Kindle Fire HD users

[American Gunner]

If you have a Kindle Fire HD, do you like it? I am thinking about getting one for the lady for Christmas because she had mentioned a nook a while back. I think that she would like the fire over a nook, especially with the library function on Amazon.

 

[bigrash]

I have one and the Google Nexus 7, and I prefer the Nexus a lot more.

 

[Greenman]

I have one. Great for reading books, not so great for watching movies or surfing. Though I'm old and my eyes are going punk.

 

[sswingle]

I don't see any reason not to get a Nexus and install the Kindle app on it.

 

[American Gunner]

I guess I can always look into that instead.

 

[NuclearNed]

I went through this last year with the wife - finally convinced her that she wanted a Lenovo K1 instead. In hindsight, I'm pretty sure she would say the Lenovo was the right choice.

 

[American Gunner]

Yeah, she mainly wants it for reading books and was a member at barnes and noble, so I am guessing that was why she wanted the nook. I don't know if she would use a full on tablet, but for $50 more I might as well give her the option.

 

[Red Storm]

The lending library is a pretty nice feature if you are a big time reader.

Does she actually want tablet functions with the device or strictly reading? If it's JUST reading I would definitely get the e-ink Kindle.

 

[American Gunner]

I don't think she wants full on tablet. The occasional facebook, word with friends, and stuff like that plus being able to read on it. She might like to do some occasional browsing, but she has a laptop for that.

 

[pontifex]

my dad got one for my both my niece and nephew for xmas this year. he had me set them up and whatever. i played around with them a little. Seem pretty cool.

I have a Kindle Touch for reading and that's really all it's good for.

 

[yuchai]

Do you need to have Prime in order to get the lending function?

 

[pontifex]

Do you need to have Prime in order to get the lending function?

pretty sure. thats how it works on the other kindles.

 

[American Gunner]

Yeah, it said on Amazon something about it coming with prime.

 

[waggy]

Yeah, it said on Amazon something about it coming with prime.

for what? 2 months? When i got my daughter her kindle she got 2 months free.

I been thinking about a fire. Though i think a Pad with kindle software would be fine. Though the kindle's price is nice..

 

[darkxshade]

First of all Kindle isn't a company so it can't fire anything...

And secondly, hd users are not employed by this non-existant company so they couldn't be fired even if you wanted to.

 

[American Gunner]

Yeah, the Fire HD 16gb model is only $200, and it would do everything she wants. I am worried that if I get her the Nexus, she won't use all the extra stuff enough to make it worth it. I know it is only $60 more, but I know what she wants to use it for and I don't know if she would use it like a full blown tablet.

 

[pcslookout]

Wrong forum. Surprised no one else has said.

 

[yuchai]

pretty sure. thats how it works on the other kindles.

Do you need a kindle for that to work? Or does it still work if you have the Nexus + Kindle app + Prime?

 

[fov001]

Only reason kindle is worth the money is because of the lenders library...... You can only get that with a kindle device and prime membership
.. I'm thinking about getting one myself as a second tablet.

 

[Chiropteran]

Even though I hate Amazon for refusing to offer the updated Kindle Fire OS on first gen devices, I bought a Fire HD.

Things I like- screen resolution and general quality is great, stereo speaker setup is awesome and very loud for a device of it's size, battery life is pretty good too.

Not a fan of, but I can live with- gotta jump through hopes to install basic apps like Chrome, Dropbox, or basically anything that isn't in the amazon Appstore. The UI, even being updated and based on 4.0, is still fairly sluggish compared to 4.1 or 4.2

Key Buying Decision- I own a lot of Amazon Videos. There is no amazon video app for android, so you can't easily watch them on a Nexus or other device. I want to be able to watch The Wire & Breaking Bad on my tablet without an internet connection, Kindle Fire HD lets me do that. Ultimately this was the killer feature for me.

If you don't care about amazon video, a Nexus is a very comparable device with a more responsive UI and much easier to install non-amazon store apps.

 

[mrrman]

I bought the Nexus 7 for me and I am playing with it now, bought my wife the Kindle Fire HD for Xmas...have to wait on the Kindle Fire review

 

[Deeko]

I don't see any reason not to get a Nexus and install the Kindle app on it.

In his op he mentioned the library as a feature he is very interested in. You need an official Kindle device to use the lending library (which is awesome by the way)

 

[lxskllr]

This should influence your decision, but it may not. FYI anyway...

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/11/e-reader-privacy-chart-2012-update

 

[Chiropteran]

This should influence your decision,

Why would it? If Amazon can track what you do on the Kindle Fire HD, they can just as easily track what you do with the Kindle App on a Nexus, no?

 

[Ravynmagi]

I went back and forth between the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD. I love the Nexus 7, but I love the Fire HD just a bit more.

Reasons I went with the Fire HD.

* Better looking screen. The Nexus 7 colors are a bit washed out, the Fire HD has much better colors and white saturation.
* Much much better sound. The mono speaker on the Nexus 7 is pretty weak, when listening to podcasts or dialog on some video's it's even hard to hear people are saying. The Fire HD by contrast has two speakers, each with dual drivers, much louder and clearer. And the stereo sound is nice for watching movies.
* Kindle Lending Library. This is exclusive to Kindle hardware. You can borrow one ebook a month, keep it as long as you want, over 100,000 books available, no waiting. Requires an annual $80 Amazon Prime subscription, but anyone buying a Fire HD really should get Amazon Prime.
* Kindle OS. In a weird way the Kindle OS is a good thing on this tablet if you are into Amazon content, ebooks, videos. I love the recommendations and how easy it is to find and buy new content.

I've rooted my Kindle Fire HD, have Google Play and other Google apps running smoothly. Using the Apex launcher as my home screen. Some geekiness is required to set this up, but it wasn't too difficult. And after the tinkering this feels like a real tablet now and I don't feel locked into Amazon's content.

Dolphin or Chrome definitely needs to be installed on the Fire HD, because the stock browser is the most miserable web browsing experience ever (probably even worse than Nook's browser). But real browsers perform great on this.

Nexus 7 is definitely faster, and I think the Nexus 7 feels better and more comfortable in the hand. But overall, and as an Amazon Prime subscriber, I like the Fire HD a bit more. It's close though, I don't think you could go wrong either way.