Wife is bugging me for a tablet...Anybody rooted a Kindle Fire, yet?

[DIGGER27]

This thread was started last November.
http://metaldetectingforum.com/showt...ht=kindle+fire

There was talk about getting a Nook and rooting it, just wondered if anyone that got a Fire has done that, or has the existing environment been enough.

We have wifi set up at home where she will be using this.

She wants to read and surf the web and shop, mostly from what I can tell, and not just on Amazon, so she is bugging me for an IPad or something like it.
I hate Apple, however, and their proprietary ways and battery replacement procedures and cost, among other things.
Do-it-yourself fixing on the Fire looks pretty easy from youtube videos, if you have some patience and a little know-how.
If I got one for myself, I would probably want it to replace the batteries myself, and have access to more Android apps to do a little more than it is currently set up to do now.
Also that Amazon Prime membership for $79 a year, (after 1 month free to hook you), sounds petty good for all you get.


For those that need to know...Rooting directions for the Kindle Fire...Pre 6.2.2 update
http://www.pcworld.com/article/24430...ndle_fire.html

Other stuff...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1390773

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/12...tware-version/

http://www.xda-developers.com/tag/amazon-kindle-fire/

http://www.geek.com/articles/gadgets...fire-20111223/


Fixing it yourself...
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Amazo...eardown/7099/1

[vanstheman3]

My Girlfriend bought some Archos thing,then she got a Nook (the color one), now she has a SonyS tablet. Now the Archos and the Nook are stuck away somewhere and will probably never see use again. I notice you show 3 MDs, LOL if she didn't pick them out for you, you did research and bought what you wanted. I think if you let her do the same with her tablet you save a lot of grief in the long run.....:hm mm:

[DIGGER27]

Originally Posted by vanstheman3

My Girlfriend bought some Archos thing,then she got a Nook (the color one), now she has a SonyS tablet. Now the Archos and the Nook are stuck away somewhere and will probably never see use again. I notice you show 3 MDs, LOL if she didn't pick them out for you, you did research and bought what you wanted. I think if you let her do the same with her tablet you save a lot of grief in the long run.....

She is not into tech and she only mentions the IPad because that is the only one she knows about.

For what she needs, I would rather get one of these, or just look for some sort of deal on a cheaper laptop in the IPad price range.

Anything to stay away from Apple products.
Don't care how well they work...Just hate em and everything about that pretentious company.

[Jressman]

I am posting this on an iPad. I love it. I do 100% of my threads and posts either on an iPad or my iPhone. It's nice that I can browse the forum in bed!

[DIGGER27]

Originally Posted by Jressman

I am posting this on an iPad. I love it. I do 100% of my threads and posts either on an iPad or my iPhone. It's nice that I can browse the forum in bed!

Great!

Too bad when the battery runs down you are going to have to spend $107, send it away for at least a week, and lose all your data stored when they send you another one, (probably refurbished), in return.

[WildDigger]

Originally Posted by Jressman

I am posting this on an iPad. I love it. I do 100% of my threads and posts either on an iPad or my iPhone. It's nice that I can browse the forum in bed!

that is what I do. A ton of posting late at night on my iPhone...

[pescadore]

Bought my wife a Kindle fire for Christmas and she loves it !! I like my Ipad but the Fire would work just fine for what I do..

[sirwalle]

I just bought the kindle. I like it. I use Amazon to buy books. The first book is free.(sometimes) Then after that $4.99 a book. I bought a card for $25. And still working on that. But some books can get over $7.00. I tried are Library but they haven't caught up on books to download as much as Amazon and I think its the same way you get the a book from the Library. You only get the 3 week time period to read it. Not sure how they do it. As for total free books. You can find them but they are mostly Medical books and things like that.

[DIGGER27]

Originally Posted by sirwalle

I just bought the kindle. I like it. I use Amazon to buy books. The first book is free.(sometimes) Then after that $4.99 a book. I bought a card for $25. And still working on that. But some books can get over $7.00. I tried are Library but they haven't caught up on books to download as much as Amazon and I think its the same way you get the a book from the Library. You only get the 3 week time period to read it. Not sure how they do it. As for total free books. You can find them but they are mostly Medical books and things like that.

I like the amount of E-Pub selections.
If you want to be able to do that, here are some directions....

On the Fire, you will need to do two things first.
Go to Settings, More, Device, and turn on "Allow installation of Applications from Unknown Sources". (You can turn this off when you are done with this install.)
Go to the Amazon Android store and download AndroXplorer, which allows you to browse the file structure on your Kindle Fire.
Using the Android Web browser, go to http://overdrive.com/Software/omc

Click on the Android option to download, and look right below the box for the link that states "If your device does not support Android Market, you can download OverDrive Media Console for Android from OverDrive." (Screenshot on left.) Click on that link.

Accept the licensing terms and you will see a short pop-up stating "downloading application". You will not be able to see the application in your Kindle Fire App menu yet.

Open the AndroXplorer application you downloaded on the Kindle Fire and navigate to the sdcard directory and then the Download directory. You will see "ODMediaConsoleSetup.apk" in the Download directory. Click on it and it will install the OverDrive Media Console on your Kindle Fire. (You can delete this downloaded file later once everything works.)

Add your library to the OverDrive app, and you can visit your public library's OverDrive site and download Adobe ePub books. If you do not have an Adobe account, you will be prompted to create one within the OverDrive app when necessary. OverDrive shows up in your App menu, now, too!

[IMShooter]

friend rooted his and said it was pretty easy. hit up xda forums. Tons of devs who are usually the guys/girls who actually write the root for devices. A great resource.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1306

it's a nice tablet. The Fire is kind of a tradeoff of hardware and specs vs resources. Granted on the Android Market and other sources you can get a billion apps. The Fire (unrooted) has nice access to Amazon. Pay the 79 bucks for the year of their service and you get a bit break on shipping plus hundreds of streaming movies/tv shows for free and you can rent books from their library for free. 3 a month or so.

if you're going for specs/hardware, there are other tablets that are way better for around the same cost.

even though HP is having some issues...this tablet is a great tablet that they've repeatedly reduced the price on just to sell them:

http://www.amazon.com/HP-TouchPad-9-...8309115&sr=8-9

There's this one if you want to basically buy her a flat large laptop. this is the super tablet right now:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+T...&skuId=4038674

Supposedly the iPad 3 is having it's debut in March. But with that you're spending a good chunk of change.

if you want to pm me with what your wife needs/wants in a tablet, I'll get you some better links.

[wooddux]

I have the toshiba thrive, 16gb. I love mine. Its a great ereader, andriod hoineycomb, 3.2. Tons ofd free apps from android marketplace and google. Wont own another Ipad. Got mine from Woot for 300 shipped.

[Crumble]

I own an Ipad 2 now, the apple store has many apps that are amazing, much better than the apps on the android store.

Apple store has the big name companies developing for it, where as android is mostly private parties.

[Paradux]

The Kindle fire received a few bad reviews. But a friend bought one and let me 'Play' with it. And as a computer tech on the side, I will say that I was impressed, although the speed needs tweaked! The screen is adjustable to different light conditions. And then MY main complaint about all tablets, they need ports!

[Milhaus]

Originally Posted by Paradux

The Kindle fire received a few bad reviews. But a friend bought one and let me 'Play' with it. And as a computer tech on the side, I will say that I was impressed, although the speed needs tweaked! The screen is adjustable to different light conditions. And then MY main complaint about all tablets, they need ports!

Yeah that is a big problem with the Fire, the USB port isn't a host so you can't plug in a thumb drive via an adapter cable. Rooting will not solve that problem since it is hardware layer. You are stuck with their stock memory (only 6Gb after OS overhead) and cloud storage.

I know that iPad has a desktop docking station capability, but I am also not a fan of Apple products. Something like that would be awesome for people with RVs and camper trailers though. Huge space saver.

[Dirt Nuker]

I have a Aishuo A816 (ChinaTablet). Awesome price ($100), works like a champ. Good luck finding a tablet with a USB port these days.

8" screen
Android 2.2 Froyo
CPU: Samsung A8 PV210, 1.2Ghz
512 MB RAM
Internal Memory 4 GB
microSD Card
USB port
Front camera
Screen Size
HDMI Output (1080p)
Android Market
Supports flash

Cons:
Resistive touch

Got careless and cracked the screen though. $30 and I'm back in business.

[Jressman]

Originally Posted by Aka Nameless

I own an Ipad 2 now, the apple store has many apps that are amazing, much better than the apps on the android store.

Apple store has the big name companies developing for it, where as android is mostly private parties.

Agreed iPads are where it's at!!

Same with iPhones, way way ahead of androids as far as web browsing is concerned.

[RyanChappell]

Got the brats Nook Color Tablets. Great for reading and light browsing.

The iPad is $200 better. I have had pretty good luck replacing parts of iPhones, so I am confident I can do an iPad. Replaced two glass screens with digitizers for $10 each, an LCD for $19, and a battery for $7. Not for the faint of heart. You would not believe how small the connectors are. My brother broke a cable clamp, and the only way to fix is new motherboard or soldier microscopic wires of a new clamp...

[DIGGER27]

Originally Posted by RyanChappell

Got the brats Nook Color Tablets. Great for reading and light browsing.

The iPad is $200 better. I have had pretty good luck replacing parts of iPhones, so I am confident I can do an iPad. Replaced two glass screens with digitizers for $10 each, an LCD for $19, and a battery for $7. Not for the faint of heart. You would not believe how small the connectors are. My brother broke a cable clamp, and the only way to fix is new motherboard or soldier microscopic wires of a new clamp...

Really?
Small parts, huh?

I remember the time I had to lend you my spare Propointer for a couple of weeks after you tried to "Fix" yours.
Small parts flying...everywhere!

That didn't go so well...funny!

[RyanChappell]

Originally Posted by DIGGER27

Really?
Small parts, huh?

I remember the time I had to lend you my spare Propointer for a couple of weeks after you tried to "Fix" yours.
Small parts flying...everywhere!

That didn't go so well...funny!

LOL. I was rushing.

The iPhones are a lot worse, but atleast they don't have a big stupid mechanical switch that gets ruined when you open them!

[TechPill]

I prefer amazon kindle just as a reader and it's perfect in that way . Amazon Kindle Touch is indispensable, 'cause it's convenient for reading, may be useful to access internet if i need it urgent. BUT! Kindle Fire is smth which I can't understand. It has worse features in everything except the price.