# Do all Kindle Versions connect easily with Windows Explorer ?



## BuckSkin (Sep 19, 2018)

For years, I have been using a Kindle Fire HD 7" (2nd Generation)  (It does have a camera on the screen side), mostly as a portable photo album and it is ideal for that.

I really like that I can plug it into USB and immediately see and manipulate anything within it using Windows Explorer; I just love this no-nonsense ability.

The only con is that it has very limited capacity.

I have been looking at used offers on EBay, maybe with a bigger screen, more capacity, and even SD-card ability; however, I am afraid that I may end up with one that is not so Windows Explorer friendly; in which case, it would be of no use to me.

My question is:
Are all Kindle models as Windows Explorer friendly as the one I already have; or, is there a breaking point where this wonderful ability is no more ?

Thanks for reading and all help is appreciated.


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

I'm not sure just what you mean by Windows Explorer friendly but if you plug any Fire tablet into your computer using USB you can access it's files  with Windows explorer.  I had the first Fire tablet and I've had a couple since and I now have last year's tablet and nothing that I can recall has changed about the way it interacts with Windows Explorer.

The new 7" Fire tablet comes with 16gb storage standard and you can add storage up to 512gb with a micro SD card.

There are a couple of changes you might want to consider:  the speakers on the new ones are very poor.  They're barely adequate in a quiet room but you're out of luck if the A/C comes on.  They do have Bluetooth and an earphone jack so you can add speakers or earphones easily enough and if you're using it for videos you almost have to.  Also the screen on the 7" model isn't as good as on the older Fire HD tablets.  It's not too bad but it's lower resolution.  The Fire 8" tablets have slightly higher resolution.  The 10" tablet has much better resolution and I'm told it also has a slightly better speaker but I haven't actually heard it.

Barry


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## BuckSkin (Sep 19, 2018)

barryem said:


> if you plug any Fire tablet into your computer using USB you can access it's files with Windows explorer. I had the first Fire tablet and I've had a couple since and I now have last year's tablet and nothing that I can recall has changed about the way it interacts with Windows Explorer.


Thanks; that is exactly what I needed to know.

The reason I wanted to make sure before I spent too much is that my sister gave us her old iPad; my old Kindle is light-years ahead of the iPad for our purposes; without silly iTunes, you cannot do anything to the iPad; and, with it, what you can do is very limited.

Trying to load photos in that iPad sure made me appreciate the Kindle.


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

There are ways to get photos into the Ipad and once you do there are good tools to deal with them and edit them.

I transfer photos to my Ipad to use for drawings via Dropbox.  I sometimes also use ICloud.  You can also do it with Microsoft's One Drive and I think with Google Drive, although I haven't actually done that.  That doesn't require Itunes and it doesn't even require a USB cable.  The gotcha here is that it only works with recent versions of IOS.  By the way, Apple has announced that Itunes will be discontinued. That won't matter to me.  I haven't had it installed on my computer for years.  It's the worlds only user sadistic program. 

Another way is with a Sandisk Connect thumb drive, which is a thumb drive with Wifi built in.  Install the free app on your Ipad and turn on the Sandisk connect and connect the Wifi in the Ipad to the Wifi on the Sandisk and you can easily transfer files between them.  That sounds complicated but it's very simple.

Another even easier way is to use an app called Portal on your Ipad.  Start the app and it gives you an address and in windows you go to that address in your web browser and you can transfer files wirelessly to the Ipad.  I haven't actually used this on the Ipad but I use it on my Android tablets all the time and it's extremely simple and fast and reliable.

One other thing you might want to consider is getting an Android tablet other than a Fire tablet.  Something like a Galaxy Tab E light, which doesn't cost a whole lot more than a Fire tablet but has plain vanilla Android and the Google Play store which gives you a lot more options for wireless transfer.  There are a lot of apps that make your PC's web browser act like a Windows Explorer window to your tablet.  The one I use is called Wifi Explorer Pro.  I think it cost about $2 on Google Play.  Personally I think this is the most flexible option.  And no cables needed.  I usually use Portal if I just want to send a file or two to my Android tablet and I use Wifi Explorer Pro if I want to do more serious manipulation.

I may get a little static for this but the Fire tablets today have the virtue of being reliable and cheap but they're balky, slow, irritating, bad tempered and Amazon's overlays on the Android interface are very irritating.  To say nothing of the ads.  I paid to have ads removed from mine but I'm always getting way more ads than I get on any other device of any kind.

By the way there's another possibility to consider.  I recently bought a Galaxy J3 Orbit phone from Amazon for $50.  I don't have service for it.  I bought it just for reading.  I have a 128 gig micro SD card in it so there's lots of room.  It's pretty fast, extremely fast compared to the new Fire tablets, and it'll do everything you've described.  I put mine in airplane mode so it doesn't draw down the battery trying to connect to a cell phone tower and then turned on Wifi and that works perfectly. It has an very good screen, better than the Fire tablet, an excellent speaker, kind of like the old Fire HD tablet's used to have.  In fact I've been putting old 30 minute TV shows on it and I can hear them just fine even outside with the birds and the wind.  The speakers on that thing really surprised me.

Anyway you do have options. 

Barry


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## BuckSkin (Sep 19, 2018)

barryem said:


> There are ways to get photos into the Ipad and once you do there are good tools to deal with them and edit them.


You must really know this stuff; that entire post has been most helpful; THANKS !

Considering the iPad that we have in hand, A1219 iPad 1 (I think it is the first ever) with iOS 5.1.1, is it possible to obtain and load apps and such completely independent of iTunes ?

I have a program called iFunbox that will allow me to do all manner of photo organization on the PC while connected to the iPad; however, I have not been able to make anything that I do in iFunbox reflect on the iPad; I can organize in iFunbox to a fare-the-well, yet nothing I have done is visible on the iPad.


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

I had a first generation Ipad and I gave it away a few years ago.  It had gotten so slow running the newer software that it was extremely frustrating.  That said I never did have Itunes installed when I had it.  My experience with Itunes was helping my sister on her Ipad.

Still, I don't think you'll have a lot of luck with that thing. You might want to look into a new Ipad or an Android tablet.  I like the Ipad for drawing but all in all if I could only have one or the other I'd have an Android tablet.  They're quite a lot more flexible.

If you're doing your editing of the photos on the tablet either the Ipad or the Android tablet will work although there is better graphics software on the Ipad.  If you're not doing any editing or if you're editing on the PC then I'd give serious thought to a phone.  It'll do everything you described but it wouldn't be good for editing because of it's small screen.  You could do it but you wouldn't want to.

Barry


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## BuckSkin (Sep 19, 2018)

barryem said:


> If you're doing your editing of the photos on the tablet either the Ipad or the Android tablet will work although there is better graphics software on the Ipad. If you're not doing any editing or if you're editing on the PC then I'd give serious thought to a phone. It'll do everything you described but it wouldn't be good for editing because of it's small screen. You could do it but you wouldn't want to.
> 
> Barry


No photo editing on the iPad; that gets done on the PC; I just use the 99% as a portable photo album and hoped to also do the same with the iPad.
The Kindle is a breeze to manage photos; whereas, at least for me, the iPad is more than stubborn.

How are you getting apps and such on an iPad without iTunes ?


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

There's an app store on the Ipad.  It's just another Ipad app.  I open it and find the apps I want and either download them or buy them if they're not free.  I tend to avoid free apps because I don't like ads.

I think it worked that way on my Ipad 1 as well.  I also had an Ipad Mini, which was about the same as an Ipad 2.  Both worked the same way but I got rid of them so long ago I don't really remember the details.  I just remember that I didn't use Itunes.  I installed it when I got my first Ipad, found it too complicated and uninstalled it.  I might have used it the first 2 or 3 weeks.  I don't remember now.

I'm a retired programmer.  For 35 years I did mostly low level programming but I've also designed hundreds of user interfaces.  But Itunes was just too complicated for me.  People like to tell me how easy it is but I don't get it.  Anyway Apple finally did the right thing and killed it off.  Maybe next they'll rid the world of mosquitoes. 

Barry


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## __Amy__ (Mar 31, 2013)

i have a kindle fire verstion 8:  once i putthr passwprd and sweep up , if i am not not coninuually using it the screen saver comrs on and i am back at the beginnimg putting thr password in and starting the whole process in 


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