After looking around a bit, it didn’t take long to see that the Fire 8” WiFi 8 GB was one of the best deals on the market. It’s super slim and feather light plus it has a truly high definition display (over a million pixels). It’s got a fast quad-core processor 1.5 GHz for a fast and responsive usability when browsing, gaming, reading and watching movies. Rear-facing 5MP camera and front-facing HD camera that takes really clear images while I’m on Skype—much more improved over my Nexus tablet. I became a prime member so I can stream thousands of Amazon Instant Video titles, get 800,000 books, thousands of audiobooks and a million songs. I can also, as a prime member, watch instant TV shows and movies offline. Really great service, I’ve been using Instant Videos a lot recently. You’ll be surprised with the amount of content – Criminal Minds is a real favourite which looks superb on the 8 inch screen.
Amazon also offers Amazon underground, it’s a new app store where you can get thousands of apps, games and in-app and they’re all free – it includes stuff like extra lives, unlocked levels, unlimited add-on packs etc. 38 million songs, movies, TV shows and books.If you want more storage on your Fire HD, you can add a microSD card for up to 128GB more. Also, Amazon offers free unlimited cloud storage for all Amazon content and photos taken with the Fire tablet. I’m still getting used to the fact that this little tablet has up to 8 hours of reading, surfing the internet on Wi-Fi, watching video and listening to music—this thing just goes and goes without a recharge. And of course you have everything you get on any other computer: web, games, hulu, email, facebook, twitter, Skype, etc.My laptop is only a couple years old and I have to tell you, this Fire tablet is at least 2 times faster. The performance level of this quad core processor is incredible. Games and videos are smooth and responsive and performance overall is just wonderful. The display is 1280 X 800 HD and bright and as clear as you’d need for anything you’re watching. It uses low glare and IPS (in-plane-switching) technology so you can see from any angle clearly.Storage space is pretty much unlimited thanks to the optional 128 GB SD card and Amazon offers free cloud storage as well for your Amazon content.
The camera on this thing is great—5MP rear facing for photos and 1080 video (that’s 1080 like the HD on my plasma screen TV, very clear and high resolution). It has a customizable auto-white balance and auto exposure algorithms so you can get really sharp and perfect colour video and photos no matter what lighting you are in.This thing is designed tough, when dropped on to a tile floor the Fire didn’t even have a scratch on it. It’s 1.8 times is apparently more durable than the iPad Air 2, and I believe it.Using the Fire:There’s a lot of stuff to do and because of that the Fire has a user interface that allows you to find things easily. The home screen includes content pages for books, games, apps, video, music, audiobooks and Newsstand so you can go back right to where you left off reading etc. Browsing books, movies, TV shows, apps and games is very easy and Amazon gives you suggestions based on your preferences.Apps are actually free with Amazon Underground. If you’re a Fire tablet owner you get access to the app store and thousands of apps, games. You get titles from the best players in the industry including Disney, Rovio Entertainment, Zynga, Zeptolab and Sega of America, and it’s all free. There’s truly more than I can possibly ever use, and I use a lot of apps.Fire also has Word Runner, a really good and fun way to read faster. It keeps your eyes on the centre of the page and then brings the next word right to where your eyes already are focused. It automatically slows down for harder words and also for punctuation and breaks (like paragraphs). When you first start out reading, it slowly builds up to the speed you can handle. If you miss a word, you can just tap and hold the screen so that it stops and can catch up. You can also pause it so it and lets you scroll back and go back to wherever you want. I think I’ve become a better reader with more comprehension with Word Runner, really good helpful tool.
I bought a Fire for my wife and daughter also and with several accounts you can use the Amazon Family Library where you can share content. This link up allows you to share apps, games, books, Audiobooks and the like. And you can share all this content across devices like Amazon apps for Android and iOS. I think I’m actually becoming closer to my daughter through sharing movies and the like with her—what a miracle that is. We communicate more through sharing than actually talking!Another thing I really like about the Fire (and Amazon) is that the more I’ve used it, the more shows movies, etc. it suggests and even prepares the stuff I might like. It’s called ASAP (Advanced Streaming and Prediction). Basically it learns based on previous things I’m doing and then gets similar material ready for me. Very much intuitive, it’s opened up a little new stuff for the family.I couldn’t find this much functionality, content and great services in any other tablet out there and the price is untouchable. The Fire is tough with a great looking display, takes great HD pictures and video with auto adjust and processing, very intuitive and easy to navigate, unbelievable amount of content and I’m just overwhelmed by all that Prime and Amazon have to offer. If you’re looking for a tablet that has it all, you really can’t do better than the Fire.
