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iPad Vs Kindle Fire
- Thread starter pauljbax
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. To your point yes it will do those tasks. You’ll hate it. I bought a kindle fire for my daughter and they’re so cheap I can’t say anything good about them. The software is unintuitive, the screen is poor, battery life is short and it’s slow. It’s been used for about a month and in a drawer since as she just uses my iPad.
They may be cheaper than an iPad, but they’re miles below the minimum cost needed for a reasonable tablet.
They may be cheaper than an iPad, but they’re miles below the minimum cost needed for a reasonable tablet.
I have an Amazon Fire HD 8" (16gb) and an iPad 3. As much as the poor iPad 3 being the much ridiculed red headed step child among iPad siblings it is still much better than the Fire.
The touch screen is pretty responsive (the only thing I like) but the resolution and sharpness is not at retina level. It is underpowered and cannot handle more than a few simple tabs opening at once. And if you ever attempt to put in a microSD card the performance will literally screech to a halt even if the card is empty. It does not come with proper Android and you will need to download and install apk files yourself to install Google Play Store. Not that it matters very much because it cannot handle more than half a dozen apps so you probably shouldn't install anything nonessential. And the battery sucks. Not to mention Amazon will push all types of junk onto your already underpowered tablet.
The touch screen is pretty responsive (the only thing I like) but the resolution and sharpness is not at retina level. It is underpowered and cannot handle more than a few simple tabs opening at once. And if you ever attempt to put in a microSD card the performance will literally screech to a halt even if the card is empty. It does not come with proper Android and you will need to download and install apk files yourself to install Google Play Store. Not that it matters very much because it cannot handle more than half a dozen apps so you probably shouldn't install anything nonessential. And the battery sucks. Not to mention Amazon will push all types of junk onto your already underpowered tablet.
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Alas, same.
I've actually gone through a number of Android tablets but I'd rather use an iPad 3 on iOS 9 than any of the non-iOS tablets I've tried.
I have an 8" Galaxy Tab S2 and it's a great smaller companion to my 10.5" iPP. Great screen, very responsive, and can take a uSD card for expansion (I have a 256GB card in mine).
Yep it will work perfectly for your needs. A new iPad is coming out this summer and rumored to be $259; just something to think about.
A kindle does not do lookback addressing, so you cannot use it for localhosted data. ( probably only affects crazy jobs like mine ).
I have had my share of Kindle Fires and I must go against the flow here. The latest gen of Fire HD tablets, the HD 10 in particular are quality devices and well worth the list price and often on sale.
Adding the Google Play Store is now a piece of cake and doesn't require rooting it. It's great to be able to use microSD cards of any size for videos and music.
Adding the Google Play Store is now a piece of cake and doesn't require rooting it. It's great to be able to use microSD cards of any size for videos and music.
I was just about to post the same thing. I bought one of the kids ones for my 19 month old for Christmas. It’s ok for him but it’s quite buggy and slow. The screen requires a lot of pressure as well to register touches. I think in a year or so I’ll end up getting him an iPad.
After using it I wouldn’t get a another fire tablet.
I've found them horrid devices. the difference between driving a Ferrari and a Skoda, but, you get what you pay for. and the cost of the Fire is damn decent for what they give you.
It’s alright for a 19 month old toddler but that’s about it. I wanted to see what they were like. Having seen the kids fire tablet and used it I’ll not be buying another. I’ve reluctantly ordered a mini 4. It might be old but it will be a hell of a lot better than the fire.
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They're not iPads for sure, but the price for a 32 gig Fire HD10 is currently just 150 bux. I got one for my wife and a cover for it and it suits her needs pretty well. I am not as familiar as with the iOS stuff, but can get around OK in it. I also side loaded Google play store so I could get relevant apps and we're in pretty good shape.
If ALL I used it for was consuming video and audio, it'd be perfect... as for almost anybody for the price. and for another 15 dollars plus tax, you can get the ad crap removed (Extortion if you ask me, but pretty cheap to get an ad free experience).
I don't think the touch screen is bad at all on the HD10. Works fine. It's not a Great Drawing pad, but you can find some apps to play with if you just want to play... but it's certainly not productivity grade.
It has an expansion port for whatever sized memory card you want to add as well... so storage isn't such a big deal either.
OS sux, but that's simply because I am not a fan of Android products to begin with.... All in all, I'm in for under 200 dollars for Tablet, Cover, and Ad removal, had a spare 32 gig micro card, so I now have it at 64 gigs...
One other thing I like about it, is the Hands Free Alexa feature... you don't even have to wake the tablet... with cover shut, I can command Alexa to do stuff for me as well... pretty cool for the money. I realize not everyone is interested in Smart Home technology, but I recommend it if you have a few bucks to play with... most of the folks buying this Apple Stuff could afford it for sure.
If ALL I used it for was consuming video and audio, it'd be perfect... as for almost anybody for the price. and for another 15 dollars plus tax, you can get the ad crap removed (Extortion if you ask me, but pretty cheap to get an ad free experience).
I don't think the touch screen is bad at all on the HD10. Works fine. It's not a Great Drawing pad, but you can find some apps to play with if you just want to play... but it's certainly not productivity grade.
It has an expansion port for whatever sized memory card you want to add as well... so storage isn't such a big deal either.
OS sux, but that's simply because I am not a fan of Android products to begin with.... All in all, I'm in for under 200 dollars for Tablet, Cover, and Ad removal, had a spare 32 gig micro card, so I now have it at 64 gigs...
One other thing I like about it, is the Hands Free Alexa feature... you don't even have to wake the tablet... with cover shut, I can command Alexa to do stuff for me as well... pretty cool for the money. I realize not everyone is interested in Smart Home technology, but I recommend it if you have a few bucks to play with... most of the folks buying this Apple Stuff could afford it for sure.
Exactly. You can't expect to get Armani quality at Walmart prices. The question is if Walmart quality will be good enough for what you use it for or not. The Amazon tablets are great media consumption devices (especially if you're a Prime member), and, based on the research, that's all that the average person uses their tablets for anyway. They don't need the snazziest, snappiest device to watch Netflix or check Facebook.
My kids (6,7) have been using our iPads since they were around 3. Last Christmas we bought each of them Fire HD 8 tablets for $70 each. They absolutely love them. Yes, they are slower and lower resolution than an iPad, but my kids don't care one bit. The parental controls Amazon offers through FreeTime are amazing and blows anything Apple has out of the water. To the poster who is planning to buy their 19 month old an iPad, to each his own but to me that's ludicrous.
A month ago I dropped my iPad Air 2 and the screen cracked big-time. I was devasted at first, but then I thought about what I used it for in the first place:
1) Watching Netflix, Amazon, YouTube
2) Farting around on the internet
3) Reading books
4) Listening to music
Amazon had the Fire HD 8 tablets on sale this Christmas for $49 so I grabbed one and figured what do I have to lose. I have absolutely no regrets. Loaded chrome, YouTube, and my Google Play apps on it in less than a minute, and it suffices perfectly doing those 4 things listed above.
Is the screen as nice as the iPad? Of course not, but it's fine for me and it only costs $49.
Is it as fast as an iPad? Of course not, but it's fast enough for what I use it for and it only costs $49
Is the build quality as sleek as an iPad? Of course not, but it's fine for me and it only costs $49. A good case can be had for $20-30. If I drop it and it breaks, I don't really care because it only costs $49.
Will it last as long as an iPad? Who knows, but it only costs $49. My kids's tablets get heavy use and banged up and are still going strong so far after 1 year.
There's a reason why everyone's tablet sales are dropping except Amazon's. People are realizing that they don't need to spend $400 on a glorified Netflix viewer. All this talk about software interface, user experience, processor speed is wasted on the average tablet buyer who just wants to play movies on it. Amazon knows this and that's why they are selling a ton of them.
Now, if you are planning to use your tablet for productivity/laptop replacement, then an Amazon tablet is not for you. To be fair, Amazon is pretty up front about that in their advertising - their marketing materials focus solely on media consumption.
It’s not only about watching Netflix. Some of us have bought extensive video libraries from iTunes and that content can only be viewed on another apple device. Also there is the convenience of how everything syncs seamlessly between apple devices.
I have always found playing videos or you tubes and streaming music or movies demand very little out of a device, probably because most apps of that nature are very well optimized by now. It is simple web surfing that puts more stress on CPU and RAM and where a smoother OS design and UI make more difference.
That's a different issue. ecosystem lock-in is real and depending upon one's investment can prevent someone from leaving it. That is why (except for a handful of exceptions) I don't buy digital media that is not in an open format.
But on the technical merits, the Kindle Fire HD tablets are medium-to-upper quality devices. And if one is already engaged with Amazon products and services (Prime in particular), the experience is arguably better than being in the iOS ecosystem because Amazon offers a lot of media that can be consumed using the Fire devices.
I have a prime account so I get all of the prime video stuff but the main thing which stops me from getting a non iOS device is all of the content I’ve bought from iTunes. At least the prime stuff I can still watch on my iPad.
Well... I don’t buy movies on sites. I’ll rent maybe from Google but that’s when they do the 0.99 rental. Otherwise I don’t buy stuff on iTunes mainly because I like having the files in a standard format such as mp4, mp3, avi, etc. sometimes when trying to get my music from iTunes it wipes out my existing library. Oh well. Live and learn
I keep waiting for the day this becomes less true, but I don't see it happening anytime soon, especially given how convenient it is to live within an ecosystem (at least from a use perspective).
It's harmless enough from a digital media perspective, but I worry every time we escalate technologies. I wonder how self-driving cars and ecosystems will work.
It's also interesting to see certain ecosystems break down (like Microsoft and Sony).
It's all about expectations. Don't buy a Kindle and expect an iPad experience. The Kindle has it's own unique experience - it's going to expect you to use it in a different manner than an iPad. The Kindle was, after all, designed first as an ebook reader, then an Amazon content consumer with tablet features added on. You have to pay attention to the evolution of the device in order to manage expectations and frustrations you (may) encounter.
Movies Anywhere looks to be a step in the right direction with the whole DRM movies issue. You might want to look into that.
Yep. Alas, not all studios support it. I got my WB and Sony movies (Fox, too?) synced with Amazon, Vudu/Ultraviolet, iTunes and Google Play, though. All were redemptions from Blu-ray+Digital HD purchases. It's not until Movies Anywhere that I'm actually considering buying digital only. Didn't buy digital videos before due to ecosystem lock-in.
It is no iPad but this year's 10" model is a few steps ahead of last year's 8" or 7".
We can’t get that in the UK yet.
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Well I had a look at the specs last night mostly to see if the kids fire tablet was somehow using inferior specs. The 7”,8” and the kids fire tablet all use the same processor but the 10 uses a faster processor.
I recently picked up a Kindle Fire HD 10 (32GB w/special offers) during one of Amazon's sales. Coupling the sale price with Bing points, I got it for around $75. This is a surprisingly good tablet for the price (MSRP, for $75 it's a no-brainer). I've owned Kindle Fire tablets in the past, but this one really stands out from the rest.
Installing support for Google Play and Google apps was as simple as downloading and installing a few APKs. No rooting necessary.
Just for kicks, I tried connecting a bluetooth keyboard w/trackpoint and bluetooth mouse. They both work. Not really surprising since FireOS is simply a trimmed and skinned version of Android (but one never knows how much has been removed from Android). Here's a photo of the keyboard and mouse in use... note the mouse pointer in the red circle. Again, as with Android, when the mouse is not in use, the pointer disappears.
It is pretty enjoyable to use the keyboard and mouse in Google docs and sheets. I'm still NOT a fan of the 16:9 Aspect ratio for tablets. I can use it as a tablet, but it is awkward. And because it is Android/FireOS, I was able to install the same APKs that I installed on my Fire TV to get live TV on the Fire HD... resulting in a portable device that gets live TV.
I've got a few more tests I want to run... like, how well does MS Office Online work, how extensive is the support for USB peripherals, and what type of screencasting it supports if any.
I have no idea what if any role the Fire HD 10 will have in my gadget arsenal, but it is fun to tinker with. Friends are already getting some ideas from my experimenting as to how this combo might serve THEIR needs at an insanely affordable price, so THAT is one benefit.
Installing support for Google Play and Google apps was as simple as downloading and installing a few APKs. No rooting necessary.
Just for kicks, I tried connecting a bluetooth keyboard w/trackpoint and bluetooth mouse. They both work. Not really surprising since FireOS is simply a trimmed and skinned version of Android (but one never knows how much has been removed from Android). Here's a photo of the keyboard and mouse in use... note the mouse pointer in the red circle. Again, as with Android, when the mouse is not in use, the pointer disappears.
It is pretty enjoyable to use the keyboard and mouse in Google docs and sheets. I'm still NOT a fan of the 16:9 Aspect ratio for tablets. I can use it as a tablet, but it is awkward. And because it is Android/FireOS, I was able to install the same APKs that I installed on my Fire TV to get live TV on the Fire HD... resulting in a portable device that gets live TV.
I've got a few more tests I want to run... like, how well does MS Office Online work, how extensive is the support for USB peripherals, and what type of screencasting it supports if any.
I have no idea what if any role the Fire HD 10 will have in my gadget arsenal, but it is fun to tinker with. Friends are already getting some ideas from my experimenting as to how this combo might serve THEIR needs at an insanely affordable price, so THAT is one benefit.