Calling all Kindle Fire users

[kalliyan1]

I have a question...I'm considering getting DD one of these for Xmas as opposed to the ipad. She will use it for videos, some music and apps right now. The question I have is, can I transfer movies from my computer to the Kindle? Can those movies, once they are on the kindle (if it's possible) then be stored in the cloud? How exactly does the cloud work?
Does the app store have any disney apps or is that just itunes specific?
What else do I need to know?
Thanks for any and all information!!!

 

[Darcy03231]

I have a question...I'm considering getting DD one of these for Xmas as opposed to the ipad. She will use it for videos, some music and apps right now. The question I have is, can I transfer movies from my computer to the Kindle? Can those movies, once they are on the kindle (if it's possible) then be stored in the cloud? How exactly does the cloud work?
Does the app store have any disney apps or is that just itunes specific?
What else do I need to know?
Thanks for any and all information!!!

I would post this question over at www.mobileread.com. There's a board over there dedicated to the Kindle Fire. Everyone is really nice and willing to share all the information about the Fire.

 

[pl71]

Kindles are made so that you never need to plug it into your computer. You can, but you don't have to. The cloud provides your backup automatically. Because the Fire doesn't need to connect to a computer, it doesn't come with the cable to connect it to your computer (USB to mini USB). It only comes with a charger.

If you want to put movies on it using your computer, you need to purchase or find a mini USB to USB cable. It costs $10 to order from Amazon, or if you have an old style Kindle they came with one. You might have a cell phone cable that will work.

Once you have the cable, plug the Fire into your computer and slide the Fire screen to unlock it. I downloaded software (DVD Catalyst 4) so we could copy our DVDs onto the computer then copy them over to the Fire. It was very easy to use. Once you do this the movies are saved on the Fire and you don't need internet to view them. I put 3 movies on mine so my kids could watch them on a plane trip. Anything you transfer like this will NOT be saved on the cloud.

If you have movies on iTunes they can be converted, but I don't know how. You can do some online searched for what you'd need to do.

The cloud stores anything you purchase from Amazon and you use wi-fi to access it. If you buy a song, book, or movie from Amazon it's saved in the cloud. For example, I have over 200 books in the cloud. I can view the cloud on the kindle anytime I have wi-fi and download a copy of what I want to read.

Once you download a copy from the cloud the item is stored on the Fire and you use it even when you don't have wi-fi access. You can remove it and then re-download from the cloud later if you want. So, if I'm in place with no wi-fi, like on an airplane, I can read anything I've downloaded but will not be able to use the cloud to get my other books until I have wi-fi available.

If you have more than one Kindle device on the same account, they can all download copies of what's in the cloud (movies, books, songs, apps). We have 2 Fires, 2 3G Kindles and 3 smartphones with kindle apps that all share an account. We can all view the same cloud and all download what's in there, although only Fires can download the apps and movies.

Amazon streaming is very much like netflix. You view the movies by streaming using wi-fi, the video is never actually stored on the Fire. I had a netflix account already so I just put the netflix app on the Fire and watch using that.

The app store does have Disney apps, like Where's my Perry. They also offer a free app each day that would normally cost money to buy.

All that sounds complicated, but it's actually very easy to use.

 

[kalliyan1]

Kindles are made so that you never need to plug it into your computer. You can, but you don't have to. The cloud provides your backup automatically. Because the Fire doesn't need to connect to a computer, it doesn't come with the cable to connect it to your computer (USB to mini USB). It only comes with a charger.

If you want to put movies on it using your computer, you need to purchase or find a mini USB to USB cable. It costs $10 to order from Amazon, or if you have an old style Kindle they came with one. You might have a cell phone cable that will work.

Once you have the cable, plug the Fire into your computer and slide the Fire screen to unlock it. I downloaded software (DVD Catalyst 4) so we could copy our DVDs onto the computer then copy them over to the Fire. It was very easy to use. Once you do this the movies are saved on the Fire and you don't need internet to view them. I put 3 movies on mine so my kids could watch them on a plane trip. Anything you transfer like this will NOT be saved on the cloud.

If you have movies on iTunes they can be converted, but I don't know how. You can do some online searched for what you'd need to do.

The cloud stores anything you purchase from Amazon and you use wi-fi to access it. If you buy a song, book, or movie from Amazon it's saved in the cloud. For example, I have over 200 books in the cloud. I can view the cloud on the kindle anytime I have wi-fi and download a copy of what I want to read.

Once you download a copy from the cloud the item is stored on the Fire and you use it even when you don't have wi-fi access. You can remove it and then re-download from the cloud later if you want. So, if I'm in place with no wi-fi, like on an airplane, I can read anything I've downloaded but will not be able to use the cloud to get my other books until I have wi-fi available.

If you have more than one Kindle device on the same account, they can all download copies of what's in the cloud (movies, books, songs, apps). We have 2 Fires, 2 3G Kindles and 3 smartphones with kindle apps that all share an account. We can all view the same cloud and all download what's in there, although only Fires can download the apps and movies.

Amazon streaming is very much like netflix. You view the movies by streaming using wi-fi, the video is never actually stored on the Fire. I had a netflix account already so I just put the netflix app on the Fire and watch using that.

The app store does have Disney apps, like Where's my Perry. They also offer a free app each day that would normally cost money to buy.

All that sounds complicated, but it's actually very easy to use.

Scary but I actuallly get what your saying...We are a mac family with ipads, iphones, mac's...etc So the concept of the kindle was slightly confusing. I'm not worried about the cord, we have so many of them laying around.

I also have a program that converts our movies to different formats as well and that's how I get them on the mac products. I was just not sure that once I converted to kindle format that there was a way to get it on the kindle.

We have netflix and hulu. So they could download those apps and stream over wifi correct? Do you find the streaming to be slow?

I was considering getting my DDs, 6 & 8, and ipad to share but know that that could be a problem with the sharing. At the kindle price, I could get them each one.

 

[talb714]

They will love the Kindle Fire both my kids aged 11 and 7 have them. They use them all the time.

 

[pl71]

Once you convert the movie and plug the kindle into the computer, you just drag the movie onto the kindle. The Fire will look like an external drive on your computer. My only problem when I did it was that I didn't unlock the Fire, so the computer didn't recognize that anything was plugged in. After you slide to unlock (which is very much like the screen you see when you wake up an iphone), then it all works fine.

Once the movies are on the Fire, you view them by opening the Gallery app (this is a free app that come pre-loaded on the Fire). You don't view them under the video tab, only things you buy from Amazon go to the video tab. That part is confusing if you don't know where to look. Gallery is where anything you load off your computer ends up.

As for hulu and netflix, yes, just download the apps and they work great. I have slow DSL (less than 1 MBPS) and it streams fine.

I think they're great for kids. My boys are 7 and 9 and use mine all the time.

 

[smitch425]

Once you convert the movie and plug the kindle into the computer, you just drag the movie onto the kindle. The Fire will look like an external drive on your computer. My only problem when I did it was that I didn't unlock the Fire, so the computer didn't recognize that anything was plugged in. After you slide to unlock (which is very much like the screen you see when you wake up an iphone), then it all works fine.

Once the movies are on the Fire, you view them by opening the Gallery app (this is a free app that come pre-loaded on the Fire). You don't view them under the video tab, only things you buy from Amazon go to the video tab. That part is confusing if you don't know where to look. Gallery is where anything you load off your computer ends up.

As for hulu and netflix, yes, just download the apps and they work great. I have slow DSL (less than 1 MBPS) and it streams fine.

I think they're great for kids. My boys are 7 and 9 and use mine all the time.

Thank you SOOO much for you clear explaination of how to put movies on the Kindle Fire. You have just made my day! My kids will love you forever! I just successfully copied a Power Rangers episode to the Kindle Fire that I had recorded onto DVD from our TV. Thank you, thank you THANK YOU!!!

 

[Dizzytime]

WOW, that's good stuff. Started to get a slight headache trying to understand it, but it's great information I will try and put to use with my Kindle Fire, too!

By the way, I consider my KF the best money I've ever spent. The books and newspapers, magazines, video with TV and movies, music, apps and a great webbrowser with email.. ohhh it does do everything I need ( besides work, and I have a desktop for that), for a fantastic price.