I toyed with the idea of buying a new Kindle Fire HD for over a month and, of course, read all the reviews here and on other websites. Many of these reviews put me off and I nearly ordered a Google Nexus 7. I am so happy now that I didn't. Somehow at one point I got a feeling that many of these negative reviews had been written by Apple groupies or by people who got so used to their iPads that all they want is just another iPad. And I decided to order a Kindle Fire HD. It arrived promptly, three days ago, already registered. I really can't understand why some people write that it shows American time or prices in dollars. During a setup process (which was fast, easy and very intuitive) I was asked about my timezone and, of course, the device was registered in the UK. The device itself is very nicely built and it is a pleasure to hold it, actually it has a much more pleasant feel than an iPad. An Amazon Kindle Fire HD cover, which came with it, fits nicely, it's comfortable to hold and has a pleasant feel. The screen is just FANTASTIC! Speakers are better than on any other tablet or even on a big desktop computer (I have an iMac). I never liked an iPad because of its size. It is just not convenient to carry it with you all the time, and to read it on public transport is about the same as to read a big art book. A 7 inch tablet is just perfect, you can carry it in your pocket. It was really easy to connect to WiFi and to sign on to my email accounts. I have two email accounts and both work really well on Kindle Fire HD. One of them is a Yahoo account, so first I used it through the Silk browser until I discovered a Yahoo Mail application at Amazon app store. But either with the browser or with this app it was fast and smooth for sending and receiving emails. And AOL account was very easy to synchronize, it took less than a minute to get all my emails and contacts. WiFi connection is better than on any of our home computers.
After reading many reviews and online chats I was prepared to install Dolphin, Adobe Flash player, VLC player, etc. But there was no need. There was no need for Dolphin. So far the preinstalled Silk browser has been working fine, I don't have any complaints.
I installed ES File Explorer (Essential!), Battery HD (Essential!), BBC Media Player, BBC iPlayer, BBC News app, UK News Online app, USA News app (both are for reading UK and US newspapers), A8 Player and some other applications from Amazon store. I have been watching films on YouTube for three days now and not a single time I was told that I needed a Flash Player. iPad doesn't have it as well. Watching programmes on BBC iPlayer is just great! Before downloading applications I went to device settings and allowed applications from sources other than Amazon, but so far I didn't download a single application from another source. For me Amazon app store has more than enough and will probably have even more in future. Some puzzling moments though. One can download Lufthansa or American Airlines applications, but not British Airways! But I hope that Amazon will sort this out.
I downloaded about 5 Gb of music and 22 films in MP4 from my laptop and I must say that picture quality on Kindle Fire HD is much better than on the laptop. It was very easy, just connected it to the laptop with the USB cable (provided) and copied to respective music and movies files on Kindle. Music sounds fantastic, not just rock but classical opera as well. Now I can listen to music and watch my favourite films while travelling. And when I play these films I am given three options of which player to use (including A8, which I downloaded). Films in MP4 play fine on all of them. So far I didn't try to watch any films on LoveFilm and probably won't as I don't want to have a subscription. I don't play computer games, so can't be a judge here.
Also I can't comment on advertising as I paid 10 pounds extra when I ordered my Kindle for the pleasure of not having these adverts and now I am happy that I did that. It's not such a big price for one's privacy.
And, of course, I downloaded a lot of books from Amazon. Reading on Kindle Fire HD is as pleasant as on all previous Kindles. My wife has a Kindle Keyboard 3G, which is absolutely fantastic, both of us are in love with it. I can only complain that the price of downloads now is almost the same as the price of getting a real book (which also became more expensive on Amazon). Initially they were much cheaper.
So, I really can't understand what is this moaning all about. I am SO VERY HAPPY with my new Kindle Fire HD! It does much much more than I expected. I thought it would be an e-reader with internet and email capability, but it turned out to be a TABLET (and a very good one at that) with e-reader capability! Congratulations Amazon!!!! And THANK YOU! You invested time, money and, I believe, love into it and I hope that your customers will love it as much as I do.
On the negative side, it is sad that Amazon has adopted Apple's marketing strategy of charging exorbitant prices for accessories. Charger should be in the box with a Kindle as it was before. And, of course, it shouldn't cost 17.99. But any generic USB charger will do the job. Amazon needs to think about it. Many of its customers don't like how they have been treated by Apple, but now they get the same treatment from Amazon.
Summing up, if somebody is in two minds on whether to buy a Kindle Fire HD, my advice will be - don't hesitate, buy it! And don't read too many reviews. :-)
I hope you enjoy your Kindle as much as I do!