Kindle Fire Reviews Rolling In

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

Really? A lot of browsers do this?
Care to name some? (More than Opera Mini)

The regular Opera browser does it too. It's called Turbo and I always have it off.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by Blossom

You have to buy a Micro USB cable this time. The charger is a separate cable unlike previous Kindles.

I have a number of micro USB cables, that's not the issue; the issue is if the code to mount it as a USB drive is there.

If not you'd have to sideload everything from the cloud, making it even more of a Jobsian walled garden, and I'd rather not start down that road.

'sides that, I doubt if the Fire can do anything that my SGT or a Nook Tablet (or a rooted Nook Color for that matter) can't.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by wodin

I have a number of micro USB cables, that's not the issue; the issue is if the code to mount it as a USB drive is there.

If not you'd have to sideload everything from the cloud, making it even more of a Jobsian walled garden, and I'd rather not start down that road.

'sides that, I doubt if the Fire can do anything that my SGT or a Nook Tablet (or a rooted Nook Color for that matter) can't.

Oh yes you can mount it to drag and drop via USB like a drive. It's in the Fire user guide.

Transferring content to your Kindle Fire
You can transfer a variety of content types to your Kindle Fire via its micro-USB connector, including music, videos, photos, and documents.

Please note that personal content transferred to your Kindle Fire is only stored on your device and not archived in the cloud.

To transfer content from your computer to your Kindle Fire, do the following:

1. Connect your Kindle Fire to your computer with a micro-USB cable (sold separately).
2. Slide the arrow from right to left to unlock your Kindle.
3. Open the Kindle Fire drive on your computer. Your Kindle Fire will appear as an external storage drive or volume on the computer’s desktop. Note that Kindle Fire is not usable as a device while connected to your computer as a storage drive or volume.
4. Drag and drop your content into the applicable content folder, such as Music or Pictures.
5. When you are done transferring files, press the Disconnect button at the bottom of the Kindle Fire screen and eject it from your computer, then unplug the USB cable.

[wodin]

Thanks Blossom, Karma to you.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by wodin

I have a number of micro USB cables, that's not the issue; the issue is if the code to mount it as a USB drive is there.

See Downloading and Transferring Files via USB

You can transfer a variety of content from a Windows or Mac computer to your Kindle Fire through a USB cable (sold separately), including music, videos, photos, and documents. When your Kindle Fire is plugged into your computer, it will appear as a removable mass-storage device.

There is more info at the link.

[wizwor]

seems like everyone reviewing the Fire has an agenda. I think I'll just pick one up and see for myself.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by wizwor

seems like everyone reviewing the Fire has an agenda. I think I'll just pick one up and see for myself.

Good idea! There will be better ones like from MobileTechReview soon enough when it's released. Right now I am seeing it compare the Fire to Ipad to Playbook to other tablets when that was never the Kindle Fire intentions. I think of it as a Kindle Plus. The ability to use Android apps is a bonus.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Maybe not including the USB cable is another of Amazon's "green" gestures, like their minimalist packaging?
(Besides, they can use the extra 50 cents profit.)

Amazon is just being considerate. They know their customers have USB cables all over the place and didn't want to burden them with an added expense. After all, including the cable would've raised the price of the Fire to $209.

It's no different than what they did for the regular Kindles. Amazon removed the wall charger because everyone has multiple chargers floating around their houses. It's inclusion would've meant prices of $89 and $109, instead of $79 and $99.

God bless Amazon for being so considerate

[Barbara1955]

My local Dollar Tree has all kinds of USB cables for $1... Even retractable ones!

[jocampo]

I think that if people keep their expectations clear, they will be satisfied. The Kindle Fire is not a 500+ Tablet. It's not even 10", like iPads. So if you consider that before buying probably your mind set will be different as well.

Now, despite my love for Amazon customer service and awesome computer books selection , I won't get an Amazon Kindle Fire. The reason is simple and the same I gave here when I returned the Nook Color: it is too small for PDFs and Magazines.

Let's face it, most magazines were designed to be displayed or read on a 10" size; a real paper magazine is about that size as well. Pictures look better at that size. So, trying to display that on 7" is not going to work.

For PDFs (not sure if will be shipped with a PDF reader app) size also matter. 7" is too small and you will be forced to pinch zoom or scroll down or up a lot. It is a painful PDF reading experience, in my humble opinion.

Reading books? ... well ... like I said before... why do we need a LCD tablet for reading a book? It does not make sense. You will pay more, you will get less battery life, and won't be as usable outdoors as an e-ink device.

So, with no GPS and no 3G capabilities (like Galaxy Tab 7") this will be basically a "selling tool"/ereader for Amazon. And because I don't watch lot of movies on mobile devices, I see no justification for the $200.00 , not on my personal case.

Amazon e-ink devices however, are a different story. They are lighter than most tablets. But I need to check myself if the absent of keyboard will actually impact my reading experience. I don't mind touching an LCD device, the light coming from the screen hide most of the fingerprints, but on eink? ...

I'm happy for all those who bought one and finally found an affordable tablet/ereader. I just hope Amazon won't join the marketing trend and stop selling e-ink devices, or giving us less frequent upgrades (like happened to Kindle DXG) There is nothing better for reading novels and books like simple eink devices. Zero distractions and fantastic battery life. A tablet give me "too much" and "less than that" at the same time to be considered an exclusive way to read a book.

[SCION]

Originally Posted by jocampo

...
Reading books? ... well ... like I said before... why do we need a LCD tablet for reading a book? It does not make sense. You will pay more, you will get less battery life, and won't be as usable outdoors as an e-ink device...

Because more than a handful of folks prefer reading on a backlit screen (great resolution, high ppi, IPS, etc). If I'm not in the direct sun, that's my preference as well. Some are turned off by the black on grey experience of eink. If there was a way to lighten the background so it looked more like a book, more folks would be attracted to them perhaps. It's simply about preference, not about paying more or getting less battery life. Those aren't concerns when you simply aren't turned on by the eInk experience.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by SCION

If there was a way to lighten the background so it looked more like a book, more folks would be attracted to them perhaps.

If there was a way to turn off the backlit part, I'd read books from them also.

[SCION]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

If there was a way to turn off the backlit part, I'd read books from them also.

You can dim the screen until you can't see anymore. Does that count?

[poohbear_nc]

I think that if people keep their expectations clear, they will be satisfied. The Kindle Fire is not a 500+ Tablet. It's not even 10", like iPads. So if you consider that before buying probably your mind set will be different as well.

Well stated! The Kindle Fire was never promised to be anything but a slick, works out of the box, content delivery system for Amazon digital content. And that (apparently) is what it's turned out to be. Anything else is icing on the cake.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by SCION

You can dim the screen until you can't see anymore. Does that count?

I quickly lose interest when I do that