Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

When I first heard about the Kindle Fire HD, I knew it was an upgrade I was going to make. The main feature I was looking forward to was the new screen. The idea of the touchscreen being directly on top of the LCD and a polarizing filter on the screen seemed perfect for a Tablet that was also going to be an e-reader. I really never buy anything expecting a perfect experience or downright horrible experience. I guess you could say I was expecting a 4-Star experience. Shortly after opening the box I felt like I was dealing with a 3-Star device and unfortunately over the next few hours I realized I could not consider this device more than a 2-Star device. I honestly think this is my first Amazon review, but I feel that this device is important enough for people to have completely un-biased reviews to read. I have owned countless devices through the years including the first Kindle Fire and a Nook Color. Since I will say some negative things about the device, some people will criticize my comments, but those who are considering the device should consider all of these positives and negatives before making the purchase. PRO'S: -Beautiful/Advanced Screen -Dolby Audio/Speakers -Fast WIFI -Excellent Build Quality -Access to Prime Content CON'S: -Hard Button Layout -System Lag -Shopping Device SCREEN: This screen was what I most looked forward to and it did not disappoint. The resolution is perfect for a tablet. The 1280x800 is perfect for a 7" device, but it is the fact that the touchscreen is directly on the LCD that makes it extremely clear without glare and makes it perfect for reading and watching videos. DOLBY AUDIO/SPEAKERS: I have read some complaints on the speakers with some saying they were not loud or that they sounded like a tin can. I really can't go there with anyone. Without a doubt these are the best speakers I have ever had on any mobile device...phone, tablet or laptop. I could play music with the Fire HD in one room and hear it clearly in the adjacent room. I am really still amazed at these speakers and just wish other manufactures would take a hint from this. The only negative comes on the software end and the music player will play songs without sound at times. FAST WIFI: I have honestly not gotten to experience this enough, but the WIFI locks on and stays connected and runs fast enough to do anything I would need. I am just impressed that a manufacturer thought about improving the WIFI experience instead to only thinking about ways to put 3G and 4G radios in a device to work in agreement with the cellular companies. WIFI is plenty for most and it is nice that Amazon has taken a step ahead with this. EXCELLENT BUILD QUALITY: This thing just feels nice. There is nowhere on the device that I felt they skimped on the quality. It feels solid and well made. Not much more to say on this, but they did it right. ACCESS TO PRIME CONTENT: Especially for those with a Prime Membership this will be an excellent device. I have long been a Prime member, but have just started using the Prime Video more often. Having access to it on this device is a big plus and honestly is a big portion of the market that this device is meant for. HARD BUTTON LAYOUT: This will seem like the most minuscule thing to criticize, but once you use one of these devices you will realize that it is not. The hard buttons (Power/Volume) are almost impossible to find. They sit nice and flush with the casing of the device and that looks awesome, but I am not just going to sit and look at a device like this. The plan is to use it and the way the buttons are designed makes them virtually impossible to find without actually looking for them. This is especially frustrating in a dark room when your wife is yelling at you for turning the device up with the awesome, loud speakers when she is trying to sleep. You normally get a feel for where the buttons on a device are after a few minutes and can find them by feel. This does not work with the Fire HD. You have to look for them every single time. SYSTEM LAG: For a device built as well as this one, I am still amazed at the amount of system lag. It has plenty of processing power, but I can spend multiple seconds (5+) waiting for simple pages to load. When I say pages, I am meaning screens like the screen for your apps or books. It is just downright slow at times. I was also playing music from my device (NOT FROM THE CLOUD) and browsing a simple web page without much graphics, but the music was skipping. Playing music in the background and simple web browsing should not bee too much for this device, but it was. SHOPPING DEVICE: This is the area where it is really easy to get people all up in a tizzy. I purchased this knowing about the special offers. I once bought a Kindle specifically for the special offers. I have a special email address just to receive coupons to hundreds of stores. I enjoy online shopping and good deals. Special offers is absolutely no problem for me. The problem is that this is unlike any special offers device Amazon has ever made. People get mad at people for criticizing the ads and say that people should have known about it since it has been widely discussed on the internet before launch. I can understand that argument, but there is no way anyone could completely understand what they were walking into before experiencing it. The ads are not on just the lockscreen, but are on every single page you go to until you are actually doing something. If you are reading or watching a movie you are fine, but until you get to that point you will be bombarded by ads, with most saying "Other Customers Purchased." I have always been able to give my son my phone or tablet to play with, but three seconds after handing him the Fire HD I took it back from him out of fear he would accidentally buy something. The only device he has ever done that with was my original Fire, but I never really worried it would happen again. I know there is the FreeTime setup, but I have never had to use something like that in the past with my son and don't feel like I should have to start doing that now that he is older. I honestly wonder if the FreeTime option was something Amazon realized they would have to do for kids to prevent accidental purchase issues. One final point on the shopping device is that on the top of the device where you choose what you want to do, the options are in this order...Shop, Games, Apps, Books, Music, Videos, Newsstand, Audiobooks, Web, Photos, Docs, Offers. The first eight options are things that allow you to spend money on Amazon. You have to swipe across to get to something as simple as web. CONCLUSION: The build quality and specs of this device are amazing. If they had not skinned Android so much, it would have been awesome. I honestly think some of the system lag is due to the device constantly having to pull information for ads and the entire operating system just gives a bad feel. I think I expected this to be a little less e-reader and more tablet this time, but instead it is less tablet and more shopping device. I am someone who loves to shop on Amazon. They don't have to sell me a device to sell me more stuff. I will gladly walk my fingers into their online store and spend more money than I ever should. Where my 2-star rating comes from is that I would consider the Nexus 7 a far superior device overall. The build quality of the Fire HD is far superior, but the overall experience with a Nexus 7 is much better. I would not give a Nexus 7 over a 3-Star rating and for that I can't go higher than 2-Stars on the Fire HD. In all honesty, those stars come from the build of this device alone. This device could have been completely amazing, but Amazon missed the mark big time.