Kindle Fire HD 8.9" $269 - Amazon

Quote from MOkoFOko : Not sure stock android is set to detect, read, or write to SD cards. At least it wasn't back with 2.x and 3.x. And Amazon's OS is based off of Android, so that limitation is passed over. And I'm sure unlocking that ability isn't high on their to-do list. Cost of hardware would go up to add the cardreader port, and they'd complain that that access could lead to security issues. Apple products lack that capability, so obviously Google doesn't feel pressured to push the envelope either. Phone/tablet manufacturers can continue to charge premiums for their soldered memory.

I believe you're mistaken. My Motorola Bionic on 2.3 was able to utilize a microSD card. The Nexus One, which launched with clean Android 2.1, had a microSD card slot.

It is based on Linux and it's easy to get into the file system, so there isn't any problem using SD cards for media storage. In app controls there are even options to move apps to the SD card.

They are moving away from them lately though, which is sad for me because I have a 64 and a 32GB, so it's almost a requisite feature for me when I'm looking to purchase a new phone.

Just wanted to clear that up =)

Not good device, even bad than android.

Quote from Vision33r : Amazon has no business developing software, you can tell by the crappy Android shell they can't come up with a slick UI that doesn't lag. Android 4.1 is about as smooth as iPad and Amazon's Android ICS shell is laggy as hell. They should just stick to selling stuff and let the pros deal with hardware and software.

lol, Ever heard of S3?

Any good roms to replace the stock Amazon one?

BTW - Stereo speakers on tablets are WAY better than the standard 1 speaker on most.

My Playbook sound is 100% better than the Nexus 7 I have. I use the Playbook mostly to stream music now for the baby when I put her to sleep.

Now it's a glorified music player / internet surfer but I'm hoping the new update for BB makes it even better and it gets more apps because the current app selection is still lacking.

This Kindle Fire has dual speakers so I'm sure for sound it's much better than most tablets. For $269 and almost 10" screen I'd say this is a nice bargain. I realize it's a bit locked down but what do people do with their tablets that this blocks you from doing?

It will still stream music from amazon, pandora, etc. It will still stream from Amazon, Netflix movies. It still surfs the internet, checks email, skype, Nexia home automation etc.

So what is this really lacking people? I know not all the apps are there, but a good amount are and if you really wanted to I'm sure you could probably sideload the ones you want pretty easily.

I put a bunch of my old books on my wife's kindle by dragging and dropping right onto her tablet from the usb mass storage.

Now she just saved the link to our synology nas and saves books from that folder onto her kindle to read.

Quote from lchen5 : This is just warm deal. It was selling for $249 a couple of months back. I guess in 2-3 months we will see 7" with 1080P and more powerful CPU tablet on the market. Overall, I would say the best deal for Android based tablet is Nook HD+ for $199 at Staples a couple of month back. I did comparison side by side between Nook HD+ and Kindle Fire HD 8.9. The build quality Kindle Fire HD+ 8.9 is slightly better, but Nook HD+ has better display in terms sharpness and color. Nook HD+ also has micro SD card that can be used to boot too different version of Android.

where can you find the nook hd+ for 199? I check staples and it says 269.

Though I don't have the 8.9 version, I recently received the 7 inch version (through the previous Columbia Bank deal).

I own an iPad (gen1) and so far am very happy with the Fire HD. I do not notice any lag or issues and am really enjoying the flexibility of the Amazon ecosystem between devices. For instance I started Thor on my TV (through PS3) and finished it at my parents on the Fire HD.

Last night I showed my grandfather both the newest version of the iPAD and the Fire HD. I was trying to push him towards the iPAD (larger and faster), but he preferred the Fire. Because it got on FaceBook, surfed the web, and he could easily watch movies for less than half the price.

I realize a lot of tech geeks (myself included) might realize there are more powerful tablets out there, but the Fire holds it's appeal because it is pretty easy to use and is great for media consumption.

Needless to say, I emailed him this deal this morning.

Thanks OP

can this connect to the internets?

Quote from namx : How is this a deal? Amazon discounted the 8.9 HD by $50 in December. Now, it is only a $30 discount. Will wait a little longer. http://slickdeals.net/f/5674210-1...-Shipping?

I agree. Its not a 'great' deal. They also gave students $50 in January.

Quote from Morosy : I don't see why not, especially since I stream them on just a Droid X2. If that can do it, any decent tablet should be able to.

whenever i try to play a movie from amazon store on my Asus Transformer, it always says device not supported. FUUUUUUUU almost bought the Kindle Fire HD coz of that. I gotta try again.

Quote from namx : How is this a deal? Amazon discounted the 8.9 HD by $50 in December. Now, it is only a $30 discount. Will wait a little longer.

Quote from megabit2k : I agree. Its not a 'great' deal. They also gave students $50 in January.

+3. Was discounted $50 at least 3 times in Dec/Jan, once Lightning deal, once for moms, once for students. Warm deal, don't know why it's FP stuff.

I saw they're working on CyanogenMod 10.1 for this. Anyone have any idea if it's ready for prime time yet?

It's crazy how many people are against the Fire. I picked it up at $250 last month because I had around $150 in Amazon credit, and I figured a sub-$100 tablet would be pretty solid. I picked up the 8.9 because I wanted a larger screen. Granted, I'd definitely prefer an iPad but I wasn't about to drop $500 on one.

The Fire, to me, is a solid tablet that does what I want it to do. Standard web browsing, watching videos, reading books, and the occasional app. And it succeeds for me. Sure, I'd like to see more support without rooting, but for what it does, I'm satisfied. I don't understand how many people don't understand that some people just don't have a need for all that other stuff. And if you're a Prime user, that makes this even better for you.

Quote from jontech : For almost 300 bucks I get ads No thanks amazon

EXACTLY!!! the ads is the biggest joke of all... could you imagine if Windows offered Windows 8 with ads for $30 and without ads for $100... people would be in an uproar.

don't give me the "you can root it" response... that's pretty lame way to circumvent for most people