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Anyone excited about the new Kindles?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Stitch, Sep 28, 2011.

Page 6 of 14
  1. kingcreole

    kingcreole Active Member

    I'm sure I'm getting one for Christmas. My wife recently got an iPad - for business and personal purposes - and I'm kind of lukewarm to it. I prefer using a laptop. But I wanted a KindleFire because I wanted a Kindle with basic web browsing. I'll be happy. I don't need all those damn apps, camera, PurpleTooth or whatever.
     
    kingcreole, Dec 7, 2011
    #61
  2. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Put me in the music, movies, reading crowd. That's all I need from it and I have no worries about the size of the screen after playing with it at Best Buy.
     
    Mizzougrad96, Dec 7, 2011
    #62
  3. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I am happy with my Kindle Fire. For $200 bucks it was a no brainer for me. I have an iPad at the office, but I can't use it for personal use full time, and I had no desire to get one. It has bells and whistles I just won't use effectively.

    The Fire works nicely, because with Amazon Prime, which is a great deal, I can stream a movie occasionally, and I can read books on it, and do some VERY basic web surfing (will pull out laptop usually) and get live commodities/currencies quotes, if I don't happen to be at a screen.

    So far I have read two books, one I got from the Kindle Owners Lending Library for free, and then a second that I got from my local library, which downloaded it the device right from Amazon and gave me two weeks with it. Now I am on my third book from the Kindle Lending Library. I don't necessarily always read the newest releases, even though all three of these were relatively new, so if this keeps up, I may only pay for a small handful of books over the course of a year.

    We just did a major clean out of the place, and I gave away hundreds of dollars worth of books to Housing Works to clear room, so I guess I will officially be reading this way from here on out. I am getting used to it, even though I will always love the feel of an actual book.

    One thing about the Fire. Amazon is doing everything it can to keep its version of Android proprietary, but I had no trouble finding directions for how to root the thing. Once you do that, you have full access to the apps on the Android marketplace, not just Amazon's market. But when you root it it disables streaming video from Amazon Prime for example. So I just reapplied the first patch Amazon sent through and that unrooted it, but by then, I had the device linked to Android market place and can still get apps that aren't available for the Fire.

    It's been key. Among things, I got proprietary apps from two brokers I use that aren't available from Amazon. And I got the Android version of the Economist, rather than the Kindle version. The Android version comes for free with your subscription.
     
    The Big Ragu, Dec 7, 2011
    #63
  4. Jake_Taylor

    Jake_Taylor Well-Known Member

    OK, so I went to Best Buy today and looked at both the Fire and the Samsung Galaxy Player. They are roughly the same price and I can't decide which one to get my wife. The Galaxy Player has front and rear cameras, which I think she would like, but only a 5-inch screen.

    The reviews of the Galaxy Player compared it to the IPod Touch, but to me it seemed more like a smaller tablet.

    Which one should I get?
     
    Jake_Taylor, Dec 8, 2011
    #64
  5. Gomer

    Gomer Active Member

    Jake, it depends on your content. If you're happy buying in to Amazon's content, the Fire is for you. If you don't think you care or know the difference, the Fire's for you. If you have bought media from multiple sources and want to continue to do so, you might be better off with the Galaxy.
     
    Gomer, Dec 8, 2011
    #65
  6. Gomer

    Gomer Active Member

    Word of warning for Canucks - I bought a Kindle for my sister then had to return it after discovering that public libraries in Canada do not support Kindle.

    My wife has used apps on her iPhone to virtually take out books from our local library in the past year, no doubt saving us hundreds of dollars versus buying books. My sister wanted an e-reader and the Kindle advertised itself as having public library functionality. Liars: I later found an article on the Toronto Public Library stating no Canadian library supports Kindle yet.

    My sister will now be getting a Kobo reader, which supports library borrowing everywhere.
     
    Gomer, Dec 8, 2011
    #66
  7. HC

    HC Well-Known Member

    Before buying the Kobo, you may want to read this: http://www.moneyville.ca/blog/post/1098150--kobo-is-trying-to-fix-customer-service?bn=1
     
    HC, Dec 8, 2011
    #67
  8. Gomer

    Gomer Active Member

    I included a gift receipt :)
     
    Gomer, Dec 8, 2011
    #68
  9. Jake_Taylor

    Jake_Taylor Well-Known Member

    Thanks. She loves Amazon and I think would love doing the Prime thing for music and movies. My big hangup on the Fire is that I think she'd like to video chat with her mom.

    I have several books and some music on my old-style Kindle. Can I get to those if I buy a Fire?
     
    Jake_Taylor, Dec 8, 2011
    #69
  10. Gomer

    Gomer Active Member

    From what I understand - and remember, I'm in Canada, no Fire here, just going by what I've read - you can certainly get the content on your device. You just may need to figure out how - don't expect it to be straightforward, but it should be doable.
     
    Gomer, Dec 8, 2011
    #70
  11. PCLoadLetter

    PCLoadLetter Well-Known Member

    My understanding is, if you use the same name and same account for both Kindles, the content should appear on both.
     
    PCLoadLetter, Dec 8, 2011
    #71
  12. HC

    HC Well-Known Member

    I have a friend who has a Kindle in Canada. Works fine and he loves it but can't use it for public libraries. Also, must use with WiFi.
     
    HC, Dec 8, 2011
    #72
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