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The Kitchen Table

Kindle Fire, Amazon Prime, etc.

14 years ago

Hi - I'm probably going to buy a Kindle Fire. With it comes one month of free Amazon Prime, which I've read a bit about. It's $79 annually and seems to provide lots of TV shows, movies, etc.

Anyone have any idea how much it would cost to download TV shows/movies without Amazon Prime? I don't know how much of that I'll do, and am trying to determine whether it'd be more cost-efficient to pay as I go or to purchase Amazon Prime.

Any other thoughts/opinions on Kindle Fire, Amazon Prime?

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Comments (17)

socks
14 years ago
DS/DIL have Amazon Prime and love it. They buy diapers and many other things that way--free shipping and comes very fast. Saves them tons of time out shopping. They were able to share it with other family members, including me. I would not pay for it--not worth it to me at all--but if they want to share, that's great.
alisande
14 years ago
I was just reading about the Kindle Fire. It sounds great! And it costs so much less than an iPad. I know several people who are very happy with Amazon Prime. I personally wouldn't get it for the free shipping, because Amazon offers free shipping on most orders over $25.

As for streaming TV shows and movies, Netflix (which I have) would cost you $7.99 per month.
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Do read the fine print on everything. Prime shipping isn't all free. Often an item on Prime costs $5 more than the same item without prime. They just build shipping into the price. Additionally, often one version will be on Prime, and the others aren't (and sometimes there are different prices depending on color or whatever). That happens more with outside vendors who use Amazon for fulfillment, but sometimes for direct purchases from Amazon, too. Kindle Unlimited is a separate fee. It does cover about 100,000 popular titles, but the other 500,000 are self-published on Amazon books, so the number of titles available is misleading. Not all the self-published stuff is bad, but little of it is very good, based on my sampling. I got Unlimited at a big discount on Prime Day because I figured I'd use it enough to pay for itself at the reduced price. I figured I wouldn't at the regular price. KindleUnlimited only lets you have ten titles at a time, though you can read them across devices (up to six). You have to give back some to get more. I have a Kindle Paperwhite which I use for the daily paper. I'm allergic to the new inks and can't read the paper on paper anymore, and I love that it just shows up and I don't have to put on a coat and go outside for it. I read books more on my phone and tablet, however. The lending thing is okay, but I find it confusing. Echo is also something to look into. Prime Instant video is great. I use it on my iPad. With titles that aren't on Prime, however, it can be a pain. The best thing, however, if you live anywhere within the catchment of one of their big distribution centers, is the amount of one day, or even same day, deliveries that are possible. Mimipadv, I definitely remember driving all over town looking for what used to be available at a local store, or should have been available at every store, etc. When you need something right away and don't have time to go chasing it, and Amazon can deliver it for less than parking would cost, it's a real boon.
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suzieque
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks! And ... is the Kindle Fire only available from Amazon.com? Not in stores?
jel48
14 years ago
I'm curious about this too. Can someone tell me then, if you have the Kindle (whether Kindle Fire or otherwise) and you have Amazon Prime, are the TV shows, movies, etc. that were mentioned above things that you can download for free?

Does having Amazon Prime replace having to pay for downloads?

Also, alisande, you mentioned that it costs so much less than an iPad. Are you saying that Kindle Fire performs all of the same functions as an iPad? Does it allow general Internet access? Does it run programs? Is all of that included if you have the Amazon Prime membership?

I'm a total iPad/Kindle dummy who is very interested but hasn't taken the plunge and hasn't even done extended research yet.
joann23456
14 years ago
Just FYI, you don't have to pay for Amazon Prime if you're only going to download from time to time. You can buy/rent movies one by one from Amazon, the same as you can from iTunes, without a monthly fee.

I know from experience that I don't get my money's worth with a monthly program, so that's what I do.
suzieque
Original Author
14 years ago
joanne, what is the average cost to buy/rent one by one?
alisande
14 years ago
Jel, my only information comes from this description on Amazon. They're calling it a tablet. Scroll down to "What People Are Saying".....the quotes seem to compare it to the iPad.

Suzieque, why would you want to get it anywhere but Amazon? Stores charge tax. :-)
suzieque
Original Author
14 years ago
Not where I live, Alisande! No tax in NH, where I would be buying it. And I'd rather buy it from someplace where I can go if I have questions/problems.

So, if you have the Kindle and don't have Amazon Prime, you have to have a service like Netflix with a subscription? I'd really like to know the average price of watching a TV show or movie without an annual or monthly subscription like Amazon Prime or Netflix.
joann23456
14 years ago
Each movie or show is about $2-5, the same as iTunes. I rent, then hook up my laptop to my television with an HDMI cable and watch on TV.
suzieque
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you!

Ok, I've pre-ordered the Kindle Fire and will decide later whether to continue the Amazon Prime.
fran1523
14 years ago
I have heard that the battery life on the Kindle Fire is very short, like one day. You may want to consider that.
Pieonear
14 years ago
Here is the link re: Amazon lending library

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?docId=1000739811
suzieque
Original Author
14 years ago
I saw that the battery life is about 8 hours maximum, but in the comparisons it looks like the Nook and iPad are about the same. I guess I'll just have to plug it in every night.

Nice info about the lending library, Mammie. Thanks!
socks
14 years ago
My son shared his Amazon Prime membership with me, so I get free shipping, but when I try to borrow a book from the Lending Library, it won't work. Maybe the Lending Library is just for primary Prime members not the ones who it was shared to. If that makes any sense....
joann23456
14 years ago
Regarding the Lending Library, if you do get a Kindle, check out the website for your local library. Mine just started lending Kindle books, which are free to anyone with a library card.
Lindsey_CA
14 years ago
"My son shared his Amazon Prime membership with me, so I get free shipping, but when I try to borrow a book from the Lending Library, it won't work. Maybe the Lending Library is just for primary Prime members not the ones who it was shared to. If that makes any sense...."

You can only download books to Kindles or other "apparatus" (like a pc or BlackBerry or iPhone, etc.) if that equipment is registered to the account of the person with the Prime membership.
suzieque
Original Author
14 years ago
I went for years with absolutely no interest in a Kindle. The Fire caught my attention, and now that I've ordered it I can't wait to get it! Sure hope they hit their availability date of Nov. 15.

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