Kindle Fire

seaner

Very quick question - as I feel I'll be put in right direction fairly swiftly!!
I am interested in getting a kindle for the other half. Been doing a little research online and have come across the Kindle Fire - which I believe is like a alternative version of I Pad??

Anyway, i'm also reading alot that its not yet available in Ireland / Eurpope yet...however I came across it on the following site

http://www.simplyelectronics.net/mainproduct.php?pid=14879&setcurrency=eur

and it would appear that I can check out although I haven't actually purchased it yet....

So whats the story?? Can I buy it from here or not?

dceire

I've been looking for one of these bad boys for a while now. I'd be very interested to see if anyone has purchased one off of this site. Looks like it should be no problem to do so.

seaner

right - i've checked out and paid for it!! We'll see, i guess it will either arrive at my house or i'll get an email saying it was some sort of mix up and I'll get refunded. will keep you posted.

Carter P Fly

This is listed as euro219.95 but the kindle is $199 dollars at amazon.com. I bought mine which was shipped to my brother in the US who is mailing it to me as we speak and it cost me euro150.32 (from my credit card statement) so you're paying circa euro70 extra from a dodgy looking site that is selling a product Amazon is selling to US customers only.

Epic Fail methinks.

seaner

Carter P Fly wrote: »

This is listed as euro219.95 but the kindle is $199 dollars at amazon.com. I bought mine which was shipped to my brother in the US who is mailing it to me as we speak and it cost me euro150.32 (from my credit card statement) so you're paying circa euro70 extra from a dodgy looking site that is selling a product Amazon is selling to US customers only.

Epic Fail methinks.

why do you say the site looks dodgy ? do you not think that I did a little research on the website itself ....I did and in fact I got very positive reviews .

Paid for using paypal account too so would imagine I'd have some comeback with them should the deal turn sour. Which I don't think it will. I'm more expecting for an email to say there was some error and I shouldn't have been allowed to check out.


So please, hold on to your epic fail just for a while longer until I've at least had time to report back.

Gadhafi

If I were to import the fire, would there be any difficulties accessing and purchasing content from amazon's music store, app store etc etc ??

CombatCow

As their is no Amazon Android app store in Europe yet so you will have to use the US store. you can use an Irish credit card on the amazon.com site but im not sure if you can purchase from the kindle fire app store, I know on my android phone I couldn't buy from the amazon.com app store with valid details.

I have a fire in work but haven't accessed the store with my personal account so cant confirm this yet but if it's like using the amazon.com app android store you wont be able to purchase from it.

robinph

The Register have done a review of it:
http://www.reghardware.com/2011/11/25/review_amazon_kindle_fire_tablet_ebook_reader/

You can buy books via the browser, you cannot buy any apps or other content on it though. I think it even said that just copying across your own video files was a bit of a chore.

Good cheap device, but probably not worth the bother outside of the US until they actually come up with international access to the store.

statto25

Well OP did you get your Fire in the end?

seaner

statto25 wrote: »

Well OP did you get your Fire in the end?

It arrived today by DHL!! I haven't been able to start it up as best not to do that while the other half is aroound, although they are popping out later so will defo do it then.

So i got an email the morning after i purchased it and i was given a DHL tracking number and I could see that the origin of the consignment was in Bath in England! So not sure what the craic is, but hey I got it and i'm delighted!!

No pestering relatives in the US to ship me something that might or might not be caught at customs!!

Hopefully now it will work!! will report back

jackos2500

Hi,
I'm VERY excited about this, Kindle Fire in Ireland! Just wondering though, when you report back, what will work and what won't? I've heard that cloud sync doesn't work... but which part? e.g. music, video. Also wondering about root too. Here is a guide to root the Fire and get Market for Android. But I heard that an update came today blocking that... It's very vague...

seaner

i've had about 1 hour on the Kindle, the max time I could spend without being caught out...it is after all a x-mas pressie. So its back inthe box now under the bed..ha ha

As far as I can see I cannot purchase any app from the Amazon kindle store. Thats not to say I can't install an android app, just not the ones listed in the kindle fire store, as it says its not available in my region. Which is a pity but sure.

I can however, browse the internet. I connected it by Wifi to my eircom broadband and at first it seemed slow. But now its fine. So maybe that was just a start up thing. I went onto a site that I normally watch TV series on and that worked fine - no lagging issues at all. The only thing it wouldn't let me make the screen full size, so i could still see the menu bar at the top. But no biggie. Very good resolution and sound is great. It has 2 little speaker that sit onthe very top of the kindle and they give out good sound. No direct buttons on the Kindle fire to adjust volume up or down, but its litterally just a click away, -> settings - volume +/-

The on/off button located on the bottom, I can see how ppl might hit this by accident, but once you know where it is its fine. I hit it once and then when I realised what I'd done I haven't since.

I purchased a book from amazon.com, kindle edition, and it downloaded in a matter of seconds. Great!

I also subscribed to a couple of US magazines, and again they downloaded instantly.

The carousel feature at the home screen is a little strange alright, but then again once you get used to it its ok. YOu have a carousel to all the content you have on your kindle and beneath the carousel you can put your favourite items for you to have easy access to.

I'm not at all familiar yet with the 'synching cloud' thing yet. I understand anything i purchase through amazon.com is available on the cloud as well as my device but its nice to have access to it in case I ever needed to reset and clear everything - all my content is still on available on 'cloud'.

I'll see how much more I can get through and report back.

At the moment though its fulfilling its initial requirement which is to allow me (or the other half I should say!) to download and read books. There are obviously thousands to choose from through Amazon.com.

As a bonus, I can surf online, watch tv shows, movies etc. Nice to be able to do as our laptop takes about 2/3 mins just to boot up!!

Can access email, facebook, youTube etc etc. All the stuff you'd expect.

I haven't tried to put any music on it as its not really mine to do that, so will wait and see how that works out post X-mas!

All in all , i'm delighted. I got it even though everywhere I read said it wasn't available to purchase in Ireland and also it didn't cost me that much more. Direct to my door, in 4 days. No extra Taxes, no customs.
Pretty good going I reckon

galait

http://www.youtube.com/kindlefirewire/

This guy seems to be well ahead and his info makes the Fire even more attractive ,

To speed up browsing just disable accelerated browsing ! It works

I got it via my sister in Philadelphia and postage via USPS whick took a week was only $16 (it's Light in shipping terms)

seaner

galait wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/kindlefirewire/

This guy seems to be well ahead and his info makes the Fire even more attractive ,

To speed up browsing just disable accelerated browsing ! It works

I got it via my sister in Philadelphia and postage via USPS whick took a week was only $16 (it's Light in shipping terms)

will defo be installing that! Looks great - thanks for info

shinny

Carter P Fly wrote: »

This is listed as euro219.95 but the kindle is $199 dollars at amazon.com. I bought mine which was shipped to my brother in the US who is mailing it to me as we speak and it cost me euro150.32 (from my credit card statement) so you're paying circa euro70 extra from a dodgy looking site that is selling a product Amazon is selling to US customers only.

Epic Fail methinks.

You must have gotten some special exchange rate then that the rest of us aren't subject to!!

It's $199 + tax. Average tax % is about 7% so add another $14. That's $213. So you had to have an exchange rate of 1.41 to come in at what you claim it cost - The rate hasn't gone over 1.35281 (which you won't actually get as we all know) since the Kindle Fire went on sale. So in reality it was $213 / 1.34 (being generous here!) = €159.

Now add on your shipping costs. The basic rate for a letter on USPS is $11 Therefore you are at $223 (very conservative estimate as it would be more for a package) which is €166 euros using the same rate.

You could easily add on another tennar here too as I was being very conservative and in reality it was probably even more!

EPIC Fail at Spoofing!

*Edit* and I never factored in the cost of Amazon shipping it to your brother and not to mention the higher risk of Customs getting their hands on it!!

galait

shinny wrote: »

You must have gotten some special exchange rate then that the rest of us aren't subject to!!

It's $199 + tax. Average tax % is about 7% so add another $14. That's $213. So you had to have an exchange rate of 1.41 to come in at what you claim it cost - The rate hasn't gone over 1.35281 (which you won't actually get as we all know) since the Kindle Fire went on sale. So in reality it was $213 / 1.34 (being generous here!) = €159.

Now add on your shipping costs. The basic rate for a letter on USPS is $11 Therefore you are at $223 (very conservative estimate as it would be more for a package) which is €166 euros using the same rate.

You could easily add on another tennar here too as I was being very conservative and in reality it was probably even more!

EPIC Fail at Spoofing!

*Edit* and I never factored in the cost of Amazon shipping it to your brother and not to mention the higher risk of Customs getting their hands on it!!

Real World Example

Cost of Kindle + $3.99 next day prime delivery was $202.99 , Which converted to €153.16 on my credit card statement

My sister simply brought it to the local post office and it cost $16.76 (€12.44) to post via USPS and it took exactly a week to arrive in the original Kindle Fire Packaging ! , €165.60 which XE.com says is $222.84


She sends stuff all the time (I have been buying stuff on Amazon.com since 1998 all delivered to her address and she either sends it on or I pick the stuff when we visit) and never ever had to pay duty (Loads of Laptop's etc and even a Dewalt 18V Impact Driver)

shinny

galait wrote: »

Real World Example

Cost of Kindle + $3.99 next day prime delivery was $202.99 , Which converted to €153.16 on my credit card statement

My sister simply brought it to the local post office and it cost $16.76 (€12.44) to post via USPS and it took exactly a week to arrive in the original Kindle Fire Packaging ! , €165.60 which XE.com says is $222.84


She sends stuff all the time (I have been buying stuff on Amazon.com since 1998 all delivered to her address and she either sends it on or I pick the stuff when we visit) and never ever had to pay duty (Loads of Laptop's etc and even a Dewalt 18V Impact Driver)

So not far off my guesstimate. But, as I said, I was conservative with postage and hadn't included the amazon postal cost. Tell me, how did you avoid tax?

Yeah, that was more of a gentle jibe at Carter. I've gotten stuff sent over myself but you do take a chance. I was stung once.....

galait

shinny wrote: »

So not far off my guesstimate. But, as I said, I was conservative with postage and hadn't included the amazon postal cost. Tell me, how did you avoid tax?

Yeah, that was more of a gentle jibe at Carter. I've gotten stuff sent over myself but you do take a chance. I was stung once.....

Amazon never add tax , Also posting using USPS and marking as a gift will in my experience never attract import duty etc.

shinny

galait wrote: »

Amazon never add tax , Also posting using USPS and marking as a gift will in my experience never attract import duty etc.

Really? Anytime I've sent it to a US address and they ask for a Postal Address it automatically adds on Tax. See screenshot attached:

InTheTrees

I've enojyed my kindle fire for a few weeks now.

The User interface is awkward, verging on nasty and unpleasant. The main page makes no sense with its carousel of your usage history dominating.

But I expect they'll update it sometime.

And you're not missing too much with the Amazon App store, its pretty thin right now and it'll be awhile before its bulked out. Alot of the available apps are designed for phones with much smaller screens so when you see them on the Fire the resolution is wrong.

It seeems to take an age to recharge as well.

Otherwise I love it. Its a handy little portable browser and the size is just perfect.

seaner

Ok so i've since rooted the fire. Then I re-rooted it and installed android market. Its working great now. I've also loaded ice cream sandwich launcher and I now have a fairly nifty android tablet!

Rooting it was fairly straight forward, but getting the market was a little more tricky, i got there in the end with the help of ...kindlefirewire.com.

So once you get the android market on it you can install all your favourite apps without being re-stricted by the amazon app store - which didn't work for me as Non US users don't have access to the store at all.

As regards the forced update thats coming, i'll just have to wait and see what happens. Some people are reporting that superoneclick user allows you to gain access again, however market will be removed but all downloaded apps remain. I'll wait it out and see waht the craic is.

InTheTrees

seaner wrote: »

Ok so i've since rooted the fire. Then I re-rooted it and installed android market. Its working great now. I've also loaded ice cream sandwich launcher and I now have a fairly nifty android tablet!

Rooting it was fairly straight forward, but getting the market was a little more tricky, i got there in the end with the help of ...kindlefirewire.com.

So once you get the android market on it you can install all your favourite apps without being re-stricted by the amazon app store - which didn't work for me as Non US users don't have access to the store at all.

As regards the forced update thats coming, i'll just have to wait and see what happens. Some people are reporting that superoneclick user allows you to gain access again, however market will be removed but all downloaded apps remain. I'll wait it out and see waht the craic is.

Nice. Well done.

galait

InTheTrees wrote: »

seaner wrote: »

Ok so i've since rooted the fire. Then I re-rooted it and installed android market. Its working great now. I've also loaded ice cream sandwich launcher and I now have a fairly nifty android tablet!

Rooting it was fairly straight forward, but getting the market was a little more tricky, i got there in the end with the help of ...kindlefirewire.com.

So once you get the android market on it you can install all your favourite apps without being re-stricted by the amazon app store - which didn't work for me as Non US users don't have access to the store at all.

As regards the forced update thats coming, i'll just have to wait and see what happens. Some people are reporting that superoneclick user allows you to gain access again, however market will be removed but all downloaded apps remain. I'll wait it out and see waht the craic is.

Nice. Well done.

I have to agree, I have done the same and also installed Slingplayer,Tunein Radio Pro and Spotify and all work great

Dcully

So folks as of right now is it worth grabbing one of these considering the limitations getting apps in ireland?

Carter P Fly

shinny wrote: »

You must have gotten some special exchange rate then that the rest of us aren't subject to!!

It's $199 + tax. Average tax % is about 7% so add another $14. That's $213. So you had to have an exchange rate of 1.41 to come in at what you claim it cost - The rate hasn't gone over 1.35281 (which you won't actually get as we all know) since the Kindle Fire went on sale. So in reality it was $213 / 1.34 (being generous here!) = €159.

Now add on your shipping costs. The basic rate for a letter on USPS is $11 Therefore you are at $223 (very conservative estimate as it would be more for a package) which is €166 euros using the same rate.

You could easily add on another tennar here too as I was being very conservative and in reality it was probably even more!

EPIC Fail at Spoofing!

*Edit* and I never factored in the cost of Amazon shipping it to your brother and not to mention the higher risk of Customs getting their hands on it!!

NO spoofing

No tax was added, and shipping was free, Attached is a screenshhot of my e-mail reciept

It cost my brother just shy of 20 dollars to ship so it cost me 219 dollars

Quick oanda check 162.72 euro delivered

shinny

Carter P Fly wrote: »

NO spoofing

No tax was added, and shipping was free, Attached is a screenshhot of my e-mail reciept

It cost my brother just shy of 20 dollars to ship so it cost me 219 dollars

Quick oanda check 162.72 euro delivered

Ok, so this has bugged me why some where not getting charged tax.

And this is why (from Amazon)

Companies selling over the Internet are subject to the same sales tax collection requirements as any other retailers. Remote sellers (including Internet retailers and catalog companies) are generally required to collect taxes where they have a physical selling presence. If they do not have any such presence, they are not required to collect sales taxes.

Orders shipped to destinations in the states of Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota, or Washington are subject to tax

Good to know! Will have to hit up my friend in Florida from now on so ;-)

Carter P Fly

I just got mine in the post, Lovely kit, My bro took it all out of teh origional package and put the cover on and shippeit as a gift so no duty paid.

Its installing an update which I presume is this now anti -root stuff but Its a beautiful piece of kit.

DonalN

can't decide on this or the galaxy 10.1 tab.

fairly small storage on it, and you can't play avi files - have to convert them first.

Newtown Warrior

Cheers for the post, I ordered one on the back of it. I am just wondering did they come with a UK/US adapter?

pippam

Stay away from SimplyElectronics.net

It's a Chinese seller. Really bad reviews online claiming that it's a scam, just google them.

the kindle fire is coming to amazon.co.uk in january 2012 so just wait hopefully ireland can download uk apps

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/digital-life/item/24887-amazon-kindle-fire-coming/

Scruff

ye dont need to root it to install apps, ye can "sideload" them by finding them on the web. If ye copy the apk files on to the fire ye can install them once ye have download a file browser like Astro or EF File Explorer.

seaner wrote:

Ok so i've since rooted the fire. Then I re-rooted it and installed android market. Its working great now. I've also loaded ice cream sandwich launcher and I now have a fairly nifty android tablet!

ohh.. must try ice cream sandwich launcher! Have it rooted and Go Launcher EX on it but its very handset orientated, not tablet.

DonalN wrote: »

can't decide on this or the galaxy 10.1 tab.
fairly small storage on it, and you can't play avi files - have to convert them first.

Yes storage is a pain but ye dont have to convert files, just install moboplayer or rockplayer.

things i dont like:
1) the two speakers are on the same side, seriously wtf?
2) no SD card slot
3) the amazon software is basically just a shop front to consume amazon products and doesnt like any media files ye load yerself
4) Cant stream videos from my NAS. Can do it with my phone but not this. even after installing UpnPlay and Skifta

but appart from all that i really like it. Small, cheap, rootable, good screen, tablet. tis a nice toy.

uvox

The report says it "could be coming to the UK in January". This one seems more definitive: http://www.knowyourmobile.com/blog/1158519/exclusive_amazon_kindle_fire_coming_to_uk_in_january.html

Shame not before Christmas though. Oh well. The Irish Times today (Dec 10, 2011) says of the Kindle Fire:


"Not available here. Even if you have access to a US address to get hold of one, a lot of the good things about the Fire are limited to US customers: Amazon Prime, media content, even apps. So perhaps wait until it’s available here. Also, it’s has only 8GB of storage, although it’s designed to work with Amazon’s cloud, allowing you to store your content off the tablet. Not much good if you are out of Wi-Fi coverage, either: the Fire doesn’t offer 3G."

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/1210/1224308823980.html

Still tempted to buy one in the US as I travel often.

Carter P Fly

DonalN wrote: »

can't decide on this or the galaxy 10.1 tab.

fairly small storage on it, and you can't play avi files - have to convert them first.

I follwed this and can stream all my AVI's etc to my kindle without any conversion.

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=159808

uvox

UX reviewers aren't that keen on it, it seems:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/technology/personaltech/amazons-fire-some-say-may-become-the-edsel-of-tablets.html?_r=1


Mr. Nielsen, the consultant, disagreed.

The 7-inch Fire does a good job displaying sites optimized for smaller mobile devices, he said, but stumbles when it tries to show pages designed for 10-inch tablets. “Like squeezing a Size 10 person into a Size 7 suit,” Mr. Nielsen wrote in his report. “Not going to look good.” As for displaying desktop sites, forget it.

It is true that the device is only $199, but so what? “Look at your hand. Is it thin or fat?” he asked. “If it’s fat, you just know it’s going to be bad.”

The device does do one thing well, he said. Shopping on Amazon is a breeze. “If I were given to conspiracy theories, I’d say that Amazon deliberately designed a poor Web browsing user experience to keep Fire users from shopping on competing sites,” Mr. Nielsen said.

Newtown Warrior

Kindle Fire arrived today from Simply Electronics within 8 working days.

I experienced good customer care with them, my email on the order was replied within 12 hours and I was given a DHL tracking number.

Jet Black

My sister ordered from simply electronic on the 4th and it arrived today via DHL. I was a bit worried after seeing that post on here saying it was a scam but it was fine. It's a Christmas present for her partner so I won't get to see it til next week :-(

Still happy with my kindle 3.

InTheTrees

My free month of "amazon prime" expired yesterday.

I checked it out when I first got the fire last month and wasnt very impressive and havent looked at it since.

We have Netflix streaming already and its almost identical.

raheal

Seaner
Hi just wondered if the Kindle fire worked ok for you and could you download music books etc thanks

starlit

Hi sorry for barging into this thread but just have a couple of questions regarding kindles, I am wondering has the kindle fire come to Ireland yet?

Is the wifi ok with the eircom broadband/router or would an o2 hotspot wifi be a better option to pick up wifi?

I am looking into one and based on research most of them in Ireland just have the wifi some do have 3G which I'd prefer even if it does the same job as the ordinary kindle, will it not download book files properly unless the internet is in good working order?

Based on my location I think I'd need one with a 3G one for it to download books better. The wifi is only ok here my broadband be slightly better.

Regarding the kindle fire it only has hd or ordinary one with wifi, none of them in the UK have the 3G version of kindle fire? Is it true it similar to an ipad?

My only concern is the IP address issue whether it have wifi or just wifi and 3G.

Comparing kindle and the sony versions is there much of a difference between them?

Are kindles good value for money or would the sony be better value?

I've looked into getting in the UK as they be slightly cheaper just the IP address might be a cause of concern.

I didn't realise you'd need wifi for a kindle at all i've really only properly looked into it now, I always thought you'd connect to your pc from the internet and download books via toggle/usb or memory stick? Is that possible with the ordinary kindle? Just to read books like not necessary any other feature. I don't know that much about them as I'v not used them much before, I've seen them and used them once but never really had one of my own yet.

Is the kindle fire likely to have a 3G version out by next year?

I love reading books I love the novelty of it but the kindle probably help reduce the amount of books that I have!

nantony2011

hi just butting in there im also interested in getting this for my other half, could u tell me about the print size for reading?? i read on another site that its not great and the guy said 'you'll soon need glasses' so if u could clear that up for me.. they say its not like an e reader??? could u also tell me about getting it shipped to ireland how long were u waiting?? thanks in advance

vibe666

the kindle fire isn't an ereader at all, it's a tablet and wouldn't be ideal for lots of ebook reading compared to a normal kindle (or the new paperwhite), although it can be used as such. you can change the font size to suit your needs too, so don't worry about that part of it, although if you think she'll mainly be reading ebooks then go for the regular kindle, not the kindle fire.

at the moment, the fire is not going to work with the amazon store from ireland until it gets an official release. afaik, even if you have a UK address and credit card for buying stuff, it still requires a UK based IP address, so it's going to be a lot of hard work to get it working here properly.

of course you can still sideload apps (google it) and manage ebooks on it via calibre (google that too!), but you're better off with a nexus 7 or something like that with a proper android interface and not have to deal with amazon's clunky gui at all.

kel.lynch

Hi there,

I was bought a KindleFire as a gift last Christmas. Couldn't download any apps or anything, so decided to wait until it was released in Europe with the hope that I could download the European software. Turns out that there's no such thing. Had a terrible experience with an amazon customer service rep who told me to "migrate" my Kindle to the UK website where I could purchase apps, music, etc. Turns out that's not true and you need not only a UK address (which I have) but also a UK card (which I don't) and the Kindle also recognises that it is in Ireland, not the UK, via the WiFi.

Have now (with difficulty) returned my Kindle to its original US state, however I can't buy apps or music without an American address. Really disappointed as its nowhere near as useful without being able to do all the things I expected it to do. Seriously considering selling it and buying one in Ireland or the UK, but if I got it in the UK, I would probably still have the same issue

Don't understand why there is an Amazon site for almost every other European site except Ireland...so frustrating!

CombatCow

Create a fake american address in Amazon.com that's what I did when I needed to download free apps from the amazon app store....

kel.lynch

CombatCow wrote: »

Create a fake american address in Amazon.com that's what I did when I needed to download free apps from the amazon app store....

Hi

Thanks for the reply - does that actually work? It thought it recognised where you were via your WiFi connection? Does that work with paid apps too or just the free ones?

How do you get around the Zip Code etc - not exactly sure how the addresses work in the US.

Thanks again

CombatCow

Yup mine was something like:

123 fake st
Seattle
Washington
Zip:98121

Definitely works for free apps as I used it for the free app of the day all the time, cant remember about paid ones to be honest.

kel.lynch

Ha, alright well I shall give it a shot and see what I get. Thanks for your help

kel.lynch

Tried the fake American address, even deleted my other address from the address book so that that was the only one and when I try and download something from the App Store, it tells me that my payment method has a non-US billing address and that I need to use an American card

CombatCow

Ah yeah I remember I had to enter a "credit card" number too, I used this site to generate one http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/advanced.php It will then allow you to get the free apps, just don't try to buy anything with those details.

I dont know if there is a better way of doing this but it's what I used before, maybe someone else has another idea.

Mars Bar

I tried all that and didn't work for me.

I've just started sideloading apps. Works grand when you can find the apk files.

Nataliem

I was given the kindle fire as a gift, it came from the UK but i live in Ireland & i'm having major problems getting anything to download, i contacted Amazon who passed me to .co.uk who passed me back to .com who tried to pass me back to .co.uk to say i'm really frustrated is an understatement can anyone help i have this gift that i cannot use