Kindle Fire

Discussion in 'Gadgets & Tech Talk' started by Ken Anderson, Oct 1, 2015.

  1. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I'm noticing something with my Kindles that I didn't use to see. Although I have plenty of storage on my devices, including SD cards, the Kindles don't seem to store anything on them. Whenever I want to read a book, or even continue reading a book that I hadn't opened in a while, it requires Internet access to download the book again, and if I don't have Internet access, such as on Amtrak, where Internet service is sketchy at best, I can't open the book.

    If it's a book that I open pretty much every day, such as one that I open when I go to bed at night, it doesn't have to download the book again, but if it's one that I haven't opened in a while, it has to download it from the Internet again.

    I haven't dug around into the settings but I know that I have never chosen to do that, but it seems to be storing all of my content in the Cloud somewhere rather than on the device or available SD card. The last time I was on Amtrak, I couldn't get online because the Internet connection wasn't there, although it was supposed to be, and I couldn't even read because my Kindle insisted on having to download whatever book I wanted to read again. Apparently, a Kindle upgrade, at some point, defaulted to placing everything in the Cloud because I can access any of my books from any of my Kindles, which is something that might be helpful for books that I use as research but, for the most part, I'd rather have them stored on the device or SD card.
     
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  2. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    I don't know about the Kindle settings, but here's a tip for internet. If your iPhone has any "bars", go into settings and turn on your hotspot. Then you can connect your Kindle to the internet using that hotspot. (Or, you could load the Kindle app on your phone and leave your Kindle at home. :p)
     
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  3. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I use my hotspot for an Internet connection a lot. Michelle and I both used our hotspots as our ISP for a couple of years before Verizon began throttling us. Rarely is it a matter of not being able to download the books because I usually have Internet access but that I shouldn't have to keep downloading the same book over and over again, and I wouldn't be able to do so without a connection. On my land up north, for example, my phone doesn't even have a connection. Even on a regular basis, it's annoying to have to wait for a book to download when it should already be there.
     
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  4. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    My kindle fire was doing something similar, maybe. I noticed that it was not staying connected to the internet, and when I would turn it on to read, it would tell me that I was not connected to Wifi; so then I had to do that connection procedure. It didn’t happen every time, but pretty often, so maybe when it didn’t happen was when I was using the Kindle more often and then it stayed connected.
    I don’t remember having to download the books once I had them on the Kindle.
    Before I went anywhere that I was taking it along, I always made sure that I had enough books downloaded on the Kindle for the duration of the trip, which was usually on a plane going west with my daughter.
    I always do that now with the iPad Mini, too.
     
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  5. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    My Kindle connects easily enough when there is a connection, but it shouldn't have to have a connection for me to read a book that I've already downloaded.
     
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  6. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    I googled the issue. Lots of "blah, blah, blah" but no apparent causation. Take comfort in the fact that you are not alone.
     
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  7. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Obviously, I'm not concerned enough to dig around in the settings trying to figure it out. I am guessing that an update changed the default settings to direct everything to the Cloud.
     
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  8. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    I haven't experienced that, but I haven't used my newest Kindle for a while. I have taken to disconnecting from WIFI as the battery seems to go longer when I do that and only connect when I have a reason to do so.
     
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  9. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    They have a Kindle Fire Max 11 now. At $229, I think I'll wait for a sale, though, if at all. I certainly don't need another Kindle. I have six or seven of them, not counting the Kindles that aren't Fires. There was a sale on them not long ago, and I opted against it. I often use my Kindles but have never used six or seven of them simultaneously. I have two Kindle Fire 10s because, believe it or not, I forgot that I already had one and ordered another.

    I have some 7s and 8s. One Kindle 8 quit working after I sat on it. Although there were no external breaks that I could see, it wouldn't boot up after I had sat on it. It would boot to the Fire logo and then restart, over and over. I set it in a desk drawer for a couple of years. I was going to throw it away a couple of weeks ago when I decided to try it one more time first, and it booted up and seems to work fine now. It needed a rest, I guess.

    I considered saying that I sprinkled some grapeseed extract into the charging hole, but that would have just made @Joy Martin mad at me again. I am just joking, Joy. I take grapeseed extract every day that I remember to.
     
    #144
    Last edited: Nov 8, 2023
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  10. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    The Amazon Fire 11 is on sale for 30% off, for $159.99. If not for the fact that I don't need another Kindle Fire, I would buy one.
     
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    Last edited: Dec 8, 2023
  11. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    I checked out the 11 but I seldom use the 10 so I'm going to also pass. I'm weird but my favorite Fire is still the little 7, I guess because I mainly use it as an ereader.
     
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  12. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    Me too.
     
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  13. Denise Evans

    Denise Evans Supreme Member
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    I use my hotspot often, because our electricity goes out easily even in just a heavy rain, kind of the slightest thing can take it out. My phone towers must be better equipped as I can always use my hotspot. Didn't do that for a couple of years until I finally figured out it was free with my phone service so I went for it :)

    @Don Alaska guess I'm weird too then since I still love my Kindle Fire 7", just the right size, I've seen nothing better, yet anyway :)

    I love my Kindle and always have a book either from the library, or Kindle Store digital I'll pay for. The only thing I wish could be a bit better is the audio, but it is good enough for when I just want to be "read to" :D I've been googling some of the best narrators too for future reference as I have an Agatha Christie I want read to me called "The Moving Finger. A friend told me about it today and it had such a wonderful part they shared with me I had to get the whole story.
     
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