Kindle Fire: First Impressions.

[weatherman]

@baggy: give it some time. I think there will be software fixes for at least some of your problems (#'s 1, 3, 4, 6, and 7) and a case might solve problem #2. The more time I spend with it, the more I like it and I haven't picked up my iPad in three days. I'm not quite ready to commit to buying a nice case for it, but I'm pretty close at this point, and I think by next week I will be.

[Donnageddon]

OK, so I got a Kindle Fire tonight.

I have never been a fan of the Kindle (I own an original Kindle, and have many opportunities to play with the later generation Kindles owned by relatives and friends)

I just never liked the keyboard or the closed mobi environment of the Kindle. I have stuck with Sony, and now Kobo. And I imagine for most ebooks I will stick with my epub readers.

I own other android "tablets" and "ereaders", but the were all cheap throw-aways.

I have only had the Fire for a few hours, but I have to say, I really like it. I have three different generations of iPod Touch'es and a beloved iPad first generation, and they are great devices. But I always wished Apple made a 5-7 inch device. The iPod Touch and iPad are good, but often too small, or too big.

The Fire really seems to be the Goldilocks solution. Big enough to be useful for video media (and ebooks) and small enough to fit in a coat pocket.

Only had it for a few hours, and it won't likely replace my Sony or Kobo for most novel reading, but it is has a lot of potential as a small media device.

[Donnageddon]

Oh, and yes, it is heavier than it would appear. I imagine that most of the weight is the glass. I would place it at a volume by weight ratio with granite tile.

That is not a disparaging remark. It seems sturdily built.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Donnageddon

OK, so I got a Kindle Fire tonight.

I have never been a fan of the Kindle (I own an original Kindle, and have many opportunities to play with the later generation Kindles owned by relatives and friends)

I just never liked the keyboard or the closed mobi environment of the Kindle. I have stuck with Sony, and now Kobo. And I imagine for most ebooks I will stick with my epub readers.

I own other android "tablets" and "ereaders", but the were all cheap throw-aways.

I have only had the Fire for a few hours, but I have to say, I really like it. I have three different generations of iPod Touch'es and a beloved iPad first generation, and they are great devices. But I always wished Apple made a 5-7 inch device. The iPod Touch and iPad are good, but often too small, or too big.

The Fire really seems to be the Goldilocks solution. Big enough to be useful for video media (and ebooks) and small enough to fit in a coat pocket.

Only had it for a few hours, and it won't likely replace my Sony or Kobo for most novel reading, but it is has a lot of potential as a small media device.

Congrats! I love my Fire! I have several readers sideloaded so I find myself reading on it more than my other Kindles.

[xari]

Originally Posted by Donnageddon

I have only had the Fire for a few hours, but I have to say, I really like it. I have three different generations of iPod Touch'es and a beloved iPad first generation, and they are great devices. But I always wished Apple made a 5-7 inch device. The iPod Touch and iPad are good, but often too small, or too big.

The Fire really seems to be the Goldilocks solution. Big enough to be useful for video media (and ebooks) and small enough to fit in a coat pocket.

Only had it for a few hours, and it won't likely replace my Sony or Kobo for most novel reading, but it is has a lot of potential as a small media device.

Hey! Congrats on your new Fire! Glad to hear that you're enjoying it.

I find that I'm similar to you in terms of reading on it: I can't see it replacing my K4 because, when it comes down to it, no matter which reader I have loaded on it, I'd be reading on a computer screen (and I get enough of that at my day job, which is VERY computer-use intensive); but, I'm loving it for everything else!

I can see reading on it in a pinch, but since it's so portable, it's easy enough to carry both my Fire and my K4 with me, so I just pull out the one I want at that moment and it's working out well.

And, I love your Goldilocks analogy. I think that's spot on: the KFire is just right!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by baggyrinkle

Ive had my Fire for three days now and I may send it back.

1. I love the kindle book reading text and display. But because of the narrow sides while holding it the pages turn accidently way too often.
2. It is way to slippery for me to hold comfortably. Maybe a skin would help?
3. No support for AV enabled kindle books! WTF? Couldnt load 11/22/63!
4. No support for embeded pdf in my favorite e-edition newspaper. Wont display Houston Chronicle web edition either.
5. Web browser url entering and correcting a real PIA.
6. No page numbers!
7. Calibre wont recognize it when connected to usb.

Any suggestions, before I decide to return it?

#1 is just a matter of getting used to it, it can be held one-handed from back/sides pretty easily (at least me)
#2 not nearly as much so as my Xoom -- I got a Gel skin for my Xoom and it's much better....they will have them for the Fire soon I bet.
#3 Not sure about that, but it will likely be updated regularly. I really don't care for video or other media in my "books" though.
#4 PDF works fine here, not sure exactly what issue you are having.
#5 URL's are kindofa pain on most devices but there are multiple browser choices available -- I use Xmarks to sync my bookmarks between all my devices, so at least for my favorites it works fine without having to enter. Also the recent pages part works great. Also the Browser is faster/better than the one on my Xoom!
#6 - yeah that % thing sucks
#7 - It's working for me, probably fixed since you posted Kovid is amazing at keeping Calibre up to date -- send money!

My Fire has 98% replaced my Xoom!! The bigger screen (10") on the Xoom is better for web browsing but that's about it. (well it does have cameras and gps and more memory etc. but functionally the Fire is the sniper cat's meow!) In fact I just ordered more Fires for family presents.

[xari]

Originally Posted by kennyc

but functionally the Fire is the sniper cat's meow!

Bwahahahaha!!!

(Me and my Kitty-Cat found that HI-larious! )

[xari]

Originally Posted by weatherman

@baggy: give it some time. I think there will be software fixes for at least some of your problems

Agreed. Considering how quickly Amazon already pushed out a software update (before the first of us even received our KFires), I really think they're likely to address some of this in future updates.

You can help along the process by using the Help/Feedback function in the Apps section. (After all, they can't fix it if they don't know it's broke! )

Also, for #4 (the PDF issue), my understanding is that some other mobile browsers (Dolphin, perhaps) have that built-in, or at least have an add-on that helps with it.

And for #7, Kovid put out an updated version of Calibre last Friday that added in drivers for the KFire, so you should be good now if you update your program.

Good luck!

[Andy_T]

OK, have had my Kindle Fire now since yesterday and like it quite a bit.

Just a few comments:
- Book reading is good, maybe a little better than the iPad because of the higher resolution at the smaller screen. What I miss, however, is the "specials" section I have on the iPad/iPod Kindle reader app that gives background information on the book, and the iPad's 2 column reading more when in landscape orientation. Hard to believe that Amazon would make the Kindle apps on iDevices better than their own reader.

- Web browsing is much better on the iPad, thanks to the bigger screen. Maybe if you are very young (which I am not) and have 20/20 vision (which I do not), then you will like the Fire, but I simply consider the screen too small.

- Apps - Jury is still out on this for me as I still have to complete my application for a US debit card so I can buy apps. YES - international users can not buy apps. So up to now I was limited to finding .apk files on the internet that might or might not work. I guess I might root the device and link it to the Android marketplace, but I am now trying out the US debit card route (www.usunlocked.com looks quite promising, although it will of course add quite a bit of surcharges on my purchases - 25 cents per transaction means a 25 % surcharge on 0,99$ apps). That, combined with the rather small storage size of 8 GB (my 32 GB ipad is full to the brim with downloaded applications and I have a hard time to decide what to throw out to load new stuff) still has me in a holdup.

Of course, I wanted to have an e-book reader (specifically a sturdy one after breaking the screen of my kindle keyboard) to complement my iPad/iPod as my kids always use these during travel and I am left with my paperback books. Form factor is great for reading.

Best regards,
Andy

[Andy_T]

Originally Posted by Andy_T

- Web browsing is much better on the iPad, thanks to the bigger screen. Maybe if you are very young (which I am not) and have 20/20 vision (which I do not), then you will like the Fire, but I simply consider the screen too small.

Forgot to add that delicate fingers and superiour hand-eye-coordination are also greatly appreciated for hitting buttons and hyperlinks...

[carld]

I finally got out to Best Buy to see a Fire in person today.

First impression: Geeez it's small. For some reason I was just expecting something larger. It's really not much bigger than my Kindle 3, if even that.

I really liked the weight and feel of it, though that was distorted by the lock-down cable. I was surprised the way the bezel just sort of vanishes when you're using it for video and apps.

Overall display quality is excellent. The apps all seemed responsive and video was good with no lag. I was disappointed that the demo unit didn't allow actual web browsing. I also would have liked to have tried out Netflix and Youtube streaming.

I'm still not sure about it for reading though. I was pleased to discover that a simple tap on the right margin turns a page. I'd still prefer dedicated page turn buttons on the side, but as long as I don't actually have to obscure the words with a gesture or swipe or some other silliness to read, I guess I could live with it.

Overall I was impressed by the build quality and functionality. I'm leaning a bit more towards getting one to replace my Kindle 3, well see.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by carld

I finally got out to Best Buy to see a Fire in person today.

First impression: Geeez it's small. For some reason I was just expecting something larger. It's really not much bigger than my Kindle 3, if even that.

I really liked the weight and feel of it, though that was distorted by the lock-down cable. I was surprised the way the bezel just sort of vanishes when you're using it for video and apps.

Overall display quality is excellent. The apps all seemed responsive and video was good with no lag. I was disappointed that the demo unit didn't allow actual web browsing. I also would have liked to have tried out Netflix and Youtube streaming.

I'm still not sure about it for reading though. I was pleased to discover that a simple tap on the right margin turns a page. I'd still prefer dedicated page turn buttons on the side, but as long as I don't actually have to obscure the words with a gesture or swipe or some other silliness to read, I guess I could live with it.

Overall I was impressed by the build quality and functionality. I'm leaning a bit more towards getting one to replace my Kindle 3, well see.

Actually according to its dimensions it's smaller in size than the K3 but thicker and way heavier.

You need only to move your thumb over the area to turn the page. One handed reading at it's finest.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by baggyrinkle

Ive had my Fire for three days now and I may send it back.

1. I love the kindle book reading text and display. But because of the narrow sides while holding it the pages turn accidently way too often.
2. It is way to slippery for me to hold comfortably. Maybe a skin would help?
3. No support for AV enabled kindle books! WTF? Couldnt load 11/22/63!
4. No support for embeded pdf in my favorite e-edition newspaper. Wont display Houston Chronicle web edition either.
5. Web browser url entering and correcting a real PIA.
6. No page numbers!
7. Calibre wont recognize it when connected to usb.

Any suggestions, before I decide to return it?

1, 2: a cover should help
3: Amazon should be delivering text-only edition. For example, I have the A/V enabled 'Jacqueline Kennedy' and I can download it to Fire (or a Kindle), but they strip out the AV content. If you are trying to side load what you use on your iOS device, it won't work. If the wireless delivery isn't working either, call CS. I'm sure they'll get around to AV enabling the Fire app at some point.
4. not sure what you are trying to do
5: its no worse than any touch device I've used
6: they will get around to it eventually
7: you need the latest version of calibre, which added support for Fire.

[ectoplasm]

Originally Posted by carld

..
First impression: Geeez it's small. For some reason I was just expecting something larger. It's really not much bigger than my Kindle 3, if even that.
..

Physically it's almost exactly the same size as the Kindle 3 (I have both), but the viewing area is larger because there is no keyboard.

My first Kindle was a DX, and I got that because of the larger screen. As a tech guy, I assumed a bigger screen is automatically much better. I then got a Kindle 3 after loaning my DX to someone and not getting it back. I found the K3 to work much better than I imagined. After using it, I had no complaints about the size, and the small size and weight allowed for better handling.

I'll still be curious if/when a larger size Fire comes out. But for now, the size "just works".