# Fire vs. Fire HD



## clawdia (Jul 6, 2010)

Is there any reason (other than the cost) that one would choose to buy a 'regular' Fire instead of the new Fire HD?

That low memory capacity of 8 G seems to be a real negative concerning the regular Fire - although I am seeing that some people seem to be having some problems with the HD.  

I'm buying a Fire for my 35 year old daughter for Christmas, and just want to be sure I get the "right" one because she loves Kindles - she'll continue to use her Kindle Keyboard for reading, and the Fire for other things.  We both think the KK is the best e-reader yet made.

I do know I'm not getting anything other than a wifi model - the added expense of a data plan is just too much after the first cheap year (that doesn't give you all that much, anyway).

The other thing I'm wondering - does anyone remember when Amazon usually starts to do away with the 30 day return period because of the holidays and extends it into January no matter if it's more than 30 days?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

If I was buying for a young child and wasn't sure they'd take care, I might go with the less expensive one...especially if they were unlikely to do any video watching.

The extended return period usually applies to anything bought in November or December... you have until the end of January to return it.

Sent from my Kindle Fire  HD via tapatalk


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

And note that the data plan is currently only available with the high end 8.9" Fire 4G, starting at $499....the other Fires are WiFi only.

Betsy


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## Xopher (May 14, 2009)

The original Fire doesn't have a camera or microphone. If there is a possibility of video chatting, or using the mic for dictation, the Fire HD would be the better choice.


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## kltmom (Jan 9, 2012)

I have the "regular" Fire--actually, last year's model.  I just took a quick look at the specs of this year's $159 8gb non-HD 7" Fire model and basically it has an improved processor, better battery life, and the new user interface vs. last year's model.  But the HD version has all that and more.  I've played with the Fire HD a LOT over the past month or so since it came out (I was trying to decide whether to get it for a x-mas present for my daughter, as an upgrade from last year's model, which will be passed down to my younger daughter).  I think that just for the double storage capacity of 16gb vs. 8gb it is well worth it to get the $199 HD version.  I am constantly running out of room with the 8gb capacity of our original Fire.  And the graphics are indeed, much much better.  The HD graphics, pics, video, etc. are so crisp and clear compared to the non-HD.    And the front-facing camera and mic are great additions.


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## lindnet (Jan 25, 2009)

Is the speaker volume better on the new ones?  I always have to hook up an external speaker to my Fire from last year.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

lindnet said:


> Is the speaker volume better on the new ones? I always have to hook up an external speaker to my Fire from last year.


The speaker volume on the HD is a definite improvement - I even noticed it in a busy store when I first saw the HD.


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## mark1529 (Aug 26, 2011)

Meemo said:


> The speaker volume on the HD is a definite improvement - I even noticed it in a busy store when I first saw the HD.


thanks for this that's great news


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## SheilaJ (Apr 10, 2011)

I have the original fire and just bought the fire HD this week.  It is a major upgrade.  The speakers are very much approved in both sound quality and volume.    I actually listen to a lot of music on mine and now I can unhook from the external speakers and have plenty of volume.

For me though the increased storage capacity for apps is definitely the BIG PLUS.  I even splurged to get the 32GB one.

The one negative I have found so far on the fire hd is that I get a lot of amazon mp3 not responding wait messages.  Instead I am using an app called Avia which has cured that instead of the onboard mp3 player.  The music player itself on the original kindle fire was more responsive as far as playing and deleting songs, etc.  At least in my case.


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