The Kindle Fire is a pretty cool device, especially for just $200. No, it's not an iPad, but it does come with enough to stand on its own. What it doesn't come with, however, is a clean set of instructions. Basically, there's just a card inside that says "plug it in and be amazed!"
Sure, you can dig around in the ebook pre-loaded to figure it out, but here's a collection of things I wanted to know right away and had to figure out.
Sure, you can dig around in the ebook pre-loaded to figure it out, but here's a collection of things I wanted to know right away and had to figure out.
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Signing UpStep 1: Change the volume
The Kindle Fire only has one button, the power button. Tap it to turn the Kindle on and tap it again to put it to sleep. Longer presses actually turn it off.
That's great, but no volume buttons? Nope, it's stuck in the settings menu. To get to those, tap the little gear on top. Now you can change the volume by selecting "Volume" and sliding the volume control.
That's great, but no volume buttons? Nope, it's stuck in the settings menu. To get to those, tap the little gear on top. Now you can change the volume by selecting "Volume" and sliding the volume control.
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As for the iPad comparison, if you wanted the iPad functionality I think you'll be very disappointed. The app selection is very small and like I mentioned I'm not thrilled with the one button approach.
That said, I think it's very cool for what it is. I like the smaller size and the price is ridiculously low. For general media consumption and web browsing it works just fine. So far I've used it for watching videos, reading books, reading websites, and listening to music.
The other key factor is that it has great integration with the Amazon content. If you have a Prime account, like I do, then you have lots of movies and TV shows you can watch. It's also nicely integrated with all of the Kindle content so you can grab new books to read.
For PDFs it's a little bit squinty on the smaller screen, but totally doable.
It is impossible to say whether the Kindle Fire has better specs hardware wise then an iPad 2 or really anything else short of taking it apart as Amazon have kept the hardware specifications private.
You actually can not install Android 3.2 on it. Why? Because it is already running a customized version of Android. If you were to "install" Android on it you would be essentially reinstalling the OS, however you would be installing a version that is not optimized for the hardware (which again is unknown).
Now you are probably thinking "That is ridiculous! What are your sources for those claims?", Well PCWorld has an article about it here on Amazons Kindle Fire page here the only information that they give about it hardware wise is "Kindle Fire features a state-of-the-art dual-core processor".
On PCMag's page here they say it has a "Dual-core TI OMAP 4" processor which means that the processor speed is anywhere form 1-1.8ghz so it could potentially rival the iPad in raw processor speed but again the actual speed of the processor in the Kindle Fire is unknown.
If you do reply please include links to your references, ThankYou for you time, sincerely ElvenChild.
It's up to you for what you want. If you want it for reading, just keep what you have. If you want to have a full color screen and watch movies, then go for the fire.
Of course, it's always good to pass on items that still have a lot of use in them. Especially if you can load it with a lot of books you think your cousin would enjoy.