• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Why would you buy one?

J

jackdsparker94

Well-Known Member
So I've seen this new tablet for about a few days now and Amazon said it's cheap. I had to look it up! £200?! Really...

My question is why would you buy an android tablet that doesn't support the android market unless hacked when you could get the flytouch3 which is 3inchs bigger or one of samsungs 8.9" tablets?

This confused me so anybody own a fire and would tell me what's so great?

Thanks, Jack
 
jackdsparker94 said:
So I've seen this new tablet for about a few days now and Amazon said it's cheap. I had to look it up! £200?! Really...

My question is why would you buy an android tablet that doesn't support the android market unless hacked when you could get the flytouch3 which is 3inchs bigger or one of samsungs 8.9" tablets?

This confused me so anybody own a fire and would tell me what's so great?

Thanks, Jack
Click to expand...

The way I see it, it's not a tablet. It's just an e-reader in color w/ some added bonuses.

ylexot said:
In the US, it is only $200 which is ~
Click to expand...
 
NYCHitman1 said:
You can have the Nook tablet for $50 more without any real services attached to it besides a crazy expensive book store. Have fun.
Click to expand...
Ummm...it has more than the book store. It comes preloaded with Pandora, Netflix, and Hulu+ apps. There is a B&N app store, but it is extremely limited. However, sideloading is easy.

Or you could do what most people on these forums do...root, ROM, have anything you want. Same as the KF with better specs. I could care less about Amazon's services.
 
ylexot said:
Ummm...it has more than the book store. It comes preloaded with Pandora, Netflix, and Hulu+ apps. There is a B&N app store, but it is extremely limited. However, sideloading is easy.

Or you could do what most people on these forums do...root, ROM, have anything you want. Same as the KF with better specs. I could care less about Amazon's services.
Click to expand...

So basically you'd buy a color e-reader like the Fire and then be peeved that it's not a tablet? Makes no sense.
 
A.Nonymous said:
So basically you'd buy a color e-reader like the Fire and then be peeved that it's not a tablet? Makes no sense.
Click to expand...
:confused: Where did I say anything remotely close to that? I wouldn't buy the KF, NT, or NC unless it can be rooted and ROM'd to make it a low-end tablet that does what I want it to do. I wouldn't get any of them to use as-is because I researched it and know that they are too limited for me.
 
The Android Market for tablets still in beta mode. There are not that many specialized tablet apps so it isn't much that much of a lost at the moment.

The Amazon ecosystem is more mature for tablets and will have a large user base. It will likely have the same support or even more than current Android tablets. Many of the main functions of a tablet are done easier with Amazon like watching tv shows, reading magazines and syncing with cloud services.

The biggest thing about the tablet is the price of $199, which is an impulsive purchase price range. I would love to get an 8.9" Samsung tablet, but its over double the price.

Other cheap Android tablets are too slow to be usable and won't have much support from developers. The good Android tablets that will run Ice Cream Sandwich are going to be $350 or more. The Kindle Fire just hits the sweet spot in terms of price and performance.
 
I could have paid 600 bucks for an iPad or some other more expensive android tablet but i would do nothing more on those than i do on my KF. I wanted a tablet to read, watch videos, listen to music and play the occational game. Really, what else is there to do?
 
ZachMob said:
The Android Market for tablets still in beta mode. There are not that many specialized tablet apps so it isn't much that much of a lost at the moment.
Click to expand...

It's a bit of a red herring to cite the lack of tablet apps. Unlike iOS, Android apps scale to screen size. An app you run on your phone will work on a 10" tablet 99% of the time. There are some Android apps that are set to only display at a certain size. These are the exceptions. You don't need specialized tablet apps to use a tablet.

Other cheap Android tablets are too slow to be usable and won't have much support from developers. The good Android tablets that will run Ice Cream Sandwich are going to be $350 or more. The Kindle Fire just hits the sweet spot in terms of price and performance.
Click to expand...

No one should look at a Fire as an Android tablet really. It's not what it's designed for. It's like buying a Prius and getting pissed because you can't haul refrigerators with it. The Prius is not designed to haul refrigerators. If you need to haul large appliances you should buy a pickup truck. People are trying to use the Fire for something it's not designed to do and then getting bent out of shape because it won't do it.
 
I have an iphone with unlimited data (jailbroken) to do data on the move. I have have a laptop with a huge amount of storage and processing power. I even have a Kindle that I use for reading books. I ordered the Fire because I wanted another toy, plain and simple. It will be great on the plane, sitting at my daughter's horse shows, or too lazy at home to pull out the laptop to watch a movie in bed or look up a score online. I wouldn't use an iPad for anything more than that. I'll root it, and I have dreams of it being a USB host someday to increase storage, but I'll use it as a toy and enjoy it that way.
 
Why would you buy one?

I've been having a bit of an epiphany on that question since I got this thing and I've finally found peace. Usually when I get a device I read everything under the sun, synch it to every account I have and load all kinds of crap on there try to make sure it will do this, that and the other, research workarounds for what doesn't work and basically obsess over every little thing. I'm gonna save that for another device - on this one I'm just gonna use it for what it is. I have a couple books on there. I'm gonna read the books I have instead of spending hours on how to hack it to make it read every format under the sun. I'm gonna watch the prime videos and not worry about what I can't watch. And for once I'm just gonna be cool with that. My usual M.O. is to spend more time working on the the device than I do looking at the content I got it to play in the first place.
 
A.Nonymous said:
It's a bit of a red herring to cite the lack of tablet apps. Unlike iOS, Android apps scale to screen size. An app you run on your phone will work on a 10" tablet 99% of the time. There are some Android apps that are set to only display at a certain size. These are the exceptions. You don't need specialized tablet apps to use a tablet.
Click to expand...

Most apps can run, but it doesn't mean they are optimized for tablets. Android is designed to scale apps from about 3.2 inches to 5 inches. The scaling is wonky when it is blown up to 10 inches providing a sub par experience.

This will hopefully change when ICS becomes more popular, but the Kindle Fire will likely have more apps optimized to take advantage of the large screen size until then.
 
ZachMob said:
Most apps can run, but it doesn't mean they are optimized for tablets. Android is designed to scale apps from about 3.2 inches to 5 inches. The scaling is wonky when it is blown up to 10 inches providing a sub par experience.

This will hopefully change when ICS becomes more popular, but the Kindle Fire will likely have more apps optimized to take advantage of the large screen size until then.
Click to expand...

I don't necessarily agree with that. I've got a 7" Tab and 10" Tab. I have all kinds of apps that run just fine on them. Now, they may not be tablet optimized so there is all kinds of blank space that's unused, but the app looks fine otherwise and runs just fine.
 
ZachMob, A.Nonymous is right, and I'm sorry, but you are not. I own an Acer Iconia A500, currently running Honeycomb 3.2. I also own 2 Android-powered phones. Every app that I have on my phones, I also have on my tablet, and they work just fine. A couple scale a bit smaller but still work normally. Since upgrading to 3.2, I can now scale apps that are not made for tablet use. When such an app is opened, an icon appears in my taskbar/notification bar allowing for this.

That said, I do believe that there is a market for the Kindle Fire. Just don't buy one believing that you are getting a full Android tablet for two hundred bucks. There's a reason why my Acer cost twice as much. If all you are looking for is a glorified eBook reader, or if you don't mind not having what a full-on Android tablet has to offer, the Fire is a smoking deal for a deuce!

I use the capabilities that no amount of rooting or custom ROMs will correct with the Fire, so for me, it was worth spending the extra dough. YMMV. Enjoy your device!
 
rasmith3530 said:
ZachMob, A.Nonymous is right, and I'm sorry, but you are not.

That said, I do believe that there is a market for the Kindle Fire. Just don't buy one believing that you are getting a full Android tablet for two hundred bucks. There's a reason why my Acer cost twice as much. If all you are looking for is a glorified eBook reader, or if you don't mind not having what a full-on Android tablet has to offer, the Fire is a smoking deal for a deuce!

I use the capabilities that no amount of rooting or custom ROMs will correct with the Fire, so for me, it was worth spending the extra dough. YMMV. Enjoy your device!
Click to expand...

Agreed.

First, obviously there is a market for a device as the Fire… the pre-sales have proven that.
Mine is ‘in the mail’ and hopefully it will arrive tomorrow.


Why?



  • size – I want a media device small enough to carry & handle easily. Also small enough to read/watch without being too obvious at what I’m doing. Sometimes I’m at events/meetings that I’m bored and want to be otherwise entertained without being too obvious I’m not paying attention. I currently do with my Android phone, but it’s too small to enjoy. At 7” this will be small enough to hold in my lap. IMO 10” is too large to use without out drawing too much attention.

  • content/company –yes, I’m an Amazon fan-boy. I love the Cloud. I love Prime. I love Amazon’s business model. I love their customer service. I love my treatment in the past by them. I have NEVER had any problems with them. And I buy stuff thru Amazon several times a month. I’m a very satisfied customer.

  • price/value –I consider $199 a bargain for what I get.

  • informed – I am informed. I realize what the Fire is… and isn’t. This is NOT a full blown Android tablet. This is NOT an iPad… I don’t need/want an iPad. (I am not a believer in the Cult of Apple). I don’t need a full blown Android tablet, ie. a Galaxy, Xoom, etc. A lot of the problem is misinformed/uninformed people. People, RESEARCH a product before you buy ANYTHING. Reading the reviews of the Fire on Amazon’s site is a hoot. So many morons on the loose that it’s funny.

This device is NOT for everyone. This device is NOT an iPad killer. This device is NOT a Galaxy killer. It is what it is. An Amazon content multimedia device. If that is what one is looking for (I am); enjoy. If not; don’t buy this, you will be disappointed.
 
Sorry, but you guys are wasting your breath. A lot of people on these forums can't understand why anyone in their right mind wouldn't want to spend endless hours of each day changing wallpapers, flashing new roms, and screwing around with their devices.
It boggles their minds that there could people who are neither morons nor technophobes who might be satisfied with the device as it is. That just doesn't make sense to them.
 
grvthang said:
Sorry, but you guys are wasting your breath. A lot of people on these forums can't understand why anyone in their right mind wouldn't want to spend endless hours of each day changing wallpapers, flashing new roms, and screwing around with their devices.
It boggles their minds that there could people who are neither morons nor technophobes who might be satisfied with the device as it is. That just doesn't make sense to them.
Click to expand...

I'm both and I really quite like the fire. It's what I grab when I just want to read or watch something and it's perfect for the gym because it fits in my coat pocket. It's an extremely convenient device that does most things I want. Will I stop having fun rooting crap and trying to workaround for unblessed apk's? Absolutely not.
 
You evidently get it, but when I see posts with topics "No Android Market??!?", and "Why buy a device with no SD card slot?" it's pretty clear a lot of people don't.
 
grvthang said:
Sorry, but you guys are wasting your breath. A lot of people on these forums can't understand why anyone in their right mind wouldn't want to spend endless hours of each day changing wallpapers, flashing new roms, and screwing around with their devices.
It boggles their minds that there could people who are neither morons nor technophobes who might be satisfied with the device as it is. That just doesn't make sense to them.
Click to expand...

Some of the reviews on Amazon are quite entertaining. One person criticizes the device because you have no cloud access without wifi. Another one bashes it for using micro-usb because it's "not common". It really is good for a few chuckles.

I am not a technophobe at all. I may or may not be a moron depending on who you talk to. I like to just pick up devices and have them work. I don't mind spending time setting up and configuring a device one time and one time only. Beyond that, I just want it to work.

I just got back from Best Buy where I went so I could play with the thing. It's heavy. Doesn't seem to be laggy at all IMO. My Tab 10.1 runs circles around it, but I'd expect it to. The lag I saw was not unexpected or unreasonable. If I didn't already have a 7" Tab and a 10.1 Tab I might have picked it up. Nearly picked it up anyway.
 
My wife works for a school district and can receive free books from Amazon if she uses a Kindle. I started checking into the Kindle Ink for her, but decided to pay the difference for the Kindle Fire.

It's not a replacement for an Android tablet, but in her case it's a premium eReader which is what it was meant to be.
 
Whatstreet said:
My wife works for a school district and can receive free books from Amazon if she uses a Kindle. I started checking into the Kindle Ink for her, but decided to pay the difference for the Kindle Fire.

It's not a replacement for an Android tablet, but in her case it's a premium eReader which is what it was meant to be.
Click to expand...

It is an android tablet....

It uses the android operating system and all android apps lol.

Also, it is competition for even the best tablets as far as doing everything except camera/gps apps.

Most of us have a smartphone for those apps anyway. Who carries an ipad around to take pics at work, school, anywhere?

If you know how to sideload apps, then this tablet can do everything you need it for. Also, you can root it and I bet there will be more roots and mods soon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom