MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - HD Kindle Fire HD2

flyingturtle · 02-23-2014, 06:44 PM

Hey, Blossom, I just joined this forum but wanted to say thanks for your posts about the new Kindles and also of the Nexus 7.

I was having a really hard time deciding on whether to buy the Kindle HDX or not and your posts helped me make my decision. I bought both the Nexus 7 2013 and Kindle HD 2013, best of both worlds. I never would have considered doing that, if I hadn't read your posts.

Both devices were on sale recently, plus with a few gift cards, I was able to buy both of them together for well under $300 -- not too much more than a HDX Kindle.

The Nexus has impressed me greatly, I think didn't having access to the Google Play store and the Google apps would be that big of a deal, but it's been great for work as I use Gmail and Google docs a lot. Much better than using my iPad/iPhone. Plus the screen resolution is fantastic, especially for rendering fonts. Wow. Only thing that I don't like is the battery life, could be better. Great tablet overall tablet though. I use it more than my iOS devices now.

The second surprise was the Kindle HD 2013. I initially ignored this base model, thinking it would be too lacking, but for it's price, it's a wonderful device. While I own almost all e-Ink Kindle models ever made, as far as Kindle Fire's, I still only owned the original Fire so the HD 2013 Fire was a big upgrade for me.

While I initially wished it was as light as the Nexus or the new HDX, I really like the rubbery backside of the model -- it makes it easy to hold in your hand. Love the tactile feel of it. I really like all the new features of the 2013 model, it's much zippier than my 1st-gen Kindle Fire, and one feature I didn't think I'd use that much -- the text-to-speech feature, is really great for working or driving while listening a book. They really improved the voice over the Kindle Keyboard & Kindle Touch versions. I'm using that feature a lot lately.

The 8GB, like my 1st-Gen Kindle Fire, is really too small, since you can only use about a portion of that (4gb maybe?) but since I have my Nexus to install any big Android-related apps (plus Amazon let's you install the Amazon Appstore on the Nexus), I don't really need that much space on my Kindle Fire HD. Also read the tip about using Calibre Companion to get books from my PC (gotta try that out).

Great budget device and it's got me thinking that I may start preferring to read on these devices over my e-Ink Kindles.

Anyway, thanks again and to everyone else that posted as well.

02-23-2014, 06:44 PM	#45
flyingturtle Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2014 Device: none	Hey, Blossom, I just joined this forum but wanted to say thanks for your posts about the new Kindles and also of the Nexus 7. I was having a really hard time deciding on whether to buy the Kindle HDX or not and your posts helped me make my decision. I bought both the Nexus 7 2013 and Kindle HD 2013, best of both worlds. I never would have considered doing that, if I hadn't read your posts. Both devices were on sale recently, plus with a few gift cards, I was able to buy both of them together for well under $300 -- not too much more than a HDX Kindle. The Nexus has impressed me greatly, I think didn't having access to the Google Play store and the Google apps would be that big of a deal, but it's been great for work as I use Gmail and Google docs a lot. Much better than using my iPad/iPhone. Plus the screen resolution is fantastic, especially for rendering fonts. Wow. Only thing that I don't like is the battery life, could be better. Great tablet overall tablet though. I use it more than my iOS devices now. The second surprise was the Kindle HD 2013. I initially ignored this base model, thinking it would be too lacking, but for it's price, it's a wonderful device. While I own almost all e-Ink Kindle models ever made, as far as Kindle Fire's, I still only owned the original Fire so the HD 2013 Fire was a big upgrade for me. While I initially wished it was as light as the Nexus or the new HDX, I really like the rubbery backside of the model -- it makes it easy to hold in your hand. Love the tactile feel of it. I really like all the new features of the 2013 model, it's much zippier than my 1st-gen Kindle Fire, and one feature I didn't think I'd use that much -- the text-to-speech feature, is really great for working or driving while listening a book. They really improved the voice over the Kindle Keyboard & Kindle Touch versions. I'm using that feature a lot lately. The 8GB, like my 1st-Gen Kindle Fire, is really too small, since you can only use about a portion of that (4gb maybe?) but since I have my Nexus to install any big Android-related apps (plus Amazon let's you install the Amazon Appstore on the Nexus), I don't really need that much space on my Kindle Fire HD. Also read the tip about using Calibre Companion to get books from my PC (gotta try that out). Great budget device and it's got me thinking that I may start preferring to read on these devices over my e-Ink Kindles. Anyway, thanks again and to everyone else that posted as well.