Kindle Fire or other tablet?

[Julie in CA]

One of my dc is considering buying either a Kindle Fire, or some other tablet. I'm thinking that I don't really understand the pros & cons of each, so could someone help me understand what advantage one would have over the other?

 

We do have Amazon Prime, if that makes a difference.

 

So, about getting books onto either one--you can only do that if you're within range of a wi-fi, right? They'd both need that?

 

Regarding the cost of books, does the Kindle lending library make it worthwhile to get the Fire instead of a different tablet?

 

With the Kindle Fire, you're restricted to using apps from Amazon. Does that make a difference? Does it matter?

 

If one wanted to plug a keyboard into the thing in order to, say, make it easier to type some sort of checklist/to-do list, the Kindle Fire won't do that, right? -But a different tablet would?

 

So the Kindle Fire can watch Amazon Prime free movies, can't another tablet do the same thing? -And they both would need to be in wi-fi range to do that, right? You can't, for instance, download a free movie to watch in the car on a trip?

 

{Sigh} I'm too old for all of this. I pity my poor dc who will have to try and explain the world to me as I get even older. :001_huh:

 

ETA: Thought of one more--Does the feature of having a removable/replaceable battery factor into this decision? Isn't there a tablet that has a replaceable battery?

 

ETA (again): So I just read another post about using a stylus on an iPad. That would be even better, if this dc could *write* their own to-do list, or draw simple diagrams on their gadget. Is that something they could do with an iPad, but not any other type of tablet (or the Fire)?

Edited June 20, 2012 by Julie in CA

[Princess Peach]

One of my dc is considering buying either a Kindle Fire, or some other tablet. I'm thinking that I don't really understand the pros & cons of each, so could someone help me understand what advantage one would have over the other?

 

We do have Amazon Prime, if that makes a difference.

 

So, about getting books onto either one--you can only do that if you're within range of a wi-fi, right? They'd both need that?

 

Regarding the cost of books, does the Kindle lending library make it worthwhile to get the Fire instead of a different tablet?

 

With the Kindle Fire, you're restricted to using apps from Amazon. Does that make a difference? Does it matter?

 

If one wanted to plug a keyboard into the thing in order to, say, make it easier to type some sort of checklist/to-do list, the Kindle Fire won't do that, right? -But a different tablet would?

 

So the Kindle Fire can watch Amazon Prime free movies, can't another tablet do the same thing? -And they both would need to be in wi-fi range to do that, right? You can't, for instance, download a free movie to watch in the car on a trip?

 

{Sigh} I'm too old for all of this. I pity my poor dc who will have to try and explain the world to me as I get even older. :001_huh:

 

ETA: Thought of one more--Does the feature of having a removable/replaceable battery factor into this decision? Isn't there a tablet that has a replaceable battery?

 

I'm going to answer about the Fire, because we have them. If you are comparing the Fire to an iPad, they are really different animals. But for $200, if you want something that you can use to read books, play games, listen to music, watch movies, it's a good deal.

 

You need wi-fi to download apps, books, music, or movies. After something is downloaded and is on your device, you can take it with you. With movies, for instance, you have the option of watching it streaming (uses wi-fi) or downloading it so you can take it with you. The Fire does not have a ton of memory on the device, but you can store things in the cloud, which is limitless. You would then be able to take it with you in the car and watch it.

 

As far as the lending library for the Kindle, I thought you could only get one per month? That doesn't really amount to much, but we don't have Prime and haven't missed it (we got one month free). Our library lends ebooks and we have Netflix instant for movies.

 

As far as apps, there are more and more added all the time. It hasn't been a problem for us.

 

The iPad can have a keyboard put on. The Fire cannot. If you were going to do a significant amount of typing, you wouldn't want to do it with the Fire. But emailing or posting here are fine.

 

HTH a bit!

[Ghee]

My friend's family has stylus for their fires. We have three fires,but no stylus. I think I will order some, though, as they are cheap on amazon. I'm typing on my son's fire now. My laptop screen cracked and I've been using the fires for online. It's okay, but I prefer a real keyboard. I don't know if want a fire or an ipad (so we have something different) for myself. They do add new apps for the fire all the time. My kids were so disappointed when they didn't have a Smurf app when they got the fires at Christmas, but they have now put one out. I've also had luck finding apps *like* ipad apps even if I can't find the *exact* app. For the price difference,I like the fire for a kid.

 

Eta - I do have to do a lot of correcting for typos. Either I hit the wrong thing and it doesn't autocorrect OR it autocorrects something I actually wanted.

[acurtis75]

The refurbished ipad2's from the apple store aren't that much more than the Fire and I think it's worth the extra money. I think the 16gb is $299 and the 32gb is $399.

 

I think I would even consider a first generation iPad refurbished before the fire.

 

Dh and I were both reluctant iPad converts but the moment we bought them we fell in love. My laptop hasn't left the office since I bought the iPad and more and more of the things I used to do on the computer are moving to my iPad.

[momtoamiracle]

I'm looking at kindle fire and Ipad first generation myself.

 

The 1st generation is $349. THey don't have a 16GB 2 now, i don't believe.

 

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/ipad

[thefragile7393]

We do have Amazon Prime, if that makes a difference.

 

I have it too and I love it.

 

So, about getting books onto either one--you can only do that if you're within range of a wi-fi, right? They'd both need that?

 

I can only answer for the Kindle Fire and yes, you must have wi-fi.

 

Regarding the cost of books, does the Kindle lending library make it worthwhile to get the Fire instead of a different tablet?

 

Not all books are expensive, many are cheaper in Kindle version. I do like the lending library though, and my public library has ebooks for lend as well.

 

With the Kindle Fire, you're restricted to using apps from Amazon. Does that make a difference? Does it matter?

 

That is one pain in the patoey for me....I prefer my Google Play store, and Apple has apps only available for their products which makes me nuts.

 

If one wanted to plug a keyboard into the thing in order to, say, make it easier to type some sort of checklist/to-do list, the Kindle Fire won't do that, right? -But a different tablet would?

 

Ehh...no clue. Never tried it.

 

So the Kindle Fire can watch Amazon Prime free movies, can't another tablet do the same thing? -And they both would need to be in wi-fi range to do that, right? You can't, for instance, download a free movie to watch in the car on a trip?

 

Probably another one can do that. I believe you can dl and watch movies on the Fire, just like you can download and play apps on the fire without having to always been connected to wi-fi (well most apps, some still require it). Prime you can do this with, but Netflix or Hulu you cannot.

 

ETA: Thought of one more--Does the feature of having a removable/replaceable battery factor into this decision? Isn't there a tablet that has a replaceable battery?

 

Kindle does not have this, you have to reboot it instead which always works. Also found out that many Fires have USB port problems...I'm on my third one right now (I have extended warrenty that I haven't touched yet), Amazon is very good and sends me a new one once I explain the problem. I am gentle and I don't force the plug or anything but for some reason they keep wearing out to where when plugged in they won't charge because the port is broken somehow. I still love my fire and while I'd love an Ipad I'm happy with this.

Edited June 22, 2012 by thefragile7393

[chiguirre]

I got my refurbished Fire when they had them for $139. It's well worth that to me because my library has Kindle ebooks for loan and I can watch videos and listen to Pandora on it. The size has both advantages and disadvantages. It makes typing harder without a stylus but it fits easily in my purse so I can take a bunch of books with me wherever I go and I can access the web in McDonald's or Starbucks if I need to.

[nmoira]

Wait a few weeks before deciding: Google's own Nexus tablets are being announced soon, and that just might drive prices down across the board. More options never hurt, in any case. :)

[LaxMom]

We have a Lenovo Thinkpad K1. It has full range of the android market (as opposed to the Kindle-specific market) for apps. It will use a stylus and keyboard, though we have neither. It is wifi only, which works for us.

 

We have a kindle app and a nook app on it, so we can download ebooks from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and pretty much any other source.

 

The only drawback is that the free lending library with Prime doesn't extend to app users. I think I've found one book that I would have borrowed since Amazon started that, though, so it's not much of a loss for us.

 

We use it a lot for lessons, with whiteboard and PDF markup apps, and the kids are watching a movie streamed from Netflix onto the tv with an HDMI cable right now. Truth be told, we rarely use it for reading. I think the backlit screen is hard on the eyes, and the kids have e-ink Nooks for that.

[besroma]

:lurk5: