On the CNN website, they just recently did a feature of tablets you never heard of that had lower prices than the iPad.
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I can't afford the Ipad2, any other tablet recommendations?
- Thread starter phatjoe
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Just get an iPad 1. It's just fine, I bought a refurbished one after the iPad 2 launch, and even though something newer was out, the iPad 1 is great! It's even better with iOS 5, too. Dont rule it out, it's my go-to device for everything. And the weight/heft is actually kinda reassuring, this thing is like a tank.
My parents have a XOOM, and they hardly use it. It's a paperweight. Do yourself a favor and just get the iPad 1. I'm holding out on buying a new tablet until retina comes along or some more compelling Android/Win8 tabs anyways. This thing is great, just buy it so you'll enjoy your tablet experience.
My parents have a XOOM, and they hardly use it. It's a paperweight. Do yourself a favor and just get the iPad 1. I'm holding out on buying a new tablet until retina comes along or some more compelling Android/Win8 tabs anyways. This thing is great, just buy it so you'll enjoy your tablet experience.
Weak and irrelevant argument. Are you saying that if your parents had an iPad instead of a Xoom, they'd be using it every day? Somehow I find that very hard to believe.
Get something that has some support behind it. Just because the touchpads & playbooks are on sale doesn't mean you should get them. I'd go with the Fire. I have the iPad 2 and always recommend that, but if you have just enough, go with the fire & a prime membership. Amazon has the ecosystem to back up the fire as an excellent device. I've hardly put mine down since I got it.
I agree. It's very short sighted to buy the "bargain" because if you plan on using it more than a year you want to be reassured its going to be supported.
I was a long time Palm fan and Pre user so when the TouchPads went down to $100 I picked one up for everyone in the family. And even though it's a solid tablet and a bargain, the idea that its parent company is abandoning it would create a situation where my non-techie mom and brother would be stuck with unsupported technology. So I cashed in on the eBay craze and used the profits to buy my mom an iPad and my brother a Fire. Both devices are made by companies you can trust and rather than buying the CHEAPER alternative I was able to but the RIGHT choice for them as individuals.
Your experience with the Kindle Fire is outdated. That was with the 6.0 firmware. 6.1 fixed virtually all of the performance issues. There is just one or two minor performance issues that will be fixed with the next update.
The Kindle Fire can sideload apps including alternate app stores. It is quite flexible out-of-the-box and I have not found any reason to root it.
As for the Nook Tablet. Only 1GB of the internal memory is available for side-loaded media. To access the remainder of the internal memory one will need to root it and tweak it.
I recommend a Fire over the Nook Tablet... easily. But if a person is a little tech savvy then I'd put the nook color ($199) a close second behind the Fire.
Out of the box, both nook devices are more locked down than the Fire.
That sounds familiar to me... oh, yes - the exact same thing was said about the horrible operating system Windows Mobile (except it was 6.0 vs 6.5, I think).
That is good to hear about the update.
True, only 1 GB is useable for outside media on the Nook Tablet, but what you failed to include to mention is that it's expandable via SD cards up to 32 Gb. This is something that can't be done on the Fire unless u want to add the Cloud argument which isn't the same ESP where wifi isn't available.
Regardless, The Tablet is
Much snappier than the Color and has a dual core CPU as well as 1 GB of RAM. Unless of course the upcoming Color update fixes the lag issues or a jailbreak. The Color still lacks the hardware specs of the Tablet.
As for your sideloading app argument with the Fire -- unless I missed something it didn't look all that more easy to do than rooting the device altogether. ESP without owning an existing Android device.
Connecting to the computer every time u need to download non Kindle approved apps does not in any way represent a "seamless" or open experience either.
According to Ubergizmo, u would have to root the device to get Android Market on the Fire. Then take into account u still have less than 8 GB to use from the start without any
Expandability option.
Both devices have their Pros and Cons I will say though (Amazon Prime could be seen as a big perk), and ESP if they fixed issues with the Fire.
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Kindle Fire is a good choice as long as you are happy being locked into proprietary formats from Amazons servers.
However, the Nook Tablet allows you to read ePubs and even install the Kindle reader app, making it the better value. Engadget gave it higher marks than the Fire as well.
Oh and the locked down award goes to the Fire. Slide a memory card into the Nook and your storage options are limitless. The Fire is locked down for storage.
However, the Nook Tablet allows you to read ePubs and even install the Kindle reader app, making it the better value. Engadget gave it higher marks than the Fire as well.
Oh and the locked down award goes to the Fire. Slide a memory card into the Nook and your storage options are limitless. The Fire is locked down for storage.
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Wrong. I can access a Kingston Wi-Drive perfectly fine. There have also been people that installed the Nook app from what I have read, & other readers. You can also listen to MP3's which is not a proprietary format. Also supports MP4 format.
I suggest you do some research before making completely false statements.
Best research is owning one of each.
For commercial books, the Fire only supports AZW (Kindle format). It does support a few other formats (.txt, unprotected .prc, etc.) but so does every other eReader on the market these days and those formats aren't readily available when buying commercial books.
Nook supports everything available on the market today, including iPad's ePub format. Via the Kindle app, it even supports Amazon's proprietary AZW format.
Again, read the review of the link I posted. I'll give the Fire to my father since he already has the little Kindle and this is a nice upgrade for him since he's already locked into the AZW format. But if you want to stay out of Amazon's walled garden, then stick with the Nook. Otherwise, enjoy your locked experience with the Fire which, granted, is idiot proofed for those who lean that direction.
As for access via the Kingston drive, $90 for a 32gb WiFi-speed drive versus $30 for a 32gb MicroSD drive that slides into the Nook. Really? You think that's a good comparison to demonstrate that by spending half the cost of the Fire you can store some data is worth it? Wow....
For the rest:
Files supported by Fire:
Documents: AZW, AZW1, TXT, MOBI (unprotected), PRC, DOC
Audio supported within Music: AAC LC/LTP, HE-AACv1 (AAC+), HE-AACv2 (enhanced AAC+), AMR-NB (.3gp), AMR-WB (.3gp), MP3, MIDI, Ogg Vorbis (.ogg), PCM/WAVE (.wav)
Images: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP
Video: H.263 (.3gp, .mp4), H264 AVC (.3gp, .mp4), MPEG 4 SP/ASP (.3gp), VP8 (.webm)
File supported by Nook:
Documents: EPUB (including Adobe DRM or DRM free), PDF, XLS, DOC, PPT, TXT, DOCM, XLSM, PPTM, PPSX, PPSM, DOCX, XLX, PPTX. AZW via Kindle app.
Video: MP4, Adobe Flash Player format, 3GP, 3G2 MKV, WEBM (Video Codecs: H.264, MPEG-4, H.263, VP8)
Images: JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP
Audio: MP3, MP4, AAC, AMR, WAV, OGG (Audio Codecs MP3, AAC, AMR, LPCM, OGG Vorbis)
Ummm, you stated the fire was locked down for storage. I merely corrected your false statement. Wether you think it's not worth the price or not is irrelevant & you are merely side stepping the fact that you made a false statement. The point was that you can in fact access external storage. Period.
Biggest downside wrt the Fire, is it's meager 6.5gb of onboard storage. Nook can be easily rooted for a complete Android experience and has an sd card slot for an additional 32gb of storage (and assuming it is like the Color, you can boot directly into Android via the sd card, negating the need to root the device itself), not to mention the Nook has a better battery and has 1gb of RAM . These things make the Nook a better buy imo.
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So you have to lug around an additional drive with you while you are on the go? I'll take an sd card slot for the win Alex.
Make no mistake, even AFTER the update I noticed the Kindle Fire is still plenty laggy, or at least in regards to the browser. Pinch+Zoom and scrolling is still off. I checked to make sure the firmware was at 6.1 and it is.
For a person such as myself who is used to the iPad 2's fluid responsiveness, it doesn't even come close in just that one respect.
I still stand with Mac.World and believe Nook Tablet>Kindle Fire... a million times over. Snappy and fluid, with plenty of storage options for expandability. It's no iPad, but at that price point it's great.
Biggest downside wrt the Fire, is it's meager 6.5gb of onboard storage. Nook can be easily rooted for a complete Android experience and has an sd card slot for an additional 32gb of storage (and assuming it is like the Color, you can boot directly into Android via the sd card, negating the need to root the device itself), not to mention the Nook has a better battery and has 1gb of RAM . These things make the Nook a better buy imo.
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So you have to lug around an additional drive with you while you are on the go? I'll take an sd card slot for the win Alex.
Yes. I have to use a wheeled laptop bag JUST for the Wi-drive. Fml.