# Fire HD with or without 4G



## maries (Dec 29, 2010)

I have a friend looking to buy a Fire HD.  She isn't sure whether to get the 4G or just the Wifi version.  She has Wifi at home but goes camping (trailer) and wants to take it with her for weekend camping trips.    

I have the Wifi only but haven't taken my Fire out and about.    For those that travel with your Fire, what has been your experience?

Thanks.


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## Wingpeople (Oct 7, 2011)

I've only been on one "back of beyond" trip so far with my Fire 4G, and I was pretty happy with the result. Although I found places where there still wasn't any coverage, I did get coverage at a few campgrounds that had marginal cell service. When we were traveling along highways (far from any towns), I also had coverage many times that I checked. So, for me, the 4G met my expectations pretty well.

Next month will be the big test when we go to one of our favorite destinations -- Joshua Tree National Park. I'll report back with how the Fire 4G does.

P.S. Did your friend see that Amazon lowered the price of the 8.9" Fire 4G by $100 yesterday? Woot!!


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Hi!  I would be curious as to whether you friend gets cell reception at the camp site.  Some camp grounds are great about cell reception and others have virtually none.  Also your friend could put books on her fire at home and then not have to worry about cell reception.
Also some campgrounds now have free wifi although at some it is only in designated areas.
Unless we go to my mother's we always camp out on vacation.  
Little caveat though: if there is a storm that knocks out the cell tower then there will be no reception until they get that fixed and it might be a day or two.


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## maries (Dec 29, 2010)

cinisajoy said:


> Hi! I would be curious as to whether you friend gets cell reception at the camp site. Some camp grounds are great about cell reception and others have virtually none. Also your friend could put books on her fire at home and then not have to worry about cell reception.
> Also some campgrounds now have free wifi although at some it is only in designated areas.
> Unless we go to my mother's we always camp out on vacation.
> Little caveat though: if there is a storm that knocks out the cell tower then there will be no reception until they get that fixed and it might be a day or two.


She gets cell reception where she camps and can use her iphone for emailing and some things but, as we know, sometimes a bigger screen is just better.

Wingpeople,
I think the price change is what prompted her to consider this.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Oh and tell your friend that she can load up her books before the trip.  Now I can see where 4g would be a help if she wants the web.  For reading I would just stick to wifi.


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## Hadou (Jun 1, 2011)

No doubt that the 4g could be useful, but I don't find it to be necessary for the Fire.  Just me, though.  The price reduction makes it pretty attractive, though.


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## TerryS (Mar 29, 2011)

Alternatively, she could just get the Hotspot for her Phone. That's what I have done and gotten rid of the extra charges of having another device on my cell plan. Also generally you're paying X amount for X bandwidth. If she has unlimited (I don't know if it's the same for every company, but I have Verizon) she can then have unlimited bandwidth via Hotspot. Of course this all depends on her getting not just "cell" service in her campsite but what "type" of cell service. 3G? 4G? Because many phones when they're not in range of a 4G reception will auto switch to a 3G. So there are a few things to find out.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

I haven't found 4G necessary for my tablets, but I have an iPhone. So as long as I can get a signal, I can connect and do pretty much anything I want on it.  The one exception is getting apps from Amazon's App store, last I checked I couldn't do that from anywhere but my computer or my Fire. I just make sure whatever I want to read is loaded up before I go. I did force a trip to Mickey D's one time to pick up a free App of the Day when we were visiting my FIL. 

And using 4G a lot (like for streaming video or music) will eat up the battery life quickly. You'd almost want to keep it plugged in to stream a movie via 4G - and it'll also eat up that monthly limit of 4G service really quickly (if she got the $50 plan). So it depends on what she already has (smartphone?) and how she plans to use her Fire.


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## TerryS (Mar 29, 2011)

Eating up the allowable bandwidth is why I suggested using her phone as a hotspot IF she has unlimited. I use about 80 gigs of bandwidth a month on my tablets. Costs me nothing extra because I have a hotspot and an unlimited data plan.


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## maries (Dec 29, 2010)

She has ATT so not sure if they offer a hot spot. Maybe she should check that out. 

Meemo - love your Mickey D story!

I should take my Fire to work one of these days so i can give her a better idea of what things work away from WiFi.


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## Toby (Nov 25, 2008)

I can order Kindle Fire Apps from my iPad. I just have to use the Fire to play with the Apps, once I click on the App to download it.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

FWIW, I have both an HD7 and an HD8.9 with 4G.

The HD7 is better for most apps, fine for email, better for reading most things, though I don't use it for that often.

The HD8.9 is better for web pages, large format magazine (TV Guide, for instance), and a bit better for email.  The trade off, of course, is size and weight.

I also have hotspot capability through my smart phone as well as having purchased the inexpensive 4G plan for a year on the Fire.  Honestly, there's no real reason to have both, as far as I can see, and I don't expect I'll renew the Fire's service when the year is up.

Mind you, if I was only allowed to take one device, period, I guess it would be the Fire 4G.  I still couldn't use it for phone calls, but could use it for email and skype-ing so that would be a not-unreasonable substitute.  It's not, for me, however, ideal for email or web browsing -- better than a smaller tablet, but inferior to a full size laptop.  I do have a bluetooth keyboard that helps, but, even so.

Most places I go, there is WiFi and, as I say, I can generate it on my phone.  So if I'm going to have my phone anyway, the 4G on the large format Fire is moot.  If there was no limitation, I'd probably just take all the gadgets with me.  But if I had to be considerate of weight or space, I'd probably have my phone, my regular eInk kindle, and my laptop as providing, among the three of them, the greatest overall utility.


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## Wingpeople (Oct 7, 2011)

I'm probably one of the last people on earth without any sort of smart phone (thus, no "plan") but every other gadget imaginable. My Fire 4G is my only access to the web if I'm not carrying my netbook & have access to WiFi.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

Toby said:


> I can order Kindle Fire Apps from my iPad. I just have to use the Fire to play with the Apps, once I click on the App to download it.


Interesting - I just tried going to Amazon on my iPhone and was able to get a free app from the App Store. When I click on a link from KB for the free app of the day, though, I still get the page that says "This item is only available for Android devices. Add it to your Wish List and you can view and purchase it from your computer."

Can't say absolutely, but I'm pretty sure I tried going to amazon.com before and got that same message. Or maybe I used the Amazon app on my phone. Anywhooo, good to know it works that way! Thanks for making me check! Still enjoyed my iced coffee from Mickey D's, though - killed 2 birds with one stone that day!


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## Toby (Nov 25, 2008)

When I go to Amazon on my iPad, I don't click/tap on the "Amazon App". I have Amazon's full page saved to my iPad like an App. I also have the Kindle Store page on my iPad as well. I always go here 1st to click on a link, so Harvy gets some money.   Maybe that is why you were having a problem - using the App.  If I had an iPhone, I would try it out for you, but I am also 1 of the few left that still has a dumb phone, as I call it.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

That's how I was able to buy the app today on my iPhone - I went to amazon.com via Safari instead of using the Amazon app. I have the Kindle Store "bookmarked" to my home page (KB as well ) - normally at home I'd just use my computer to pick up a free app - nice to know I can do it when I'm not home via Safari on my phone.


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## Toby (Nov 25, 2008)

I am so glad that it worked out for you. You also expressed it so much better & clearer than me. Thanks!   BTW, you can also purchase MP3's at Amazon on your iPad for your Fire. It will show up on both your Fire & on your iPad to download.


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## Cyanide5000 (Aug 30, 2010)

with! with with with! when there is an option to future proof you should always future proof! there is no doubt 4G is going to replace 3G, so upgrade properly now to save yourself upgrading again in like a year or two!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Cyanide5000 said:


> with! with with with! when there is an option to future proof you should always future proof! there is no doubt 4G is going to replace 3G, so upgrade properly now to save yourself upgrading again in like a year or two!


Except . . . . in this case the 'without' doesn't even have 3G. It's really a question of WiFi only or cell network access as well. And that, I think, depends on where you are. As I said, I've found the 4G on my HD8.9 to be redundant. Have hardly ever had to use it, even out and about, because WiFi -- for free -- is extremely easy to find. And, honestly, if I'm just going out and about, I don't take the 8.9 anyway -- too big.

But, as always, YMMV.


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## Olmanrivah (Feb 18, 2013)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Except . . . . in this case the 'without' doesn't even have 3G. It's really a question of WiFi only or cell network access as well. And that, I think, depends on where you are. As I said, I've found the 4G on my HD8.9 to be redundant. Have hardly ever had to use it, even out and about, because WiFi -- for free -- is extremely easy to find. And, honestly, if I'm just going out and about, I don't take the 8.9 anyway -- too big.
> 
> But, as always, YMMV.


Well, I live in the Country and WiFi just isn't available everywhere. I've got the 4G 8.9 and use it a lot. I could wait until I'm near a WiFi place, but, who wants to wait in the 21st century . . .lol! And as for Tethering, I have that capability on my Droid, but, sort of inconvenient.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

As I say:  YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary)  And clearly, it does!


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## Olmanrivah (Feb 18, 2013)

Ann in Arlington said:


> As I say: YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary) And clearly, it does!


Yep! I think if you can afford the 4G go for it. If it's a problem, decide if it's worth it. If money is tight, stick with WiFi.


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## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

Bear with me because I am a techhead.  Although a bit more involved than the suggestions here, in the long run, I have found my 4G solution to be very cost-effective.

I have two wifi tablets including the KFire 8.9--also a Note 2 that does NOT have any tethering plan.  

For travel, I purchased a no-contract mobile hotspot.  I waited until T-mobile had a sale to purchase it.  It stays in my gadget bag until vacation time, then I both charge it up and add $ to the plan.  Since it is not a monthly charge, I can pay as little as $15 to $50 depending on what I plan on doing while out.  When traveling, I just fire it up whenever I need 4G service and forget it when I don't.  Like most tethers, it can support up to 5 devices and other than camping, comes in real handy when I want to save on overpriced hotel wifi.  It also saves the battery on my phone.

Another nice thing is that if the hubby has to bring his laptop to do any occasional work while we travel, I'm not stuck leaving him my phone.  I can roam on my own while he is working.

My solution is definitely not for everyone, but it works for me so I thought I'd put it out there.


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## Julia Goolia (Dec 14, 2010)

Honestly, I have found my 4G to be pretty much useless.  So much so that I had to go buy a wifi hotspot so that I could download presentations, slides and other documents at work. I'm having some trouble with getting those files to download from my yahoo but that has nothing to do with 4G/wifi. The 4G just didn't cut it for even receiving those files through email in order to attempt to download them.  I'm guessing it is because of the area that I live/work in.  Perhaps as more areas are 4G friendly it will get better.  

Bottom line, having it to do over again, I would skip the 4G and spend the money on the wifi hotspot (either on your smart phone or a stand alone like I bought.)  Mine is through Virgin Mobile and works great.  I haven't had any issues with connectivity anywhere that I have taken it.


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## maries (Dec 29, 2010)

Interesting.  I never knew yiu couldbuy a separate hot spot from any carrier other than your own.  Do you get a Virgin Mobile pay as you go card?  Is that mire expensive? Thanks.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Mind you, if I was only allowed to take one device, period, I guess it would be the Fire 4G. I still couldn't use it for phone calls, but could use it for email and skype-ing so that would be a not-unreasonable substitute.


Actually, there are apps that let you make phone calls in a pinch. I have earned 141 minutes of talk time* on my TextNow app and have used it on occasion. Though talking to a tablet in a public place is a bit akward, it'll do in a pinch. 

Betsy

*you earn the talk time by looking at an ad now and then or answering a survey, plus every time they make any kind of mistake in an email they give you credits. I'm stacking them up much faster than I use them.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I've used my 4G and have found it useful.  

I also have a Virgin Mobile hotspot and have used the heck out of it.  But I've had problems with it on occasion.  It's lost my login information and I've had to reinitialize it several times.  Maybe it's just a function of age.

Walmart has a personal hotspot device also, which has a better deal for minute than the Virgin Mobile device, if you have no problems using Walmart.

Betsy


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