Quick Advice - Kindle Fire deal today; better than iPod?

[Ginevra]

I was thinking of maybe getting an iPod for DS12, primarily for games. He has an old hand-me-down that is severely shattered. He would not even think to ask for a new one because he believes I would surely not buy one. They are minimally $200.

 

BUT! Kindle Fire is the deal today and it is only $40/8 gb; $60/16 GB. I really know nothing Bout Kindle Fire, though. Most importantly, we do not have unlimited internet at home, so streaming movies and any data hogs are a no-go here. OTOH, any games that can be DL'd and played without a live connection would be something he could play.

 

Should I snap up a KF? Or would this probably fail to meet our desires?

[alisoncooks]

I started a similar thread recently and got mixed responses. (I think most said if you're getting a KF, go for the HD8.). We ended up getting refurbished iPad Minis for Christmas.

 

If you did get the Kindle, I wouldn't go below 16g. (My iPad is 16g and I wish we'd splurged in 32.)

Edited December 11, 2016 by alisoncooks

[Pawz4me]

I have a Kindle e-reader, a Kindle Fire, an iPad and an iPhone.

 

I'd go with the iPod. Hands down, don't even need to think twice.

 

I love my Kindle e-reader. It works.

 

I love my iPad and my iPhone. They work.

 

The Fire is clunky and crazy making.

 

 

[cmarthur]

We went with the Kindle Fire because you couldn't beat the price.  I can tell that it is not as slick as my $200 tablet, but it still has all the functionality needed.  My child is able to use it for games, audio books, and surfing the web.  She is very happy with it.  It is also nice not to have to share mine anymore. 

[Guest]

I have a Kindle e-reader, a Kindle Fire, an iPad and an iPhone.

 

I'd go with the iPod. Hands down, don't even need to think twice.

 

I love my Kindle e-reader. It works.

 

I love my iPad and my iPhone. They work.

 

The Fire is clunky and crazy making.

Good to know. I am an Apple devotee on the whole (though I love my Kindle Paperwhite for reading). The fact that DS still uses that old iPod to play games is a pretty impressive testiment to how well it works. I think I bought that one for DD when she was 13yo. It is at least 6 years old.

[LuvToRead]

We have 4 Kindle Fires and 3 iPods and the iPods are so much better.   The only advantage you would have with the Kindle is the screen size and price, otherwise everything else about the iPod is better.  

[wendy not in HI]

My 13 year old son has both a kindle fire and an iPod. He prefers to use the iPod. He uses it mostly for games.

[Gentlemommy]

We bought our big girls (then 7 and 10) kindle fires last year for Christmas. We returned them after three days of fighting with them and got iPad minis instead. The girls even put up some of their own money to upgrade, they were so frustrated with the kindles. We are an apple family and just could not get on board with the kindles. They made us all crazy.

[xixstar]

I have fires for my kids (thanks to prime day) and so t like them at all.

[Pippen]

I love my KF for internet and watching movies when I'm on the go, but my teen has one and hates it it for games. It sits in his drawer now.

[theelfqueen]

My kids have fires and use them for reading, movies and games... we have the parental controls on so there are limits on what they can do...

 

One of the big bonuses of the fire over an apple product is expandable memory, since my kids love theirs for movies this is a plus ... pop in a micro SD and your 8 gig fire is now a 132 gig fire.

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Spryte]

I have a Kindle e-reader, a Kindle Fire, an iPad and an iPhone.

 

I'd go with the iPod. Hands down, don't even need to think twice.

 

I love my Kindle e-reader. It works.

 

I love my iPad and my iPhone. They work.

 

The Fire is clunky and crazy making.

Yep. We have the above and the fire doesn't get used. I wanted to love it, but ... meh.

 

I'd go with apple products. In disclosure, I like apple because I find them easy products to use.

 

That said, we got one at Target when they dipped down to $28, for my mom. (Cyber Monday plus 15% off at the store. $40 is still a great deal.) Her beloved paperwhite had died. She will only use it for books, so I think it's fine. Thus far, she likes it. So it may depend on how you want to use it.

[Arcadia]

We have minecraft and kingdom rush on my kids kindle and iPad. The kindle rarely gets used. We watch YouTube on TV or on my 12.9" iPad pro.

 

If it is for a child to bring to the library or clinics and not have to worry about losing, the kindle fire is much cheaper. We load library ebooks on them using Hoopla and overdrive.

 

My iPod touch 4th gen which is probably as old as your child's, is my digital organizer. I use it for appointments, checklists and emails. Now that my iPhone is spoilt, I am thinking of going back to flip phone and iPod touch. I need my handbag for my kindle. I just use my jacket zipped pockets for the iPod touch.

 

So it depends on what your child's primary use of the kindle would be.

 

ETA:

My kids do stop motion animation on their iPads. Something they find harder to do with kindle fire.

Edited December 11, 2016 by Arcadia

[TrixieB]

My thoughts:

 

If your ds has games he likes that are on his iPod --

 

check to see if those games are available through the Amazon appstore before buying a Fire.  Not all Apple (or android for that matter) games are available in the Amazon appstore. 

 

Also I don't know that Fire can talk to iTunes.  I find the Fire's music management situation clunky.

 

One thing I like about the Fire is easy access to Amazon Underground, where you can get a selection of full games for free, unlimited free hints, etc.  I don't know if you can get access to this from an iPod.

 

Like a pp said, you can expand the memory on the Fire because there is a slot for an SD card.

 

[Lady Florida.]

I have a Kindle e-reader, a Kindle Fire, an iPad and an iPhone.

 

I'd go with the iPod. Hands down, don't even need to think twice.

 

I love my Kindle e-reader. It works.

 

I love my iPad and my iPhone. They work.

 

The Fire is clunky and crazy making.

 

I agree even though I'm not an Apple fan at all and am very much an Amazon fan. I love my Kindle ereader but my Fire rarely got used. I eventually replaced it with another (but not Apple) tablet. If it's the screen size that you want go for an iPad (even a mini) rather than an iPod. As much as I love Amazon and e-ink Kindles, I can't recommend the Fire. 

Edited December 11, 2016 by Lady Florida.

[scrapbookbuzz]

I don't have a Kindle Fire but it sounds like the reason it is even on sale is because it's not selling well and they need to clear inventory.

The previous Kindle we had we can no longer use because of Amazon's ridiculous programming of the originals and the stupid, difficult 

upgrade-whatever you had to do by a certain date to be able to keep using it. Not really impressed with that.

 

The overall consensus here seems to be to stick with an Apple product for your son. 

[MistyMountain]

I have kindle fires and if you asked me right after getting them I would say they were not worth getting but aside from the kindle unlimited and parental control issues I had at first they actually do get used a lot for my kids for games, audiobooks and music. I like the expandable memory so it has plenty of memory. I have done games with my kids on it and it performs fine and so does websites and website games like prodigy.

Edited December 11, 2016 by MistyMountain

[Heatherwith4]

My kids really like their kindle fires, however they have never had apple products of their own. I used to have an iPad, and my kindle fire drives me bananas...unless I'm reading a book on it.

[SJ.]

Both my children have kindle fires. If it is just for games and internet browsing I think it is a good buy. Definitely get a memory card as they fill up fast.

 

Some negatives about the fire are:

they aren't as portable

 

the photos aren't great quality

 

they don't have the cool factor that Apple products have

 

the memory in the 8gb kindle fills very fast

 

 

My boys are begging for an iPod. I am considering getting them a smart phone and just using it with wifi. I am considering the Moto g4 from Amazon. My main reason is to save some money. I love apple products, but they are too expensive.

[My4arrows]

We found when we went from unlimited data to very low data that the kindle fires are data hogs!! So without unlimited data I wouldn't recommend it. It could have been that my kids had freetime unlimited but they used so much data we had to turn off the wifi for them and then many games didn't work.

[Wheres Toto]

Both my children have kindle fires. If it is just for games and internet browsing I think it is a good buy. Definitely get a memory card as they fill up fast.

 

Some negatives about the fire are:

they aren't as portable

the photos aren't great quality

 

they don't have the cool factor that Apple products have

 

the memory in the 8gb kindle fills very fast

 

 

My boys are begging for an iPod. I am considering getting them a smart phone and just using it with wifi. I am considering the Moto g4 from Amazon. My main reason is to save some money. I love apple products, but they are too expensive.

 

Just curious why you think the Fire isn't as portable?

 

My kids got Kindle Fires for their birthdays this year.  They use them to read books (from getepic.com and our library), play Pokemon Go (we have wifi everywhere around here), play some games, and take pictures.  They love them but they've never had Ipads.  I'm fine with them being happy with a $49 Fire at this point.

 

I did set them up so they have the Google Play store since they needed that for Pokemon Go and our library app.  We will also be using them for our Edison robots with 4-H so I had to buy three more, the low price was a definite plus.

[JulieA97]

Maybe I missed it but how old is your ds?

 

We have several Kindle Fires and adore them. We had an iPad (that I forgot to get an extended warranty on much to my great, great regret). The screen cracked after 3 months. Those things are WAY too expensive for he screens to crack. We don't even know what happened. It was fine one night, next morning cracked. We didn't drop it that I am aware of.

 

The Kindle Fires have been thrown down the stairs, stood on, and generally abused. No issues at all. One stopped working (wouldn't charge) and Amazon had a new one on our doorstep the next day. It was the Kids version with 2 year no questions asked guarantee. I love that I have complete control over what he does on it and can set timers. So no apps until you have read for 30 minutes. And the Fire won't let him access the apps until that time is over.

 

I didn't have that control with the iPad. And in general the iPad made me nuts. We don't have any other apple products and I ended up hating that thing. You will have to pry our Kindles from my cold, dead hands.

Edited December 12, 2016 by JulieA97

[SJ.]

My apologies, I am not sure how to quote on the mobile site.

 

My boys find the kindle fire not to be very portable because they can't put it in their pocket. Of course there are plenty of ways to take it with you but that is how they feel.

 

Also, games stored on the cloud aren't accessible without wifi. They have many favorite games on the cloud due to the limited storage. This is easily fixed with a bigger memory card.

[Guest]

We found when we went from unlimited data to very low data that the kindle fires are data hogs!! So without unlimited data I wouldn't recommend it. It could have been that my kids had freetime unlimited but they used so much data we had to turn off the wifi for them and then many games didn't work.

This is really the most important information and is only understood by people who are living with limited data. So thanks!

[Guest]

Maybe I missed it but how old is your ds?

 

We have several Kindle Fires and adore them. We had an iPad (that I forgot to get an extended warranty on much to my great, great regret). The screen cracked after 3 months. Those things are WAY too expensive for he screens to crack. We don't even know what happened. It was fine one night, next morning cracked. We didn't drop it that I am aware of.

 

The Kindle Fires have been thrown down the stairs, stood on, and generally abused. No issues at all. One stopped working (wouldn't charge) and Amazon had a new one on our doorstep the next day. It was the Kids version with 2 year no questions asked guarantee. I love that I have complete control over what he does on it and can set timers. So no apps until you have read for 30 minutes. And the Fire won't let him access the apps until that time is over.

 

I didn't have that control with the iPad. And in general the iPad made me nuts. We don't have any other apple products and I ended up hating that thing. You will have to pry our Kindles from my cold, dead hands.

He is 12.

 

I'm a big believer in putting these things directly into a Lifeproof case. If I do get an iPod (I'm leaning that way), it goes directly into a case.

 

My DD had a very small crack in her iPhone screen, which did spread for no apparent reason. So yeah, I've seen that happen.

[JulieA97]

He is 12.

 

I'm a big believer in putting these things directly into a Lifeproof case. If I do get an iPod (I'm leaning that way), it goes directly into a case.

 

My DD had a very small crack in her iPhone screen, which did spread for no apparent reason. So yeah, I've seen that happen.

My son was 4 at the time and we had it in a case but not a life proof one. I don't plan on getting another one but if I lose my mind one day and get one its for sure going in a life proof case and getting the longest extended warranty they have. As expensive as they are, they should have tougher glass. The much less expensive Kindle Fire just doesn't break so it looks like Apple should be able to do the same.

[LuvToRead]

I also wanted to mention all 3 of our iPods are refurbished.  2 directly from Apple and one from Wal-Mart.  We  couldn't be happier with the quality, they really are like new.  It isn't a huge savings, but it will save a little money.

[LuvToRead]

My apologies, I am not sure how to quote on the mobile site.

 

My boys find the kindle fire not to be very portable because they can't put it in their pocket. Of course there are plenty of ways to take it with you but that is how they feel.

 

Also, games stored on the cloud aren't accessible without wifi. They have many favorite games on the cloud due to the limited storage. This is easily fixed with a bigger memory card.

 

:iagree:   When I mow, I always grab and iPod to listen to a Podcast over my Kindle.  Of course, this would be true with any tablet vs. an iPod.

[Dmmetler]

You may want to look at an android phone (w/o a plan) instead. My DD has basically abandoned her iPod for her phone, even for games that don't need wifi/data. Of course, part of that is that she loves taking photos/video, and on the phone, those go to the SD card, saving her memory for games, etc.

[Wheres Toto]

My apologies, I am not sure how to quote on the mobile site.

 

My boys find the kindle fire not to be very portable because they can't put it in their pocket. Of course there are plenty of ways to take it with you but that is how they feel.

 

Also, games stored on the cloud aren't accessible without wifi. They have many favorite games on the cloud due to the limited storage. This is easily fixed with a bigger memory card.

 

Gotcha.  I didn't realize you were comparing to an iPod, I thought it was compared to iPad and thought there was something I was unaware of.  

 

I have an iPod and my kids have used it briefly in the past.  We were doing a photo scavenger hunt and I gave it to my son saying "whatever you do, don't drop it".  Guess what he did?  Nicely cracked now but it does work.   They've also used my phone at various times and have phones without a plan, but they still like their Fires.  They carry them around quite a bit but they both have messenger type bags they can use.

Edited December 12, 2016 by Where's Toto?

[StaceyinLA]

Well I'm another one who wouldn't bother with the Kindle Fire. I would definitely go iPod. You just can't come close to their selection for games/apps, and I feel like their OS just runs so much more smoothly than any of the others.

 

Refurbished is always a great option, and if you know Apple, you know their refurbished come with full warranties. I'd definitely go Lifeproof or Otterbox right away for protection.

 

I have purchased iPad minis for all 5 of my grandchildren (used or refurbished, and yes, even the babies have them as they are wonderful for keeping them occupied in the car). I didn't put otterboxes because of the cost, but I put something similar to iGuy and then put the glass screen protectors (5 otterboxes for iPads was just more money than I could handle). We've had a few screen protectors crack, but the screens have been protected underneath.

 

My 5yo grandson has been asking for an iPod. He loves the pad, but also loves playing games on our phones. I'm thinking it'll be a good birthday gift for him next year, and I'll definitely go otterbox if I do that.

[SJ.]

I was just thinking that perhaps the reason the kindles seem to be a data hog is due to saving apps to the cloud. Could this be the case?

[SJ.]

Quill, what did you decide to get?