Kindle Fire HD 8.9. Is it the one for me?

13 years ago

Because I deal so much with amazon, I thought it was. Supposedly the sound is remarkable, as tablets go, and music is one of my top priorities.

But, I have some music that I would want to put on my tablet, and not have to purchase. Since there is no SD slot to use, is that possible? Can I upload music from my computer onto the kindle fire via the cloud drive/player?

And for those "in the know", how many movies could you load onto the kindle if you were going off for a week and wanted to carry some movies along with you?

I have messed around with the blackberry playbook and would have loved that little gadget, except, well, it's little! LOL

7" is great for reading and surfing but for movies, it is just too small for me.

Do you own another brand that is at least an 8", great for music and movies and isn't too very slow for surfing and emailing?

If I decide to not go with the Kindle Fire HD, then I'm looking to not spend any more than $200 (maybe a teensy bit more if it were truly worth it.)

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Comments (13)

chisue
13 years ago
May I tack on a request for similar information about the Nook? As I understand it, this has an SD slot and can be upgraded from 16 to 32 whatsises. (Displaying my level of knowledge of these things.)

I too want to read books (and be entertained with a couple of movies) on a nine-hour flight.

Can I borrow books from our library on a Nook? I'm not a buyer of books when I can borrow them, then give the money to our library.
pammyfay
13 years ago
I looked at the Nooks a few weeks ago -- mostly because it's one of the only ones with an SD card slot. So basically, you could have multiple SD cards each loaded with books, movies, podcasts, whatever, to expand your tablet's memory. But the SD cards are small handling-wise.

About library books, usually you first have to download an app onto your computer, then you hook up your e-reader to your computer and upload into that. I hear it's a lot easier (fewer steps, that is) using a Kindle.

My library has a FAQ (frequently asked questions) page on its web site, so you should go over to your library's web site and see if there's any info there first. Or you could call your library to see what it entails. Some libraries also offer sessions to help show people how they can use their tablets/e-readers for library materials.
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just keep in mind that android tablets let you install the kindle app and the nook app so you can have all of those on one device. It really depends on your needs and wants as to what you get. the tablet with the best sound that I have owned was the vizio it had 3 speakers so no matter which direction you held it in you had stereo and the sound was fantastic. Wish more manufacturers would be more interested in the sound quality and take a lesson and put at least 3 or 4 speakers on them. I often struggle hearing with the one small speaker especially on my phone. I love love love my new Asus transformer tf300 10" tablet with dock but it too could use some improvement in the sound and speaker department. My husband still absolutely loves his lookbook in fact he now has his and mine and I am trying to make him transition over to my Vizio tablet so he has more options and can do other things on it. He is fighting me he wants to stick with his lookbook he is not a fan of the touch screen he keeps touching things by accident then I hear swearing lol. He is not a good student is all I have to say LOL That lookbook is extremely light weight you will not likely find any tablet that is that light.
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any tablet with the lcd type screen like a pc will have difficulty in bright light it is the nature of the screen, the original kindles were made to allow reading in bright outdoor light but then required a light to be attached to read in the dark because the epaper screen had no backlight as an lcd does. So you have to decide what fits your needs best. I have several tablets not a one of them has the ability to change the battery. So I don't know why that would even be brought up as a negative. As to SD card slots most tablets do have them, the original kindle also had one, some manufacturers add them some don't. It was one of the stated negatives for the new Google Nexus that it did not have an SD card slot. All of mine have them and I personally would not want a tablet with out one but that is totally personal preference. Why have one? because you can store a ton of stuff on them to access from the tablet, books, music, pictures, video, you name it if the tablet is able to utilize the file type you can store it on an SD card and increase the storage of the tablet by 32GB which is the limit on most all tablets. If I am traveling and have no internet access but would like to watch a movie say, I just put in my SD card that I have the movie stored on and watch it same with music etc. The storage capacity of some tablets is limited so having the means to increase that storage space easily by SD is a plus. I store all of my books on SD card then I just move the SD card from tablet to tablet or from tablet to pc or netbook etc. Makes it very easy. The Fire HD will have an IPS screen that is a much better screen than previous version. It has some glare reducing characteristics and better color rendering. It is reported it has an improved battery with an 8 hr charge life. one nice thing is a micro USB port and a micro HDMI slot, so that you can view your movies on your large screen HD TV from it. It has a volume button on the side which is always a nice feature to have on the device. It has 2 speakers of much better quality than the original Fire which will make watching movies or music more enjoyable. As to the storage size there are 2 versions a 16GB and a 32GB version. The fact that some apps may not work on it is not unusual, different versions of android often will have apps that work on one but not another. Then the app creators step up and update their apps for the newer devices and OS. I don't own any kindles several members of my family do and I have helped them with theirs. Research is essential to find out what is what with any new device and technology, don't just believe random comments do your own research and check out some of the many articles about the new kindle fire HD. My personal fave is to go to sites that offer actual user reviews and read what the people who own it have to say. Asking here or on the computer help forum is also a good method to find out info on tech toys! I am always happy to try to find out the info if I don't know it. Here is a link to a decent Cnet review with comparisons to other tablets. Amazon Kindle Fire HD review
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MiMi
13 years ago
I'm not sure if you are interested in this or not but I am pretty sure I read that 3G connection for the Kindle Fire Hd is only 50.00 a year... that is a great price.
Oakley
13 years ago
Moonie, I bought my son the KF HD, it's still in the box for Christmas. I could be wrong, but I don't think you need a computer to download from the Kindle store.

I have an iPad and I download magazines from the Kindle store and Amazon does it immediately.

I don't use 3G because I don't travel very often, so no need for the extra expense.

Oh! I did buy the Kindle PowerFast for fast charging. I did a lot of reading and it charges the Kindle much much faster than the charger it comes with. $19.00, not too bad.
Lindsey_CA
13 years ago
You do not need a computer to download onto any Kindle from Amazon. However, using the USB charging cord that comes with all Kindles, you can hook up the Kindle to your computer and transfer music/documents, etc. that way.

You can also e-mail documents to your Kindle, as all Kindles have an e-mail address.
moonie_57 (8 NC)
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks, I believe that cleared it up. I was terribly confused on if I could upload music from my computer. Something I read somewhere made me believe you could not do that.

oakleyok - thanks for the tip on the charger. I need to get one as well!

Could that be true? Only $50 for a year of 3G?
carol_in_california
13 years ago
I am only able to download books with wi fi on my Kindle even though it does have 3G.
carol_in_california
13 years ago
I am only able to download books with wi fi on my Kindle even though it does have 3G.
moonie_57 (8 NC)
Original Author
13 years ago
Interesting, carol. Anyone have any thoughts on that?
alisande
13 years ago
The Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 are mentioned on this list of gadgets worth buying.
Lindsey_CA
13 years ago
"I am only able to download books with wi fi on my Kindle even though it does have 3G."

If you are in an area with both Wi-Fi and 3G, the Wi-Fi will take priority and that's how books will be downloaded. However, if you are out of range of Wi-Fi, the 3G will take over. Amazon uses the AT&T 3G network, which is virtually everywhere, including Europe.
joan_mn
13 years ago
I wish AT&T was everywhere! When we are in FL, we are 22 miles from the closest town, and in the middle of a national forest. No cell service out here.

I did tons of research before I got my Nexus 7. From reading forums, etc., it seems you can't (or if you can, it involves a lot of stuff that's more than I want to tackle) put a Kindle app on a Nook and vice-versa. But putting a Kindle app on my Nexus was very easy. As well as email, Facebook, Words with Friends, etc. Last night, for the first time in years, I read in bed. Only had the Nexus for a light, and it didn't bother DH at all.
oldgardener_2009
13 years ago
I've been wanting an ereader too and was considering the Kindle Paperwhite, but I think I'll go with the Kindle HD as apparently you can stream Netflix with it. The old laptop I've been using stream Netflix is going out and it would be nice to get an ereader that I can use for reading plus stream movies.

Kindle Fire HD 8.9. Is it the one for me?

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Kindle Fire HD 8.9. Is it the one for me?

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