iPad 1 and taking the cash and picking up the Fire. I've played with my co-workers and realize they are supposed to be compared. Was just wondering what you guys think?

You will probably be able to sell your ipad1 for at least 300 dollars. I guess it really depends what you want to do with the tablet. There are Android tablets out there with better specs than the Fire that you could get for 300 dollars, maybe cheaper with holiday sales. However, if you are mainly interested in surfing the web and consuming Amazon content, the Fire is the way to go. It probably meets my needs/wants about 80% of the time.
The main issues I have are that browser is not faster than my other tabs, not much storage space for offline content, and keypresses don't always respond.
Edited to add: lack of bluetooth is also a bummer.

brocja01 said:
So, I'm an android fan and have been thinking about selling my iPad 1 and taking the cash and picking up the Fire. I've played with my co-workers and realize they are supposed to be compared. Was just wondering what you guys think?
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There are plenty of tabs out there that will service you better than the KF. If you get $300 for your iPad1 seriously think about looking around at other options. After using an iPad I truly doubt, in the long run, the KF will satisfy you. More memory, more options, a much better chance at HC or ICS (very much doubt the KF will get either) and overall better android experience. Comparing the iPad (any version) to the KF is not really valid no matter who says so IMO. The only things they really share, IMO, is that they are both serviced by closed gardens.
That said, welcome back from the "Dark Side".

What I wish I could do is have both. But the wife says only one tablet. Just kind of ready something for something new. The majority of what I do is Netflix, Hulu, and web browsing. I'm thinking the fire will do all those things well and hoping the developer community gets behind this and we get some fun roms.

brocja01 said:
What I wish I could do is have both. But the wife says only one tablet. Just kind of ready something for something new. The majority of what I do is Netflix, Hulu, and web browsing. I'm thinking the fire will do all those things well and hoping the developer community gets behind this and we get some fun roms.
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I can respect that. But don't buy something mainly because it's "new" and "flashy" or "because everyone is getting it". Get something that is scalable, stands good chance of upgrading and will provide you with a learning milieu that truncated e-readers likely will not.
Just food for thought.

Check out the HTC flyer at Best Buy for $299 and look at forums here. It has much better specs and will run netflix and hulu plus.
Edited to add link: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-ga...ablet-dont-forget-the-powerful-htc-flyer/5271

I really like the 7 inch size. The iPad can be too big sometimes.

It all depends on your needs. I for one love my fire. But you have to keep in mind it does have its limitations, aka memory. It has "only" 6.5 Gb of useable storage, personally I feel that is plenty of storage for my needs. I mean I've downloaded a ton of apps and have barely made a dent, but, if you plan on loading up the kindle fire with a ton of music and movies, you may want to think twice, me personallly ill just stream everything. I might load some music on it for a trip, but beyond that I don't see the point. Enough with my storage rant though. I'm really enjoying the kindle fire, I actually have grown to love Amazons custom skin it just makes sense to me, even though at times it can be a little frustrating because of some.minor lag, which I'm sure can be fixed with a software update. But, one thing I enjoy about the interface, is depending on what section you are in, aka books, apps, you can quickly access the store for that content, very User friendly, but if you don't like it then side load go launcher ex and you got an experiance like other android counterparts. And another feature I feel is well done is the search with a quick click of a.button you can choose to search device or web, fantastic. Plus watching Hulu plus on the fire is great, the $199 price tag is really a steal in my opinion.
Sent from my Kindle Fire using xda premium

I sold my ipad 1 around 2 weeks ago to make a switch to the kindle fire and loving it. The whole experience is much smoother, no more checkboards when I scroll down webpages and having multiple tabs open didnt make the tablet unusable. Though I do kinda miss the app store and itune university. I use my tablet mainly for browsing and reading so the smaller form factor is perfect. Before the kindle fire I thought about switching to the galaxy tab 8.9 its significantly easier to handle than the ipad weight just under a lb. I really liked it but for less than half the cost and comparable specs I took the kindle fire over it

brocja01 said:
I really like the 7 inch size. The iPad can be too big sometimes.
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The flyer is 7 inches. I don't have any big problems with Fire, you just might want to check all your 7 inch options before you decide. Of course with the Fire, you can't beat the price.

I sold my 16GB iPad 1 (WiFi) for ~$225 and got a Fire, I couldn't be happier.

I use an ipad2 as a college book and internet lol... if you can justify using it and getting a better experience go for it. I have an android phone so that would be too much android in my life. I'm sticking with the ipad and android together. Makes the one offset the other when one becomes lacking.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium

I sold my ipad earlier this year and picked up a nook. I just couldn't stand iOS. Sold the nook and now i have a Fire. I like it a lot, and i'm really tempted to keep it. I have to say I am disappointed with the lack of storage. As far as i am concerned that is the only major drawback, albeit a large one for me as I can at times be without internet for several months at a time. This is primarily when I want a tablet for movies and reading.
As far as its intended function, as an e-reader, it performs quite well. With wi-fi turned off and the brightness at about 80%, i'm seeing an hour for every ten percent down to 15% before I plug it in.
I think it is a great size. For the most part it is quite portable. Its got some heft to it, but it feels right and solid. I'm sure you have read plenty of reviews by now, so no point in me going on about it.
I say bite the bullet and pick one up as it is quite cheap. If u don't like it sell it, i'm sure these things will be sold out for an amount of time some where, at that point you definitely shouldn't have a problem getting your money back. Heck, pick one up locally, most places now have an extended return policy because of the holidays. I've already bought two as gifts for my family when I go to visit them.

killerbicycle said:
I sold my ipad earlier this year and picked up a nook. I just couldn't stand iOS. Sold the nook and now i have a Fire. I like it a lot, and i'm really tempted to keep it. I have to say I am disappointed with the lack of storage. As far as i am concerned that is the only major drawback, albeit a large one for me as I can at times be without internet for several months at a time. This is primarily when I want a tablet for movies and reading.
As far as its intended function, as an e-reader, it performs quite well. With wi-fi turned off and the brightness at about 80%, i'm seeing an hour for every ten percent down to 15% before I plug it in.
I think it is a great size. For the most part it is quite portable. Its got some heft to it, but it feels right and solid. I'm sure you have read plenty of reviews by now, so no point in me going on about it.
I say bite the bullet and pick one up as it is quite cheap. If u don't like it sell it, i'm sure these things will be sold out for an amount of time some where, at that point you definitely shouldn't have a problem getting your money back. Heck, pick one up locally, most places now have an extended return policy because of the holidays. I've already bought two as gifts for my family when I go to visit them.
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If you have access to usb power source when you are away from internet, you might check out the seagate go flex satellite( 500gb hdd with built in wifi). You can sideload the app and stream media from the drive to your device. The app isn't terrific, but it does work on the fire. The hdd acts as a router and creates a network between it and your device.

Well, my problem has been fixed. I'm keeping the iPad, so the kids and wife can use it and I'll be buying a Fire right around Xmas. Talked the wife into letting me buy one after saving up some money. Thanks all for the recommendations.

[Q] Shoud I buy Kindle Fire?

I am planning to pick up KF but I am debating if 512MB RAM compare to 1GB (Nook Tablet) will be enough.
KF will be used for browsing internet, light gaming and web streaming (not movies). It will be rooted and replaced with custom ROM (ICS) eventually.
I owned Nook Color running CM7 nightly right now and trying to avoid having two look a like device.
Do you think 512MB will be sufficient for KF to operate smoothly?

It runs fine for me, doing pretty much the same as what you want to use it for.
I hit some lag once in a while, but overall, I do like it - so long as I do NOT keep comparing it to my wifes iPad.
Chris

I bought mine for web browsing, reading magazines and checking Facebook. So far, I am nothing less than pleased. It performs well, even when playing YouTube and Flash videos.
For the price, it's a winner, provided you don't expect it to perform like high-end Android devices or an iPad.

I bought both from Best Buy and used them for a little while before deciding which one to return. The difference in RAM was probably the biggest concern for me and the main reason I considered the Nook Tablet despite it costing $50 more.
In practice, I saw no difference in performance between the two. The only other big thing steering a lot of people toward the Nook is the microSD slot. If that isn't a concern then the Kindle Fire is fine. If you really want lots of local storage then the Nook is the only way to go.
Me, I listen to music through Pandora and I don't watch movies on the tablet, so local storage doesn't concern me. Thus I went with the cheaper Kindle Fire.

If you're wanting to do much outside of what comes with it and you're not too knowledgeable on how to fix things in unorthodox ways and think you'll be posting soon in the unbricking thread, I would find a more forgiving tablet to work with. The time you'll save on not having to fix things will offset any additional cost.
Disclaimer: I own 2 HP touchpads and no Kindle Fire.

Well I don't agree with yareally who has apparently not touched one yet.
I have 2, or more accurately, My wife has one and I have one.
Hers is stock... she loves it. Watches netflix, amazon prime and a number of books. works for her daily with no issues.
I got mine after I got her hers. Really didn't plan on getting one myself, however, I started playing with it and got the bug to see what it could do. $124 was too inexpensive to not.
Mine is rooted though I am still using the stock ROM as I am waiting for a proven recovery before trying something else. I am now using ADW, have the Android market, Google apps including Gmap and can even get GPS if i want to go to the trouble. etc... I use it a bit at work as well, Exchange email via Touchdown, Evernote, and lots of usable webapp browsing.
Like any device or smart phone, if you do dumb things, you get dumb results, but if you are careful and follow instructions well.. should be a fun device to play with.

krelvinaz said:
Well I don't agree with yareally who has apparently not touched one yet.
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I may not have touched one, but I've helped probably 70+ users with one directly to unbrick it and countless others that followed the guide I helped to start
Ironically, neither I or my friend that started the thread with me own a kindle fire, but it hasn't prevented us for knowing more about it than most.
I don't have to touch it to know how it works. I can do that quite well using adb shell remotely. Fancy user interfaces mean nothing. It's what is under the hood that matters.
Quite a few screwed it up installing cm7 as well.
Compared to other tablets, I have seen way more people screw their fire up without a way to get back out of it without spoon feeding directions to (including at times, going on teamviewer with them).

I think it is cool you have helped, especially that many people. Perhaps, the price point makes it too simple for people to dive in without bothering to understand what they are doing or reading the large red text warning them. (hence my comment about doing dumb things).
The lack of having a full recovery yet is perhaps also a stumbling block, but apparently that will be remedied soon.

krelvinaz said:
The lack of having a full recovery yet is perhaps also a stumbling block, but apparently that will be remedied soon.
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Yeah, I think once that happens, lots of the headaches will be a thing of the past as well.

Yeah, I think people bricking their Fire speaks more toward impatient people than any failings of the Fire. Anyone trying to install a custom rom at this point with anything other than above average skills needs to take a step back IMO.
Sent from my BAMForever Thunderbolt

The 512MB RAM has not been a limitation for anything I've done with it, and that's *with* all the Amazon crap running at the same time, I've not disabled any of the services.
I think the micro SD card on the Nook would be a nice addition, but not sure it's $50 nice, considering how easy it is to stream to the Fire. If you needed to store your movies locally maybe.

animez said:
Yeah, I think people bricking their Fire speaks more toward impatient people than any failings of the Fire. Anyone trying to install a custom rom at this point with anything other than above average skills needs to take a step back IMO.
Sent from my BAMForever Thunderbolt
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I'm an above average user, and even I'm not crazy enough to mess with it too much right now! There are some amazing things going on in the Dev forum, and I really look forward to CM9 on my Fire.
I have 2 as well, and I'm more than happy with the speed/function even using stock kernel/ROM (albeit with a different launcher). The price point for this device was too hard to ignore. It's not in the same league as an iPad or Galaxy Tab, but I didn't buy it thinking it was.

Yeah with Go Launcher instead of that bookshelf, this is a superb bargain. Remember Amazon is basically selling these at cost to funnel people in to their store.

Thanks for the reply guys.
Only fools compare $199 KF to $499 Ipad.
Storage does not concern me, I just want a device that running smoothly for flash streaming and hackable
I have made up my mind, I am getting KF.

denoxster said:
I am planning to pick up KF but I am debating if 512MB RAM compare to 1GB (Nook Tablet) will be enough.
KF will be used for browsing internet, light gaming and web streaming (not movies). It will be rooted and replaced with custom ROM (ICS) eventually.
I owned Nook Color running CM7 nightly right now and trying to avoid having two look a like device.
Do you think 512MB will be sufficient for KF to operate smoothly?
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512 appears to be just fine.
I'd recommend putting Dolphin HD on for browsing. I haven't had an issue with streaming video from Amazon, Netflix, Crackle or Epic. No problems with games, so far. Currently have over 100 apps installed.
I do use an app to control too many apps starting automatically (Startup Cleaner), as it seems to help performance.

Update:
After owning KF for a couple of month, I can tell you that I am pretty happy with my purchase.
Now my KF running CM9 ICS
Thank you guys.
Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire using xda premium

Go for it
i bought mine because of the price and i liked the way it looked, so far i have rooted it and it still runs perfectly. So far the only difference i see between this and the ipad is the size and the camera. Its pretty darn fast and when its rooted you can customize almost every aspect about it.

well this is just sad

dont' think i've ever had a device so locked down that wasn't a total dog with this little talk going on. Bravo amazon... you broke XDA

Someone had to say it

I keep telling myself not to regret this purchase yet....just wait a little longer, but the lack of talk going on in the HDX forum is quite depressing and far from reassuring

Am I the only one who likes the tablet as-is without any modifications? The app selection leaves a bit to be desired but all the major media apps are represented (Spotify, Rdio, Hulu, Netflix, etc...) and there are plenty of games available. The only thing that irks me is not being able to play content I already purchased on Google Play, but it's not enough to kill the device for me.

I used to feel myself regretful until I have discovered 1mobile market. Now, beside I cannot change wallpaper, I have decent launcher and a market that is comparable to the Google play. Ok root and custom rooms would be nice, also do I enjoy using HDX. Even, I could choice one more time, I would still (wait ) take HDX because it's specs and weight.
Before buying the HDX I've tried high end Asus and Samsung devices, which were really of poor quality and performance (user experience, not synthesized benchmarks).

I don't think this is over yet....
I do not think it's impossible to root Amazon Kindle HDX, as long as there is developers who keeps this project alive, there is still hope! Why is it so hard to root the last update! Wouldn't it be good to discuss this at a thread in the forum? How far have you come? Where in the process is it impossible to reach further? Then we could help each other! Will Amazon really emerge victorious out of this battle? I think not!

raptir said:
Am I the only one who likes the tablet as-is without any modifications? The app selection leaves a bit to be desired but all the major media apps are represented (Spotify, Rdio, Hulu, Netflix, etc...) and there are plenty of games available. The only thing that irks me is not being able to play content I already purchased on Google Play, but it's not enough to kill the device for me.
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Had I done more proper research, I would have gone with the Nexus 7 to be honest. I'm not a fan of this device in it's default form. I know I made the mistake of jumping in based on specs and a sale that was going on at the time, but I wish it were more Android through and through. I'm not a fan of the Amazon Fire OS GUI, and not being able to get Gapps by default was a serious oversight on my part....that's my main regret. The device performs just fine and the specs don't disappoint. I simply should have done more research on the rooting and unlocking bootloader side
dimi5 said:
I used to feel myself regretful until I have discovered 1mobile market. Now, beside I cannot change wallpaper, I have decent launcher and a market that is comparable to the Google play. Ok root and custom rooms would be nice, also do I enjoy using HDX. Even, I could choice one more time, I would still (wait ) take HDX because it's specs and weight.
Before buying the HDX I've tried high end Asus and Samsung devices, which were really of poor quality and performance (user experience, not synthesized benchmarks).
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Atise said:
I do not think it's impossible to root Amazon Kindle HDX, as long as there is developers who keeps this project alive, there is still hope! Why is it so hard to root the last update! Wouldn't it be good to discuss this at a thread in the forum? How far have you come? Where in the process is it impossible to reach further? Then we could help each other! Will Amazon really emerge victorious out of this battle? I think not!
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I guess I should add that I am still one of the lucky ones. I do have root still and as long as I keep playing it safe, I don't see me ever losing root. With that said, I guess my depressed and non-reassuring comment is a bit more selfish and on the getting an unlocked bootloader side of things. Of course, I definitely don't see that happening until a new root is found to get everyone back at the same place with root access.

icedtrip said:
Had I done more proper research, I would have gone with the Nexus 7 to be honest. I'm not a fan of this device in it's default form. I know I made the mistake of jumping in based on specs and a sale that was going on at the time, but I wish it were more Android through and through. I'm not a fan of the Amazon Fire OS GUI, and not being able to get Gapps by default was a serious oversight on my part....that's my main regret. The device performs just fine and the specs don't disappoint. I simply should have done more research on the rooting and unlocking bootloader side
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I have a first-gen Nexus 7 and was considering the 2013 model but decided on the Kindle Fire HDX even knowing that it couldn't be rooted. My usage of the Nexus 7 was mostly reading (through the Kindle app) and watching videos (Hulu, Netflix). I played a few games on it but I'm fine with Amazon's selection. I went with the Kindle HDX because I could get 64GB of storage for only slightly more than the 32GB Nexus 7 and also gain support for Prime Instant Video.
Edit: I will say, I like being able to tinker with my Nexus 5 but I feel that the enhancements that come with custom ROMs are more important to me on a phone rather than a tablet. With a tablet I typically open a single app and use that for a prolonged period of time so I don't see much of the interface.

Yep. I agree with raptir. It was fun while it lasted but I notice now, I don't even need custom ROM. As long as I have my prime and xbmc, life is good.
Sent from my LG-D800 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I am doing the exact same thing I did with my 16GB Nook Tablet noneHD version when I had it for 2 years. I upgraded to the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 for the larger screen and newer hardware for movie playback across the network via DLNA. I also use it for reading and have finished several books on it and the Nook alike. Nook was running CM 10 but I felt like I could have just kept the basic B&N OS around for what I did with it. I still feel the same way about the Kindle Fire HDX. Stock handles everything I throw at it and I can keep my apps updated thanks to 1mobile. Things like Skifta and MX player along with Cool Reader for epub and mobi formatted books that I have had forever and did not get through amazon. For me the kindle/nook are Media consumption devices and they fill that roll pretty nicely with stock. The kindle more so becuase of the updated OS and larger screen along with newer hardware that is capible of 1080p playback via network unlike the nook where it would struggle with 720p playback for me.

IMHO, it's a fine MEDIA device, but not so much a regular tablet.

kschang said:
IMHO, it's a fine MEDIA device, but not so much a regular tablet.
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Pay attention. The Tech Geeks have decreed that this tablet must die. It must fail simply because Amazon has decided to be douchy about it. It must no be rooted and it must not be recommend. Amazon worked very hard to get this. I for one am going to do all I can to give them what they want. Kindle needs to go the way of the Nook which actually was better than kindle but not as popular imho lol. Regardless, Death to the kindle line.

kschang said:
IMHO, it's a fine MEDIA device, but not so much a regular tablet.
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i agree... however if i didnt' have amazon instant i wouldnt' even like it for that. my feedly crashes constantly, and i get way too many random reboots on this thing.
HOWEVER its become my treadmill partner thanks to the ability to download amazon instant

Pay attention. This thing is hard to hack, therefore it must die.
Listen to yourself saying that, 100 times.

kschang said:
IMHO, it's a fine MEDIA device, but not so much a regular tablet.
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I guess that's where my opinion may differ from others'. To me, a tablet is primarily a media device. Movies, TV shows, books, games, news, etc... which all work great on the Fire. Productivity is the one place that it really falls short, but even with my Nexus 7 I still prefer my laptop for productivity.

just keep it offline for the next few months...an exploit is going to be found and published, it's happened with the previous firmware versions...

raptir said:
I guess that's where my opinion may differ from others'. To me, a tablet is primarily a media device. Movies, TV shows, books, games, news, etc... which all work great on the Fire. Productivity is the one place that it really falls short, but even with my Nexus 7 I still prefer my laptop for productivity.
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Depends on the media content. You can mostly work.around the YouTube issues with Google services, but that is a disadvantage other tablets don't have. I watch a lot of flash content on streaming movie sites and have found some ways to work around nuisances on most sites as well but without a good rooted pop-up blocker it is a disadvantage . It streams Amazon content fairly well but I learned how to do that long ago on a regular tablet. The screen is very nice and smooth though.
To the other guy. It isnt that the tablet must die because it's hard to hack. The tablet must die to teach corporations that they either give the public what they want or they lose. Simple pleasures I enjoy every day on normal tablets are either un attainable on the hdx or difficult at best, even if the build quality is excellent, and the hardware is outstanding Amazon needs an attitude adjustment.

FireOS is NOT Android. Never claimed to be. The current result is quite workable dual-use. I can use Unbeloved Host and/or AdAway and/or Chrome to block most ads. Amazon never designed an Android tablet. Amazon designed an AMAZON tablet (which happens to run an Android Fork).
Your "boycott" of Kindle HDX line is not going to have ANY effect on Amazon except deprive yourself, but then, you already own one. At best it's a mixed message. And you show a distinct lack of faith on ingenuity of the XDA Developer Community.
I have both Google Play services running fine along side Amazon services. I Chromecasted a bunch of cat videos to my TV today (there are two cats in the house). I download from both app stores, sometimes simultaneously. I am rooted and Xposed and Safestrapped and so on and so forth.
In other words, it's basically what you're willing to live with. Your have a different tolerance point than I do. The difference is you want Amazon to go against its nature and give you what you want, whereas I decided that the current HDX (well, technically last year's HDX) is quite usable as is with a few hacks.

Just because people aren't talking doesn't mean they aren't trying to work on it. Things come to those that are patient.

kschang said:
FireOS is NOT Android. Never claimed to be. The current result is quite workable dual-use. I can use Unbeloved Host and/or AdAway and/or Chrome to block most ads. Amazon never designed an Android tablet. Amazon designed an AMAZON tablet (which happens to run an Android Fork).
Your "boycott" of Kindle HDX line is not going to have ANY effect on Amazon except deprive yourself, but then, you already own one. At best it's a mixed message. And you show a distinct lack of faith on ingenuity of the XDA Developer Community.
I have both Google Play services running fine along side Amazon services. I Chromecasted a bunch of cat videos to my TV today (there are two cats in the house). I download from both app stores, sometimes simultaneously. I am rooted and Xposed and Safestrapped and so on and so forth.
In other words, it's basically what you're willing to live with. Your have a different tolerance point than I do. The difference is you want Amazon to go against its nature and give you what you want, whereas I decided that the current HDX (well, technically last year's HDX) is quite usable as is with a few hacks.
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I'm not depriving myself in any way. I own literally dozens of tablets. I never claimed kindle as an android tablet. I claim it as an inferior product because it's OS holds it back since it is limited in many aspects that both Apple and Android have excelled in. Your argument is fragmented and invalid. You had to root in order to achieve your results. Asking for simple things such as a keyboard that half works or some control over turning off double space to period, simple things like widgets, well if that is against Amazon's nature then yes I am quite against Amazon tablets lol.

Is this tablet a still good deal at $250?

I just ordered it directly from Samsung
LeEco Pro3

toanau said:
I just ordered it directly from Samsung
LeEco Pro3
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I'm also interested as they are on sale at best buy for this price. Wondering if it's good for reading ebooks and PDF files. I'm pretty sure it's good for media streaming. Not too convinced about battery life and charging times so far. Mayhe the s3 is coming soon. Looking forward to some input on this thread.

I have had two (sat on one) , as well as many other tablets in our family. This is the fastest and smoothest of the lot (Nexus 9, Nexus 7, Sony Xperia, NVidia K1). I am the family geek that preps, refreshes them. Of the lot, this tablet is still my choice (T813 currently). I think it is worth it. I rooted the first one, but have not bothered to root the T813 yet. It is a simple process.

SysAdmNj said:
I'm also interested as they are on sale at best buy for this price. Wondering if it's good for reading ebooks and PDF files. I'm pretty sure it's good for media streaming. Not too convinced about battery life and charging times so far. Mayhe the s3 is coming soon. Looking forward to some input on this thread.
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It's fast enough to be very smooth and the display is really gorgeous.
I use mine for comic reading and PDFs - it's fantastic for colour graphic novels, great for grey scale (B&W) comics. The high PPI level helps that, the OLED screen is YUMMY.
For basic ebooks, the black and white text type, it's probably not as good as a very good E-Ink type reader, they are very crisp and sharp for text (but that crispness falters on pictures)
I'd say:
Colour graphic novels - 9/10
grey scale comics - 8/10
PDFs - 9/10 for pictures, 8/10 for text
Books, plain text - 7 to 8 / 10
That's not to say it's bad, not by any means. The rating is to say that there can be better... but that 9/10 for colour graphic novels means it's essentially unbeatable.
So far battery time and charge time are about normal for a tablet - I did 6.5 hours of general farting about lots of wifi, a little gaming, photos, etc - and i did about 30 mins of wifi transfers from pc to tablet.
And the battery was at 44% after that time. So, good, as far as I can say.
Recharge time to 100% was about three hours.
vernmcc - what benefit is there in rooting. What's the point?
(and I had a silly giggle over that last sentence, given that "rooting" is Aussie slang for a good old bonk, copulation).
The slang...

Fluffbutt said:
vernmcc - what benefit is there in rooting. What's the point?
(and I had a silly giggle over that last sentence, given that "rooting" is Aussie slang for a good old bonk, copulation).
The slang...
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I rooted the original (giggle) to add adaway, gain lower level access to the system for building tasker profiles, and remove some of samsung bloat ware. Adaway is basically an ad blocker that uses host file modification to block known ad sites. Tasker stuff related to WiFi connections and connected blue tooth devices it is hard to do well in Tasker without system access. Removing some of the bloat ware was just an exercise in, can I actually delete this, not just disable in apps. But rooting it (giggle) has a down side that it voids warranty and makes updates less smooth so I have decided to stay with stock for what I use it for (podcast consumption and some light reading).

vernmcc said:
I rooted the original (giggle) to add adaway, gain lower level access to the system for building tasker profiles, and remove some of samsung bloat ware. Adaway is basically an ad blocker that uses host file modification to block known ad sites. Tasker stuff related to WiFi connections and connected blue tooth devices it is hard to do well in Tasker without system access. Removing some of the bloat ware was just an exercise in, can I actually delete this, not just disable in apps. But rooting it (giggle) has a down side that it voids warranty and makes updates less smooth so I have decided to stay with stock for what I use it for (podcast consumption and some light reading).
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I did a little hunting after asking the question... there are apps that don't work without rooting *giggle* (sorry) - there's a backup app that needs it, and others (as you probably know).
I like the hosts ad block - I use that on win7, a 550k file full of all the crap-servers... works well.
I take it you can't do it on Andy without rooting *stifles giggle*
Mind you, wouldn't having root access *giggle* (I wouldn't mind having root access, it's been a while...) (slap, stop that!) also give any android viruses you came across low level access too?
And if the rooting went wrong (SLAP, stop it) you'd end up with an expensive thin brick?
Anyway - I hope all goes well for you, I'm rooting for you.... :highfive:

I'd say this tablet is a bit of a bargain if you can pick it up for only $250.
Its not got a SD820 inside so it won't be as fast as your phone but what tablet has got a SD820 under the hood?

Great tablet so far (owned for a year, the original T-810 after being disappointed with the Pixel C's crap wifi and coming from a Nexus 9). Could use 4 speakers (like Ipad Pro, hope the Tab S3 has it) but is very good otherwise. Feels faster than my S7 in many cases since the ROM is lighter than that on phones. BTW, Dec update is now out:
https://www.samdownloads.de/download/t810xxu2cpk1-dbt-6-0-1-germany/ so SW is pretty up-to-date compared to most Android tabs that never see an update. Hoping we get Nougat before too long.

For $250, absolutely. Overall, manufactures have stopped doing yearly tech refreshes on their tablet lines due to tablets being a less profitable product know days. The screen alone makes this tablet worthwhile. It may take 20 years, but they will be releasing android v7 on this tablet.

I got it for $250 on Amazon. Just went back and it's $400 (Best Buy too!). So it definitely was a deal.

toanau said:
I just ordered it directly from Samsung
LeEco Pro3
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Yes!

I've had mine for about 3 weeks now - loving it.
Battery life is amazing considering the battery size - I;m getting 12 hours of use in 2 lots of 6 or three lots of 4 or mixture - games, photography, cpu intensive stuff, wifi.
And that screen is still delicious... I love reading graphic novels on it.
Flaws? yes - I'd like to remove the four 100 meg bloats wares of Microsoft word/excel/powerpoint/? (forgot) - they should have given us the option to not have this crap.