Amazon Fire tablet ... first impressions

[Melensdad]

The lovely Mrs_Bob had an old (very old) Barns & Noble NOOK e-reader. Finally died.

She got her new color Amazon Fire Tablet today. Its not one of the pure e-readers, its a tablet computer that also does Kindle eBooks.

So far I'm pretty impressed.

Its tiny. Way smaller than my iPads. Screen is 6" measured diagonally. But its fairly heavy. Feels heavier than a much larger iPad, not sure if it really is heavier but it feels heavy for its size.

Set up was pretty simple. I got her email up and running in about a minute. The browser (can't recall the name) is some proprietary thing but it seems to work fine based on the browsing I did before I got the toy taken away.

She plans to carry it in her pack on our upcoming Camino across Spain.

Anyway, so far, so good.

Anyone have one of these things? Got any tricks or tips for us?

I'm going to need access to my banking website, I'm impressed enough that I might buy their super-cheap $49 version for myself, just to have access to internet banking.

 

[XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq]

I have the $49 version - I just use it to surf the web and read books before bed. It is nice and I can live with ads on the screen saver for the price. Best Android tablet deal out there - IMO.

 

[EastTexFrank]

We've had a couple of Nooks for several years and when mine needed replacing I looked at the Kindle very seriously but I went a slightly different route. I went with the iPad mini for no other reason than I wanted one. It is mainly used when we travel for checking the stuff that we can't seem to get away from these days, even on the road. I'll admit that I don't use it to it's full potential so in that sense, it's probably wasted on me. Besides, I can actually do everything that I use it for from my iPhone except, with the larger screen, it makes reading books much easier.

I didn't realize that the base price for the Kindle had dropped to around $50. That would seem to make it a bargain and I do love a bargain.

 

[Melensdad]

We've had a couple of Nooks for several years and when mine needed replacing I looked at the Kindle very seriously but I went a slightly different route. I went with the iPad mini . . .

Well I just bought a $49 Amazon Fire for myself.

Now I won't have to carry my little MacBook Air on the trip. The advantages of the cheap Fire, for this trip, are, #1 - if I break it I don't really care! #2 - I can put in a Micro SD card and copy the photos from my camera onto the SD card and use that as back up for my camera too.

I'm still a confirmed Apple guy, but this is a space/weight/cost/utility issue for a trip of 500 miles where I really don't want to worry about breaking expensive technology.

 

[jpr62902]

FYI, if you want to read on one of those devices poolside, you're gonna have a really hard time. Conversely, the Kindle Paperwhite or Voyager are built for that type of vacation reading (i.e. outdoors).

 

[Melensdad]

FYI, if you want to read on one of those devices poolside, you're gonna have a really hard time. Conversely, the Kindle Paperwhite or Voyager are built for that type of vacation reading (i.e. outdoors).

I'm not using it as a reader, so not a concern for me.

I did warn the lovely Mrs_Bob that it won't be the same experience as she had with her NOOK.

 

[EastTexFrank]

I'm still a confirmed Apple guy, but this is a space/weight/cost/utility issue for a trip of 500 miles where I really don't want to worry about breaking expensive technology.

Under those circumstances, I couldn't agree with you more. As I said, I love a bargain!!!!