Fire HD 8 2016

Originally Posted by Josieb1

That's party how Amazon keep the prices low. The specs aren't good but then the price reflects that. I want a 32GB Fire as a Fire is the only device that can easily give Text to Speech for kindle books and personal documents. Personal Documents don't download to the sd card which is why I want the 32GB.

I still read on a original Nook Glow alongside my Voyage and Glo HD so whilst I would love a better screen I also don't want to pay a lot for a Fire.

As long as a device does what you need or want, that is all that matters. It is sad though that Amazon is running backwards rather than crawling forward when it comes to the specs on many of their devices.

[mystika1]

Originally Posted by jswinden

It is sad though that Amazon is running backwards rather than crawling forward when it comes to the specs on many of their devices.

Yes. I agree.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by jswinden

As long as a device does what you need or want, that is all that matters. It is sad though that Amazon is running backwards rather than crawling forward when it comes to the specs on many of their devices.

I've had both the HDX 7 and 8.9, both sold now (although tbh I should have kept the 7 ) and I bought both in sales at around half original price so I suspect Amazon got burned with those devices. It seems to me that people won't pay decent tablet prices for Amazon tablets, that's probably because they don't run Google Play, so Amazon changed tack and went for the lower end of the market just making sure they perform well for their own services as that is the only way they can complete. That's my take on it.

Amazon are aiming for every prime family to have a tablet for each member at basically throwaway prices. I think last years HD8 and HD10 were priced too high which explains this years HD8 and no doubt next year a lower priced HD10 will appear. Ironically my HD8 comes with a free two year warranty and I can extend that to four years at no cost, so I expect my Fire will be obsolete long before the warranty runs out.

Originally Posted by Josieb1

.... It seems to me that people won't pay decent tablet prices for Amazon tablets, that's probably because they don't run Google Play....

I'm running Google Play on my Fire HD 6. It is fairly easy to install though you will need to sideload a few files. No biggie though. No jailbreaking is required. Just google "installing Google Play on Amazon Fire tablets" and follow the instructions. Only takes a few minutes, then you can thumb your nose at Amazon's app store! See my attached screen capture and look at the bottom-right portion of the screen.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I'm running Google Play on my Fire HD 6. It is fairly easy to install though you will need to sideload a few files. No biggie though. Just google "installing Google Play on Amazon Fire tablets" and follow the instructions. Only takes a few minutes, then you can thumb your nose at Amazon's app store! See my attached screen capture and look at the bottom-right portion of the screen.

Thank you I'll give that a try, but probably not until December when i've left work and can concentrate on it. That's one of the reasons I've not tried to get a second hand HDX 7, I figured I had lots more options with OS 5 than with a HDX still on 4.5.

[cicsos2]

This morning my wife had a 2 1/2 hour session with one of her doctors so yesterday I downloaded a Prime movie (and it loaded nicely to the SD card). At the office, with ear buds in place, I watched the movie - apx 2 hours - and the battery went from 100% to 87%. I'm still a happy guy. Congrats to those who have been able to get the 2 years warranty for free. This is my 3rd Square Trade warranty. The first two devices lived past their associated warranty, so I am hoping that this one will do the same.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I'm running Google Play on my Fire HD 6. It is fairly easy to install though you will need to sideload a few files. No biggie though. No jailbreaking is required. Just google "installing Google Play on Amazon Fire tablets" and follow the instructions. Only takes a few minutes, then you can thumb your nose at Amazon's app store! See my attached screen capture and look at the bottom-right portion of the screen.

I may try this on my HD6, certainly Amazon's crappstore is one reason I'm not inclined to get another Fire tablet, but by no means the only one.

Since the update to FireOS 5 there have been annoying problems with collections and immersion reading, even after several updates (and maybe there will not be any more). Battery drains excessively when not in use (I have taken to shutting it down) and it charges slowly. I was hoping for an 'improved' HD6 but it looks like that will never happen. And for some reason the Page Flip feature has never appeared (though others report otherwise). My overall impression is that Lab126 has moved on to Echo and Fire TV and other unseen projects and Fire tablet development is a low priority. Ironically the iOS and Android apps seem to get more focus and frequent updates - but those are software-only teams.

Do the apps installed from GP work normally? And specifically Play Books? I side load a few but notifications do not work and some of them complain when launched. Well, I should just try it and see for myself.

Originally Posted by tomsem

I may try this on my HD6, certainly Amazon's crappstore is one reason I'm not inclined to get another Fire tablet, but by no means the only one.

Since the update to FireOS 5 there have been annoying problems with collections and immersion reading, even after several updates (and maybe there will not be any more). Battery drains excessively when not in use (I have taken to shutting it down) and it charges slowly. I was hoping for an 'improved' HD6 but it looks like that will never happen. And for some reason the Page Flip feature has never appeared (though others report otherwise). My overall impression is that Lab126 has moved on to Echo and Fire TV and other unseen projects and Fire tablet development is a low priority. Ironically the iOS and Android apps seem to get more focus and frequent updates - but those are software-only teams.

Do the apps installed from GP work normally? And specifically Play Books? I side load a few but notifications do not work and some of them complain when launched. Well, I should just try it and see for myself.

My Fire HD 6 also drains the battery pretty fast when not in use. I've had a few other Android devices in the past and they all seemed prone to excessive battery drain. And yep, the Kindle app on iOS is way better than on any Fire I've ever used. Not sure why Amazon favors the Apple devices, but it certainly seems to do so. Even Alexa works better on my iOS devices...go figure!

I cannot remember which website I DLed the files from to install Google Play, nor which one I used for the instructions, but I haven't had any issues. Occasionally I do find an app even in the Google Play store that won't install because it says my Fire HD 6 is not eligible, but that has been rare.

[Tylerhav]

http://sideloadplaystore.com/install...r-fire-tablet/

This is straight from Google

[Tylerhav]

Those apk files come from Google!

[Tylerhav]

Well that did not work well

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Tylerhav

Well that did not work well

Context please. What didn't work well?

[Josieb1]

I got my Fire HD 8 tonight and I'm very pleased. It's certainly a lot snappier than the Fire 7 and the screen is really good. I've ordered the magenta case. Oh and screen protectors for a Samsung Tab S8.4 are a perfect fit, I had one spare and I've put it on.

I only want three apps from Google Play so I'll sideload the apks tomorrow like I was doing for the Fire. I'm not going to try and install google play.

Originally Posted by Tylerhav

http://sideloadplaystore.com/install...r-fire-tablet/

This is straight from Google

I doubt it.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Tylerhav

http://sideloadplaystore.com/install...r-fire-tablet/

This is straight from Google

I don't think that is from Google. Everything from Google has google in the website.