It's reasonable that people who would like a tablet would be open to all kinds of alternatives. Yet as has been said ad nauseam, we don't know why the people in question have ruled out an iPad but no other option. Since this is such a strange scenario, it's better to know the reasons why, before listening to the astroturfers, shills, and garbage posters.
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Anything but the iPad
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At this point I'd say wait and see what the transformer prime is like.
If they're going to get an android tablet, which seems likely, that will be the one to beat. I think it's out any day.
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The transformer has a much better processor, don't even try to compare them. In the benchmarks out so far the prime trumps the iPad 2 in the vast majority of tests and honeycomb isn't even optimised to use multiple cores. When ice cream sandwich is released for the prime, these benchmark gaps will get wider.
Plus it's actually a five core processor (or penta core); the fifth core is a low power core used for most tasks which helps it maintain a decent battery life. The other cores are called upon when needed.
Just because software doesn't take advantage of the processor, doesn't mean it isn't better. If you used software such as folding@home which takes advantage of all cores, then the prime would be much more efficient. It is therefore better.
If they're going to get an android tablet, which seems likely, that will be the one to beat. I think it's out any day.
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The transformer has a much better processor, don't even try to compare them. In the benchmarks out so far the prime trumps the iPad 2 in the vast majority of tests and honeycomb isn't even optimised to use multiple cores. When ice cream sandwich is released for the prime, these benchmark gaps will get wider.
Plus it's actually a five core processor (or penta core); the fifth core is a low power core used for most tasks which helps it maintain a decent battery life. The other cores are called upon when needed.
Just because software doesn't take advantage of the processor, doesn't mean it isn't better. If you used software such as folding@home which takes advantage of all cores, then the prime would be much more efficient. It is therefore better.
Kindle Fire doesn't have a camera, it's a fancy ereader, not a tablet.
When you add the cost of the keyboard dock to the 'Prime' you still have a crappy Android tablet, but it's even more expensive. Get a laptop instead.
Let me guess, the 13 year old answers to "Your Highness".
Get her a soccer ball. Toss it in the back yard and tell her to get at it. Life's to short to use crappy tablets.
I was thinking of getting a Fire once the roots were stable in order to have a cheap Android tablet (since Android on my iPod touch v1 isn't cutting it). This sounds like an even better way to just get a simple Android tablet to try out. It would be for surfing, mail and twitter/facebook, so it doesn't need all the functions of my iPad.
"AmazonPam" writing a post about a couple of kids not wanting ipads? Mmm... smells trolly to me.
Perhaps trying to drum up some noise on the kindle but it seems the vast majority are pushing the transformer prime.
"AmazonPam" writing a post about a couple of kids not wanting ipads? Mmm... smells trolly to me.
Perhaps trying to drum up some noise on the kindle but it seems the vast majority are pushing the transformer prime.
interesting theory. you never know.
the amazon kindle is really a pretty cool little device. there are so many trade-offs, though (no bluetooth, no camera, small screen, poor screen responsiveness, poor battery life, and old android). i guess you get what you pay for.
anyhow, it must be a tough market out there for parents with little knowledge about tablets (it changes every month) and no interest in spending gobs of money on a device that will be rough handled by kids.
as much as i like the ipad, and tablets in general, the ipad without supervision and parental involvement sounds like a bad idea to me.
Notice how you use the words "if", "would be", "will get" to explain how the Prime "could be" better? That kind of defeats your whole arguement. We are comparing the tablets now, not in the future. If you want to compare a theoretical Prime, well compare it to the iPad 3 then. Since it is likely the Prime will get ICS about the same time the iPad 3 is released. And I can tell you right now, the Prime will not be able to hold a candle to the iPad 3!
Thanks for the ideas
I suggested that they go to Best buy and try all the tablets out. Since one parent and both young girls have iPhones, I figure they can make their own decision.
I posted the question because I was stunned by the 2 people asking what other pad to get and was wondering if this was a blip or a trend among young folks. I know what the surveys show, but I'm talking real thirteen and fourteen olds here.
And for the poster who smelled a Kindle troll, I never recommend any product that's been out less than 3 months. I always wait til the kinks, if any, have been dealt with.
I suggested that they go to Best buy and try all the tablets out. Since one parent and both young girls have iPhones, I figure they can make their own decision.
I posted the question because I was stunned by the 2 people asking what other pad to get and was wondering if this was a blip or a trend among young folks. I know what the surveys show, but I'm talking real thirteen and fourteen olds here.
And for the poster who smelled a Kindle troll, I never recommend any product that's been out less than 3 months. I always wait til the kinks, if any, have been dealt with.
i think this is the most damning argument, and it is the main reason why i haven't thought seriously about buying the prime, despite all of my praise for it in the thread.
it will get ice cream sandwich, but it doesn't have it now, and by the time it does, we are looking at an ipad 3, and that will be a whole new game. i expect the ipad 3 will have a retina display (or equivalent), and if it doesn't, i think apple will have dropped the ball.
if the ipad has the retina, then the prime will look awful in comparison, and if it doesn't and the ipad 3 somehow doesn't measure up, i can always pick up the prime around then, probably with a discount, and hopefully with ics. in the meantime, i will enjoy my ipad 2
Actually, I wouldn't actually recommend a Kindle Fire for a kid at this point anyway. Apparently they have absolutely no parental controls on purchases:
http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/Amazon-Kindle-Fire-lets-kids-rsg-3752604696.html
i'd recommend it for sure. remove your credit card information from the kindle fire account. and/or supervise them.
if it is a problem with porn, then you better lock the kids in your basement. i don't have kids, so i suppose my opinion doesn't carry much weight, but i think parents need to loosen up about kids stumbling across porn. that is sort of impossible to avoid these days on the internet, in email, and even the soft porn on tv we call "glee." talk with your kids instead of trying (unsuccessfully) to shield them from women's breasts.
I don't know if it's true for everyone, but the person in the article said doing what you suggested "caused the downloaded apps to stop working." If that's true, that is a bad scenario for parents. Even supervising them will not work - all it takes is literally a single click to buy the item. One missed glance and a purchase can easily be made. We had a number of people here complain about apps on iPad being too easy for kids' purchase and this might be far worse.
I wasn't talking about content control, just purchasing control. The only way to disassociate it from your credit card is to unregister the device, and this disables all of the apps you have purchased:
From the article I linked above. So your choice with the Fire is either to let your kid have a tablet with one-click purchasing tied to your credit card or not to let them have any apps/content on the device other than what comes with it.
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)
Turn off one click purchasing. Call amazon and they will tell you how.
Or, remove your credit card from the account.
Neither of these methods are elegant, but it can be done, and your apps will work fine (apparently). I haven't bought the fire, so I have no
First hand experience).
Turn off one click purchasing. Call amazon and they will tell you how.
Or, remove your credit card from the account.
Neither of these methods are elegant, but it can be done, and your apps will work fine (apparently). I haven't bought the fire, so I have no
First hand experience).
According to the article that didn't work. Maybe the people he talked to at Amazon just didn't know how but they apparently didn't know how to turn off purchasing without deregistering the device. Where have you seen that purchasing can be disabled but apps will still work?
You completely misunderstood my post. The prime is a fantastic tablet and has brilliant hardware which, unfortunately, honeycomb doesn't take advantage of. Ice cream sandwich will however take advantage of it, and the prime is confirmed to get ics.
In other words the prime is fantastic and has excellent hardware even now, it just doesn't have software to utilise its full potential yet.
The only thing stopping the prime slapping the iPad 2 into the ground in terms of benchmarks is the software, which fortunately can and will be changed later. A prime running ics is not theoretical, it will be real soon enough.
In case you're wondering, I own an iPad 2 and wouldn't dream of buying anything else right now, but there's no denying the hardware in the prime is miles ahead.
the kindle boards on amazon? i forget now. maybe i am wrong. here is an article i found just googling around with information on how to avoid fraudulent / mistaken charges.
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/blogs/press-here/Kids-Charge-it-All-on-Amazons-Kindle-Fire-135453148.html
here is another discussion.
http://www.amazon.com/forum/kindle ...orum=Fx1GLDPZMNR1X53&cdThread=Tx3QUWZYXA7ZNXJ
i don't think it is such a big deal as it is made out to be. unfortunately, i think people want an apple-like operating system + service without the apple price. this is the same kind of crap amazon kindle owners have long had to deal with, so i guess it neither surprises me, nor worries me. this is non-news in a slow news cycle (in my opinion).
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"A Prime running ICS is not theoretical, it will be real soon enough." Same can be said for an iPad 3. So why not compare the two when both are no longer theoretical? Get the point?
NO. Your comparison is not the same.
The transformer prime is a final product, with final specs. It has even been released in some parts of the world. Yet with the iPad 3, we don't have a clue what hardware it will have..anything people have said is pure speculation.
We *know* what hardware the prime has and we *know* that ice cream sandwich has multi-core enhancements, therefore we *know* that the prime will be more fluid on ics.
Good for you "knowing" exactly how ICS will react with the Prime's UI. Didn't know you worked for Asus. Also wasn't aware that Asus had released ICS for the Prime. You see, assumptions do not make solid cornerstones of arguments. What we do know is this... until ICS is on the Prime, you don't know anything for certain.
But if you want to assume, assume that the Prime will have ICS the same time the iPad 3 is released, and you can assume that the iPad 3 will blow the Prime out of the water. Don't you just love assumptions?
Please post again when a decision is made. I am curious why they don't want an iPad.
There's such a thing as a safe assumption, and an assumption that a company won't remove all of the multi core enhancements from the os that will run on their multi core tablet is one of them. The original transformer didn't run a custom ui over android so there's no reason to think this one will.
Keep clutching at straws though.
I agree that some of Mac.World's assumptions are a stretch, but I think what he was trying to point out is that you are assuming that ICS on a multi-core machine will be... what? More fluid than Prime with Honeycomb? That will be a safe bet. More fluid than iPad2 on iOS5? We won't know until we see it, but it could happen. More fluid than iPad3? Well, in that case, we are compairing an unknown hardware/software combination against a known hardware/untested software combination, and all bets are off.