Kindle Fire

B2Z728

For my birthday my parents gave me a Kindle Fire! So far I've really liked, based on using it for the first time last night for a couple hours. I don't have a smart phone, so everything with the apps and such is new and fun to me. 

Does anyone have recommendations for cool, preferably free, apps to download? Any fun games? So far I've downloaded a few apps - chef tap (a cooking/recipe one), Pinterest, Facebook, Fruit Nija Game, My Fitness Pal, and Bon Appetite Magazine (to which I already had a subscription to). 

I have experienced one major problem though. Every so often, ranging from every 20 minutes to 5 minutes, it reboots itself. It will freeze while I'm in the middle of doing something, then go back to the "Kindle Fire" start up blank page, then bring me back to where it's locked and I have to slide the thingy to unlock and use it again. 

I've done a little research and unfortunately this seems like a common issue. They recommend doing a hard restart to reset the settings. If that doesn't work, I have to contact Amazon's customer service for them to send me a new one. I'm hoping that maybe, it will fix itself on it's own... but I'm pretty sure that won't happen. 

cwaggoner07

Buzz I got one for Christmas last year, and I've never had it reboot like that except maybe once or twice (in one year). Do you have the HD or regular? Mine is regular.

One app I downloaded I can't remember the exact name, but it's a jigsaw puzzle, and I nerd out on it a LOT. And you can download more puzzles for free.

I also have the notepad app, but not a whole lot of other games.

B2Z728

I have the HD, WiFi only one. 

misssunshine17

I would definitely look into it. My feezes every so often when I try to do too much on it. FI is  computer geek and reminds me it doesn't have the capabilities of an ipad- it's a reader first and also has the internet, so sometimes I put it on overload. However, it doesn't do it nearly as much as yours and I've had it since July. 

As for apps, I'm not huge into them, but I love my 'note' ap (that's all it says). It's shaped like a post-it. You can make to do lists, shuffle them by priority, cross them off, etc. 

B2Z728

I'll have to check out the note/notepad one! 

I honestly think I'm going to use it, at least at first, primarily more as a tablet as opposed to a reader. I'm currently in the middle of a "real" book so I do not plan on buying any ebooks until I finish that one. 

As far as I know, I'm not overloading it, trying to do too much. It has restarted itself while I was browsing Pinterest, trying to type something on FB, and even just while browsing which new apps to download. 

I'm pretty sure I'll be giving the customer service a call this week. I just wanted to enjoy it a few days first before I had to wait for a new one to arrive. I'll also probably hold off on downloading anything new since I'll most likely be sending this one back. 

misssunshine17

Yeah, definitely look into whatever the problem is. You'll love it once you have one that's working properly! I don't have a smartphone anymore, but my kindle replaced in nicely. And you'll be surprised, I never thought I would like a kindle to read on, now I have to force myself read my paper books. If you have amazon prime, you get lots of free books and they always have a lot for $3.99 or less they change monthy (I think). 

B2Z728

I have Amazon Prime, but my mom is the primary account. She then shares it with my dad, my brother, and myself. Do those Prime benefits still apply for me then? 

I've downloaded one of my magazine subscriptions to my Kindle (Bon Appetite, a cooking mag). It's really cool so far with how you interact with it rather than how you would read it while holding the magazine. And my parents also purchase me a case which doubles as a stand. I'm looking forward to all of these new uses! 

TiffanyT816

Buzz - does it have a task manager or anything like that? I don't have a Kindle, but my iPad has "force stopped" aps before and goes back to the main screen. To take care of it I usually close out any programs that are maybe running in the background that I'm not using.

B2Z728

Yes, from the small amount of research I've done on the issue, most problems are reported because of the WiFi connection, but primarily reported in airports. Based on help forum posts I've read, this issue has been going on since for at least year, so Amazon is definitely aware of the problem. 

Since the Kindle I have is only WiFi, and does not have a data plan, the only way I can connect to the internet at my house with it is through the Wifi we have through Verizon Fios. So, I sure hope that the issue can be resolved with either them sending a new one, or them telling me how to fix it. Otherwise we'll return it and find something else that works. 

When it's not restarting, I've really been enjoying it. I don't have a laptop or smartphone, so being able to casually browse the internet while sitting in bed or downstairs watching tv has made things much more convenient, rather than having to go to my stationary computer. 

I will definitely check out the daily free giveaways, thanks! 

JanoBean75

I've had mine (HD 7") for a few months and it's never done that. I do use it more as a tablet than a reader and I'm always on wi-fi. As far as apps go, I have FB, Pinterest, Email, IMDb, Netflix, E! Online, a few games (mostly solitaire, mah jong, and Plants vs. Zombies, Bejeweled 2), Out of Milk (a shopping list app), Reader's Digest, Skype, Tune In Radio and a few others.