Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have owned five Kindles; one a paper white, two 7" Fire HDX one 16GB the other 64GB storage, one 8.9" Fire HDX 32GB, an one 8" 2016 HD (720p not full HD) Fire tablet, and I pre-ordered the new 2017 10" Amazon fire full HD. I have no battery issues with our old ones as we do not use them all day like our Surface tablets. These we use as bedside movie and Kindle books to use a few minutes a night. I got this 10" in October and was thrilled with the high definition screen. I also found the sound loud enough and with amazing fidelity for a tablet this small and light. I loved it! Until it refused to wake from sleep. I had bought the Infiland All-New Fire HD 10 2017 Case - Tri-Fold Ultra Slim Stand Smart Case Cover with Auto Sleep/ Wake for All-New Amazon Fire HD 10 (7th Generation, 2017 Release ), Black. It worked fine but it would act funny when I folded the bottom back to hold it us once in awhile. I thought the case magnets were flaky but it was OK. Then after a few weeks the tablet refused to wake from sleep when I opened the case. Once or twice it woke after several openings and closings. It would go a week with no issues then not wake up. Nothing I did woke it up but I kept holding the volume and power buttons down then the power for 30 seconds and then plug it in despite my never letting it get below 50% without plugging it in. I woke up tonight at 4 AM and reached for my Fire to read until I was ready to sleep again. It would not wake up. Nothing I did would wake it up, not taking it out of the case and pressing the power button, pressing the volume and power buttons together for a 10 second hold, and not plugging in. I called customer service as I'd had enough. I wanted to know if anyone else had this intermittent no wake up issue, then waking up later arbitrarily. I got some ladies this time from overseas who I had difficulty understanding. They were doing the "I understand" and "polite apologies" too much but they could not understand me with a simple midwestern accent. I told them it would not wake up and that in or out of the case button or magnets it just decides not to wake sometimes.Then I also mentioned that Alexa is iffy too sometimes answering with no button press other times silent. The ladies did not understand the problem of not waking up. I asked them to please talk closer to the microphone and they still talked very low and fast. I asked to speak to someone in level two support hoping to get an American that would understand me and me her. Instead they insisted they could help, and I then calmly said that I asked you a question - is this a known problem? and they obviously had no clue. The first lady put me on hold then came back telling me the system was updating so she could nor access her reader? The first lady said she would call me back in an hour because her system was updating??? I do hope Amazon has these tapes and reviews them. I really like the tablet, I also have two Surface Pros a 3 and a 4 with i7 and 8GB RAM, but prefer a lighter tablet for reading and movies in bed. The screen on the new 10" Fire compares favorably for content consumption. We have 2 Moto Z Play 5.5" phones for mobile use. They finally got my exchange done an hour after I started trying. Then they got me to an American customer support lady who was great helping me to factory restore it while it was working. My fear was getting the new tablet and not being able to factory restore my tablet. They are sending me a new tablet and shipping label already received in email. It is 8Am now and I have lost a night's sleep over this just trying to find out if there is a fix or it is a known issue. I then started reading the one star reviews and found that several others had the same wake up failures as I had. We'll see with this replacement. Now I am worried that the complaints of bad sound and poor dark screens are not just luddites who aren't tech savvy. We'll see when the new one comes in. It used to be I had trouble understanding the support techs from Asian countries but this was the first time I encountered not being understood by two different support techs and one who bailed by saying her computers were updating. If true, and they are screen readers not techs, wouldn't they take her off from taking calls until her system was back up? I've been Prime for ten year or more and tonight was the worst customer service and worst tablet I ever had from Amazon. I really want a working one that wakes up. BTW, on the main home screen swipe down quick access setting there is one for hands free Alexa. Mine came in set for it to be on and I though I had an Alexa problem and then one of the tech ladies tonight said I had to be in the App like my 8" Fire HD that needs a touch and hold of the main screen button to get Alexa to listen. Before you worry about Alexa not listening to you, check that toggle switch to make sure it is on. Mine turned off somehow without me knowing about the switch. I love everything about it but the lack of waking up for hours tonight. And customer support was a bust except for the last lady from tech support who could understand me and vice versa. Update: The tablet now gets a strong recommend to friends and family. We got the stand also to use in Show Mode. Wife loves it in the kitchen! One star off for failure and having to return it. Here it is July 3 2019, and the replacement has been awesome! We bought the Show stand for it and it is doing kitchen duty daily and nary a hiccup. I have owned a lot of tablets and computers since the Galaxy Tabs of 2010, nine years ago including these Windows tablets from 2012 on - the first Windows 8 Surface RT, the HP Envy x2, the Lenovo Lynx, the Dell Venue 11 Pro, the The Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4. Android tablets the Tab 10", the Galaxy Tab 2 7" with IR blaster. Fire Tablets: Two 7" Fire HDX tablets with 16 GB and 64GB of storage, one Fire HDX 8.9" tablet which is still current and actually has Alexa!, two Fire 8" HD tablets which were 720p not full 1080p HD, and finally the 10" I am reviewing here. The HDX had the best resolution but no Micro SD card slot imitating Apple's iPad forcing users to only use their media products. Amazon would have taken over had they included the micro SD slot as they now have. Unless you need Windows programs specifically, the current full HD Fire 10" tablets are the best buy out there for great screen resolution, great sound for a tablet, and Prime available media is as good as any. It is also more secure unless you jailbreak it to use the Play store, which is easy but I won't do. I have Bluetooth two Bose Mini SoundLink speakers, a Soundlink 3, and a Cambridge Soundworks Oontz Angle Ultra, which for 30 bucks rivals the $100-200 Bose. I own both and will sell my Minis and get another Oontz Ultra because they can be used together for real stereo. For a Dorm room or efficiency apartment the $35 Ultra would do as well as any Soundbar, a pair gives stereo or one for travel. I use the Oontz and any of our three Bluetooth keyboards with the Android and Fire Tablets. We have two typecovers for our Surface Pro three and Four tablets. If you've read this far you should have a handle on tablets now. So treat yourself to some eye relief with some Visine®! <grin>