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iPad mini or Kindle?

K

Khazzer

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 9, 2010
5
0
Engalnd
Basically it's my mum's birthday coming up soon and she wants a kindle but only because she can hold loads of books on it and she likes the size of it, she isn't bothered about the paperwhite screen etc. However she uses my first gen iPad all the time and always complains on how she wants a camera to skype family and how she'd love an iPad of her own.

I was just wondering would i be better off just buying her a Kindle and she's just going to have to live without a camera-ed iPad and carry on using mine or whether i should buy her a 16GB iPad mini for her?
 
Two different products for two different needs at two different entry price points.

Why get a Kindle if you want to browse the web and why get an iPad mini if you only want to read books.
 
watch bbc watchdog, this will put you off the kindle. it was broadcast this evening.
 
saving107 said:
Two different products at two different entry price points.
Click to expand...

Sorry, i didn't really ask the question properly. Price isn't an problem but would you say an iPad mini would be a practical Kindle replacement/alternative on the book reading front? (She would be surfing the web but she's asked for a kindle so i'm assuming books are her main priority)
 
I own a KF-HD and previous to that the 1st Gen KF. If you have no interest in Amazon's ecosystem then the Mini might be a better choice. For me i'm 100% all in on Amazon. I have a Prime membership, and get to watch free movies, TV shows and read free books.

So for me I have a more vested interest in Amazon. The hardware is pretty quality too especially for the price. I know many have complained about the ads but I personally love them. I recently got a $10 credit added to my account for clicking on an ad. :D
 
Khazzer said:
Sorry, i didn't really ask the question properly. Price isn't an problem but would you say an iPad mini would be a practical Kindle replacement/alternative?
Click to expand...

No,

I have a Kindle and can read on it for hours, on my iPad my eyes began to strain after prolong use.
 
Khazzer said:
She would be surfing the web but she's asked for a kindle so i'm assuming books are her main priority
Click to expand...


Amazon is book's King. Now with the iPad, does one HAVE to buy from iTunes, or one can buy from Amazon (e-book) too?

That partially answers your question.

Then u want to ask ur Mom for her books-to-read list, and see what's the hit rate in Amazon vs iTunes.

The kindles screens do a good job for long reading sessions it seems.
 
Rodster said:
I own a KF-HD and previous to that the 1st Gen KF. If you have no interest in Amazon's ecosystem then the Mini might be a better choice. For me i'm 100% all in on Amazon. I have a Prime membership, and get to watch free movies, TV shows and read free books.

So for me I have a more vested interest in Amazon. The hardware is pretty quality too especially for the price. I know many have complained about the ads but I personally love them. I recently got a $10 credit added to my account for clicking on an ad. :D
Click to expand...

Its not really free if you pay $80/year for it ;)

Just busting your chops. I too have a prime membership - about the only non-Apple piece of an ecosystem I have. Great for the free 2-day shipping, though with Netflix and a DVR, I don't use the Prime Video that much....
 
macmale said:
watch bbc watchdog, this will put you off the kindle. it was broadcast this evening.
Click to expand...

I don't know the story you are referring to, but here is one I heard:

Tekzilla had a podcast about some woman (Scandinavian?) who used her friend's (American?) email address to purchase a book that wasn't available in her country. Amazon noticed this and cancelled her account, and she lost about $600 of her own legally purchased books that were on Amazon's servers. She made several attempts to speak with their customer support about it, but never received any help. Amazon basically said, you did something wrong, but we can't tell you what that was. We can't help you. Go away.

That is how easily we can lose our legally purchased books, media, documents, content when they are stuck in the cloud with only email addresses and passwords to keep them safe or differentiate from anyone else's account.

Now add the fact that all accounts require a cc on file if you ever want to make a purchase.

Very convenient and very concerning.
 
macmale said:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0106dq8

this should work
Click to expand...

Maybe things are different in the UK, but there doesn't seem to be any problem getting replacements from Amazon for free here in the US. My wife has been through about 4 of her Kindle Keyboard, all replaced for free. And only one of those was still under the 1 year warranty period, and only one was actually a fault of the product. The other two times it had been broken (once stepped on and once sat on and yes we told them exactly what had happened). We never expected them to replace it the 2nd or especially the 3rd time, but they did every time with no questions asked.

Anyway, back on topic, get her both. :D The kindle is great for reading with the e-ink screen, and the iPad will be great for everything else. They really are complementary to each other, not mutually exclusive.
 
Mini or kindle

I've never personally used a kindle, but know some people who really do like it.

If you have money for both, they probably could be complimentary, but if you can only buy one, you should ask yourself two questions:

1) will I be doing A LOT of reading, possibly even outside in sunlight?
2) will I need or want to do more with the device than just reading?

perhaps those who have a kindle might provide more insight?
 
Amazon is the king of books. Kindle HD has a camera to skype and it's the right size as the mini to read. I think she will love the Kindle. The Nook HD+ seem also nice but I don't think it has a camera.
 
wait, you said she used your ipad all the time. Did you mom know that Kindle and Minis are 7 inch?

If she already used to the big ipad screen then get her an Ipad 2. She can read books, surf web, use the front/back camera. And for older people, i think they prefer bigger screen.

Ipad mini are for those who would regrets once they have used it for a week.
 
Mrbobb said:
Amazon is book's King. Now with the iPad, does one HAVE to buy from iTunes, or one can buy from Amazon (e-book) too?
Click to expand...

There is a Kindle app for the iPad, so on an iPad, you can buy and read books both from Amazon *and* iBooks.
 
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