Kindle Fire HD 8.9 16gb for $269, 32gb for $299

Owned the original Kindle Fire, then bought a HD 8.9 on the valentines day promotion, but ended up returning it.

Original KF was terrible, both hardware and software. Laggy interface, no physical volume buttons, heavy/chunky design and limited content (at the time.) The HD 8.9 was a huge step up in hardware in all departments. Speed, size, weight, feel, controls...everything was improved. The screen was quite awesome (Although I got a dead pixel...)

But overall the software still sucks. The carousel is pretty much best suited for reading...even iPad does better at multitasking.

If you just want a tablet to watch netflix movies, read a few books and play a few of the more popular games then this thing is great. Anything more and I would look elsewhere.

a 16GB Kindle Fire for $269 and a 16GB iPad mini for $299.99, which one will you get?

Looks like it's going to be the price from now on.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/20...ps-kindle/

I wish they had more XDA support and that it would be easy to install clean android with google apps; however it is not.

You'll be stuck in Amazon's ecosystem.

The 8.9 has significant performance issues. This is running a mid-tier OMAP processor and graphics solution. The CPU/GPU runs a 720p screen fine but is sluggish on a 1080p screen.

Also if you buy a kindle, you are completely stuck on Amazon's ecosystem. No google play and no way to put your own custom rom on the thing. There are some good things to the Amazon ecosystem but only if you are a paying member of Amazon prime.

Otherwise, given the performance problems and the lack of ability to put a bigger app ecosystem on this thing, I'd hold out. Nook HD+ is the same price (with micro sd slot) and already has CM 10.1 on it. Still somewhat sluggish but at least with modding you can get excellent real-world performance. The ipad mini will also have apple's superior app ecosystem and the new 8" galaxy note will be a productivity superstar for people that can utilize the stylus.

I just returned my Kindle Fire HD 8.9 due to cruddy app support. Some side loaded apps worked well (Youtube) and others bombed (GMail). Dolphin Browser sort of worked with some super annoying quirks.

Would not get it at the new price point.

Quote from cheeto : Kindle is just an android tablet with less apps. It's missing the best apps the Google apps. I would wait for the galaxy note 8 inch or get the nexus 10.

The note that might not come till...September?


On another note, I was playing with the kindle in the store, one problem I had was when I was checking facebook, suppose I commented on a status, I go back to where I started when browsing newsfeed, it would go back to the top of the page instead. Am I doing something wrong? one thing that kinda turned me off.

Quote from MacFrugal : You should spend less time here and more on your reading comprehension.

or maybe you should spend less time posting expired links.

It can be rooted which will enable the installation of Google play store. Almost all of the Google applications would then install and run fine. Also it feels and behaves like a stock android tablet with a custom launcher like nova. You need to be familiar with Android to do the tweaks but once its all setup it is not much different then a tablet running on vanilla ics. + the benefits of amozon prime videos and kindle. Also you can install applications manually downloading the apk files off the web. I bought the kindle fire HD 7" and very happy with it after setting it up. I also like the form factor better then the galaxy tab 10.1 which I sold. I didn't get to play with the 8.9" though.

Quote from TheBeginning : The 8.9 has significant performance issues. This is running a mid-tier OMAP processor and graphics solution. The CPU/GPU runs a 720p screen fine but is sluggish on a 1080p screen. Also if you buy a kindle, you are completely stuck on Amazon's ecosystem. No google play and no way to put your own custom rom on the thing. There are some good things to the Amazon ecosystem but only if you are a paying member of Amazon prime. Otherwise, given the performance problems and the lack of ability to put a bigger app ecosystem on this thing, I'd hold out. Nook HD+ is the same price (with micro sd slot) and already has CM 10.1 on it. Still somewhat sluggish but at least with modding you can get excellent real-world performance. The ipad mini will also have apple's superior app ecosystem and the new 8" galaxy note will be a productivity superstar for people that can utilize the stylus.

Quote from Matchboy85 : Thats what im seeing as well 32GB for half of what a iPad 32GB is thats awesome. I love Apple but they are going to have to make some changes because im not sure im willing to pay double for a tablet with almost identical features.

You have to take into account the Apple app store is substantially more robust than the Android app market, particularly for tablets. I am in all other ways a PC/Android guy, but I transitioned to iPad as my tablet and I would never go back to using any Droid based tablet, especially not a Kindle Fire, which has even fewer apps available.

If all you care about is web browsing and watching videos... sure. Get a Kindle Fire, though I would think a Nexus 7 would be a better purchase, personally. If you want your tablet to have any kind of productivity or versatility, you can't beat an iPad.

But whatever you choose, don't look at specs on paper and assume they have the same "features". That simply is not true.

Quote from julianwhite : a 16GB Kindle Fire for $269 and a 16GB iPad mini for $299.99, which one will you get?

no brainer, spend the 20 bucks and get the far superior ipad mini. ios tablets get all the apps, i sold my nexus 7 since all the tablet apps were zoomed up phone apps. The apps that were tablet specific were ugly as hell compared to what i was used to with my ipad2.

and btw, the reason amazon is dropping prices aren't because a new version, it's cuz no one's buying it. That should be a hint. If your in the market hold off for the next ipad mini rumored to be out in a few months.

Quote from alcedes : no brainer, spend the 20 bucks and get the far superior ipad mini. ios tablets get all the apps, i sold my nexus 7 since all the tablet apps were zoomed up phone apps. The apps that were tablet specific were ugly as hell compared to what i was used to with my ipad2. and btw, the reason amazon is dropping prices aren't because a new version, it's cuz no one's buying it. That should be a hint. If your in the market hold off for the next ipad mini rumored to be out in a few months.

While I largely agree with you, I think it's worth noting that I do NOT agree with Apple releasing a new ipad iteration every 6 months. I have an ipad 2 and won't upgrade until this sucker dies off on me, but I hope the apps don't trend towards favoring the newer tablets only.

I think amazon like to release a new model

For people who have returned this after using it, what was the refund policy of Amazon or wherever you bought it from? Full refund? thx.