Electronics

[gardenman]

I just ordered one. I've been using my existing 8" Fire tablet a lot lately and my 10" tablet died a few months ago, so at that price ($45) I splurged and bought one as a spare/backup tablet. They're a good little tablet. (Well, my first one is anyway.) I'd been looking at getting one around Black Friday when they typically go 50% off, so I bit the bullet today and got one now. I went for the black as my other one is blue. The Caseable case isn't worth the trouble in my experience, but the tablet is very nice. I never bother with the software they include. It's a good price on a nice, capable, little tablet. 

There are rumors of an upgraded version coming out soon, but my old one does what I need it to do, and this is a good price, so I grabbed one. (I checked Amazon to be sure they hadn't marked it down as they ship a lot faster, but no. It's still $90 there.) 

[Nonametoday]

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@gardenman wrote:

I just ordered one. I've been using my existing 8" Fire tablet a lot lately and my 10" tablet died a few months ago, so at that price ($45) I splurged and bought one as a spare/backup tablet. They're a good little tablet. (Well, my first one is anyway.) I'd been looking at getting one around Black Friday when they typically go 50% off, so I bit the bullet today and got one now. I went for the black as my other one is blue. The Caseable case isn't worth the trouble in my experience, but the tablet is very nice. I never bother with the software they include. It's a good price on a nice, capable, little tablet. 

There are rumors of an upgraded version coming out soon, but my old one does what I need it to do, and this is a good price, so I grabbed one. (I checked Amazon to be sure they hadn't marked it down as they ship a lot faster, but no. It's still $90 there.) 

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@gardenman 

My current one is only about 2 years old and I used it for more than a year and suddenly it called for my pass code.  I did not have one.  I found that if I tried to enter one, I would lose all my information which included about $500-600 in audible books.  I don't know what to do about that.  I have tried all the tricks that the "tech" people told me to. I have been trying to get in touch with Amazon.  This is my 4th one and I might have to buy another to transfer my information. Make sure you set up a pass code when it arrives.

[gardenman]

@Nonametoday 

I saw that post earlier and it had me confused which is why I didn't respond to it. 

Here's how Amazon says to handle the situation. If you've tried that and it's failed, then there's not a lot else to do other than somehow try a full factory reset.

"Your device must be connected to the internet to reset your lock screen password or PIN.

1. From the lock screen on your Fire tablet, enter the wrong password or PIN five times.
2. Choose Reset Your PIN from the on-screen notification.
3. Enter your Amazon account password, then tap Continue.
4. Enter a new PIN or Password, then tap Finish."

Any Audible books you can redownload should they get erased. (But they shouldn't.) They'll be on your account and as long as they're still available you should be able to download them again. The same with Kindle books. I've never set up a passcode on my Fire tablets as I'm the only one here and I don't need the extra step. There are also multiple YouTube videos showing how to unlock a locked Fire tablet.

If you never set a passcode and you're being told it will erase everything, you might be dealing with some malware/ransomware. If that's the case, then you'll need to find a way to remove it. Malwarebytes is typically pretty good and offers a free version. 

[Nonametoday]

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@gardenman wrote:

@Nonametoday 

I saw that post earlier and it had me confused which is why I didn't respond to it. 

Here's how Amazon says to handle the situation. If you've tried that and it's failed, then there's not a lot else to do other than somehow try a full factory reset.

"Your device must be connected to the internet to reset your lock screen password or PIN.

1. From the lock screen on your Fire tablet, enter the wrong password or PIN five times.
2. Choose Reset Your PIN from the on-screen notification.
3. Enter your Amazon account password, then tap Continue.
4. Enter a new PIN or Password, then tap Finish."

Any Audible books you can redownload should they get erased. (But they shouldn't.) They'll be on your account and as long as they're still available you should be able to download them again. The same with Kindle books. I've never set up a passcode on my Fire tablets as I'm the only one here and I don't need the extra step. There are also multiple YouTube videos showing how to unlock a locked Fire tablet.

If you never set a passcode and you're being told it will erase everything, you might be dealing with some malware/ransomware. If that's the case, then you'll need to find a way to remove it. Malwarebytes is typically pretty good and offers a free version. 

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@gardenman 

Thank you for that information.  I am sure my son (a tech director) would have known that but he has moved away and I hate to worry him on the telephone about such.  I had asked several others on the internet and did not find this information.  Thank you!!!

[10sluvr]

i just bought a referb one, on azon but it hasn't shipped.(?) for 39.99. Q's will have ezpay and may come sooner that azon one. Q's said delivery by 10-1. the good thing about the azon one, is it comes linked to my account. not sure if that's a hassle to do, but it shouldn't be.

the newer one comes out on 10-17(?) and it looks very similar but they say it will be 30% faster, thinner and have glass comparable to ipads. they are showing 99.00 price tag.

[gardenman]

There's always something newer/better coming along, but the current 8" works well for me, so I'll save the $55 and be happy. (I'm posting this from my current 8" Fire tablet.)

[gardenman]

Neat! Delivery was supposed to be the 30th, but UPS just said it'll be here on the 24th instead. That's nice.

[gardenman]

Interesting. Both UPS and QVC say it'll be here tomorrow, but the tracking (QVC and UPS) just shows "label created" and not picked up yet. Coming from a local Amazon warehouse and not QVC perhaps? And it's coming through that UPS/mail combo. Hmmm....interesting. That's not typically the fastest delivery system around here. Things tend to go to Bridgeport NJ and live there for a few days until they get sorted out and shipped onward. They say it'll be here tomorrow, so we'll have to see, but my gut says it may be next week before I get it. I'll find out tomorrow who's right.

[ceekay]

I have given up trying to decipher how things progress in shipping.  Sometimes it is entertaining to watch and sometime incredibly aggravating!  My order now says backordered and I ordered mid-afternoon.  Grrrrr.  

[gardenman]

@ceekay 

Yeah, things don't make a lot of sense a lot of the time. It's 10:45 AM ET now and mine still says "Shipper created a label, UPS has not received the package yet." And they still say it'll be here tomorrow. Okay. Maybe. We'll see. In about 24 hours or less, UPS has to get it, move it through their hub, deliver it to the USPS hub, then USPS moves it to my local post office, then delivers it tomorrow morning. (My mail typically comes between 9 and 11 AM.) Eh, okay. Sure. That'll happen. I mean it could, but my money says it probably won't. The UPS tracking just says the label was created in the United States, so I don't know if it's coming through an Amazon or QVC warehouse. Amazon has several warehouses nearby and could get it to me tomorrow. We'll see what happens. 

"Backordered" is interesting. Amazon's phasing out the older ones, so yeah, the backorder could get canceled if there's no other stock in your color lying around someplace. I'm pretty sure Amazon isn't making any more of the older 8" tablets. They're just trying to burn through whatever stock of them they have left. They need to keep some as warranty replacements also. So, the restocking could take a while or be impossible. Mine's in stock and supposedly on its way here tomorrow, but we'll see. At $45 each, no one's making a lot of money from them.

In 2011 and 2012 Fire tablets at full price cost an estimated $10 more to make than they were selling them for. The ARM Cortex-A15 CPU they use retails for more than the $45 they're selling the tablet for (at least in consumer-level quantities, though the discounts on big orders lowers the price a lot.) The only real-world consumer price I can find for that CPU is around $120 for one. Now Amazon (well Quanta Electronics who makes the tablets for Amazon) will buy them in bulk and get a much lower price, but still, Amazon is likely losing money on each one sold at $45 especially since QVC is making some money on the deal. And someone's absorbing the shipping costs.