# Blimey, that's cheap: Amazon Fire Android tablet with 7" Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB - £39!



## editor (Feb 10, 2016)

If you're after a cheap table, look no further!









> Beautiful 7" IPS display (171 ppi / 1024 x 600)
> Fast 1.3 GHz quad-core processor and rear- and front-facing cameras
> Amazon Underground: All-new, one-of-a-kind app store experience where thousands of apps, games and in-app items are actually free -- including extra lives, unlocked levels, unlimited add-on packs and more
> Prime members can stream thousands of Prime Video titles, access over 800,000 book titles, thousands of audiobooks and over a million songs
> ...


Fire tablet - Amazon.co.uk


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## Pickman's model (Feb 10, 2016)

apart from being cheap what's your view on its performance?


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## editor (Feb 10, 2016)

Pickman's model said:


> apart from being cheap what's your view on its performance?


Thoroughly usable but not exciting would be my verdict. Besides, it's easy to get a refund if it fails to live up to expectations.


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## Crispy (Feb 10, 2016)

Fuck me! That is absurdly cheap. Must be subsidised in the hopes that people will buy amazon stuff on them.Presumably you can root it and put stock android on?

EDIT: Yes you can. May as well grab one at that price then.


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## dervish (Feb 10, 2016)

Is it rootable to put a proper os on it over the amazon store front?


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## editor (Feb 10, 2016)

dervish said:


> Is it rootable to put a proper os on it over the amazon store front?


Surely can Now you can root Amazon's $50 Fire tablet - Liliputing


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## Virtual Blue (Feb 10, 2016)

dervish said:


> Is it rootable to put a proper os on it over the amazon store front?



This.
Don't fancy that if it's full of Amazon commercials.


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## BoxRoom (Feb 10, 2016)

That's a reasonable price and I would be tempted but I really don't need one at all. Even pondering getting one for the gf's birthday but she's kitted out fine for other stuff. Shame.


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## gentlegreen (Feb 10, 2016)

can you get youtube on it ?
and other apps generally ?


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## dervish (Feb 10, 2016)

Hmmm, that's a lot more tempting now. Werv has a old galaxy tab 10.1 which does work, but is painfully slow now. Could be time for an upgrade


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## marty21 (Feb 10, 2016)

I have an older version (which cost me significantly more than £39) It has great speakers for music and film - watching films is great on it, mine is a bit heavy so presumably this one is quite light?  A bit clunky on the internet (when compared to the Ipad mini) but it's alright . Plenty of apps to choose from , the kindle app is excellent and the various social media apps - twitter / facebook are perfectly ok.


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## chilango (Feb 10, 2016)

I've got one.

Its alright.

For the price its brilliant.

For reading, listening to music, watching TV/video etc. it's great.

It's okay for web browsing, though its low-ish screen resolution is more noticable.

For general appy stuff its ok.

For any sort of productivity/work etc. it s pretty limited.

I mostly use mine for reading. The adverts and amazon pushing are there but easy to ignore.

Its a great little media consumption device to chuck in the bag for trips. At the price you're not going to too paranoid about losing or breaking it.

Stick a nice cover on it and it looks/feels better too.

Battery life is pretty good, mine lasts a few days of moderate use.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 10, 2016)

If you root it can you get the useful Google stuff on it like docs, maps and calender?


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## Crispy (Feb 10, 2016)

Global Stoner said:


> If you root it can you get the useful Google stuff on it like docs, maps and calender?


All signs point to yes


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## 2hats (Feb 10, 2016)

Anyone got a feel for the battery life for one used purely for reading PDFs?


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 10, 2016)

Crispy said:


> All signs point to yes



Could make a cheap sat nav/car music player then, although would of course need to tether it.


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## xes (Feb 10, 2016)

Fuck ever buying anything from those cunts.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 10, 2016)

xes said:


> Fuck ever buying anything from those cunts.



Get them to subsidise kit, then remove all their shit and don't buy their products with it. Doesn't sound so bad.


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## LeslieB (Feb 10, 2016)

Also available in Argos for the same price according to the advert in today's paper. ..


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## Lurdan (Feb 10, 2016)

editor said:


> Surely can Now you can root Amazon's $50 Fire tablet - Liliputing


The link to the xda forum (where the rooting tool and method is given) in that blog post is wrong.  It's to an older thread about a rooting method which is wiped out when the Fire updates (it's also a little unclear which version fire 7 it works on).

The thread about the current tool (updated as of 16th January) for rooting an Amazon Fire 5th gen 7in is here :
Amazon Fire 5th Gen [SuperTool] Root, Google play install, block ota updates and more

I'd strongly recommend reading through the thread as it appears not everyone who has tried this has been successful, and there's some worrying discussion involving people who have bricked their devices.


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## Throbbing Angel (Feb 10, 2016)

marty21 said:


> I have an older version (which cost me significantly more than £39) It has great speakers for music and film - watching films is great on it, mine is a bit heavy so presumably this one is quite light?  A bit clunky on the internet (when compared to the Ipad mini) but it's alright . Plenty of apps to choose from , the kindle app is excellent and the various social media apps - twitter / facebook are perfectly ok.



We bought lil'Angel one for Xmas2014 and paid a fair bit more for it too.  From memory the only differences are that it is 16gb and has a better screen.

She mainly plays Minecraft on it and watches videos - she reads a on it bit but prefers paper books.
She downloads free/cheap apps a fair bit with her pocket money and uses that Amazon Underground to get free apps.  She seems to have to plug it in daily if it has been used for an hour or two - she has got into the habit of turning the wifi off but still comes to it to find it flat sometimes. No idea why.

It's OK as a device.

For £40 it's brilliant.

The advertising on lil'Angels is in the form of the lock screen/saver changes to advertise different things a few times a day (it seems) quite unobtrusive. We had the option of removing this for a tenner at the time of purchase as I recall - that may have changed now, though. I imagine at this price the advertising *stays on*.


What does *single band wifi* mean, please? And how limiting is that? I might get one and that's my only question.


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## 2hats (Feb 10, 2016)

Throbbing Angel said:


> What does *single band wifi* mean, please? And how limiting is that? I might get one and that's my only question.



Single band is just 2.4GHz, dual is that plus 5GHz. Check your wifi router specs (but all recent should support dual band). 5GHz will tend to provide for faster speeds and greater range.


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## Throbbing Angel (Feb 10, 2016)

2hats said:


> Single band is just 2.4GHz, dual is that plus 5GHz. Check your wifi router specs (but all recent should support dual band). 5GHz will tend to provide for faster speeds and greater range.



Cheers - I assume most public wifi will be 2.4ghz then?


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## Lurdan (Feb 10, 2016)

2hats said:


> Anyone got a feel for the battery life for one used purely for reading PDFs?


Review here says


> Battery life isn't as bad as either the camera or speakers, although charge time could be better. Amazon’s own figures suggest the tablet takes up to six hours to charge, which isn't helped by Amazon selling the Fire with a low-end 5V, 1A charger. This is definitely a device best charged overnight. (...)
> 
> From a full charge you’ll get around 10.5 hours of 720p video playback if it’s stored locally, and at least four hours of gaming too. Stamina is perfectly acceptable, which is quite different from some of the ultra-low-cost no-brand tablets we've used over the years.



Be interesting to know how that matches to people's experiences. 6 hours charging isn't great.

(The review also isn't complimentary about the 1,024 x 600-pixel display for reading purposes).


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## gentlegreen (Feb 10, 2016)

If youtube hadn't started working again on my 4 year old Orange MonteCarlo I might have gone for it..
I ordered and returned a Vodafone Smart Ultra 6 at Xmas ...

How much more immersive is a 7 inch screen at close range than a 4.3 inch ?


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## peterkro (Feb 10, 2016)

2hats said:


> Single band is just 2.4GHz, dual is that plus 5GHz. Check your wifi router specs (but all recent should support dual band). 5GHz will tend to provide for faster speeds and greater range.


5Ghz will provide better throughput but not greater range.


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## editor (Feb 10, 2016)

But it still is only £39!


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## LeslieB (Feb 10, 2016)

peterkro said:


> 5Ghz will provide better throughput but not greater range.



Indeed, from my (very basic) knowledge of radio theory you would expect 5Ghz to provide *less* range.  The flip side of this is less interference , both because the interfering radio traffic has less range also and because fewer devices are using it (as yet)

Would agree with ed that it seems churlish to moan about this in a £40 device, but if you have more cash to splash, it is worth considering.


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## Throbbing Angel (Feb 10, 2016)

editor said:


> But it still is only £39!



This is true - and it'll be the best supported/specced £39 tablet out there too


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## 2hats (Feb 10, 2016)

peterkro said:


> 5Ghz will provide better throughput but not greater range.



In general, for RF, yes. But because dual band routers can legally pump out more power (much more on some channels) at 5GHz and there tends to be less interference there than at 2.4GHz in residential environments the end experience can be improved range (unless you live in an RFI dead zone). 5GHz certainly offers more bandwidth and better performance with an increasing number of devices.


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## marty21 (Feb 10, 2016)

presumably the camera is better than the older version which is a bit basic, but £39 is a proper bargain!


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## xenon (Feb 10, 2016)

Crispy said:


> All signs point to yes



You can get the Google Play Store on it, with out rooting. Though you have to go into engineering mode or whatever it's called.


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## chilango (Feb 10, 2016)

gentlegreen said:


> can you get youtube on it ?
> and other apps generally ?



Yes


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## chilango (Feb 10, 2016)

marty21 said:


> presumably the camera is better than the older version which is a bit basic, but £39 is a proper bargain!



The cameras are pretty shit. Fine for skype or whatever but I wouldn't be taking photos with it.


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## chilango (Feb 10, 2016)

Lurdan said:


> Review here says
> 
> 
> Be interesting to know how that matches to people's experiences. 6 hours charging isn't great.
> ...



I charge it over night, and not even every night. Battery life is (for example) better than either my iPad 2 or my iPhone 4s given similar usage.

The display is ok for reading. Not as easy on the eye as eInk but with the sepia background, brightness tweeked and the default font its a lot better than I'd expected. Its a nice size and weight for reading. I've actually been quite impressed using it "as a Kindle".

The displays limitations really show up in web browsing. It's perfectly usable, but it's budget nature shows here.


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## chilango (Feb 10, 2016)

Throbbing Angel said:


> The advertising on lil'Angels is in the form of the lock screen/saver changes to advertise different things a few times a day (it seems) quite unobtrusive. We had the option of removing this for a tenner at the time of purchase as I recall - that may have changed now, though. I imagine at this price the advertising *stays on*.



I think you can still pay to disable the ads via your amazon account.

I haven't bothered. They've not been intrusive enough to warrant it.


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## LeslieB (Feb 10, 2016)

Ah, didn't realise the permitted power at 5ghz was higher....


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## Throbbing Angel (Feb 10, 2016)

chilango said:


> I think you can still pay to disable the ads via your amazon account.
> 
> I haven't bothered. They've not been intrusive enough to warrant it.



Seems you can...


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## beesonthewhatnow (Feb 10, 2016)

editor - get one for your DJ needs you mentioned the other week. At that price it's a no brainer, no?


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## chilango (Feb 10, 2016)

Another thing to not is that you can expand the memory with a microSD card. I shoved an extra 32gb in mine so I could dump a ton of music on it.

BUT if you try and save eBooks on the SD card they don't play nicely with the kindle bit, so it's better to store them on the device.


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## 2hats (Feb 10, 2016)

LeslieB said:


> Ah, didn't realise the permitted power at 5ghz was higher....



200mW or 1W for various 5GHz channels, 100mW for 2.4GHz channels (for operation in EU).


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## Throbbing Angel (Feb 10, 2016)

I was wondering how this'd cope with apps/books/music/films being saved on the card, moving various media from card to the ssd in the tablet and how easy that is.

Anyone able to comment?  8gb ain't a lot is it.  Fine for books and a few apps -soon filled up with films and music though, eh?


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## chilango (Feb 10, 2016)

Throbbing Angel said:


> I was wondering how this'd cope with apps/books/music/films being saved on the card, moving various media from card to the ssd in the tablet and how easy that is.
> 
> Anyone able to comment?  8gb ain't a lot is it.  Fine for books and a few apps -soon filled up with films and music though, eh?



Everything except books seems fine (though as always some apps can't be put on the SD card)


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## marty21 (Feb 10, 2016)

The ad thing has never bothered me .


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## marty21 (Feb 10, 2016)

Throbbing Angel said:


> I was wondering how this'd cope with apps/books/music/films being saved on the card, moving various media from card to the ssd in the tablet and how easy that is.
> 
> Anyone able to comment?  8gb ain't a lot is it.  Fine for books and a few apps -soon filled up with films and music though, eh?


If you go for Amazon prime then you can put music on the cloud thingy  I don't store films anyway so no idea about that.


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## Mogden (Feb 10, 2016)

John Lewis are undercutting it by a whole 5p.

Amazon Fire 7. 7" Tablet (2 Year Warranty) £39.95 @ John Lewis


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## Throbbing Angel (Feb 10, 2016)

2 year warranty too


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## Tankus (Feb 10, 2016)

How quickly we've come to accept what this is ...and does for the price....'kin amazing.....

This was the future once


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## Throbbing Angel (Feb 10, 2016)

yay - Space1999!


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## LeslieB (Feb 10, 2016)

Mogden said:


> John Lewis are undercutting it by a whole 5p.
> 
> Amazon Fire 7. 7" Tablet (2 Year Warranty) £39.95 @ John Lewis





Throbbing Angel said:


> 2 year warranty too



Yes that is the advantage of buying from JL 2 Year warranty on everything.


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## xes (Feb 10, 2016)

Global Stoner said:


> Get them to subsidise kit, then remove all their shit and don't buy their products with it. Doesn't sound so bad.


No, I will never use Amazon nor an Amazon product. More of a boycott thing rather than an annoying ad thing.


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## gosub (Feb 10, 2016)

Throbbing Angel said:


> I was wondering how this'd cope with apps/books/music/films being saved on the card, moving various media from card to the ssd in the tablet and how easy that is.
> 
> Anyone able to comment?  8gb ain't a lot is it.  Fine for books and a few apps -soon filled up with films and music though, eh?


music/photos works fine


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## DownwardDog (Feb 11, 2016)

xes said:


> No, I will never use Amazon nor an Amazon product. More of a boycott thing rather than an annoying ad thing.



U75's sniffy distaste for neo-liberal corporate tax avoision goes out of the window when there is a bargain to be had.


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## editor (Feb 11, 2016)

DownwardDog said:


> U75's sniffy distaste for neo-liberal corporate tax avoision goes out of the window when there is a bargain to be had.


We're all fucking hypocrites, especially when it comes to buying technology. You included.


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## pesh (Feb 11, 2016)

i grabbed one from Argos on the way home last night as i was after a new media player that wasn't my phone and i've had a spare 64gb microSD card gaffered to my office wall for months in an attempt to not lose it so it all made a lot of sense.

for the money it is fantastic. i used the supertool Lurdan linked to to root it, wipe the amazon shit, block their updates and adverts and installed the play store and nova launcher... all incredibly easy, the only difficult part is actually downloading working Windows drivers before you run the supertool. Soundcloud, Mixcloud, Poweramp, Hype Machine etc all work perfectly. i haven't had much of a play with the SD card stuff yet other than checking it works, but i'm keen to see if there is a way you can run Kindle books from the SD card as i downloaded a few thousand in a torrent pack a while back.


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## 5t3IIa (Feb 11, 2016)

Jfc I just bought a paperwhite for £99


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## mwgdrwg (Feb 11, 2016)

Has this got a Facebook app? Want one for my Mum.


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## chilango (Feb 11, 2016)

pesh said:


> i grabbed one from Argos on the way home last night as i was after a new media player that wasn't my phone and i've had a spare 64gb microSD card gaffered to my office wall for months in an attempt to not lose it so it all made a lot of sense.
> 
> for the money it is fantastic. i used the supertool Lurdan linked to to root it, wipe the amazon shit, block their updates and adverts and installed the play store and nova launcher... all incredibly easy, the only difficult part is actually downloading working Windows drivers before you run the supertool. Soundcloud, Mixcloud, Poweramp, Hype Machine etc all work perfectly. i haven't had much of a play with the SD card stuff yet other than checking it works, but i'm keen to see if there is a way you can run Kindle books from the SD card as i downloaded a few thousand in a torrent pack a while back.



You can read the books from the SD card, but they won't show up in the books tab, rather you'd have to go into documents iirc. And i think syncing etc. is lost.

New $50 Kindle Fire won't recognize sideloaded ebooks on SD cards

Also worth noting when sideloading ebooks onto the Fire is that if you're converting via Calibre (which works fine) you need to ensure the "personal docs" tag is disableed in order for the books to go into your books tab rather than into your docs.

ETA: I've no idea whether this is still true if you've rooted it though///


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## chilango (Feb 11, 2016)

5t3IIa said:


> Jfc I just bought a paperwhite for £99



I wanted a paperwhite (as my primary use is reading)  - well actually I wanted a Voyage - but couldn't justify the cost and someone offered to buy the Fire as a gift, so....


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## pesh (Feb 11, 2016)

chilango said:


> You can read the books from the SD card, but they won't show up in the books tab, rather you'd have to go into documents iirc. And i think syncing etc. is lost.


cheers, storing them on the SD card and copying the one i want to read over to the device sounds entirely manageable...


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## chilango (Feb 11, 2016)

pesh said:


> cheers, storing them on the SD card and copying the one i want to read over to the device sounds entirely manageable...



Yeah.

I've got over a hundred on the device itself at the moment, which is fine on the internal memory, and more than enough to keep me going. Music which is far more of a storage eater is on the SD card and playing through the music tab perfectly.


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## pesh (Feb 11, 2016)

mwgdrwg said:


> Has this got a Facebook app? Want one for my Mum.


there is a stock Fire app for Facebook but it's apparently its a bit shit.


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## gosub (Feb 11, 2016)

pesh said:


> there is a stock Fire app for Facebook but it's apparently its a bit shit.



it works, but there's no fecebook purity add in


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## DrRingDing (Feb 11, 2016)

Crispy said:


> Fuck me! That is absurdly cheap. Must be subsidised in the hopes that people will buy amazon stuff on them.Presumably you can root it and put stock android on?
> 
> EDIT: Yes you can. May as well grab one at that price then.



Not to mentioned siphoning off all your daterz!


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## trashpony (Feb 11, 2016)

I have one. It's a great basic tablet. Camera's shit and it's slow to charge but apart from that, I don't really have any criticism. There are more limited apps than standard Android tablets so might not be good for kids.


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## QueenOfGoths (Feb 11, 2016)

Just bought one via John Lewis! My galaxy tablet died ages ago and as I only really used it as a kindle and for browsing facebook this looks a good replacement especially as I'd like to start adding films which I can then watch in bed!


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## LeslieB (Feb 11, 2016)

5t3IIa said:


> Jfc I just bought a paperwhite for £99



Don't worry you haven't wasted your money. The paper white is a good e reader. Easier on the eyes than a tablet, especially a cheap one, if you are reading lots of text.


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## gosub (Feb 11, 2016)

QueenOfGoths said:


> Just bought one via John Lewis! My galaxy tablet died ages ago and as I only really used it as a kindle and for browsing facebook this looks a good replacement especially as I'd like to start adding films which I can then watch in bed!



stick with the installed OS if you are planing on using prime to get the films


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## 2hats (Feb 11, 2016)

5t3IIa said:


> Jfc I just bought a paperwhite for £99



I have one. Excellent for any non-technical books and those without detailed figures. Far less tiring to read than a laptop or colour tablet of any flavour (I have yet to try). I'm just interested in the Fire for reading PDFs - I have a lot of technical books as PDFs (epub/mobi just don't cut it for such material).


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## chilango (Feb 11, 2016)

2hats said:


> I have one. Excellent for any non-technical books and those without detailed figures. Far less tiring to read than a laptop or colour tablet of any flavour (I have yet to try). I'm just interested in the Fire for reading PDFs - I have a lot of technical books as PDFs (epub/mobi just don't cut it for such material).



I've found the Fire next to useless for reading PDFs.


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## butchersapron (Feb 11, 2016)

chilango said:


> I've found the Fire next to useless for reading PDFs.


What app did you use to try and read them?


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## chilango (Feb 11, 2016)

trashpony said:


> I have one. It's a great basic tablet. Camera's shit and it's slow to charge but apart from that, I don't really have any criticism. There are more limited apps than standard Android tablets so might not be good for kids.



It's great for kids ime.

My 4 yr old has one too.

there's a dedicatted Kids UI, there's plenty of good quality free kids apps in underground and easy to set up parental controls. Plus the kids cases are good too.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Feb 11, 2016)

LeslieB said:


> Don't worry you haven't wasted your money. The paper white is a good e reader. Easier on the eyes than a tablet, especially a cheap one, if you are reading lots of text.



Indeed. I much rather have a proper e-reader then a cheap tablet for reading.


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## chilango (Feb 11, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> What app did you use to try and read them?



Whatever the default is. I found the screen to small to read a whole page of a PDF. Need something that will re-paginate the text like an eBook does.

I've also tried converting via Calibre into mobis with very limited success.

Would_ love _to be able to read PDFs on it.


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## chilango (Feb 11, 2016)

Global Stoner said:


> Indeed. I much rather have a proper e-reader then a cheap tablet for reading.


Me too.

...but the reading experience isn't bad at all on a Fire. set the background to Sepia, turn down the brightness and its pretty comfortable. Weight and size are good too. Far, far , far better than my old iPad and not too far short of my old Kindle classic.


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## butchersapron (Feb 11, 2016)

chilango said:


> Whatever the default is. I found the screen to small to read a whole page of a PDF. Need something that will re-paginate the text like an eBook does.
> 
> I've also tried converting via Calibre into mobis with very limited success.
> 
> Would_ love _to be able to read PDFs on it.


There's your problem then - get  Moon reader pro (+the pdf plugin) or something and you're laughing. You had me a bit worried there as i just ordered one of these with the intention of getting rid of all the amazon crap rooting it and putting CM on it, getting a 128gb card and just using it to read books (lots of them obv pdf) for the next 5 years.

edit: that's what i did with the first generation of these and once i had a proper reader like above pdfs were no problem at all.


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## chilango (Feb 11, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> There's your problem then - get  Moon reader pro (+the pdf plugin) or something and you're laughing. You had me a bit worried there as i just ordered one of these with the intention of getting rid of all the amazon crap rooting it and putting CM on it, getting a 128gb card and just using it to read books (lots of them obv pdf) for the next 5 years.
> 
> edit: that's what i did with the first generation of these and once i had a proper reader like above pdfs were no problem at all.



Looked at Moonreader (doesn't seem to support PDFs unless you buy the "pro" version. Let me know if you find anything good.

Better quality PDFs convert ok to mobi via Calibre, but most of the iffier scans simply don't no matter how much you tweak them. Its a nice device to read from though.

Hopefully more mobis and epubs will emerge rather than PDFs when people "democratize" and "liberate" knowledge in future!


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## chilango (Feb 11, 2016)

...also aren't ebooks much smaller files than the equivalent PDFs? A concern if you want to use the internal memory for books (to keep your library nicely organized).


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## butchersapron (Feb 11, 2016)

chilango said:


> Looked at Moonreader (doesn't seem to support PDFs unless you buy the "pro" version. Let me know if you find anything good.
> 
> Better quality PDFs convert ok to mobi via Calibre, but most of the iffier scans simply don't no matter how much you tweak them. Its a nice device to read from though.



It does if you get the proper android version and the pdf-plug-in. Both free. (Presuming that you're not using the amazon app store, but you can buy it from there anyway).

Or pay the few quid then and expand your library massively!


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## butchersapron (Feb 11, 2016)

chilango said:


> ...also aren't ebooks much smaller files than the equivalent PDFs? A concern if you want to use the internal memory for books (to keep your library nicely organized).


Depends what you're reading and how it's been made - in my general reading epub would be say 1-2mb, pdf equivalent maybe 3mb.Shitty old pdf scans can be massive though. But that won't matter if you're storing them on your card will it?


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## chilango (Feb 11, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> It does if you get the proper android version and the pdf-plug-in. Both free. (Presuming that you're not using the amazon app store, but you can buy it from there anyway).
> 
> Or pay the few quid then and expand your library massively!



No PDF plug-in on the Amazon store, will look to see if I can get around that!


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## butchersapron (Feb 11, 2016)

chilango said:


> No PDF plug-in on the Amazon store, will look to see if I can get around that!


Says you don't need one for that version.


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## chilango (Feb 11, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> Depends what you're reading and how it's been made - in my general reading epub would be say 1-2mb, pdf equivalent maybe 3mb.Shitty old pdf scans can be massive though. But that won't matter if you're storing them on your card will it?



No, but I'd rather not store them on the card, as then they don't get integrated properly with my library.

Not the end of the world obvs. but I like having everything in one place, and being able to browse the "shelves", sync my place, etc. etc.

A minor matter compared to the ability to access so much stuff, but still...


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## chilango (Feb 11, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> Says you don't need one for that version.



Oh. Ok. Will try it out when I get home. Ta!


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## Lurdan (Feb 11, 2016)

chilango said:


> Looked at Moonreader (doesn't seem to support PDFs unless you buy the "pro" version. Let me know if you find anything good.
> 
> Better quality PDFs convert ok to mobi via Calibre, but most of the iffier scans simply don't no matter how much you tweak them. Its a nice device to read from though.
> 
> Hopefully more mobis and epubs will emerge rather than PDFs when people "democratize" and "liberate" knowledge in future!


I like Moon Reader Pro for PDFs on Android (there are fairly regular discounted price offers in the Play store). Is the Amazon store version available for the Fire ? 

I agree about ebook formats. It's actually very difficult to convert PDFs - I don't know of a satisfactory method that doesn't involve one or more intermediary formats and a lot of editing.


----------



## Lurdan (Feb 11, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> There's your problem then - get  Moon reader pro (+the pdf plugin) or something and you're laughing. You had me a bit worried there as i just ordered one of these with the intention of getting rid of all the amazon crap rooting it and putting CM on it, getting a 128gb card and just using it to read books (lots of them obv pdf) for the next 5 years.
> 
> edit: that's what i did with the first generation of these and once i had a proper reader like above pdfs were no problem at all.


Picked up a Fire 7 at Argos last night and compared the same PDF on it (using the built in Kindle reader) and on an HP Stream 7. There is a perceptible difference between the 1280x800 display on the latter and the 1024x600 display on the Fire. With a decent PDF reader app that can be mitigated but I imagine a PDF with an embedded spindly font would still look a bit rough.


----------



## gosub (Feb 11, 2016)

chilango said:


> No PDF plug-in on the Amazon store, will look to see if I can get around that!



what apart from Adobe Acrobat?


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 11, 2016)

Lurdan said:


> Picked up a Fire 7 at Argos last night and compared the same PDF on it (using the built in Kindle reader) and on an HP Stream 7. There is a perceptible difference between the 1280x800 display on the latter and the 1024x600 display on the Fire. With a decent PDF reader app that can be mitigated but I imagine a PDF with an embedded spindly font would still look a bit rough.


The first generation one i was using a few years back for pdfs was 600 x 1024 as well and i managed to get along with that fine - and that was with lower quality pdfs than i have now. Think it's worth a punt for the price.


----------



## chilango (Feb 11, 2016)

Nope. Just tried downloading Moonreader. Am getting a message saying its "incompatable with my device".


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 11, 2016)

gosub said:


> what apart from Adobe Acrobat?


He means a specific pdf plug-in for moon reader, not a pdf reader, which is what you've just suggested.


----------



## chilango (Feb 11, 2016)

gosub said:


> what apart from Adobe Acrobat?



No. For this _Moonreader_ app.

ETA. Wot butchers said.


----------



## Lurdan (Feb 11, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> The first generation one i was using a few years back for pdfs was 600 x 1024 as well and i managed to get along with that fine - and that was with lower quality pdfs than i have now. Think it's worth a punt for the price.


Oh I agree - but then the Stream 7 was a £50 refurbished one. (I don't recommend it however).


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 11, 2016)

chilango said:


> Nope. Just tried downloading Moonreader. Am getting a message saying its "incompatable with my device".


From amazon?


----------



## chilango (Feb 11, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> From amazon?



Yep. Via my Fire.


----------



## Lurdan (Feb 11, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> From amazon?


I was wondering about that - the version I saw was in their Amazon for Android store. May be possible to sideload it but I've just seen discussion threads suggesting this isn't straightforward and may not be possible.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 11, 2016)

chilango said:


> Yep. Via my Fire.





Lurdan said:


> I was wondering about that - the version I saw was in their Amazon for Android store. May be possible to sideload it but I've just seen discussion threads suggesting this isn't straightforward and may not be possible.


Just root it man


----------



## Lurdan (Feb 11, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> Just root it man


Or just install the Play store - I'd also imagine that version may get updated quicker.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 11, 2016)

Lurdan said:


> Or just install the Play store - I'd also imagine that version may get updated quicker.


Yeah, that would be simpler. Wonder if moon reader etc would recognise the books on the sd card in the way that the fire OS seems to forbid.


----------



## trashpony (Feb 11, 2016)

chilango said:


> It's great for kids ime.
> 
> My 4 yr old has one too.
> 
> there's a dedicatted Kids UI, there's plenty of good quality free kids apps in underground and easy to set up parental controls. Plus the kids cases are good too.


My child is 9. If he can't play minecraft and terraria on it, he's not interested. I should have qualified by saying it's not great for older children/teens. For younger ones, I'm sure it's great


----------



## gosub (Feb 11, 2016)

trashpony said:


> My child is 9. If he can't play minecraft and terraria on it, he's not interested. I should have qualified by saying it's not great for older children/teens. For younger ones, I'm sure it's great


both appear to be on amazon apps


----------



## Lurdan (Feb 11, 2016)

Anyone getting a Fire with a view to rooting it and installing other stuff would be well advised not to connect it to the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth out of the box. There are differences between what you can do with version 5.0.1 of the firmware and the latest version 5.1.1. (For one thing I'm not entirely clear that the Supertool I linked to can turn off automatic updates for version 5.1.1 yet - the developers youtube video suggests it was a work in progress and the change log of subsequent updates to the tool don't mention it. If you don't turn off updates Amazon could kill whatever modifications you make. Indeed they probably will since the whole point of subsidising it at this price point is to get you to buy stuff from them not supply you with a bargain android device).

Mine came with firmware version 5.0.1 - I suspect if I'd connected it to the Wi-Fi as it invited me to it would have merrily updated itself without asking me. 

In it's vanilla non-Wi-Fi/Bluetooth state you can still connect it to your computer by USB cable, load documents music films or whatever and view them, and when you are ready run the software to un-Amazon it. 

To see what firmware version you have out of the box Settings > Device Options > System Updates.


----------



## trashpony (Feb 11, 2016)

gosub said:


> both appear to be on amazon apps


Oops - so they are!  I was looking on the apps I have loaded 

In that case, I might get him one for his birthday as I've been looking to get him another tablet (as he's cracked the screen on my old one  )


----------



## xenon (Feb 11, 2016)

Lurdan said:


> Anyone getting a Fire with a view to rooting it and installing other stuff would be well advised not to connect it to the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth out of the box. There are differences between what you can do with version 5.0.1 of the firmware and the latest version 5.1.1. (For one thing I'm not entirely clear that the Supertool I linked to can turn off automatic updates for version 5.1.1 yet - the developers youtube video suggests it was a work in progress and the change log of subsequent updates to the tool don't mention it. If you don't turn off updates Amazon could kill whatever modifications you make. Indeed they probably will since the whole point of subsidising it at this price point is to get you to buy stuff from them not supply you with a bargain android device).
> 
> Mine came with firmware version 5.0.1 - I suspect if I'd connected it to the Wi-Fi as it invited me to it would have merrily updated itself without asking me.
> 
> ...



I got one just after Christmas to mess around with. It updated pretty much as soon as I connected it to wifi.

Not got round to it yet but rather than root it, I'm gonna sideload the Play Store


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 11, 2016)

Lurdan said:


> Anyone getting a Fire with a view to rooting it and installing other stuff would be well advised not to connect it to the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth out of the box. There are differences between what you can do with version 5.0.1 of the firmware and the latest version 5.1.1. (For one thing I'm not entirely clear that the Supertool I linked to can turn off automatic updates for version 5.1.1 yet - the developers youtube video suggests it was a work in progress and the change log of subsequent updates to the tool don't mention it. If you don't turn off updates Amazon could kill whatever modifications you make. Indeed they probably will since the whole point of subsidising it at this price point is to get you to buy stuff from them not supply you with a bargain android device).
> 
> Mine came with firmware version 5.0.1 - I suspect if I'd connected it to the Wi-Fi as it invited me to it would have merrily updated itself without asking me.
> 
> ...


From my googling last night seems there is now a stable 5.1.1 method, but it's a bit more complicated. Turning leaving wifi off seems the better option.


----------



## chilango (Feb 11, 2016)

Some further research suggests that what I want a PDF to do (i.e. repaginate and increase type size on a smaller screen) is only really possible with PDFs created as text, rather iffy scans. 

...but those PDFs usually convert alright to mobi anyway. Its the iffy scans I'd need to read as PDFs.



Oh well.


----------



## brixtonblade (Feb 11, 2016)

I got one at Christmas and was going to root it but ended up sideloading play, Gmail etc as I wanted to keep some of the Amazon stuff (the Amazon underground thing is quite good and I like that my kindle books are just there).  Has been very stable. 

Can't really go wrong with it. 

Camera is shit and browsing is a bit laggy sometimes but for £40 that's not much to complain about.


----------



## 2hats (Feb 12, 2016)

Got one. Haven't rooted it, just installed the Google Play store as per this video (worked fine on 5.1.1 firmware):

After the above tweakery it now happily communicates with my Chromecast. All the iPlayer/All4/Livestream/etc video apps happily Chromecast. Can send Amazon music to the Chromecast too, using BubbleUpnP, but only if downloaded to the Fire first.

Using Moon Reader for the PDFs (almost all mine are original vector font based and not bloated bitmapped scans so they appear fine). No problem accessing books stored on a microSD; looks quite nice so far.

Now to see how long the battery runs for and how tiring it feels to read for prolonged periods, in particular using the 'Blue Shade' mode late in the evening.


----------



## chilango (Feb 13, 2016)

Despite my travails with PDFs installing pocket looks like a revelation for reading long articles off webpages as if they were ebooks.(butchersapron I'm sure you already know this, but if not it's great!)


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 13, 2016)

chilango said:


> Despite my travails with PDFs installing pocket looks like a revelation for reading long articles off webpages as if they were ebooks.(butchersapron I'm sure you already know this, but if not it's great!)


Years mate, even paid for the premium version - that keeps a hard copy of everything. And do use the tags, after a year you will need them.


----------



## uk benzo (Feb 14, 2016)

2hats said:


> Got one. Haven't rooted it, just installed the Google Play store as per this video (worked fine on 5.1.1 firmware):
> 
> After the above tweakery it now happily communicates with my Chromecast. All the iPlayer/All4/Livestream/etc video apps happily Chromecast. Can send Amazon music to the Chromecast too, using BubbleUpnP, but only if downloaded to the Fire first.
> 
> ...




If I install bubbpleupnp on my android device, will I be able to stream amazon movies to my chromecast?


----------



## existentialist (Feb 16, 2016)

NYES! Mine's just booting into CM 12.1 for the first time.

Shame it has to say "Amazon" on the bootup screen, but meh.


----------



## 2hats (Feb 16, 2016)

uk benzo said:


> If I install bubbpleupnp on my android device, will I be able to stream amazon movies to my chromecast?



As best as I can see one has to download the media to the 'droid device first. Fine with (eg autoripped) music from Amazon but I don't think you can download movies - they have to be streamed, in which case I don't think it will work (I've never bought a movie from Amazon so have no idea if this is the case, nor can test it).


----------



## pesh (Feb 19, 2016)

i installed Kodi on mine last night to see if it would work. it does. every TV channel in the world in your pocket for £40. shame theres nothing on.


----------



## butchersapron (Feb 20, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> From my googling last night seems there is now a stable 5.1.1 method, but it's a bit more complicated. Turning/leaving wifi off seems the better option.


Forgot to come back and say yes, perfectly doable even if you do an OTA update to 5.1.1.

If you just want to root it rather than put a new rom on, and maybe just change launcher - you want supertool - this short vid walks you through it.


----------



## LeslieB (Feb 20, 2016)

pesh said:


> every TV channel in the world in your pocket for £40. shame theres nothing on.


5700 channels and nothing on?


----------



## pesh (Feb 20, 2016)

I'm sure Columbo was on somewhere but I couldn't find him.


----------



## Steel Icarus (Feb 20, 2016)

What does having a (accidental, lol) subscription to Amazon Prime mean with regard to this?


----------



## existentialist (Feb 20, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> Forgot to come back and say yes, perfectly doable even if you do an OTA update to 5.1.1.
> 
> If you just want to root it rather than put a new rom on, and maybe just change launcher - you want supertool - this short vid walks you through it.


Anyone know anything about getting the cifs modules into the kernel (It's CM12.1)? I want to use it as a kitchen music player, and ideally want to use a slightly more eyecandy app than the one that does Samba built in...


----------



## pesh (Feb 21, 2016)

S☼I said:


> What does having a (accidental, lol) subscription to Amazon Prime mean with regard to this?


Cancel it and they'll refund the months you haven't used...


----------



## existentialist (Feb 21, 2016)

S☼I said:


> What does having a (accidental, lol) subscription to Amazon Prime mean with regard to this?


Haha, yes, I did exactly the same thing! You can just cancel it straight away, and they promise they won't start charging you when the free trial ends. They better bloody not...


----------



## 2hats (Feb 21, 2016)

existentialist said:


> Haha, yes, I did exactly the same thing! You can just cancel it straight away, and they promise they won't start charging you when the free trial ends. They better bloody not...



I have had loads of free one month amazon prime offers. Set them to cancel immediately so I don't forget. Have never been charged.


----------



## xenon (Feb 21, 2016)

existentialist said:


> Haha, yes, I did exactly the same thing! You can just cancel it straight away, and they promise they won't start charging you when the free trial ends. They better bloody not...




 That's what I did when I needed some big box  stuff delivered the next day. Worked fine.


----------



## bi0boy (Mar 2, 2016)

Recall for dangerous Amazon Fire power adapters:

Amazon.co.uk: Important Information - Claiming Your Replacement: Kindle Store


----------



## mwgdrwg (Mar 2, 2016)

Gives new meaning to Amazon Fire.


----------



## LeslieB (Mar 2, 2016)

mwgdrwg said:


> Gives new meaning to Amazon Fire.



Indeed. I hope the adaptor to my Fire TV stick is safe- nothing here to suggest it is affected though...


----------



## Mogden (Mar 3, 2016)

Posting to remind myself to check mine in the morning.


----------



## LeslieB (Mar 3, 2016)

Mogden said:


> Posting to remind myself to check mine in the morning.


Mogden, check your adapter.


----------



## existentialist (Mar 3, 2016)

bi0boy said:


> Recall for dangerous Amazon Fire power adapters:
> 
> Amazon.co.uk: Important Information - Claiming Your Replacement: Kindle Store


Just to clarify - the adaptors are safe unless the USB connector is yanked sideways, which may cause the cover to be damaged and expose live conductors - it's not a case of an adaptor that is quietly going to burn the house down.

I've ordered my free £17.99 replacement, anyway


----------



## Mogden (Mar 3, 2016)

Yes mine was one of the dubious ones. My charging articles often suffer from a cat/cable violent interfacing which does result in them being yanked all ways so I've opted for a new one too


----------



## trashpony (Mar 3, 2016)

I've ordered one for the foal's birthday but instead of the 3 week delivery window I was promised, they're now saying it's not going to ship until a month after his birthday 

I've bought him some other smaller things too so either I return all those and get him something else or I give him an empty case and SD card on the day


----------



## existentialist (Mar 3, 2016)

Mogden said:


> Yes mine was one of the dubious ones. My charging articles often suffer from a cat/cable violent interfacing which does result in them being yanked all ways so I've opted for a new one too


I've got several places where I can use such an adaptor in a static setup, so I'm happy to have the dodgy one tucked under a cupboard somewhere. 

Also, no tiny kids.


----------



## pesh (Mar 3, 2016)

went for the £12 credit instead. 
this thing just keeps getting cheaper and cheaper.


----------



## Winot (Mar 3, 2016)

pesh said:


> went for the £12 credit instead.
> this thing just keeps getting cheaper and cheaper.



Think I'll do the same


----------



## butchersapron (Mar 3, 2016)

I think i've ended up paying 8 quid for this. If my 2nd claim for £12 credit comes back ok i've made money.


----------



## chilango (Mar 30, 2016)

I ignored the recall. Was happy with my chargers.

This morning two brand new chargers appeared in the post along with prepaid envelopes to send the faulty ones back.

Can't quite decide if this really intrusive or good customer service?

Wondering what will happen if I don't send the faulty ones back. But then I really don't need 4 chargers.


----------



## cupid_stunt (Nov 28, 2017)

Crispy said:


> Fuck me! That is absurdly cheap. Must be subsidised in the hopes that people will buy amazon stuff on them.Presumably you can root it and put stock android on?
> 
> EDIT: Yes you can. May as well grab one at that price then.



If you think it was cheap at £39.99 last year, I picked one up in Tesco for £29.99 yesterday, it's the same price on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/All-New-Ta...&qid=1511871773&sr=8-1&keywords=amazon+fire+7

And, my first thought was also it has to be subsidised.


----------



## chilango (Nov 28, 2017)

Can't go very far wrong at £30.

But I rarely use mine now, its great for taking away on long train journeys and over night work trips where it can do music/games/reading/tv all pretty adequately, but otherwise I tend to reach for my phone or my paperwhite instead. Have had lots of niggles with my daughter's too. She mostly uses it on long car journeys but it's often proved unusable for anything other than listening to music. To many issues with apps not working when offline.


----------



## ruffneck23 (Nov 28, 2017)

the sketch is you pay £29.99 for the kindle with Amazon adverts that pop up when youre browsing , on screensaver etc, but you can pay a £10 to have it without the adverts


----------



## cupid_stunt (Nov 28, 2017)

I only got it to listen to internet radio via the radioplayer app, mainly Radio Caroline, in my home office - saves me unplugging the tablet from the amp in the living room & transferring it to the amp in the office. Certainly cheaper than buying a internet radio.


----------



## Treacle Toes (Nov 28, 2017)

ruffneck23 said:


> the sketch is you pay £29.99 for the kindle with Amazon adverts that pop up when youre browsing , on screensaver etc, *but you can pay a £10 to have it without the adverts*



Sorry if I am being dense but what does this mean?


----------



## cybershot (Nov 28, 2017)

Rutita1 said:


> Sorry if I am being dense but what does this mean?



I think the top amazon review probably sums it up



> The Fire 7 presents outstanding value as a tablet. But it does suck you into to Amazon's ecosystem. I have to applaud amazon for making it an incredibly simple set up and unboxing experience. There is only a cardboard tag separating you and the tablet, definitely "Frustration free" certified. The set up process is so simple my dog could do it! If you buy it off amazon your account is automatically linked to the tablet, so there are no account details that need entering!
> 
> Pros and Cons
> 
> ...


----------



## ruffneck23 (Nov 28, 2017)

Rutita1 said:


> Sorry if I am being dense but what does this mean?


Amazon fire HD tablets come with a custom operating system that has built in adverts for stuff that pop up on the screen saver for £29.99, you also dont get access to the ' google Play ' store where most apps can be located
( i need to check my), but when I got my brother one a couple of years ago I paid £10 more to have an advert free kindle fire. 

However as said above its probably better to get the cheaper version and root it to put a more vanilla version of android on it


----------



## Treacle Toes (Nov 28, 2017)

> Software: Amazon's skin of android is not bad but it definitely isn't good. They replaced all the Google services with Microsoft's or Amazon's services. *Bing is the default search engine (which is infuriating). There is no Google youtube app on the amazon marketplace. There are only 3rd party knock off youtube apps. *The software does redeem itself through the inclusion of features like Alexa (Amazon's A.I) and Blueshade (blocks out blue light to improve sleep quality). I would still prefer a standard android experience.



Is this changable? 



> Amazon's ecosystem: The software is built to force you into amazon's ecosystem. Each tab in the software is basically trying to get you to give amazon money. I personally don't mind this however I understand many people will not like this. It is after all turning the OS into a giant advert for amazon . If you don't have prime you will not get the most out of this tablet and I suggest you look elsewhere, alternatively, you could get amazon prime which I do recommend as it is a bargain.



Okay, yes, I understand now.


----------



## Treacle Toes (Nov 28, 2017)

ruffneck23 said:


> Amazon fire HD tablets come with a custom operating system that has built in adverts for stuff that pop up on the screen saver for £29.99, you also dont get access to the ' google Play ' store where most apps can be located
> ( i need to check my), but when I got my brother one a couple of years ago I paid £10 more to have an advert free kindle fire.
> 
> However as said above its probably better to get the cheaper version and root it to put a more vanilla version of android on it



Been looking and didn't see an option for the advert free package.


----------



## ruffneck23 (Nov 28, 2017)

ah it was a few years ago , so perhaps they have stopped doing it now


----------



## cybershot (Nov 28, 2017)

Rutita1 said:


> Is this changable?
> 
> 
> 
> Okay, yes, I understand now.



This was only published 4 days ago, so I guess it's pretty up to date how to:

How to Make the $50 Amazon Fire Tablet More Like Stock Android (Without Rooting)


----------



## ruffneck23 (Nov 28, 2017)

Amazon.co.uk Help: Special Offers on Your Fire or Kindle

They dont call them adverts , its ' Special offers '

with

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01J90OI4A/

without

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01J90OPQG/


----------



## cybershot (Nov 28, 2017)

Wow, they went fast, 10 minutes ago, I could order and have it in my hand in two hours, now it's saying Dec 5th!!


----------



## cupid_stunt (Nov 28, 2017)

cybershot said:


> Wow, they went fast, 10 minutes ago, I could order and have it in my hand in two hours, now it's saying Dec 5th!!



Try Tesco Direct & pick-up from a local store.

ETA: Or if you have a nearby Tesco Extra they may have them in stock.


----------



## ruffneck23 (Nov 28, 2017)

or argos do same day delivery for £3.95


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Nov 28, 2017)

if you want the Play Store on your kindle, I followed this guide at the weekend to stick it on my 7" (previous iteration, last time they were £30) and lil'Angel's 8" (current iteration).

3 Simple Steps to Install Google Play Store on Kindle Fire (in 3 Minutes) - Saint

It worked just fine - read the instructions to the end *before starting* as you have to install the APKs in a specific order.

We now have Chrome, Gmail app, Youtube app all installed on there and working just fine - the funniest part of it is we both have Borrowbox installed on our Kindles meaning we're listening to and reading library based ebooks and audiobooks, for free, ha ha ha ha ha ha, screw you Amazon.

The new 8in seems loads better than the previous versions 7inch models tbh.  Plus they have 2 wifi radios/wands/twigs and the speaker seems better - it might even have 2 instead of 1.

Read the reviews of course, but the Angel household says "We plenty much like, Boss!"

We have loads of other tech knocking about too and these are used regularly. So don't let the fact they are cheap put you off.  They are built to work well so you can consume, they no work, you no buy stuff, innit.

If you want a tablet to 'do stuff' on such as write or surf easily, buy a bigger one or something else.

My 2p?  Use apps over the  browser and unlock it (in my opinion) and you're golden. The Silk browser and stock email app are both shite.
It does Audible and Kindle very well as you'd expect.

It's the tablet that I take places when I don't want to take my iPad.


----------



## friedaweed (Feb 7, 2019)

These are back on reduced sale. Just got the boy one for £35.


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Feb 7, 2019)

Throbbing Angel said:


> if you want the Play Store on your kindle, I followed this guide at the weekend to stick it on my 7" (previous iteration, last time they were £30) and lil'Angel's 8" (current iteration).
> 
> 3 Simple Steps to Install Google Play Store on Kindle Fire (in 3 Minutes) - Saint
> 
> ...



CAVEAT DOO-DAH:   Plz double check with the guy who posted this info that this method will work with newer Kindle tablets as the info above is from early 2017.  Some of the more recent comments from late 2018 state issues with 8th gen Fire HD tablets.

I'm unable to edit/delete/amend/emend my post above


----------



## Throbbing Angel (Feb 7, 2019)

friedaweed said:


> These are back on reduced sale. Just got the boy one for £35.



Great for _kidz.  _Lil'Angel still loves hers and uses it almost nightly to listen to audiobooks.  The mobile phone has taken over now for a lot of things as that's what goes in the coat pocket by default(as with most of us 'eh?)

But for £35 you can't go far wrong.


----------



## friedaweed (Feb 7, 2019)

Throbbing Angel said:


> CAVEAT DOO-DAH:   Plz double check with the guy who posted this info that this method will work with newer Kindle tablets as the info above is from early 2017.  Some of the more recent comments from late 2018 state issues with 8th gen Fire HD tablets.
> 
> I'm unable to edit/delete/amend/emend my post above


Ta. Yeah there's some new tutorials out for the new ones.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Dec 28, 2019)

mum-tat has got a fire tablet thingy as her older tablet was showing signs of distress (which i have now sorted out, but...)

i have done the thing recommended above to install google play store and so on.

i have also de-registered my amazon account (i reached a point where i could not go any further without registering) but a few days later, we are back to the point where you can't go any further without registering.

mum-tat is insistent she doesn't want to register it (i think the worry is that it will buy things from amazon without her intending to)

is there any way round this?  or is it going to be a case of registering and de-registering every few days?

would it be simpler to create a new amazon account (with a different e-mail) and make sure there's no credit card info attached to it?


----------



## existentialist (Dec 28, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> mum-tat has got a fire tablet thingy as her older tablet was showing signs of distress (which i have now sorted out, but...)
> 
> i have done the thing recommended above to install google play store and so on.
> 
> ...


When I last availed myself of this offer, I rooted it and stuck a non-proprietary version of Android on it. I am aware that there's a kind of arms race of rooting goes on, so I don't know whether the later incarnations of these things are rootable or not...


----------



## farmerbarleymow (Dec 28, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> mum-tat is insistent she doesn't want to register it (i think the worry is that it will buy things from amazon without her intending to)
> 
> is there any way round this? or is it going to be a case of registering and de-registering every few days?


You can turn off 'one click ordering' on Amazon I think, so you have to enter the card details each time.  That should be enough to ease her concerns.


----------



## Puddy_Tat (Dec 28, 2019)

existentialist said:


> When I last availed myself of this offer, I rooted it and stuck a non-proprietary version of Android on it. I am aware that there's a kind of arms race of rooting goes on, so I don't know whether the later incarnations of these things are rootable or not...



i'm not quite sure that my level of technical support goes as far as rooting.

i take it you don't mean i should bury the damn thing in the garden?


----------



## existentialist (Dec 28, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> i'm not quite sure that my level of technical support goes as far as rooting.
> 
> i take it you don't mean i should bury the damn thing in the garden?


Well, that works, too. It's a while since I did it (but the tablet is now velcro'd to the front of my fridge, where it serves as a shopping list updater and web browser for recipes), but I recall the process as being fairly straightforward...


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## The39thStep (Dec 28, 2019)

Puddy_Tat said:


> mum-tat has got a fire tablet thingy as her older tablet was showing signs of distress (which i have now sorted out, but...)
> 
> i have done the thing recommended above to install google play store and so on.
> 
> ...


Yes you can do that or turn off one click as above or in settings on the fire tablet ( if it’s the same as firestick ) there’s an option to put in a code before any purchases.


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## xenon (Dec 28, 2019)

farmerbarleymow said:


> You can turn off 'one click ordering' on Amazon I think, so you have to enter the card details each time.  That should be enough to ease her concerns.



You can also create an Amazon account with out any payment information. We use one one like this at work.

I've still got my old Fire tablet. I don't use it much actually but when I do it's pretty useful now it has Alexa built in. Mainly use it for playing radio / Kindle books.


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