Kindle Fire HD - need some techie info about managing content, if anyone knows ..

easy

Hi everyone, hope you can advise me about this.
Our son says he wants a Fire HD and I'm thinking about it for Christmas. Looks like a fine piece of kit, but I can't find out how the Amazon 'skin' restricts Android, and whether we will be able to put existing content onto it - MP3 music & MP4 movies.

None of our existing music is in the cloud, we have a great big NAS box with it all on, which we connect to via our PCs. If we connect the Kindle via USB to a PC, is there anything stopping us from copying files from the NAS box onto the kindle ??

Even better, can the Kindle connect to an SMB share wirelessly ??

Alternatively, the NAS box can share as NFS, since it runs linux.


Also, what do we do about backing up content from the Kindle.?

I'm used to managing Android on my Samsung phone, and carry all sorts of content with me on that. Don't want to buy the Kindle then wish we had opted for a Google Nexus 7 or a Galaxy Tab 2 instead (all about the same price band).

Our son is 13 BTW, and reasonably tech savvy. Alleged Parental controls on the Kindle have their appeal (for us), but not if he can't get what he wants from it in the the end.

Johnmcl7

I'd be inclined to go with the Nexus 7 or the Galaxy Tab then as it sounds like it will fit your needs far better as you're probably going to end up spending time trying to get the Kindle to behave like a standard Android device. The original Kindle Fire was a bit different because when it launched (US only, wasn't released here)there was nothing really that offered its level of hardware for the same price so it was worth buying and then converting to run a standard Android build. However the market is now quite different as there's now other 7in tablets for a similar price but running more standard versions of Android.

The Nexus 7 is a superb piece of hardware but as you're probably aware it doesn't have a micro SD card slot which can be a bit restrictive if you're wanting to be able to put a lot of media on it (at least without a USB drive hanging off the bottom). The Samsung does offer a microSD slot which means you can cheaply add a lot more storage but its processor and screen are not as good as the Nexus 7.

John

easy

Johnmcl7 wrote: »

I'd be inclined to go with the Nexus 7 or the Galaxy Tab then as it sounds like it will fit your needs far better as you're probably going to end up spending time trying to get the Kindle to behave like a standard Android device. The original Kindle Fire was a bit different because when it launched (US only, wasn't released here)there was nothing really that offered its level of hardware for the same price so it was worth buying and then converting to run a standard Android build. However the market is now quite different as there's now other 7in tablets for a similar price but running more standard versions of Android.

The Nexus 7 is a superb piece of hardware but as you're probably aware it doesn't have a micro SD card slot which can be a bit restrictive if you're wanting to be able to put a lot of media on it (at least without a USB drive hanging off the bottom). The Samsung does offer a microSD slot which means you can cheaply add a lot more storage but its processor and screen are not as good as the Nexus 7.

John

Thanks John for that. I've asked this question on 3 different forums, and no-one seems to be able to answer the techy bits. I think you are probably right. Our son has identified the Kindle, simply because it's being marketed at him ATM. I was drawn to it specifically because the sound quality is better, and it has HDMI to connect it to the TV.
However, for what the lad is likely to want to do with it over time, it looks like the Galaxy Tab 2 is going to be a better option.

neilwoods

The galaxy tab 2 is a good tab, very responsive. Only time you will notice the difference between the tab and nexus screens is with films really.

Plus the tab 2 7 is 147 from carphonewarehouse with 30 cashback, do have to wait about 45 days to get money back.

Johnmcl7

easy wrote: »

Thanks John for that. I've asked this question on 3 different forums, and no-one seems to be able to answer the techy bits. I think you are probably right. Our son has identified the Kindle, simply because it's being marketed at him ATM. I was drawn to it specifically because the sound quality is better, and it has HDMI to connect it to the TV.
However, for what the lad is likely to want to do with it over time, it looks like the Galaxy Tab 2 is going to be a better option.

I don't know how familiar you are with the Kindle Fire HD so I apologise in advance if any of this seems too basic. Many devices running Android use a custom launcher or skin so although they are running a stock Android underneath, they can look and behave quite differently so the company can customise the behaviour to do what they want. Usually it is then possible to 'root' the device (essentially gaining access to the core system files) and disable the custom launcher or skin to run a more standard version of Android. For example, I have a Motorola Motoactv watch which runs Android but it has a custom launcher to suit the small display and doesn't look anything like Android. However it's just a launcher, if you root it there's a stock Android 2.3 underneath so you can run standard Android applications as long as they are ok with the small screen.

As far as I understand the Kindle Fire HD uses a more heavily modified version of Android so it's not as simple as just rooting and putting the Google store on. Initially it was claimed quite a few standard applications wouldn't work because of the modifications Amazon had made but that doesn't seem to be so much the case now.

If you want to do reading on this side of the Kindle Fire HD, look up I'd recommend looking up rooting on xda-developers:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1783

John