Amazon recently had a gold box deal of a refurbished Kindle Fire for $139. I’ve been curious about this device even though I already have an iPad 1 and 2 and Asus Transformer. I felt the price was great for me to try it so I bought one. The Kindle came in a simple package. It was in a brown box with the AC adapter for charging and the Kindle itself, and that was it.
The device looked new so they did a great job with the refurbished. I turned it on and I had to set it up with my Amazon account, similar to setting up other Android devices like tablets and phones. Of course, it isn’t mandatory but without it, you can’t make any purchases. The only problem with it is it had 2 lines (red and blue) that ran across the screen. So I went into my Amazon account and was able to process a return. It was very easy and no hassle. This is one of the big reasons why I prefer to shop online versus the store. Amazon has been great with returns and customer service.
Anyway, even with the 2 lines I was still able to play with it for a few hours. I really like the interface that Amazon has created on to of the Android OS. It’s easy to navigate and find things. After logging into my Amazon account, it was able to see all of my past purchases that the Kindle is compatible with such as ebooks and Android apps. Even being used to an iPad and my Transformer tablet, the Kindle Fire felt great as well. I thought it may be small for me.
Overall, after using the tablet I really had fun with it. I only have 2 complaints. The first is the device did feel sluggish at times when browsing around the interface. The second was the screen while watching Netflix. I was in a well lit room so it was bright. I could barely watch movies during dark scenes. The reflection off the screen made it difficult to watch. Other than that, it’s a great starter tablet and a good price. I was a little bummed about receiving broken but it’s a chance with refurbished items. Actually, of the many refurbished items I purchased in the past, this may have been the first bad one. Would I buy another if the sale comes back, probably not for myself. I already have an iPad and Transformer and from what I hear, rumor has it that Apple may be selling a smaller iPad in fall 2012.
