To 1st-gen Kindle Fire Users - please help

[intercricket]

Hi everyone,

I've come here with my problem because Amazon Customer Service doesn't seem willing to help me, and other users in the Kindle Help Forum on the Amazon website haven't been able to offer any solutions. I have a 1st-generation Kindle Fire, and as of the middle of January, the quality of my video downloads has decreased drastically. Video files that were previously 200 megabytes are now 120. The resolution of these videos has gone from 480p to 240p. Oddly enough, the quality of these videos is normal when I stream them, but not when I download. At first I thought it was something to do with my slow internet connection, but it happens even when I go out and try faster connections. Then I decided it must be my device, so I tried a factory reset. The problem persisted. Then, just for comparison, I tried downloading a video on a friend's 1st-gen Fire on his own (fast) internet connection. He had exactly the same problem. I'm forced to assume, then, that this problem might be widespread. Maybe some or all 1st-gen Fires have been linked to lower quality files in the Amazon video servers.

I know I could just stream my videos, but that's not always convenient for me. I should be able to download decent quality files. I contacted Amazon Customer Service about this three times, and though the people I talked to were all very nice, they seemed baffled by the problem and said they'd make it their highest priority to look into it. I never heard from them again.

The reason I'm posting here is to find out if anyone else is having this issue. So many people stream videos without downloading that it's possible very few customers have actually noticed this issue. Could those of you with 1st-generation Kindle Fires please try comparing the quality of your streamed videos with the ones you download and see if you notice a difference? I'm hoping that if I can produce some evidence that I'm not the only one with this issue, Amazon will actually respond. And if other people aren't having this problem, I'll know that the solution lies elsewhere.

[fdalbor]

I am not sure if this relates to the problem you are having. I have a original Fire and just to see if my fire had the problem you experienced I downloaded about eight sneak preview's, sample video's etc to see if I had any reduction in resolution streaming the files and then downloading them to the fire and viewing them offline. I found no difference in quality between the streaming and viewing the download off line.

I wonder if the player you are using (I used Gallery in both instances), might have something to do with it. I also wonder if it is possible your downloads are being compacted to reduce download time by a app you might have installed not knowing this would happen. Don't have an answer for you. But I am sure my Fire does not have the problem you explained. My fire was purchased in June of 2012 if that makes a difference. fdalbor