Kindle Fire: *whew* ...thought mine had died!

I've been using my Kindle Fire. A LOT. I've been cancelling all hardcopy magazine subscriptions, since I'm extremely happy with reading magazines on the Kindle; whether it's via subscriptions through the Amazon Kindle store, or through the Zinio app (which I had to sideload), it's been great. Much to my surprise, I actually prefer the Mail client on the Fire to GMail (which I'd sideloaded and then later removed). Facebook, Twitter, book reading, web surfing ...it's all been great.

Then a few minutes ago I reached for the Fire. I pressed the power button. I pressed it again. And again. I plugged in the charging cord but no light came on (the power button is also a light that indicates charging status). I tried different electrical outlets and a different charging cord. Nothing.

Much to my dismay, I then saw some posts on the Amazon forums about Kindles experiencing sudden death. Amazon's great on returns, and I did also buy an extended warranty from SquareTrade, but I really didn't want to have to go a whole day or two without my reading device!

But then - happily - as I was starting to fill out the online form to list my problem and start a chat with a support rep, I saw the below message...

Resetting your Kindle Fire can solve intermittent problems. To reset your device:

1. Make sure your device is disconnected from any power source.
2. Press in the power switch and hold it there for 20 seconds.
3. The screen should turn off, once the screen is fully turned off press the power button in for 2 seconds and release. The device will turn back on and you will see the Kindle Fire loading screen.

This reset will not affect any books or content you have on the Kindle. If your Kindle does not restart or this problem happens again, you can reach us by phone directly by clicking the link below.

The simple procedure worked! Whew! My Fire started up and (as I'd remembered) was only down about 20% in the charge. Hopefully, this was a one-time issue!