Is the Kindle Fire that good of a deal?

[tohio]

The bashing of the Fire is starting to bother me because it seems to break down into two parts camps: It's not an iPad so it's total fail or it doesn't have all the features of devices costing twice as much and so it's total fail. And it's not an iPad.

I'm seeing very few complaints from people who read the specs and knew what they were buying it for. Most of the gripes are coming from people who were expecting it to be more than promised. It's like buying an Xbox and then whining that it doesn't make waffles, can't hypnotize women into thinking you're Bradley Cooper, and lacks the anti-aircraft battery you want to keep the neighbors dogs from pooping on your lawn.

The Fire never claimed to be a full-fledged Android tablet. It's basically a hardware interface to consume content from the Amazon store. You want to listen to a four-hour house mix? Get a freaking iPod and dance the night away. What's the problem?

Unless the Fire is failing to fulfill its advertised purpose, no one should be complaining so loudly.

Couldn't agree more. Good post.

 

[santanzchild]

The bashing of the Fire is starting to bother me because it seems to break down into two parts camps: It's not an iPad so it's total fail or it doesn't have all the features of devices costing twice as much and so it's total fail. And it's not an iPad.

I'm seeing very few complaints from people who read the specs and knew what they were buying it for. Most of the gripes are coming from people who were expecting it to be more than promised. It's like buying an Xbox and then whining that it doesn't make waffles, can't hypnotize women into thinking you're Bradley Cooper, and lacks the anti-aircraft battery you want to keep the neighbors dogs from pooping on your lawn.

The Fire never claimed to be a full-fledged Android tablet. It's basically a hardware interface to consume content from the Amazon store. You want to listen to a four-hour house mix? Get a freaking iPod and dance the night away. What's the problem?

Unless the Fire is failing to fulfill its advertised purpose, no one should be complaining so loudly.

My feelings exactly.

Im completely happy with what they delivered and it is exactly what I expected.

 

[frmorrison]

It's a valiant effort from Amazon, but the Fire is like all Kindles -- too costly for too little.

Just the parts (not counting marketing, R&D, shipping) costs $203. Amazon is selling at a loss, but I understand it is limited in some areas (6.5gb storage is the biggest issue) which is why I don't have one. It is a great value, and with the ability to sideload apps it can do a lot.

Regarding WiFi, you can use ReadItLater to read webpages offline, and of course store your music, videos, comics, etc on the device (then delete later).

The Nook Tablet only has 1gb of storage (the rest is reserved) so the Fire is likely the best 7" tablet out there for most people. I am sure people will root and fix the file system for Nook, but that is a lot of hassle that most people will not do.

 

[Pimp Lucious]

Well the Kindle Fire is out and I find I'm happy I cancelled my pre-order. I like the 7" tablet size, but $200 is just too much for what the K-Fire offers me.

It's that 8GB storage space that's the deal killer for me. Combined with no 3G or mobile internet of any kind, that means I can only use a Fire in my house.

Now I'm thinking about investing in a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus. It's $399 ($200 more) but comes with 16GB internal memory, Honeycomb and a microSD slot as well as GPS.

Google's new Music store pretty much duplicates what Amazon offers me and more. (The Google Music Manager will scan my HDD and upload any CDs I rip to it while Amazon forces me to do that manually.)

I'll still be able to get my books at Amazon and B&N. I can watch video from Netflix, Hulu and Amazon (via web app).



There was really only one reason for me to chose a Kindle Fire and that was the ability to download mobile versions of my paid video content for viewing while away from WiFi. But that 8GB space is just too small.

It's a valiant effort from Amazon, but the Fire is like all Kindles -- too costly for too little.

I do think it'll help sell the 7" tablet market though. That'll be exciting.

So why did you preorder in the first place? You knew the specs when you made the purchase.

 

[mdschneider]

Good deal.

 

[dbdynsty25]

I sold my iPad 2 and bought two Fires and couldn't be happier. Sure it doesn't do everything the iPad does but after rooting and hacking it does everything I need. At 7" its much more portable and a lot better for e-reading. If I need to do heavy web browsing on the couch I've got my 11" macbook air for that.

 

[stoneworrior]

That was awesome. That is the same thing that has been bothering.me. I rooted my Fire so I can have my native google apps to include the Android Market but still stream my Amazon content. These one click temp unroot apps have made it possible for me to put in a pair of headphones and watch Breaking Bad and the Walking Dead until one am without bothering my wife. But now I can hit the temp root/unroot button without going near a computer and download one of a gazillion games I already purchased from the Market over the last two years, load up the fire and hand it to my 9 year old when we get into the car. This allows me to enjoy some blissful time with talk radio without any complaints from the back seat. And one other thing unless I'm wrong my Kindle Fire is the only device on the market right now that allows me to download my purchased movies and shows from Amazon, store them on the device and take them on the go when no wifi connection will be available. As far as a full fledged tablet it was never the intent for this device. It does what it is supposed to do very well. As far as a full fledged tablet that for me will come when I buy the Asus Transformer Prime next month :-D

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk

 

[neemo6]

No not yet.

 

[andrewb11]

Well the Kindle Fire is out and I find I'm happy I cancelled my pre-order. I like the 7" tablet size, but $200 is just too much for what the K-Fire offers me.

It's that 8GB storage space that's the deal killer for me. Combined with no 3G or mobile internet of any kind, that means I can only use a Fire in my house.

Now I'm thinking about investing in a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus. It's $399 ($200 more) but comes with 16GB internal memory, Honeycomb and a microSD slot as well as GPS.

Google's new Music store pretty much duplicates what Amazon offers me and more. (The Google Music Manager will scan my HDD and upload any CDs I rip to it while Amazon forces me to do that manually.)

I'll still be able to get my books at Amazon and B&N. I can watch video from Netflix, Hulu and Amazon (via web app).

There was really only one reason for me to chose a Kindle Fire and that was the ability to download mobile versions of my paid video content for viewing while away from WiFi. But that 8GB space is just too small.

It's a valiant effort from Amazon, but the Fire is like all Kindles -- too costly for too little.

I do think it'll help sell the 7" tablet market though. That'll be exciting.

Absolutely agree with you ! I returned Kindle Fire after playing three days with it. It is cheap, but not ready for prime time yet. Everything about it (other than price) is very mediocre. I hope that it would be a good device in its next generation; after Amazon learn from mistakes and release Kindle Fire 2.

For now, I returned it and got Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 Plus. Yes, it is twice as much ($400) but its light years ahead of Kindle Fire. It is truly amazing device that let you do what you need without all the hiccups and limitations of Kindle Fire. Those two are a great example of "You get what you pay for".

 

[Wildo6882]

Absolutely agree with you ! I returned Kindle Fire after playing three days with it. It is cheap, but not ready for prime time yet. Everything about it (other than price) is very mediocre. I hope that it would be a good device in its next generation; after Amazon learn from mistakes and release Kindle Fire 2.

For now, I returned it and got Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 Plus. Yes, it is twice as much ($400) but its light years ahead of Kindle Fire. It is truly amazing device that let you do what you need without all the hiccups and limitations of Kindle Fire. Those two are a great example of "You get what you pay for".

How is it not ready for prime time yet? I don't want to be an a**, but this quote drives me nuts. I know the specs aren't the best, but what it does it does well, and does it admirably. The specs of most, if not all, Apple products are significantly lower than the majority of Android products, however, does this cause Apple products to fail or not be "ready for prime time"?

This product was not, nor will it ever be, marketed towards the Android connoisseur. It is an entry level media tablet that is essentially a store-front for Amazon and its media. The price point is considerably less than anything on the market (take out the Nook, which is decent, but I would think something from Amazon would have a little more support and a greater ecosystem - however, time will tell); and it provides web browsing, books, video viewing, music, apps, etc. It does exactly what the vast majority of people who use tablets use them for. Does it have all of the options that some of the higher priced tablets have? Of course not, then it would also cost $400-500. Which is not what Amazon intended. Does it have lower on-board memory? Yes. And while I do wish it had more storage, to be able to easily transfer things back and forth to the cloud will work for me, as it will for most of the people who buy one.

Is the Fire for everyone? No. And I have no issue with anyone returning it and wanting those features that the higher priced tablets provide. I am one of those people that is looking into whether or not it would be worth it to fork out an additional $200-300 for a tablet (yes I have a GTab 10.1, but I don't like the size, the deal I got on it was too good to pass up).

I have no qualms with saying it isn't for you because of the areas that it is lacking, but to say it isn't ready for prime time is ridiculous.

 

[WillysJeepMan]

I am puzzled as to how any objective observer can claim that the Kindle Fire is not a good deal for the price considering the quality level of cheap no-name Android tablets. The Fire is only $25-$50 more than those tablets.

To then turn around and point to a device that is twice the price and claim that it is light-years ahead of the KF is quite puzzling. That device BETTER BE more amazing than a device half its price.

 

[ricktat]

It will not replace my PC or my phone but an Ipad wouldnt have done that either.

I wanted a medium size tablet for the fun things that a tablet can do. It works perfectly for that. The Amazon app store is exploding because of the sales of the device. It has most of what anyone would want now just a week into sales. It will grow even more.

Most parents have a kid who wants an Ipad for christmas or more than one kid. So this is affordble if you have one kid and pretty close to affordable for 2-3 kids.

By Christmas there will be 3 of these in my household.

What part of quality have people been complaining about? The overall feel and fit and finish is as good or better than anything out there. or was the quality pointed at something else?

 

[neemo6]

Asus transformer @250 is a much better deal.

 

[frmorrison]

While the Transformer will be sold for 250 on Black Friday at Best Buy, it is a doorbuster so there likely would be a limited selection, maybe just ten-50 units.

 

[anon(392870)]

I'm still waiting to see how the Amazon App Store responds, and if it grows. If it does, this thing could be a beast. At least for me.

I think people need to understand that this thing isn't an iPad in every sense of the word, but most of the things people use an iPad for are things you can do on the Fire.

I don't need GPS on a tablet I am keeping in my house or flying on a plane with.

I will still use my netbook, my desktop, and my phone, but I'm enjoying the Fire so far. It's great for laying on the couch and browsing the internet, or playing some games or watching some movies.

When I travel I'll use the phone to hotspot WiFi to the Fire, so for me there's no need for a 3G connection either.

I realize not everyone has all these things or wants the exact same thing out of it, but it's a quite nice device, despite some of the quirks (I'm not a giant fan of the carousel, a bit too hard to navigate).

 

[dabombcra]

The kindle will work for a select set of people as does the other tablets. My wife has the kindle because it as basic as it can get. It is simple to use and navigate. She doesn't even try use my Resound because it is to much for her. That is why the kindle is perfect for her.

If you want something bigger with all of the bells and whistles, the kindle fire is not for you. As with all new things, amazon will keep this going and only make it better as time goes by. Or they will end up like HP having something good and then throwing it away. Lets hope Amazon sticks with the first option.