Miss Marple Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 There seem to be so many options with Kindles. If I want to get my son a Kindle for book reading mostly and possibly to use as a music player but don't want a lot of bells and whistles (definitely need 16 mb and wifi) which one do I want? ETA: Do I want a Kindle over the other tablets out there? What about Samsung? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie in Ma Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Ok, reading and mp3's eink Kindle or eink Paperwhite. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007HCCNJU/ref=sa_menu_kdptq http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AWH595M/ref=fs_clw both have wifi, the paperwhite has a built in light, which is nice I have had my K3 with keyboard for years and it is my constant companion. All the other Kindles are Fires, they are tablets for games, internet use, watching streaming services like Netflix. Nice I suppose but there are better tablets out there, the Galaxy is nice and any of the Nexus tablets as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 I'm not sure about music capability, so I'll leave that to someone else. As far as dedicated e-reader versus tablet, the main difference is that a dedicated e-reader isn't backlit. Many people (although maybe not young 'uns) find reading very long on a backlit device causes eye strain. Dedicated e-readers also weigh less (sometimes significantly less) than tablets, making them much easier to hold for long reading sessions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Ok, reading and mp3's eink Kindle or eink Paperwhite. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007HCCNJU/ref=sa_menu_kdptq http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AWH595M/ref=fs_clw both have wifi, the paperwhite has a built in light, which is nice I have had my K3 with keyboard for years and it is my constant companion. All the other Kindles are Fires, they are tablets for games, internet use, watching streaming services like Netflix. Nice I suppose but there are better tablets out there, the Galaxy is nice and any of the Nexus tablets as well. The e-ink Kindles are for reading only. I don't believe playing music is an option on those devices. In addition to what was mentioned, I do use my Kindle Fire tablet often for reading as well. The eye strain that has been mentioned with this type of screen really hasn't been a problem for me. The battery life is very short compared to the Kindle e-readers though. If you do make a purchase, make sure to check if the charging cord is included, or if you need to buy that seperately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 The e-ink Kindles are for reading only. I don't believe playing music is an option on those devices. In addition to what was mentioned, I do use my Kindle Fire tablet often for reading as well. The eye strain that has been mentioned with this type of screen really hasn't been a problem for me. The battery life is very short compared to the Kindle e-readers though. If you do make a purchase, make sure to check if the charging cord is included, or if you need to buy that seperately. The bolded is correct. If you can get your hands on an old Kindle Keyboard or Touch (both are no longer being made so you'll have to buy used) they support audio (both for audiobooks and music). Otherwise, you'll need a Kindle Fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted December 2, 2013 Author Share Posted December 2, 2013 OK, so I'm pretty sure the Kindle Fire is what he would want since he does multi-task. Apparently it does not have an external SD card holder? Do you find that you have enough memory with the built-in? I know he filled his 16 mb iPod years ago. Would he be a candidate for something like a Samsung tablet or note because of his high storage needs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie in Ma Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 The e-ink Kindles are for reading only. I don't believe playing music is an option on those devices. In addition to what was mentioned, I do use my Kindle Fire tablet often for reading as well. The eye strain that has been mentioned with this type of screen really hasn't been a problem for me. The battery life is very short compared to the Kindle e-readers though. If you do make a purchase, make sure to check if the charging cord is included, or if you need to buy that seperately. Actually, you can. Listen to Music & Podcasts Transfer MP3 files to Kindle to play as background music while you read. You can quickly and easily transfer MP3 files via USB by connecting Kindle to your computer. It is the "experimental" section on my K3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Actually, you can. Listen to Music & Podcasts Transfer MP3 files to Kindle to play as background music while you read. You can quickly and easily transfer MP3 files via USB by connecting Kindle to your computer. It is the "experimental" section on my K3 K3 is also known as the Kindle Keyboard, which is no longer available. I had that one before it broke, and it does have audio. See my post above. Anyway, it sounds like the OP decided to go with a Fire, which does have audio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in Appalachia Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 You can play music on the Kindle touch and Paperwhite. That's built in so that you can also load audio books on the device. If that's all you want then a Kindle paperwhite is the best way to go. If you think you'll want more than that, I would go with a tablet, but not the Fire. I'm not impressed with the Fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 OK, so I'm pretty sure the Kindle Fire is what he would want since he does multi-task. Apparently it does not have an external SD card holder? Do you find that you have enough memory with the built-in? I know he filled his 16 mb iPod years ago. Would he be a candidate for something like a Samsung tablet or note because of his high storage needs? I just got a Nook HD+ a couple months ago, and it has a card slot to expand the memory. They're a good deal cheaper, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 You can play music on the Kindle touch and Paperwhite. That's built in so that you can also load audio books on the device. If that's all you want then a Kindle paperwhite is the best way to go. If you think you'll want more than that, I would go with a tablet, but not the Fire. I'm not impressed with the Fire. Really? How cool. Can you tell me how? I'm clueless, apparently. And does this mean we can listen to audiobooks? What about audiobooks that light up the word being read at the same time? I thought that was only available on the Fire, but we're getting DS a Paperwhite. That would be a bonus, but I won't get my hopes up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 If you want a tablet instead of a dedicated e-reader, I'd go with a Nexus instead of a Kindle Fire. I love my Kindle Keyboard, but I've been less than impressed with our older model Kindle Fire. You can read the Kindle app on any tablet, so you don't have to have an actual Kindle to read Kindle books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 You can play music on the Kindle touch and Paperwhite. Check the specs before buying, as that depends on the model. The latest Paperwhite doesn't have any speaker or headphone jack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted December 3, 2013 Author Share Posted December 3, 2013 You can play music on the Kindle touch and Paperwhite. That's built in so that you can also load audio books on the device. If that's all you want then a Kindle paperwhite is the best way to go. If you think you'll want more than that, I would go with a tablet, but not the Fire. I'm not impressed with the Fire. This is what others said as well. I found some tech sites that reviewed the various options and which options would fit a specific person the best. My son seemed to fit best with the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and Best Buy had a great sale on them yesterday. So that's what he's getting (and I'm a bit jealous). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 You can play music on the Kindle touch and Paperwhite. That's built in so that you can also load audio books on the device. If that's all you want then a Kindle paperwhite is the best way to go. If you think you'll want more than that, I would go with a tablet, but not the Fire. I'm not impressed with the Fire. Really? How cool. Can you tell me how? I'm clueless, apparently. And does this mean we can listen to audiobooks? What about audiobooks that light up the word being read at the same time? I thought that was only available on the Fire, but we're getting DS a Paperwhite. That would be a bonus, but I won't get my hopes up! No, you can't play audio, either mp3 or any other type of audio on the Paperwhite. Here are the specs (scroll down to the bottom). No audio capabilities. It doesn't even have speakers. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AWH595M/ref=sa_menu_kdppnwf Here are the supported formats, copied and pasted from the specs page. Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion You can on the K3, also known as the Kindle Keyboard, and the Kindle Touch. Both the Keyboard and Touch are no longer made by Amazon, so if you want a e-ink reader that supports audio, you'll need to find a used one. The other option is the Kindle DX. It's a large screen e-ink reader and it does support audio books and music formats. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002GYWHSQ/ref=fs_dx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Thanks, Kathy. That is what I had thought. But then this thread got my hopes up. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.