HD Fire HD10 - Hands On Review

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Tiny monkeys with flashlights .....

...I had that one coming.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Sometime next year we are. Hubby is going over there to teach English. We are excited! I've not sure how Amazon's stuff will work over there though yet.

I went to Korea earlier this year. Everything worked fine, I think even my PW1's 3G did as well. I tried to check 3G coverage map (for Kindle) but it seems to be down at the moment. Just need a suitable power adapter, of course. And stay south of the DMZ...

[Sydney's Mom]

Wow. The stupid carousel is gone and it has a micro SD? It would be worth it just for those two things, but my 8.9HDX is perfectly fine. I have also had Samsung Galaxy Tabs (currently have a Tab S), just to get a mico SD slot. I have had problems downloading prime movies for offline viewing-it just gets full too fast (especially since Unstoppable, White House Down and Battleship have to be waiting on every tablet and computer I own. Juvenile, much?) It sounds like the ppi is less than my HDX, as well. If they can get this up to the quality of the HDX, I might just give up my other android tablet. Ah, but still no access to google play. Well, I am sick of gp always asking for permission to access my contacts. I know Alexa does all that and more, but at least she doesn't tell me about it. Of course, if I give up an android tablet, I have no excuse to go to Costco on Black Friday. Decisions, decisions.

[tomsem]

There seems to be very little discussion about the 2015 Fire HD lineup here, only 5 weeks after shipping.

As a point of reference, consider the number of reviews for these on Amazon.com (assumption: reviews correlate strongly with unit sales):

Fire 7: 12,009
Fire HD8: 1,788
Fire HD10: 1,355
Fire HD6: about 680 reviews since new tablets shipped

As another point of reference, consider analogous numbers for the Kindle lineup:

Kindle: 12,665 (about 3,330 since PW3 shipped, about 680 since Fire HDs shipped)
Kindle Paperwhite 3 (shipped end of June 2015, about 2300 since Fire HDs shipped): 8,805
Kindle Voyage: 7,500 (about 1,800 since PW3 shipped, about 400 since Fire HDs shipped)

So some trends are clear:

- Cheap tablets are popular. HD7 represents 70% of Fire sales.
- The Kindle Voyage accounts for about about 12% of Kindle sales, but less than 2% of device sales.
- Fire devices account for about 80% of Amazon device sales since the new Fire HD lineup launched.

This makes prospect of future premium devices like HDX and Voyage seem unlikely. Amazon will not make new devices if they don't sell in sufficient quantities to recoup startup costs in a reasonable amount of time.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by tomsem

- Cheap tablets are popular. HD7 represents 70% of Fire sales.
- The Kindle Voyage accounts for about about 12% of Kindle sales, but less than 2% of device sales.
- Fire devices account for about 80% of Amazon device sales since the new Fire HD lineup launched.

This makes prospect of future premium devices like HDX and Voyage seem unlikely. Amazon will not make new devices if they don't sell in sufficient quantities to recoup startup costs in a reasonable amount of time.

That's an unfortunate prediction. It's also unfortunate what they did to their tablet lineup this year. I'd have been really interested in the 8" Fire if the screen and battery life were much better.

By the way, the 2015 7" Fire is not HD. It's just Fire 7. Or Fire 7 SC (for Super Crappy).

As for ereaders, I am sure for most people the PW3 is great and they wouldn't see the need to spend more for the Voyage. So it may well be doomed.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by tomsem

This makes prospect of future premium devices like HDX and Voyage seem unlikely. Amazon will not make new devices if they don't sell in sufficient quantities to recoup startup costs in a reasonable amount of time.

I have a HDX 7 but it's the last Fire I'll ever own, I don't care about the Fires anymore, but I'd be sad if the Voyage is the only iteration of that device. The ereaders might survive longer than the Fires as they are unique devices but there are far too many decent android tablets competing with Amazon.

[BenG]

Originally Posted by tomsem

This makes prospect of future premium devices like HDX and Voyage seem unlikely. Amazon will not make new devices if they don't sell in sufficient quantities to recoup startup costs in a reasonable amount of time.

Possibly, but profit margins are usually much smaller on basic products than on premium products.

[tubemonkey]

The HD 10 is on sale for $30 off, bringing it to $200. Exp date unknown.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by BenG

Possibly, but profit margins are usually much smaller on basic products than on premium products.

Yes, and such profit margins could help justify continuing a product line with smaller sales volume (noting that Voyage has only seen one temporary price reduction that I know of). But a combination of high profit and high volume is far easier to justify. Only Apple seems to be able to pull that off, however (and maybe even their luck is running out).

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I have a HDX 7 but it's the last Fire I'll ever own, I don't care about the Fires anymore, but I'd be sad if the Voyage is the only iteration of that device. The ereaders might survive longer than the Fires as they are unique devices but there are far too many decent android tablets competing with Amazon.

It is also about people finding a smartphone is enough of a tablet that they aren't interested in tablets any more.

[Barbara1955]

How do you move Movies from the Main Storage to the SDCard?

I have the esfile & Vudu DL on the SDCard well it went their on its own... No Problem. But the Movies from Vudu DL But are Not on the SDCard ...nor can I find them on the Main storage?? thru my PC....

It takes about 30-45 mins to DL Movies on my Vudu Account BUT 2 DAYS to DL Movies from Amazon???

[pjmpjm]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Odd .... a very odd conglomeration of software and hardware ... very odd
[I think this will become the DX of the Fire Tablet line]

Disclaimer/history: I've been using a Fire HDX 8.9" second generation tablet for both reading and video. I love the screen resolution, but keep running out of storage - I download videos to watch offline [the Time Warner cable in my neighborhood fills up & slows down every night as folks come home & pile on - but Google fiber is on the way!] - so I've been clamoring for a card slot for downloads.

Preliminary impressions/observations (after 2 days):

Hardware:
1. Very strange form factor - esp. when used in portrait mode.
2. Very light weight - can easily hold in one hand.
3. More glare on this screen than on the HDX - may try an anti-glare film since I won't be reading much on it (see below).


Reading App:
1. Useless for reading if you need to increase the font size - like the reading app on existing tablets, there is a HUGE jump between the smaller fonts and the next size up (between 5 & 6 or 6 & 7 on the HDX if I remember correctly) - which makes reading at a comfortable font size ludicrous in portrait mode. What is so difficult about supplying some intermediate font size selections?
2. Useful for reading poetry with long lines in landscape mode at a legible font size - to preserve the layout on the original print page.
3. Fonts in the reading app are not as crisp as on the HDX.
4. Menus are accessed by tapping the center of the screen - not the top.
5. Tapping the center of the screen also reveals the TOC - formerly dragged from the left side.

Video App:
1. Movies/TV shows look great - and the speakers are better than on the HDX. I'm still playing around with playback modes: zoom, letter box, etc.

Software:
1. The trademark carousel is gone - the Home screen more closely resembles other Android devices - with the installed apps displayed.
2. A 'Recent' screen replaces the carousel - it displays the most recently opened items - books, apps, docs, etc.
3. A ghosted ribbon menu on the top of the Home screen lists: books, Apps, Docs, Games, etc. and can be scrolled to access the individual sections - which now each have their own 'home' screen.
4. You can customize the screen wallpaper.
5. Performance is sluggish - there is a noticeable lag after tapping an icon or arrow on the screen.

After using the carousel for years, this new layout contains major changes - but the Fire tablet now contains more 'typical' Android behavior/displays - which may make them more attractive to more users.

More later, as I continue playing with it.

Thanks very for the review! Had already bought my HD 10 to replace my older Fire when I read it, but found it interesting. Would be glad to hear more. I have a 128 gb SD card in my slot . . . what would be the best use for it? Shame it can't be used to store more books . . . or can it?

[Barbara1955]

Originally Posted by pjmpjm

Thanks very for the review! Had already bought my HD 10 to replace my older Fire when I read it, but found it interesting. Would be glad to hear more. I have a 128 gb SD card in my slot . . . what would be the best use for it? Shame it can't be used to store more books . . . or can it?

E-Books Can go onto the SDCard BUT you cant read them from the card so useless. I did manage to move my Apps to the SDCard...that help with Space on the Main Hard Drive. I am still having problems downloading Amazon & Vudu Movies to the SDCard. They Only want to Download to the Main HD. Had Zero help on my post asking...guessing everyone in the same boat. Contacted CS they had No clue beyond flipping the switch. & they couldn't tell me why Amazon Movies that 2 DAYS to Download But the Vudu 30 mins!
Some how in my pea brain I really thought this 10 would be the same as my Fire HD 7 just bigger & more Storage. [me smacking myself]

[pjmpjm]

Katie1, I've come up with the idea of storing all my really large epub and pdf books on the SD card, and then viewing them with a separate ebook viewer, like Aldiko or whatever. Not very convenient, but I guess it would allow more storage of books. Would be good to hear from others as to what they do with this huge but nevertheless annoying storage facility.

[Barbara1955]

I don't mind my ebooks being on the main HD. What I wanted SDCard for was Movies. I cant even get my Amazon Movies on the dang card. I can Only think my Vudu are going on it. No proof as I cant find them thru hooking up to my PC...

Had it since 2/3 wish I could return it for my money back Really Disappointed in it.