Amazon Fire tablet

[IfIOnly]

Does anyone here have one? I'm looking for a tablet for my 8 year old, and this is well-priced with good reviews. Pros and cons?  Did you choose with or without ads? What storage capacity? I'm trying to figure out there's a monthly subscription cost required as well, or can we run it with Wi-Fi? Really just want a one time purchase and not have any monthly or yearly costs. Thank you!

[PeterPan]

We've used amazon kindle fire tablets for maybe 6 years now. I think we're on our 3rd, only because ds is ridiculously rough on them. Like runs with them and kaboom. His current one has been thrown multiple times and survived. I have it in a cheap silicone case you can get on ebay. 

No, there does not need to be a recurring expense. They're trying to sell you on some upgrades, like some kind of subscription, kid warrantied version, blah blah. We don't do any of that. We happen to have amazon prime, but you don't even HAVE to have that. You can download your prime media (videos, shows, music, whatever) to the tablet, which is handy for in the car. You can also shut all that OFF if you want. The parental controls are stellar, nuanced, and WORK. So if you want this category of thing on and that category of thing off, no problem, you can do it with the kindle fire. LOVE this. You'll be able to use Overdrive or other library services to get books, audiobooks, etc. for free. 

Which to buy? I prefer models that have *dual speakers* because their volume will fill your space better for audiobooks. I would go for a mid range amount of storage if you have the space. Technically you can add a memory card and I've never bothered. The dual speakers are more important (to me) than storage size, so at that point it's just your budget.

I need to go look at them again, as he's saying it's no longer holding its charge so well. I'm sure ours is at least 3 years old and I *think* bought it used off ebay. For real. Durable little suckers for such a low price! 

What does your 8 yo want to do btw? The apps for the kindle fire are *not* as extensive as for ipad. Of course, the pricepoint is a lot lower too. The kindle fire is best as a media consumption device and you would want to confirm the apps your dc wants to use are available for it. If he wants to do mostly apps, not media, I would consider looking for an affordable ipad.

Edited October 21, 2020 by PeterPan

[Forget-Me-Not]

I’ve had two die just outside the 1 yr warranty and Amazon would do nothing for us (except offer a very minimal discount on a new device), despite the fact that a glitch in their system indicated one was still eligible for return. Never again. We bought a Samsung Tab A (I think) instead. It was a comparable price on a Costco Black Friday deal. 

[Innisfree]

We've had them for years, and find they tend to last three years+ for us. Here everyone is physically gentle with them, but a couple (out of six total) have quit or developed problems eventually. Dh's got slow and glitchy at about five years old. Another just suddenly went dark, right around the three year point. At that point the kid in question was able to pull out her earlier, smaller version which had been sitting idle for years and it still functioned.

We pay a bit more initially to avoid ads, and choose to get as much memory as possible. There's no continuing cost beyond whatever books or so on you choose to purchase. All of ours are on one account, so I can buy one book and both kids have access, or now I can buy a book for dd at college and she can have it instantly.

We like the plastic Tuatara cases, which seem very sturdy. 

Edited October 21, 2020 by Innisfree

[marbel]

I have a 7 year old Kindle fire. My kid's are 4 and 5 years old, I think, but they don't use them much.  Before I had a smartphone I used it for stuff like posting here, browsing facebook, and such.  I am not a game player but there are games. Mostly I have used it for books or watching movies.  It is finally getting old (slow to download books, lower battery life).  

We did not go "no ads;" the ads have not bothered me at all. Like, I think there is one add when we first turn it on. I did buy the higher memory but I don't remember what it was. 

I think someone already answered this but I'll just repeat (sorry) that there are no fees. You buy it, you start it up, connect to wifi, and it works. 

[PeterPan]

19 minutes ago, Innisfree said:

We like the plastic Tuatara cases, which seem very sturdy. 

Ooo, I hadn't seen those, but they do look good!!

 

[Innisfree]

Just now, PeterPan said:

Ooo, I hadn't seen those, but they do look good!!

 

Yep. We're past the time when kids might be rough with things, but those cases helped at that point. Even now I might just drop a Kindle, and so far (knocking on wood) no harm done.

[Kareni]

My husband and I bought Kindle Fires just under two years ago. Mine is fine; however, my husband's ceased functioning two months ago. We both treat/ed them kindly. Mine has the standard amount of memory; my husband's had more.

Regards,

Kareni

[IfIOnly]

Thank you! Much appreciated and helpful reviews!

It looks like there are Amazon Fire tablets vs. Amazon Kindle Paperweight/Oasis

https://www.toptenreviews.com/kindle-vs-fire-which-amazon-e-reader-is-right-for-you

I'm wondering if Amazon has made some changes recently because I'm only finding just the three options on their site as well. It looks like the Kindles don't allow apps to be downloaded either?

If we go with Amazon, it's looking like I'll need the Fire tablet for my daughter.

Edited October 21, 2020 by IfIOnly

[LuvToRead]

You can dowload apps to a Fire Tablet, but not the dedicated e-readers (the paperweight and Oasis)  You can even put Google Play on your Kindle Fire to have even more access to apps.  There are directions on line on how to do this.  I am not recommending installing Google Play, I just know you can somehow.

The Fire and Paperwhites/Oasises are very different, and serve different purposes.  I have both and use them regularly.  We have had probably 5 or 6 Fire tablets over the years.  They are not the best tablets out there, but are decent for the price.  After a couple of years, they do tend to slow down.  I don't enjoy reading from a tablet, so I do all my e-book reading from a Paperwhite.

To me, the ads aren't invasive, so I wouldn't pay the extra $20 to get rid of them. 

[Arcadia]

3 hours ago, IfIOnly said:

It looks like there are Amazon Fire tablets vs. Amazon Kindle Paperweight/Oasis

I have both. I use the biggest Kindle Fire as a web browser and YouTube player. I use the Oasis for reading books and PDFs. My kids prefer the e-readers (Paperwhite, Oasis) to the Kindle Fire. For tablets usage they prefer their iPad mini or their smartphone. I used to use my smallest Kindle Fire for gaming but now I use my iPad mini instead of using both devices.

Ours have ads. We are used to ignoring ads everywhere so the ads on Kindle Fire doesn’t bother us.

[IfIOnly]

9 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

I have both. I use the biggest Kindle Fire as a web browser and YouTube player. I use the Oasis for reading books and PDFs. My kids prefer the e-readers (Paperwhite, Oasis) to the Kindle Fire. For tablets usage they prefer their iPad mini or their smartphone. I used to use my smallest Kindle Fire for gaming but now I use my iPad mini instead of using both devices.

Ours have ads. We are used to ignoring ads everywhere so the ads on Kindle Fire doesn’t bother us.

Thank you! I'm thinking the iPad mini is similar to a Samsung tablet in the Android world. It's pretty much between Fire and Samsung right now.

 

I think what messed me up is Amazon no longer makes a Kindle Fire, just a Fire tablet. The Fire tablet doesn't have the special display technology the Kindle readers do that give the best reading experience. 

Edited October 21, 2020 by IfIOnly

[Wheres Toto]

32 minutes ago, LuvToRead said:

You can dowload apps to a Fire Tablet, but not the dedicated e-readers (the paperweight and Oasis)  You can even put Google Play on your Kindle Fire to have even more access to apps.  There are directions on line on how to do this.  I am not recommending installing Google Play, I just know you can somehow.

The Fire and Paperwhites/Oasises are very different, and serve different purposes.  I have both and use them regularly.  We have had probably 5 or 6 Fire tablets over the years.  They are not the best tablets out there, but are decent for the price.  After a couple of years, they do tend to slow down.  I don't enjoy reading from a tablet, so I do all my e-book reading from a Paperwhite.

To me, the ads aren't invasive, so I wouldn't pay the extra $20 to get rid of them. 

I've added Google Play Store to about 15 Kindle Fire tablets so far.   I use them for my classes and I didn't want to pay a lot for them because I have little kids walk around using them with robots or green screens.   My kids both have Kindle Fires with specialized drawing apps, among other things.  

I always use these directions:  https://pokemongokindlefire.com/ because the first time I did it so ds could play Pokemon Go on his tablet.  I continue to use these instructions because they've never failed me, I just don't do the last steps specific to pokemon go because I haven't installed that on my class ones.  

[Emba]

I have a kindle fire tablet that has held up for three years now I think. At first it was fine but it’s getting short on memory now. Also haS frozen a couple of times.  For what i paid for it though, it had been a good deal. I got the no ad version. I did buy a case for it, because the kids use it or I leave it on the arm of the couch and it gets knocked off. . . I just feel better having a case.

[IfIOnly]

We picked up at Best Buy tonight an Amazon Fire 2020 HD Kids 8 inch WITH case today for $75. DD wanted the blue case.

We also bought a 2020 Fire HD 8 Plus for our 12 year old for $75 as well. $90 on Amazon. The Plus has an extra gig and Alexa. We ordered this heavy duty, shockproof case to go with.

https://www.amazon.com/Cherrry-Shockproof-Dropproof-Kickstand-Protective/dp/B08GFGP9DS/ref=sr_1_24_sspa?crid=3I767X26XEDHD&dchild=1&keywords=fire+hd+8+plus+case&qid=1603336252&sprefix=fire+hd+8+plus+case%2Caps%2C247&sr=8-24-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEySjVCS1U0SU9ONThEJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTgzMDE3M0ZNQVM4TVI3VkNMSiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNTA4MTUwMkdDMTBMT1g2QUU1OSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX210ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Super stoked about the Best Buy sale. Thank you for all of your help!!

Edited October 22, 2020 by IfIOnly

[kiwik]

I am using a firetablet right now.  It is way better than the equally priced tablets we have had before and has a lot more memory 32 vs 8 or so).  We have had standard kindle readers for ages but I wanted to be able to see out textbooks in colour (the probability chapter was very difficult in black and white).  A Samsung galaxy or an iPad are better but they are a lot more expensive.