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Amazon Kindle Fire - $50 One for free if you buy 5

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Damaniel

Banned
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.

Except that those $50 Walmart specials are made by fly-by-night companies that won't provide even the slightest bit of support/product replacement if something goes wrong.

Amazon's tablet might be mediocre at best (and definitely a 'starter' tablet by any standard), but they'll replace it - zero questions asked - if even the slightest thing goes wrong with it. Just because a cheap tablet is made at a price that makes it practically disposable doesn't mean you actually want to be forced to dispose of it if it breaks 1 month after you buy it.
 

Kenstar

Member
same here! It'll mainly be my comicbook reader.

I've already got a Kindle Paperwhite I use for manga, can't be beat by even IPS screens but if your doing comics you'll want color and therefore not an E-Ink screen, most manga is black/white
 

Rafy

Member
I've already got a Kindle Paperwhite I use for manga, can't be beat by even IPS screens but if your doing comics you'll want color and therefore not an E-Ink screen, most manga is black/white

Exactly. I already have a Kobo mini that I use for the bulk of my reading and manga. This is going to be my Comixology reader basically, I just hope it can also handle the new SW game till I get a new phone.
 

LoveCake

Member
I have the Kindle Fire HDX 7" got it last year for £99 (it was half price at the time) it is a good solid tablet, it has been dropped a few times & it doesn't have a scratch on it even though a few times it has fell glass face first when the Origami Case was open (as i was using it) for £99 it was a bargain, but these new ones at £49 are a steal!

My only issue is the lack of app's most are pretty poor or outdated, i have side-loaded a few onto mine, but i just use it for general surfing the web & reading the newspaper.

I want to get one for my dad, can you have more than one Kindle on a Amazon account?
 

Lucifon

Junior Member
Got my Fire 7 today with the official flip case. It's fine to stand up horizontally, but when you try stand the thing up vertically it's lifted up off the left corner. Any slight pressure on the top right and the thing just tips over. Seems like a really crappy design given that it's meant to stand in both positions. Is mine faulty or is this normal?
 

Lucifon

Junior Member
Got my Fire 7 today with the official flip case. It's fine to stand up horizontally, but when you try stand the thing up vertically it's lifted up off the left corner. Any slight pressure on the top right and the thing just tips over. Seems like a really crappy design given that it's meant to stand in both positions. Is mine faulty or is this normal?

Well I guess this answers it...

eB6b.png
 
Got one for my five year old so he can watch an occasional show or play Angry Birds/Bad Piggies. The screen resolution does seem pretty low, and there's not a lot you can do to customize the home screen. I basically grouped everything in one folder to get stuff out of the way, then loaded games and apps that interest him.

Great deal for what it is, but make no mistake: this is an entry level tablet.
 
i ordered one a week ago as a gift for my mom and it told me back then it wouldn't ship until oct 20th. still tells me that it'll arrive by the 22nd
 

linkboy

Member
Got one for my five year old so he can watch an occasional show or play Angry Birds/Bad Piggies. The screen resolution does seem pretty low, and there's not a lot you can do to customize the home screen. I basically grouped everything in one folder to get stuff out of the way, then loaded games and apps that interest him.

Great deal for what it is, but make no mistake: this is an entry level tablet.

That's what I'm planning on doing for my son. He'll be 5 in December and I figured he'd like his own tablet (that way he can stop stealing his mom or grandma's phones).
 
Got one for my mother as a christmas gift, arrived yesterday and i started to set it up for her to directly use it (she's pretty much technology agnostic...).

I have to say, i expected worse. Responsive enough, the screen resultion is ok, the stuff she's going to use the device for (facebook, youtube, browsing and some simple games) work good enough.
Pretty ok for 60€, imo.
 

Carm

Member
Mine was delivered earlier today when originally it said the 8th, not complaining though. Prior to this tablet, I haven't owned a tablet or smart phone, haven't had a want/need for them at the prices of the popular ones. This one being $50, I figured what the hell, would be nice to not have to turn on the PS4 or computer for browsing. I figured since it was Amazon the build quality and definitely CS was better than other cheap tablets.

I dunno if it's the screen resolution or what, but videos on Prime and Netflix looked kinda grainy for some reason, also the icons for TV/Movies on Netflix were blurry as shit and slow to load in. That may just be crappy app stuff, I don't care for the Netflix redesign recently on the website. I'm sure it's fine for reading and video watching if you don't care about the quality of the videos.

I didn't expect much from gaming at this price tag but I figured Hearthstone would run better than it does and wouldn't give a below recommended specs warning, the game has some stuttering animation but not a big deal. The big deal is the long pausing just moving between different screens in the game, hitting back button. On top of that, it may be the touch screen quality or the game itself, but it was difficult to have the friends lists register as being touched to open it and I have small fingers.

Haven't bothered to check out the cameras, doubt I'll ever use that feature. 7 inch screen sucks, but it was cheap so eh, it's functional.

didn't really get it to play games, mostly browsing and some videos, dunno about the videos now though, so no regrets for paying less than a $60 videogame.
 

kami_sama

Member
I just got it. The resolution, as expected, is not good. But it's fast for such a cheap tablet. Can anyone recommend apps from the app store? Any way to get the keyboard to put a space after a comma or a stop?

Also, for now there's no forum in XDA, so no development, for now.
 

kami_sama

Member
Anyone know if you can install Youtube Kids on this. I need is for a baby, she hogs my tablet to use Youtube Kids.

You will need to sideload everything google related. You will need to do everything in this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/amazon-fire/general/installing-google-framework-playstore-t3216122
I can't guarantee any OS upgrade will break functionality, though.

Also, This Morning I found my tablet had 8 stuck pixels. Getting my replacement this Wednesday. I hope this one doesn't have them.
This is exactly the reason I bought this tablet instead of a no-name one for the same price, I can return it hassle-free.

Also this thing (outside the pixels problem I have) is great for the price. I don't know how they did it, but it runs a lot faster than my 1st gen Moto G, with almost the same specifications, and after a little time, the resolution doesn't bother me at all.
 

ty_hot

Member
The most amazing thing is not the price, is that people are considering buying it for their THREE year old children.

That really impress me.

ps. what are these 'special offers'? Ads everywhere?
 

AssassiN

got the wrong hit
I've got the kids version of this and have sideloaded Youtube, but is there anyway to get it to show up in the Kids section on their account? I don't really want them on my amazon account!
 

Carm

Member
Less than a week of owning this, and I'm already having a major issue and I don't know if mine is defective or the tablet line is borked.

Turning on the tablet from a cold boot and going to the Youtube mobile, desktop or Youtube app I'm able to play videos no issues. If I come back a short time later and I have to wake up the screen, no Youtube video on the site or app will play until I restart the tablet, then they will play until the screen goes to sleep. I have the Ad version.

Can someone test theirs?

1. Go to Youtube through the browser
2. Pick a video and play it
3. If it plays, bookmark it and close the website
4. Exit browser back to home screen
5. Let the screen go to sleep, wait a few moments, then wake it up
6. Open the browser then click on the bookmark and play the video

Does the video play? It doesn't for me unless I reboot the system. I've already tried a factory reset with no change.
 

Somnid

Member
Less than a week of owning this, and I'm already having a major issue and I don't know if mine is defective or the tablet line is borked.

Turning on the tablet from a cold boot and going to the Youtube mobile, desktop or Youtube app I'm able to play videos no issues. If I come back a short time later and I have to wake up the screen, no Youtube video on the site or app will play until I restart the tablet, then they will play until the screen goes to sleep. I have the Ad version.

Can someone test theirs?

1. Go to Youtube through the browser
2. Pick a video and play it
3. If it plays, bookmark it and close the website
4. Exit browser back to home screen
5. Let the screen go to sleep, wait a few moments, then wake it up
6. Open the browser then click on the bookmark and play the video

Does the video play? It doesn't for me unless I reboot the system. I've already tried a factory reset with no change.

Sounds like a possible wake bug in Silk. Can you sideload Chrome or Firefox? Does it work if you force quit Silk?
 

Carm

Member
Sounds like a possible wake bug in Silk. Can you sideload Chrome or Firefox? Does it work if you force quit Silk?

This happens with the Youtube app as well so I don't see how it would be a browser specific issue. I haven't tried to or even looked into how to sideload anything. Force quitting the browser produces no change.
 

Somnid

Member
This happens with the Youtube app as well so I don't see how it would be a browser specific issue. I haven't tried to or even looked into how to sideload anything. Force quitting the browser produces no change.

There is no native Youtube app unless you sideloaded. Youtube.com that Amazon provides is just a web wrapper (the webview is the same as silk which is basically chrome 44 with Amazon's page caching).
 

Carm

Member
There is no native Youtube app unless you sideloaded. Youtube.com that Amazon provides is just a web wrapper (the webview is the same as silk which is basically chrome 44 with Amazon's page caching).

I killed the browser and the youtube listing, sadly no change.
 

Mindwipe

Member
How is comic reading for this thing? I have a friend who I'd maybe throw one at as a Christmas gift. I know it won't be great, but is it tolerable?
 

Sorcerer

Member
6 pack of tablets is such a weird promotion.

$50 is pretty insane though.I wonder what we'll be able to buy for $25 in 50 years...

Its a nice way to promote it actually, with the free one you get 6 for less than the price of one Ipad Mini.

Actually the whole point it is for you to give it out as gifts so people can get hooked into the Amazon eco system, they don't care about the loss on the tablets, they want you to buy books, shop, buy music etc, through Amazon. That's where the real money lies.
 

Carm

Member
So, after spending some time reading the negative reviews on the tablets page and seeing a few reviews mentioning Youtube not working, I decided to just get a refund instead of waiting to see if they fix it. Could have tried for a replacement but that may be even worse than the one I have on top of the issue not being possibly fixed.

I'm a little annoyed I have to pay to ship back the case I bought with it though, that's not cool.
 

DarthWoo

I'm glad Grandpa porked a Chinese Muslim

If you still have a Kmart nearby they're selling a bundle pack with the Fire, a stand/cover, and a 32GB SD card for $55 with $10 bonus points on your SYW card. I got one for my mother since while she's somewhat addicted to the phone I got her last year to just use for wi-fi stuff, she wants something with a bigger screen to use at home.
 

Kite

Member
eh I was thinking about getting one but that low resolution kill that idea. In the end I went with this no-name tablet from Best Buy when it was $60 Black Friday sale. 8 inch, 1280 x 800, no bloatware and if it sucks I can just return it to Best Buy. It's perfect for reading manga at work :)
 

Speevy

Banned
My impulse to buy a cheap tablet that isn't as good as other tablets was overcome by the fact that they're not shipping these until December 5th.
 
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