Fire Tablets at Woot

[K Frame]

Refurbished 7" Fire tablets, 16 GB... $20.

I'm tempted to get one at that price.

https://sellout.woot.com/offers/amazon-fire-7-2015-16gb-wi-fi-tablet-26?ref=w_cnt_cdet_sell_dly_wobtn

[MechAg94]

Thanks.  I needed to get a new tablet.  My Ipad's glass is so cracked up I can't use it anymore.  I wasn't sure what a new one would cost and hadn't even looked.  That is cheap enough to try it out.  

[Ben]

I was eying them at $27. I might need to pull the trigger. I have a first gen Fire that is pretty much relegated to sitting by my chessboard and being my chess opponent because it doesn't work with half of Amazon's stuff anymore. A newer generation for only twenty bucks might be worthwhile.

[erictank]

Add a bluetooth keyboard, and you've got a nice kitchen computer.  Someplace to store recipes, play audiobooks or videos while you're cooking...  That's worth $20 (and I have two different BT keyboards from old tablets with mostly-dead batteries that can't really serve anymore).

Been a long time since I bought anything from Woot, though.  Had to update shipping and payment info, and then it told me my stuff was gone because someone else bought it out from under me, I took too long to place the order.  Went back through to the original page for the tablet and was able to get one, though.

[K Frame]

My regular tablet is a 10" HP Pavillion, which has a keyboard cover, which makes it more a microlaptop than a tablet, but it can be a little big for travel and the like, and my cell phone is a little small for watching stuff clearly.

It's great for working in the kitchen, though, and I like to use to stream Amazon prime when I'm in bed.

[Ben]

I see this is "with ads". I've bought all my other Kindles ad free. Are these ads annoying, or not really noticeable? My understanding is they only show up in standby or whatever?

[K Frame]

The kindle that I have displays ads when it's turned off. They're almost a screen saver.

About 99.995% of the ads have been for books.

I don't know how it would work with the tablet.

[zxcvbob]

I've never ordered anything from Woot before, so not sure what to expect.  I ordered one of these tablets last week and the order confirmation said the expected delivery date was Wednesday, Jan 31. (today)  I check the order status and it still says "processing".     Is this normal for them?

[KD5NRH]

Add a bluetooth keyboard, and you've got a nice kitchen computer.

Unless you've got a source for cheap BT keyboards, a USB OTG adapter with power and a regular keyboard is cheaper and doesn't require charging the keyboard.

[erictank]

Unless you've got a source for cheap BT keyboards, a USB OTG adapter with power and a regular keyboard is cheaper and doesn't require charging the keyboard.

Already owned a couple, actually.

As it turns out, my new Fire tablet is borked right from the box.  Tried charging with three different cable/adaptor combinations, including the stock one - still won't turn on, no matter what I do.  Woot was excellent about it, though.  I reported it to them and they got back to me within like an hour, apologizing for the failure and that they did not have a replacement to send me, so they just refunded my money and let me keep the (non-working) tablet.  I'm considering dropping $10 on Ebay for a replacement battery, as that seems to be the common problem not involving a motherboard replacement (and if that doesn't work, then I'm still only out $10 total).

[MechAg94]

I've never ordered anything from Woot before, so not sure what to expect.  I ordered one of these tablets last week and the order confirmation said the expected delivery date was Wednesday, Jan 31. (today)  I check the order status and it still says "processing".     Is this normal for them?

I got mine yesterday.  I haven't tried to use it yet.  Smaller than I was expecting, but ought to be okay.  Just wanted something better for browsing email. 

[KD5NRH]

Smaller than I was expecting,

Now you know how your prom date felt.   

[JN01]

I see this is "with ads". I've bought all my other Kindles ad free. Are these ads annoying, or not really noticeable? My understanding is they only show up in standby or whatever?

When you first swipe to open your Kindle, the bottom of the screen on your home page will advertise other Amazon books.  Once you open a book, they disappear.  If you open the Kindle to a book you are already reading (as opposed to the home page) you don't see any ads.  I don't think it is worth the extra money to get rid of them.

[MechAg94]

Now you know how your prom date felt.   

[KD5NRH]

I see this is "with ads". I've bought all my other Kindles ad free. Are these ads annoying, or not really noticeable? My understanding is they only show up in standby or whatever?

If there's CyanogenMod/LineageOS for whatever generation this is, the advantages of turning it into a rooted normal Android tablet go way beyond just making the ads go away.  Kindle app works fine on my 5th gen, so no loss of functionality at all.

[zxcvbob]

I've never ordered anything from Woot before, so not sure what to expect.  I ordered one of these tablets last week and the order confirmation said the expected delivery date was Wednesday, Jan 31. (today)  I check the order status and it still says "processing".     Is this normal for them?

I emailed woot on Wednesday and they apologized and refunded my $5 shipping and said they would ship my order right away.  It's Friday and the order status still says "Preparing For Shipment" with an expected delivery date of 1/31/18.  I assume they sent mine to somebody else and they've run out.



Not impressed

[Ben]

I emailed woot on Wednesday and they apologized and refunded my $5 shipping and said they would ship my order right away.  It's Friday and the order status still says "Preparing For Shipment" with an expected delivery date of 1/31/18.  I assume they sent mine to somebody else and they've run out.



Not impressed

Woot is ridiculously slow with delivery on their "$5 shipping". At least that has always been my experience. A lot of the time, you can find the exact same item on Amazon for $5 more, and if you have prime, get the dang thing the next day.

[K Frame]

I've never had any problems or what I'd consider to be unusual delays with Woot's shipping.

I normally order something from them 2 or 3 times a year.

[Ben]

I've never had any problems or what I'd consider to be unusual delays with Woot's shipping.

I normally order something from them 2 or 3 times a year.

I don't know if it's unusual or not, but it has always taken close to their 10 day max for stuff to get here, and it usually ships from Texas, only a few states away. Part of it is that it seems to always take several days before it's even ready for shipment.

[zxcvbob]

If their estimated delivery date had been 2/09 instead of 1/31, (which still hasn't been updated) I wouldn't have had a problem with it.

They were sure quick to bill my credit card, though.  I gotta give 'em credit for that.

[Hawkmoon]

They are now sold out, but I'm not sorry I missed the deal. I have an 8-inch Windows tablet that I bought from Amazon, and the screen is small enough for what I wanted to use it for that I quickly went out and bought a 10-inch Surface. I periodically wander the tablet aisle in the local Walmart store -- the 7-inch models are just too small for the age of my eyesight.

Does the Kindle app work any differently on a Fire tablet than it does on a Windows tablet? I tried it, and I really don't like it. It doesn't look at all like the "page of a book" appearance I see in ads for dedicated Kindle devices. It's basically unusable -- I'm almost to the point of buying an actual Kindle.

[Ben]

Does the Kindle app work any differently on a Fire tablet than it does on a Windows tablet? I tried it, and I really don't like it. It doesn't look at all like the "page of a book" appearance I see in ads for dedicated Kindle devices. It's basically unusable -- I'm almost to the point of buying an actual Kindle.

I have no experience with the newer gen Fire's, but I don't like reading on my Fire. I save the reading for my Kindle paperwhite (and I also still have either a first or second gen Kindle reader (the one with the keyboard). BIG difference. To me, it truly IS like reading from a book. No eyestrain at all. The paperwhite has the backlight (or more correctly, frontlight) for reading in darker rooms. Way better than the illumination from the color device, or tablets in general.

The dedicated Ereader Kindles are the best product Amazon ever produced, IMO. The ease and feel of reading a book, coupled with the computerized advantages of changing text size, bookmarking, real time looking up definitions and meanings, etc. About the only thing I don't like reading on a Kindle are technical manuals and other stuff with lots of pictures. I still prefer dead tree for that.

[KD5NRH]

the 7-inch models are just too small for the age of my eyesight.

Well, since you're probably due for new tennis balls on your walker anyway, maybe you should do a full tour of the store and get some reading glasses too.   

[Hawkmoon]

Well, since you're probably due for new tennis balls on your walker anyway, maybe you should do a full tour of the store and get some reading glasses too.   

I'm off the scale -- they don't make cheaters in a 10x magnification.

[Ben]

I'm off the scale -- they don't make cheaters in a 10x magnification.

Yes they do: