The Amazon Fire HD 8 in use Part 2

Continued from The Amazon Fire HD 8 in use Part 1.

The Fire HD 8 also benefits from the following:

1. Amazon advertises the Fire HD 8 as more resilient than the iPad Mini 2. Even if it wasnt, the Fire is nowhere near as pricey as any available iOS-powered device on the market. Moreover, the durable plastic build of the Fire HD 8 may not be as classy or as shiny as pricey iPads, but the grip is excellent for long periods of reading. In fact, I like the feel of the firm rubbery surface over the smooth finish of my aged iPad 2 and MemoPad HD7.

2. My semi-retired iPad 2 with iOS9 can handle large PDFs better than the MemoPad HD7, though its not ideal for most people, especially when it comes to graphics-heavy PDFs, since theres a perceptible rendering lag f or each page.  The Fire HD 8 doesnt have the fastest processor in the market and has only 1.5 of RAM (compared with the Moto G4 Plus 3 GB), but processing and graphics rendering have vastly improved since 2011, even for relatively budget quad-core devices. The Fire HD 8s ability to process heavy PDFs faster than the older iPad 2 and MemoPad HD7 is undeniable when I opened poorly scanned books from Archive.org.

Some Archive.org and Google Books were scanned as large graphics-laden PDFs and give even laptops pause when rendering pages. Although the Fire HD 8 takes a few moments to process heavy PDF files such as California Life Illustrated (1858) , which weighs  in at 14.5 MB, you can read the PDF just fine after the initial lag.

3. The Fire HD 8 I purchased also replaces my HP Stream 8, which never quite worked out as a tablet for reading. In fact, the aforementioned 4-year old MemoPad HD7s screen and weight was superior to the larger but heavier HP Stream 8. Although Ive learned there are other uses for the flawed Windows 10-powered HP Stream 8, its thick and heavy form factor, poor display, and inaccurate touch screen never made it a good reading device.  The Fire HD 8 combines the slightly larger screen of the HP Stream 8, and the more usable traits of the excellent MemoPad HD7.

A lot of users who argue that they are comfortable reading on their smartphones probably dont read as much as the typical bookworm. The 8" form factor on tablets has been criticized by tech sites for the last few years for being too large to be considered pocketable, but too small to be c onsidered productive. Clearly, those people dont appreciate screen estate. Theres something to be said about reading magazines and PDFs on a tablet that is the same size as the old hardcover books. And of course, HD movies look better on a screen larger than 7".

4. The Fire HD 8 is mounted in Linux just as easily as any Android device.

The Fire HD8 mounted on Debian Jessie with Xfce and Thunar File Manager.

5. Although I have no intention of ever buying a product without an audio connector, the consumer electronics industry is heading in that direction for monetary reasons, so Im comforted by the audi o jack found on the Fire HD 8.

6. Surprisingly, if you visit the Fire HD 8 web page, Amazon doesnt highlight Bluetooth in the technical specifications. However, Bluetooth is available on the Fire HD 8 and Bluetooth file transfers between Android and Windows devices works as usual. In the unlikely event I purchase a Bluetooth headset (ugh), I always have the option for wireless audio.

Note: I tested Bluetooth File Transfer from my Windows 10-powered HP Stream 8, Sony Xperia C3, and Lumia 650. I also paired the Fire HD8 with a BOW micro keyboard successfully.

Fire HD 8 paired with the Bluetooth BOW micro-keyboard.

7. Another technical specification Amazon doesnt advertise on their product page is support for USB On-the-Go adapters. Surprisingly, not all Samsung, Acer, and ASUS tablets support USB OTG, but the Fire HD 8 does.  The Fire HD 8 worked great with a PowerSync USB OTG adapter, Sandisk Cruzer 4 GB Flash drive, and Microsoft Wireless mouse.

You can connect a wireless mouse and keyboard dongle or access a USB storage device using USB OTG dongles.

Note: To safely disconnect USB storage connected via a USB OTG adapter, tap the notific ation for the connected storage, and then tap Safe Eject USB. For managing connected storage, you can use the excellent File Commander, which is "Actually Free" from Amazon Underground.

Most users would probably prefer to use OTA file transfers rather than a USB OTG cable. Although the Fire HD 8 can arguably serve as a great Android productivity device (Microsoft apps are available on the app store), Amazon probably wants you to watch Ant-Man (2015) or read a Star Wars novel on the Fire HD 8.

8. Although I pointed out in Part 1 that the Amazon app store is a bit bare, users who live in places where Google Play is blocked (cough China cough), will be happy to know the Amazon app store is not blocked and downloads for apps are faster compared with installation using Google Play over VPN, or even Apple app store (which is not blocked in China but extremely slow).