MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - So, on a scale of 1 to 10

Danariel · 11-28-2011, 08:37 AM

Not sure where I'd rate it, probably not a 1, but I'm unhappy enough with it that I sent it back. I hate the UI, hate the lack of dedicated buttons (these didn't have to be hardware buttons, but could have been capacitive like my HTC's.) At the very least, a HOME button or BACK, AND dedicated volume buttons.

I guess I got spoiled for Android with my Incredible and Thunderbolt. I've rooted them, and have them set up exactly as I want them. I certainly don't want the main UI screens to look like a book application.

I wanted a different keyboard. I use Swype on my Droids, and I knew it was technically possible to get it working on the Kindle Fire. I sideloaded the Swype Installer .apk onto the device, installed it, and there's NO OPTION to enable it. WTF?

So I went to XDA Developers forums, found the threads there, and saw it required root. No biggie, I can do that. I couldn't figure out how to do it myself, but I'm a dab hand at following directions.

I rooted it Thursday afternoon, and tried to get my GApps working on it. Got Gmail and Talk working, but every time I tried to download an app from the Android Market, it would force close. I went back through the directions multiple times, still no luck.

Then I heard about the price drop on the Blackberry Playbook. For the same price, you get double the memory, double the RAM, bluetooth, and not just 1 but 2 cameras. For $100 more, you get 4x the memory. So I'm sending the Fire back and getting something that looks like a tablet, functions like a tablet, and that will soon run Android Apps too. Let's hope I don't hate BB's OS too much, since I can't root it.

Other gripes: screen touch recognition seemed VERY spotty, sometimes I would click on the carousel part, and get nothing, click on the bottom "dock," and get what I clicked on. Overall responsiveness seemed laggy (not Android lag, I'm used to that.) Browser was SLOW on my 20mbps down cable internet connection, even after disabling acceleration.

I guess I wasn't expecting them to adulterate the Android experience as much as they did. I was expecting something along the lines of the difference between HTC Sense, MotoBlur, and AOSP (Android Open Source Project, or base Android) not this stripping out of everything I loved about Android.

Sorely disappointed. I really wanted to love it. :-(

11-28-2011, 08:37 AM	#175
Danariel Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 64 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: Kindle 2	Not sure where I'd rate it, probably not a 1, but I'm unhappy enough with it that I sent it back. I hate the UI, hate the lack of dedicated buttons (these didn't have to be hardware buttons, but could have been capacitive like my HTC's.) At the very least, a HOME button or BACK, AND dedicated volume buttons. I guess I got spoiled for Android with my Incredible and Thunderbolt. I've rooted them, and have them set up exactly as I want them. I certainly don't want the main UI screens to look like a book application. I wanted a different keyboard. I use Swype on my Droids, and I knew it was technically possible to get it working on the Kindle Fire. I sideloaded the Swype Installer .apk onto the device, installed it, and there's NO OPTION to enable it. WTF? So I went to XDA Developers forums, found the threads there, and saw it required root. No biggie, I can do that. I couldn't figure out how to do it myself, but I'm a dab hand at following directions. I rooted it Thursday afternoon, and tried to get my GApps working on it. Got Gmail and Talk working, but every time I tried to download an app from the Android Market, it would force close. I went back through the directions multiple times, still no luck. Then I heard about the price drop on the Blackberry Playbook. For the same price, you get double the memory, double the RAM, bluetooth, and not just 1 but 2 cameras. For $100 more, you get 4x the memory. So I'm sending the Fire back and getting something that looks like a tablet, functions like a tablet, and that will soon run Android Apps too. Let's hope I don't hate BB's OS too much, since I can't root it. Other gripes: screen touch recognition seemed VERY spotty, sometimes I would click on the carousel part, and get nothing, click on the bottom "dock," and get what I clicked on. Overall responsiveness seemed laggy (not Android lag, I'm used to that.) Browser was SLOW on my 20mbps down cable internet connection, even after disabling acceleration. I guess I wasn't expecting them to adulterate the Android experience as much as they did. I was expecting something along the lines of the difference between HTC Sense, MotoBlur, and AOSP (Android Open Source Project, or base Android) not this stripping out of everything I loved about Android. Sorely disappointed. I really wanted to love it. :-(