This last weekend I started experiencing some issues with my new Amazon Kindle Fire. To be fair to Amazon, most of these issues were minor in nature but one, for which I could have been responsible, required a total system reset to factory settings. So exactly what happened?

First of all, like any kid with any new toy, I have been playing with the Amazon Kindle Fire and browsing the forums related to it. In doing so I wanted to see what other Kindle Fire users were experiencing and I was snooping around to see if they were reporting issues that I had not yet encountered. I discovered that the biggest complaint, one that I had not experienced, revolved around Wi-Fi connections. Others were insignificant or just plain silly, allowing me to feel self-satisfied that my own expertise would allow me to use my mini-tablet without incident.

Therefore, I continued to root the tablet and install applications from the Android Market and I even ventured into the unknown by downloading and installing applications from my smart phone onto the Amazon Kindle Fire without any issues. All appeared to be going well and I continued on my quest for more and better applications until I started to notice a small issue. My Amazon Kindle Fire began to get sluggish to the point that when I would tap on an application or would be surfing the Internet, the system would freeze up. In this instance, I believe the culprit was a non-Amazon approved application that I had installed, unknowing that it was a memory hog.

However, on Saturday night the real issues surfaced. I was unable to install any Amazon applications and my notification area showed five installs in progress but done could complete. (I told you I was pushing the envelope and taking the new toy for a real test ride!) I had a feeling that if I called Amazon technical support I would be told that a factory reset would be in order. So I waited until the morning because I was hoping that the computer gods would fix the problem during the night.

Sunday morning came and the problem had not resolved itself. A quick call to Amazon support confirmed what I already knew. It was factory reset time, which I completed without issue. There was one benefit to doing a factory reset since I learned that all of the Amazon applications I had installed were waiting in the cloud for me along with all of my previous Kindle book purchases.

For the foreseeable future I will stick with Amazon-approved applications. One exception is the browser and I have installed Dolphin HD from my smart phone. I like Dolphin HD and like the tab feature to enhance by browsing experience.

Comments welcome.