No Expansion = Deal Breaker

shadenfroh · 10-04-2011, 12:33 AM

I really was looking forward to Kindle Fire, but now I'm on the fence.

8GB is not enough for the TV shows, PDFs, and music I have. If Fire had an SD card slot, I would have pre-ordered from day 1.

I don't know if I should just get used to transferring via USB or if I should wait for another tablet within $200.

BrowseTheStacks · 10-04-2011, 12:42 AM

A kindle account comes with 5gb of free general cloud storage. It also comes with 5gb of personal document storage for books mailed to your account. Think of it as 18gb of storage.

carld · 10-04-2011, 12:53 AM

It also has unlimited storage of Amazon content. I'm not saying I wouldn't like to see both more memory and an SD card slot, but it's not a make-it or break-it for me

kranu · 10-04-2011, 01:14 AM

Also, for a small monthly fee, you can get unlimited cloud player storage.

yegon · 10-04-2011, 02:46 AM

Since no one is biting in the welcome thread, I'll cut and paste here...

The only thing I struggle to get my head around is the combo of low storage capacity and wifi only. Streaming/cloud is a big part of Amazon's strategy but doesn't the lack of 3G seriously hamper this functionality? I can understand the reasons of it being omitted - hardware cost and perhaps people's unwillingness to get tied into another data plan - but there being no option of the upsell surprises me. 3G option later perhaps? I can see that the last thing Amazon want is people filling it with their own content, but no 3G seems tos scupper the deal somewhat.

The Fire is not something I'm remotely interested in - I like local storage that allows high quality content, despite all talk of cloud I still don't think the infrastructure is good enough to equal good old fashioned local storage - but I can certainly see it succeeding with the masses.

JeremyR · 10-04-2011, 08:20 AM

Well, I think the assumption is that people will mostly use it in their own homes, which likely have Wi-Fi internet. I'm not even sure you can get a wired only router these days.

basschick · 10-04-2011, 09:56 AM

i don't like the idea of cloud storage. there's a usb port, though - can flash drives be used in the fire?

HarryT · 10-04-2011, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by basschick

i don't like the idea of cloud storage. there's a usb port, though - can flash drives be used in the fire?

No, it's a USB client, not a USB host. ie, it's just like an eInk Kindle - you can plug it into a PC to charge it, or to transfer files to it, but you can't connect other USB devices to it.

basschick · 10-04-2011, 10:19 AM

rats. well, no kindle fire for me

thanks for the info.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, it's a USB client, not a USB host. ie, it's just like an eInk Kindle - you can plug it into a PC to charge it, or to transfer files to it, but you can't connect other USB devices to it.

shadenfroh · 10-04-2011, 12:26 PM

The problem with Cloud is the annoyance of uploading. Small files like ebooks might be fine, but not videos.

jswinden · 10-04-2011, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadenfroh

I don't know if I should just get used to transferring via USB or if I should wait for another tablet within $200.

Good luck with that. All the $200 range Android tablets I've seen are pretty bad. I doubt you will get as much bang from the buck from any other low-priced tablet.

pilotbob · 10-04-2011, 01:39 PM

The fire is really not for someone that has a huge current library they want to consume. It is to consume stuff on the Amazon Cloud.

The "I don't like cloud" is becoming a minority opinion. Everything is moving to the cloud. Lion basically keeps most all of your stuff on the cloud. It is available on all your devices and automatically backed up on Apples cloud.

Android phones are tied to the google cloud. I have google plus and any photo I take on my phone is automatically added to my G+ account.

Sure, it might take time to upload your content to the cloud, but once it is there you can consume it on your fire and probably other devices coming down the pike.

BOb

pilotbob · 10-04-2011, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kranu

Also, for a small monthly fee, you can get unlimited cloud player storage.

Unlimited? How?

BOb

abookreader · 10-04-2011, 01:50 PM

I'm not a huge fan of all those clouds drifting around now either.

Well let me take that back. I don't mind the clouds but I like to carry much more than 8GB in my purse too. Why? Because that is the way I am. Do I always have to be reasonable? Yes, I'm quite often in WiFi connection territory but what if I'm not? Plus, on one end I have Amazon and Apple and all their friends pushing me into the clouds and on the other end I have Comcast and ATT limiting our data streaming usage. Poor me, stuck in the middle of the corporate giants.

I fully expect Amazon to be selling me the Fire (2) with expandable memory next year. I don't blame people for calling this a deal breaker though. 8GB is really anemic in today's market.

hn333 · 10-04-2011, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yegon

Since no one is biting in the welcome thread, I'll cut and paste here...

The only thing I struggle to get my head around is the combo of low storage capacity and wifi only. Streaming/cloud is a big part of Amazon's strategy but doesn't the lack of 3G seriously hamper this functionality? I can understand the reasons of it being omitted - hardware cost and perhaps people's unwillingness to get tied into another data plan - but there being no option of the upsell surprises me. 3G option later perhaps? I can see that the last thing Amazon want is people filling it with their own content, but no 3G seems tos scupper the deal somewhat.

The Fire is not something I'm remotely interested in - I like local storage that allows high quality content, despite all talk of cloud I still don't think the infrastructure is good enough to equal good old fashioned local storage - but I can certainly see it succeeding with the masses.

3G would make it cost more, if it had 3G it wouldn't be free.

10-04-2011, 12:33 AM	#1
shadenfroh Member Posts: 10 Karma: 5868 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: none	No Expansion = Deal Breaker I really was looking forward to Kindle Fire, but now I'm on the fence. 8GB is not enough for the TV shows, PDFs, and music I have. If Fire had an SD card slot, I would have pre-ordered from day 1. I don't know if I should just get used to transferring via USB or if I should wait for another tablet within $200.

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10-04-2011, 12:42 AM	#2
BrowseTheStacks BrowseTheStacks Posts: 127 Karma: 24316 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Tampa FL Device: Kindle 3 3G + WI-FI	A kindle account comes with 5gb of free general cloud storage. It also comes with 5gb of personal document storage for books mailed to your account. Think of it as 18gb of storage.

10-04-2011, 12:53 AM	#3
carld Wizard Posts: 2,698 Karma: 4748723 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	It also has unlimited storage of Amazon content. I'm not saying I wouldn't like to see both more memory and an SD card slot, but it's not a make-it or break-it for me

10-04-2011, 01:14 AM	#4
kranu I <3 my Kindle Posts: 528 Karma: 51332 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: United States Device: Kindle 3G + WiFi	Also, for a small monthly fee, you can get unlimited cloud player storage.

10-04-2011, 02:46 AM	#5
yegon Connoisseur Posts: 51 Karma: 2079258 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Sony PRS 505	Since no one is biting in the welcome thread, I'll cut and paste here... The only thing I struggle to get my head around is the combo of low storage capacity and wifi only. Streaming/cloud is a big part of Amazon's strategy but doesn't the lack of 3G seriously hamper this functionality? I can understand the reasons of it being omitted - hardware cost and perhaps people's unwillingness to get tied into another data plan - but there being no option of the upsell surprises me. 3G option later perhaps? I can see that the last thing Amazon want is people filling it with their own content, but no 3G seems tos scupper the deal somewhat. The Fire is not something I'm remotely interested in - I like local storage that allows high quality content, despite all talk of cloud I still don't think the infrastructure is good enough to equal good old fashioned local storage - but I can certainly see it succeeding with the masses.

10-04-2011, 08:20 AM	#6
JeremyR Guru Posts: 973 Karma: 2458402 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: St. Louis Device: Kindle Keyboard, Nook HD+	Well, I think the assumption is that people will mostly use it in their own homes, which likely have Wi-Fi internet. I'm not even sure you can get a wired only router these days.

10-04-2011, 09:56 AM	#7
basschick Wizard Posts: 1,096 Karma: 4695691 Join Date: May 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	i don't like the idea of cloud storage. there's a usb port, though - can flash drives be used in the fire?

10-04-2011, 12:26 PM	#10
shadenfroh Member Posts: 10 Karma: 5868 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: none	The problem with Cloud is the annoyance of uploading. Small files like ebooks might be fine, but not videos.

10-04-2011, 01:39 PM	#12
pilotbob Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,832 Karma: 11844413 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Tampa, FL USA Device: Kindle Touch	The fire is really not for someone that has a huge current library they want to consume. It is to consume stuff on the Amazon Cloud. The "I don't like cloud" is becoming a minority opinion. Everything is moving to the cloud. Lion basically keeps most all of your stuff on the cloud. It is available on all your devices and automatically backed up on Apples cloud. Android phones are tied to the google cloud. I have google plus and any photo I take on my phone is automatically added to my G+ account. Sure, it might take time to upload your content to the cloud, but once it is there you can consume it on your fire and probably other devices coming down the pike. BOb

10-04-2011, 01:50 PM	#14
abookreader Wizard Posts: 1,516 Karma: 2567610 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Kindles - Keyboard, Fire, 2-US, iPhone, iPAD	I'm not a huge fan of all those clouds drifting around now either. Well let me take that back. I don't mind the clouds but I like to carry much more than 8GB in my purse too. Why? Because that is the way I am. Do I always have to be reasonable? Yes, I'm quite often in WiFi connection territory but what if I'm not? Plus, on one end I have Amazon and Apple and all their friends pushing me into the clouds and on the other end I have Comcast and ATT limiting our data streaming usage. Poor me, stuck in the middle of the corporate giants. I fully expect Amazon to be selling me the Fire (2) with expandable memory next year. I don't blame people for calling this a deal breaker though. 8GB is really anemic in today's market.