Why spend $ on a tablet with no SD card like the Fire when there are so many tablets with SD cards?

[kennychaffin]

I was concerned about Fires lack of SD card and last night it dawned on me that the iPad 1 I've been using for the last week has no SD card and I could care less.

I was wondering if you had the opportunity to buy a rooted Nook Color in perfect condition for only $100 if it would be as good or better than the Fire?

Guess it depends. I think the Amazon infrastructure is more appealing than the B&N infrastructure even if the rooted nook is more open -- would still have to pay for netflix or other services..... your mileage may vary.

 

[Topken]

The fire is far more open then the nook tablet. The bootloader on the nook is locked and theres no kexec exploit which means you wont be able to get anything beyond android 2.3 roms on it. As of right now I am paying attention to both camps becuase I am looking to getting one or the other. I can barely get enough money scraped together for one of these devices let alone trying to buy something that costs twice as much or more. The no sd card and limited space of the fire is a negetive to me as I have at least 6 gigs of books and the are neither nook or kindle books so yeah. Having an sd slot would be a major plus for me.

 

[saxrulez]

Content is what is all about for myself and my wife(she will use it far more than I). She reads like nobody's business, and amazon prime is some awesome stuff with the lending. I don't tend to download movies or music. I typically use spotify for music listening. We both have 16gb SD cards on our phones. I've stored almost zero media on it and neither has she.

If they had one with an SD card, I would buy it. They don't and I probably will never think about it again after I buy it!

 

[kennychaffin]

Content is what is all about for myself and my wife(she will use it far more than I). She reads like nobody's business, and amazon prime is some awesome stuff with the lending. I don't tend to download movies or music. I typically use spotify for music listening. We both have 16gb SD cards on our phones. I've stored almost zero media on it and neither has she.

If they had one with an SD card, I would buy it. They don't and I probably will never think about it again after I buy it!

Be sure to check out the local (or non-local if you have access or pay the fee) library ebook borrowing as well! It's great!

 

[Whatstreet]

The function of the SD card is replaced by Amazon Cloud. Your music and books can be downloaded at any time from the cloud service included with your KF. This is acceptable to me because I don't use the KF as a mobile device. It stays in the house where I have wifi.

I started using that Amazon Cloud at its beginning on my Android phone. It works fine if I have a network connection, but sometimes I'm in places that have no cell phone service. Then storage on the phone is nice. But the KF does not fit in my jeans front pocket so I don't carry it around.

 

[saxrulez]

Be sure to check out the local (or non-local if you have access or pay the fee) library ebook borrowing as well! It's great!

I will definitely check that out. It's killing me waiting to buy it. I'm slowly siphoning money out of our bank account so that my wife won't see the purchase on our bank account(we both check it regularly online). I keep pulling out an extra $20 here and there so I can pay cash for it and surprise her on Christmas.

 

[Graves935]

TWO. HUNDRED. DOLLARS. All that needs to be said.

 

[Kmfiremedic111]

You're right - that might be the whole point of Silk. As of right now, this browser is not particularly quick.

Mine is LIGHTING fast! Faster than my ultra smart phone. I must have good wifi.

 

[kennychaffin]

Definitely faster than the Xoom browser.

 

[jimhanseng]

Amazon purposely made it so that just about all you can do with the device is stream their content - this is how they make their money. They actually lose money on the device itself. It's a great $200 device for doing that and not a whole lot else.
This thing is not geared toward geeks - the geek is not their target consumer here.

Obviously you don't have a Kindle Fire. I have an iPad2 and HTC EVO 3d and HTC EVO 4G and NONE of them stream video anywhere near as good as the Kindle Fire. AND the best is HuLu High Def. You are in no way limited on the Kindle Fire. I have: HBO GO, MAX GO, Netflix, Dish Remote, YouTube HD, HuLu Plus and more will come. I have iHeart Radio, Pandora, FoxNews Radio...

What I don't have yet is XM Player.

I am running Go Launcher EX and the Amazon Market. There are no limits. Yes I rooted and did some side loading of apps, but that was within the first day I had the thing. It was the easiest root ever and VooDo OT allows me to temporarily turn un-root so I can stream Amazon Video.

This is not a replacement for the iPad but a compliment. They are totally different devices. iPad is horrible for content because Apple doesn't play well with others. iPad was released on 4/3/2010 and there is STILL no Flash player. There is no device out there that can come close at all to competing with the Kindle Fire anywhere close to the price range.

It's only been out a couple weeks and folks are trying to compare it to a device that is working on it's third generation, and a device that costs 2.5 to 5 times as much. Reality is in order here. I like my iPad 2 for apps, but I hate it for reading or streaming and it is too heavy for long term holding. The Kindle Fire is a good size to use as a personal device for long periods of time. They are just different animals. I expect Kindle Fire to eventually sell just as many units as the iPad and yet have little affect on the sales of the iPad.

You really can't go wrong for $199. This device us going to stand the Android tablet market on it's head.

 

[grvthang]

Obviously you don't have a Kindle Fire. I have an iPad2 and HTC EVO 3d and HTC EVO 4G and NONE of them stream video anywhere near as good as the Kindle Fire. AND the best is HuLu High Def. You are in no way limited on the Kindle Fire. I have: HBO GO, MAX GO, Netflix, Dish Remote, YouTube HD, HuLu Plus and more will come. I have iHeart Radio, Pandora, FoxNews Radio...

What I don't have yet is XM Player.

I am running Go Launcher EX and the Amazon Market. There are no limits. Yes I rooted and did some side loading of apps, but that was within the first day I had the thing. It was the easiest root ever and VooDo OT allows me to temporarily turn un-root so I can stream Amazon Video.

This is not a replacement for the iPad but a compliment. They are totally different devices. iPad is horrible for content because Apple doesn't play well with others. iPad was released on 4/3/2010 and there is STILL no Flash player. There is no device out there that can come close at all to competing with the Kindle Fire anywhere close to the price range.

It's only been out a couple weeks and folks are trying to compare it to a device that is working on it's third generation, and a device that costs 2.5 to 5 times as much. Reality is in order here. I like my iPad 2 for apps, but I hate it for reading or streaming and it is too heavy for long term holding. The Kindle Fire is a good size to use as a personal device for long periods of time. They are just different animals. I expect Kindle Fire to eventually sell just as many units as the iPad and yet have little affect on the sales of the iPad.

You really can't go wrong for $199. This device us going to stand the Android tablet market on it's head.

A lot has happened since I wrote that (the day after release, if you look); people have found all kinds of ways around what Amazon intended (myself included), so my statement about it not being good for much else was based on what was known at the time.
I still believe everything else I wrote still holds - they didn't intend it for geeks; they made it to sell their content. I never compared it to an ipad, and I've always said it's a great deal for $199.

 

[Humpty Dumpty]

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Why do people climb Mt Everest?

Because they can...

For $200 admission, geeks get the thrill of wringing every last zero and one out of some new device. I don't get it, but then I don't have to.

What boggles me is the Kindle Fire owners who complain about what it doesn't have, or what it won't do. Really? Didn't Amazon publish an exhaustive list of specifications before releasing the Fire? I thought so. Besides, the geeks will get Fire to do things Amazon never planned for it, and that is the really good part of geekiness we all appreciate so much.

 

[BigCiX]

8 gigs for $199 for my 6 year old daughter who watches videos on nickjr and disney is a great value.

 

[Bob Maxey]

Actually I don't want to screw around and tweak anything unless I knew I could have an awesome tablet for a fraction of the cost of an off-the-shelf tablet. I was just curious why the geeks would want to screw around with the Fire?

Steve

The Awesome part requires that you spend more money. You get what you pay for, even in the tech world. The tiny screen is a deal killer for me.

 

[Bob Maxey]

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Why do people climb Mt Everest?

Because they can...

For $200 admission, geeks get the thrill of wringing every last zero and one out of some new device. I don't get it, but then I don't have to.

What boggles me is the Kindle Fire owners who complain about what it doesn't have, or what it won't do. Really? Didn't Amazon publish an exhaustive list of specifications before releasing the Fire? I thought so. Besides, the geeks will get Fire to do things Amazon never planned for it, and that is the really good part of geekiness we all appreciate so much.

I am sure Amazon did publish a features list. But I know that many people see what they want to see. The features list means very little to many people that simply assume what they are buying will work for them.

Consider the lack of the Android Market. Some (like me) assumed that ALL Android devices have AM access. We are beat to death daily with phone commercials talking about AM access and the vast numbers of Apps. Amazon makes it a point in their product page to tell us the Fire can hold 80 Apps. It does not say no AM access until you start digging.

We all assume things and sometimes we make mistakes.

We need about a year to digest the sales figures. It cannot compete with Apple and the iPad, but it is an OK device for many people. I suspect people purchase the KF because they cannot afford the iPad; they would purchase an iPad if the price was lower.

I do wonder what will happen if Apple were to release a two hundred dollar iPad that was about the same size as the Fire.

 

[kennychaffin]

.... Some (like me) assumed that ALL Android devices have AM access. We are beat to death daily with phone commercials talking about AM access and the vast numbers of Apps. Amazon makes it a point in their product page to tell us the Fire can hold 80 Apps. It does not say no AM access until you start digging.

We all assume things and sometimes we make mistakes.
...

This may be true, but it is also certainly the status quo for any new product. It's become imperitive and on the shoulders of the consumer to figure out what they are NOT SAYING.

 

[Bob Maxey]

This is not a replacement for the iPad but a compliment. They are totally different devices. iPad is horrible for content because Apple doesn't play well with others. iPad was released on 4/3/2010 and there is STILL no Flash player. There is no device out there that can come close at all to competing with the Kindle Fire anywhere close to the price range.

(snipped a tad)

It's only been out a couple weeks and folks are trying to compare it to a device that is working on it's third generation, and a device that costs 2.5 to 5 times as much. Reality is in order here. I like my iPad 2 for apps, but I hate it for reading or streaming and it is too heavy for long term holding. The Kindle Fire is a good size to use as a personal device for long periods of time. They are just different animals. I expect Kindle Fire to eventually sell just as many units as the iPad and yet have little affect on the sales of the iPad.

You really can't go wrong for $199. This device us going to stand the Android tablet market on it's head.

Were you aware that the Flash debate is no more? Adobe recently announced that they have halted all mobile flash development so in the not too distant future, Android will not have Flash. At least no future mobile implementations of Flash. The big push is to HTML 5. That said, I can display Flash on my iPad 1.

Even Microsoft Windows 8 will not easily support Flash. Flash is dying.

You are correct about competition. The KF represents a good value for a few hundred dollars. But in my view, that is misleading. Good value for the price does not mean better. Quality costs money and Amazon's device is made to serve paid stuff to users as cheaply as possible. Some of us are not tied to Apple because we jailbreak.

Not sure if the KF will set the planet on fire or if sales will approach the iPad. One thing I know about Apple is they have a way of changing the game. Like I say, if Apple released a 7-inch iPad at two hundred dollars, the KF might not sell as well.

 

[kennychaffin]

....

Not sure if the KF will set the planet on fire or if sales will approach the iPad. One thing I know about Apple is they have a way of changing the game. Like I say, if Apple released a 7-inch iPad at two hundred dollars, the KF might not sell as well.

Maybe, but I still would never buy (or even freely enter) into an Apple controlled ecosystem.

 

[Bob Maxey]

Maybe, but I still would never buy (or even freely enter) into an Apple controlled ecosystem.

But aren't you there already? It can be hard to use an Android phone unless you play with Google. I can avoid everything Apple with my iPad.

Granted, I am jailbroken, but that process is easier than Rooting an Android phone in many cases.

We are all tied to someone or something. And being tied to Apple is not a big issue for most users; it is often a silly complaint without merit. The iPad is well protected from problems unlike Android devices. Impossible to brick my device. This is doe to Apple's control.

 

[kennychaffin]

But aren't you there already? It can be hard to use an Android phone unless you play with Google. I can avoid everything Apple with my iPad.

Granted, I am jailbroken, but that process is easier than Rooting an Android phone in many cases.

We are all tied to someone or something. And being tied to Apple is not a big issue for most users; it is often a silly complaint without merit. The iPad is well protected from problems unlike Android devices. Impossible to brick my device. This is doe to Apple's control.

The devil is in the details. There are significant differences.

 

[Bob Maxey]

The devil is in the details. There are significant differences.

For instance? And yes, there are differences. Are you referring to differences between rooting and jailbreaking?

 

[kennychaffin]

No. But I'm not going there. You probably know exactly what I mean.

 

[Bob Maxey]

No. But I'm not going there. You probably know exactly what I mean.

Why not go there? If I do not know what you mean, how the heck can I respond?

That said, let me assume this: perhaps you are talking about Apple's closed nature and dislike for jailbreakers and Android's open nature that allows for more customization out of the box, with no need to root?

Clarify.

 

[kennychaffin]

Nope. I'll just say again what I said:

I still would never buy (or even freely enter) into an Apple controlled ecosystem.

 

[Bob Maxey]

Nope. I'll just say again what I said:

I still would never buy (or even freely enter) into an Apple controlled ecosystem.

Well then, it has been nice talking with you. Sortta.