# Santa brought me a 8.9 Fire HD :)



## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Thanks to some Best Buy points and a Gift Card from hubby's work, I now am the new proud owner of a 8.9 HD. 
He got himself a gigantic terminator looking video card. I mean Santa did.  . 

I have the original Fire 7 also. 

Holy moly the screen is nice.   . Love the size. Not too big, not too small, just right. Much easier to handle than hubby's heavy Ipad. Oh the screen. Have I said yet how nice the screen is?  
I wasn't really planning on reading on it, but wow books look sharp and crisp on it. That is like night and day to my OriginalFire. What are we calling the first fire anyway?   O-Fire? 

I do have to figure out some fanangling to get live stream to work. The lack of flash which I knew about. I think there is some Dolphin something work around. I'll figure that one out at some point. Not in any hurry for that. 

Castle looks really really nice on this screen.  . And I can pretty much hear the audio without any ear thingies, which was not really possible much on my original Fire for watching anything. The audio is nice as its like faux surround. Even hubby noticed that. 

It took me a while to figure out how to get the settings. Duh, no cogwheel but a swipe. So smooth everything. 

I do need a cover and I don't know which one. I looked around in this forum and I am not finding much about covers. Is the amazon one ok for it? I mean I have that for my Paperwhite. I also see a Marware revolve thingy. But not much else in the store. I want light not heavy. I do like the idea of that strap on the back of the Marware one for holding it. 

Oh, one thing I was curious about. I own the first 3 seasons of Castle, but I bought them in SD, not HD. I buy everything in SD, it always looks good on my TV with Google TV. But on the Fire they show as HD. Is it upgrading the video on it? 

Its charging now. I do need to get a cover, I am afraid to drop it otherwise. Slippery things don't go well with my bad wrists.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Yay, Atunah!!!!

I love the Amazon cover on my 8.9".  It's sleek, lightweight and works great for me and how I use the Fire.

Betsy


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Thanks. I think I am leaning towards the amazon one. I want something simple. Is it easy to hold on to when open? I am guessing it looks and feels exactly like the one for the Paperwhite, which I have, just larger. 

How does it stand up though. 

I do like the hand strap on the Marware, but I don't like that its thicker and not secured all around. Meaning if you lean it forward, the plastic where the fire snaps in comes out. Its designed so it can to into the notches on the cover. That is what I noticed on the videos. 

But the Amazon cover seems the sleekest of them all. I don't want to add bulk. Its so thin and shiny.  

Oh, and I assume its ok if I use my original Fire charger with this one?


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## GreenThumb (Mar 29, 2009)

Congratulations!!!  

I have an original Fire and the new big 8.9" HD one, too.  My poor neglected original one is feeling so sad.  I really love the bigger one.  I watch shows (love me some Murdoch Mysteries and Downton Abbey!)  I play games.  I surf the web.  Love it!!!  

Regarding the cover, I made mine, so I have no scoop for you there.  

Oh, and I charge it with either the original cord, or the newer one that is attached to the spiffy faster adapter, whichever I'm near when I feel the need to charge.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Atunah said:


> Thanks. I think I am leaning towards the amazon one. I want something simple. Is it easy to hold on to when open? I am guessing it looks and feels exactly like the one for the Paperwhite, which I have, just larger.
> 
> How does it stand up though.
> 
> ...


Yes, the Fire cover is like the PW one only larger. And it has a rubbery latch thingy instead of the silver one on the PW because it's part of the "stand." It is easy to hold (except that, of course, the 8.9" Fire is heavy compared to the PW. Or compared to a lot of things. ) I generally use my Fire on a stand I've had for ages, since I got my K1.

The Fire in the Amazon cover stands by using the folded back cover as the prop. You open it slightly into an upside down "V" and it will stand in place. The latch thingy and the edge is slightly rubberized, and has a pretty good grip on most surfaces until you get it way beyond 90 degrees.

It has a magnetic lock that keeps it well secured when in one's purse, backpack, etc. The Fire is very tight and secure in its cover.

And yes, you can use the original charger. If I'm using that charger for whatever reason, I plug it in overnight.

Betsy


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## kwajkat (Nov 6, 2008)

Personally I prefer the Marware covers for all of my toys. The main reason is the hand strap which makes holding my devices so much easier on my joints. I do wish other case makers would add the hand strap and the other strap which holds the cover in place. Until they do I will stick with Marware.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I agree, a strap would make it easier for those who want/need one.  I'm glad it's not on all cases, though, because I wouldn't want it.  I like the sleekness of the Amazon case.  I rarely just hold my Fire, anyway--I almost always use it on a stand.

Betsy


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I think I made up my mind. I do like the strap on the Mareware, but there are no cut outs for the speakers on the cover. 
It also adds more bulk that I want or need. I don't have kids and am not worried about dropping it. And I was thinking that even with a strap, there is no way I could hold it up for long time without my arm and wrist getting tired.
I have 3 coyl cushion beany thingies in my house to stand up my kindles. 

I do have a marware with strap on my K3, but its much lighter and so can be held for a while. 

So the Amazon cover it is. Now I am only waffling about what color  . I have the ink blue on the Paperwhite and really like it. I might just go with the same color. Or black, or purple?  

I am still ecstatic over my Fire. I am so much more enjoying playing the games I used to play on my original 7 inch. I can actually see everything now.  . I like those games with puzzles and where you have to find stuff. I was stuck playing for 2 straight hours Lost City. I didn't even notice it got dark.   All the little details I can see now. 

I even surfed around all evening on Kindleboards and goodreads etc. The 7 inch was always just a bit too small to read websites comfortably. I haven't dared to post from it yet. I am not made for touch typing I am afraid.  . I can't do the one finger pecking and make any sense. That is a learning curve I am sure. 

I find the browser to be really fast. And Kindleboards is pretty neat with Tapatalk. 

Now they just need to make my Pogo Game app Fire HD friendly.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I am quite pleased with the purple cover I got.  I would say it's a true purple, rather than a violet; it's a bit warmer with a little bit more red than say, my Oberon.  If I hadn't gotten the purple, I would have gotten the ink blue.  

Betsy


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I am quite pleased with the cover. I got the Ink Blue one. It took a couple of days to get it comfortable. But that is more a matter of figuring out how to hold the Fire than anything. The cover does what I wanted it to do. Be a protection, but as minimal as possible. I just didn't want any bulk added. Just something to close up and lay it down in. 

I am having some issues with putting down the darn Fire though.  . 

I been having to charge it like every day.  . I am off so I am playing a lot. 

Very happy with Santa.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Yay, Atunah!  Glad you like the cover.

Betsy


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