Why did YOU buy the Fire?

[lordwalker]

Greag price. TV and video, books and I've been a Prime member for years.

 

[droidntn]

Greag price. TV and video, books and I've been a Prime member for years.

I've used Amazon in the past to order a few things, but never used Prime. I've not spoken to one person who has used Prime and hasn't LOVED it. And, they've not used it for movies. They just loved it for the shipping advantages.

 

[stricsm]

I bought the Fire because I wanted an Android tablet but didn't want to pay the $ for the Thrive and wasn't sure if a 10" was the right size. I actually ordered two Fires - one for the son and one for our oldest daughter (I'll play with one for a month or so and may order another one just for me if I like it.) I also wanted Amazon Prime video in my house for TV viewing and now my son will have to have it. Amazon's reputation and the price point were also big factors. I don't see a problem with 8G storage since you have 5G in the cloud for non-Amazon content and I have nearly unlimited storage on our web page server.

I really like the iPad's functionality but despise iTunes and don't like Apples dictator like control of everything Apple. The iPad is overpriced for what you get.

 

[kdmitchell]

I already have a Motorola Xoom that I rooted and installed a rom on, I love it. Though it seems my wife and kids do as well, they most play games on it and watch videos. Getting this for the wife as I slowly got her on the Android train by giving her my OG droid running Cyanogen-mod and she's been loving it ever since.

Had her spend some face time with the BN Nook Color and I had to pull her away from it, so this was the next logical choice. However even though I pre-ordered the Kindle Fire, I'm still not 100% about it. I do wish it had a camera and a sdcard especially for a device the revolves around content 8GB for storage does not seem like a lot at all. Still on the fence and also looking at the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 / 7 Plus, but for the money the Kindle Fire seems like a good bet.

 

[Wildo6882]

I've been on the fence, fighting back and forth about the Fire or the GTab 7.0 Plus. I've decided that a 7" tablet is the right size for me, so those are the two I narrowed it down to. I've finally pseudo-decided to get the Fire. My reasoning behind this is what I want a tablet for. The main things I want are:

Email
Some games and apps
Books, Movies, TV shows

Basically, the Fire covers all of those at a much lower price point than anything else out there. Amazon is a well-founded company and definitely isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so I know the Fire will remain supported. I completely understand if the storage bothers some people, or no camera, or no GPS. But I don't think I'd ever use the camera, not sure why I'd need GPS on a wi-fi only device when my phone has it, and the unlimited cloud storage for Amazon content should suffice. Plus PRIME keeps picking up more and more channels and shows and I think it's only going to get better. All of this wrapped up into the $200 price point will let me put some of that extra money into a great case and a PRIME membership.

 

[pkcable]

Sold my Galaxy Tab, and I'm using the proceeds to get one, BUT it's not for me, it's for my 70 year old Dad. I'm getting it, because it's what he wants. The same person who bought my Tab also offered to trade me a PlayBook, which I almost got for him. BUT I have learned, that generally you get my Dad what he wants, otherwise you hear about it FOREVER! I MIGHT have mad an exception if the guy had an ipad since I can put the Kindle software (easily) on the ipad, plus it's an ipad.

 

[codered18]

For me..most likely NOT

1) Already have a XOOM / Android Tablet

2) Already have 3rd Gen Kindle

I would get the first IF it has
1) SD Card

OR

2) 16GB or higher

8GB with only 6GB being usable, can't do crap. Might be a good device for first time tablet users. But to watch movie, can't really store a lot..Can't even store a complete season of the Mentalist

 

[megatronium]

I have a touchpad running cm7 alpha 2 and am converting to android so the fire is for my wife for Xmas. The fact that I had enough amex point to but it at "no cost " made it easy.

 

[helmutk]

I also was initially concerned about the lack of a microSD card slot, GPS, camera, and Bluetooth. But then I realized I will probably never need the GPS, I have GPS in my phone and cars already. I would probably not use the camera for pictures or video since I will probably mostly use this device at home and occasionally away but my cell phone has an excellent camera anyway. And I would probably not need Bluetooth for audio or keyboard peripherals since I am fine with wired ear phones and do not anticipate much writing with this unit. And as far as storage goes Amazon provides you with 5GB of free cloud storage for non-Amazon purchases and the Fire will have unlimited for Amazon purchases. You can "purchase" (rent) additional cloud storage from Amazon if needed.
I had also ordered a Lenovo Ideapad A1 tablet, which has these features missing from the Fire, going for $50 more, but I think the Fire will be more suited to my purposes.

 

[freddyc]

Because I have a gadget addiction and I need help ...

 

[esoh]

For me the question of this $200 tablet vs. others comes mainly down to build quality (something not many people talk about). The $200 Lenovo build quality isn't great (from what I can tell). I have heard everyone say that this is solid. It's a tablet, which means it gets carried around, thrown in bags, dropped, abused, etc. If you are going to use it that way (and let's face it, consumer electronics is turning into a consumable industry), then why not get something that looks nice, feels nice, and is solid. I will determine that when I get it in my grubby hands, but if it's anything like the BB Playbook (which everyone says that it is), then it will should be a solid machine, other shortcomings notwithstanding.

 

[monkeyluis]

Well I love the Amazon ecosystem. I have been a Kindle fan since the Kindle 2. I have also been an iPad fan since day one. I absolutely love my iPad, my kids loved it so much I was forced to buy the iPad 2 when it came out .

But the Fire appealed to me because again I can access all of my Amazon content and I am also an Amazon Prime member. What better combination.

So it'll be my inbetween 2nd tablet. I love the form factor and having something a little smaller to read on than the iPad. I like to read non-fic on my iPad, but my Fire will do that now. I also have the Kindle Touch arriving today and that will be for my long form, fic books.

So far I am very very impressed with the Kindle Fire and absolutely love it. I think if anyone could have done it right, it would be Amazon, and I think they did.

If this had been out a few months ago I would have recommended the Fire over the iPad for my mom. Just because it is a little smaller and of course cheaper. Though the Fire is a little heavier than I expected, weird.

 

[vivitar]

I had an asus transformer that lemoned on me so I returned it. The fire does everything I did on my transformer (light gaming, web browsing, content comsumption) and even has hulu+, so I decided to get it instead and use the remaining store credit on other things. So far I'm not noticing anything I can't do that I did on my transformer so it seems like a no brainer. I also like the smaller form factor, I have a laptop for bigger screen web browsing if I want it.

 

[rijc99#WN]

I was debating between this and the Galaxy Tab 7 Plus but that forum and user base seems pretty small compared to the Fire so I anticipate more rapid development here. Despite what I could potentially do with the GT7P, I think the Fire should be good enough for 90% of the time. The rest, I can rely on my phone.