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Official Black Friday TABLET & E-READER Discussion Thread


Brad

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Does the Kindle Fire allow you to download books from the library? I have a Nook, but I am seriously considering the Fire. My girls would love it. Thank you for any input!

Yes you can download books from the library for kindle. I am not sure how it would work on the Fire. I do know that you have to go thru Amazon when you download the book from the library unlike with the nook it goes into ADE on your computer. I think its download to Amazon then whispersync to your device.

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Hubby told me last night that his folks are getting a Kindle for our kids. Kids are 16/11. Both of our children LIKE to read but don't LOVE to read. I'm concerned that it won't get as much use from them as it will by us. Do children enjoy them as much as much as adults? Our son does a fair amount of reading for his Honors English course. Maybe he can get those books on this? I've never used one, so I know very little. Any info would be appreciated.
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So I was looking at getting a tablet for my 8 and 6 year olds. Any ideas? Walmart has a velocity for $99 right now or is there a better deal or going to be a better deal coming on BF? Needing games for them and maybe a movie or 2. They have iPod touches, but hate having them stare at that small screen.

 

Also, I'm wanting a tablet for me but can't decide if I should go ahead and get my ipad2 or look at a kindle Fire for now. Any ideas or opinions? I will say, I'm out of the loop usually, lol. I usually just get my apple products!

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So I was looking at getting a tablet for my 8 and 6 year olds. Any ideas? Walmart has a velocity for $99 right now or is there a better deal or going to be a better deal coming on BF? Needing games for them and maybe a movie or 2. They have iPod touches, but hate having them stare at that small screen.

 

Also, I'm wanting a tablet for me but can't decide if I should go ahead and get my ipad2 or look at a kindle Fire for now. Any ideas or opinions? I will say, I'm out of the loop usually, lol. I usually just get my apple products!

Don't bother with those junk $99 tablets. Get them a Fire to share and get yourself an iPad. ;)

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my Target did not have a Kindle Fire Demo unit (an employee I asked said it could be about two weeks before they have all the new ones for display), but they did have Fires in the cabinet. No, I did not buy one....waiting to see if I win a Samsung Galaxy 7 Plus from samsung on facebook to get a Samsung 7 inch tablet.
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BJ's had the 8" Vizio on sale now for $189. Didn't look at all the particulars but it had 4Gb storage (expandable to 32 Gb with SD card), built in camera, HD screen and hdmi out, Bluetooth capable and I think Android 3.x. Egadgets gave this unit a pretty good review and certainly might want to consider it if you thinking about the Fire.
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Hubby told me last night that his folks are getting a Kindle for our kids. Kids are 16/11. Both of our children LIKE to read but don't LOVE to read. I'm concerned that it won't get as much use from them as it will by us. Do children enjoy them as much as much as adults? Our son does a fair amount of reading for his Honors English course. Maybe he can get those books on this? I've never used one, so I know very little. Any info would be appreciated.

My kids love reading -- especially my youngest. He rarely climbs in bed or a car without a book in his hands. I thought he would love my kindle, but he does not like it at all. The fire is much more attractive with its games and videos. Take your kids to Staples or Best Buy and let them play with all the tablets and readers. You'll figure out what they like pretty quick.
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My parents went to Best Buy on Tuesday to purchase a Kindle Fire for me for Xmas. They also decided to buy one for my older sister. Quite unexpectedly, they received a $50 Best Buy giftcardd with each purchase... so they ended up walking out with 2 Kindle Fires for basically only $150 each. Crazy.

Wow. I sure would like that deal. That's awesome. I'm still trying to figure out how to swing it for my son.

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My parents went to Best Buy on Tuesday to purchase a Kindle Fire for me for Xmas. They also decided to buy one for my older sister. Quite unexpectedly, they received a $50 Best Buy giftcardd with each purchase... so they ended up walking out with 2 Kindle Fires for basically only $150 each. Crazy.

I would get 2 if I could get that deal, awesom!!

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If you check the box that says it is a gift at checkout, it will come in a regular amazon box, with the Kindle Fire box inside it. I ordered one for myself and it came in the box that said Kindle Fire, but my mother ordered one as a gift for my niece and checked that box when she purchased it, and it came in a plain box.

 

A friend of mine just got a Kindle Fire from Amazon. It arrived in a box that had KINDLE FIRE printed all over the outside of the box. So if you're getting one as a gift for someone in your house, try to be home when it arrives so the box doesn't ruin the surprise.

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If you check the box that says it is a gift at checkout, it will come in a regular amazon box, with the Kindle Fire box inside it. I ordered one for myself and it came in the box that said Kindle Fire, but my mother ordered one as a gift for my niece and checked that box when she purchased it, and it came in a plain box.

That's what my friend did, but it may have been a mix up with Amazon.

 

How do you like your Fire?

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How do you like your Fire?

I love it so far! I've watched movies and tv shows (the picture quality is great), played games, browsed the web, listened to music (I think the sound quality is really good), oh...and read books haha. Right now the only downside for me is the carousel. It stores everything you do on it, and when it's full of websites and apps and things, it's just not very pretty. Hopefully, Amazon will come up with a fix soon.

 

Forgot to add: If anyone is thinking about getting a Fire for a tween, my 12 y.o. niece really wants one for Christmas. A couple of her friends have gotten them already, and she's played around with them at school (they're allowed to bring e-readers to school), and she and her friends have all loved it so far.

Edited by thanasphere
Forgot to add something.
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It seems like I have had this Fire forever. There are some things I hope they improve upon, but, overall, I am very happy with the device, Prime, and the level of unofficial support. Last night I brought it to my sister's house. Her inlaws were there and they are e-readers. Nana has a kindle and Pa has a nook. His is wifi only and hers is 3g. Both were taken with the Fire. He liked her kindle, but had a lot invested in B&N content and they actually exchanged devices from time to time to increase their library's depth. This morning, I installed the nook app on my Fire and it works great. I think they will be very excited about this. Since the Fire came home, my beloved Kindle has been collecting dust. Part of me wants to abandon it for a Fire...part of me knows better. When the battery ran out on my Fire, my youngest decided to investigate the Kindle. Within minutes he was enjoying some games. I was reminded about how much I value long battery life -- especially when traveling.

 

I got an email from buy.com this morning. The 16g Playbook is down to <$200 and it has a case/stand with full keyboard for <$43.

 

http://www.buy.com/prod/blackberry-playbook-prd-38548-003-7-64-gb-tablet-computer-wi-fi-1-ghz/221285920.html

http://www.buy.com/prod/leather-stand-case-w-wireless-bluetooth-keyboard-for-blackberry/225255432.html

 

There are good reviews for the Playbook with it's hdmi out, gps, and dual cameras.

 

http://www.berryreview.com/2011/01/09/blackberry-playbook-has-two-charging-ports-usb-and-magnetic/

 

Most glaring criticism seems to be that it is not an android device (read the comments too).

 

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/252476/20111118/kindle-199-blackberry-playbook.htm

 

Then again, it does run android apps

 

http://www.berryreview.com/2011/07/21/how-to-sideload-android-apps-for-playbook-android-player-netflix-example/

 

and will runs most of them by february

 

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/blackberry-playbook-20-android-support-a-work-in-progress/19118

 

this is very tempting for me personally. what do you think?

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You just need to find one that runs windows -- acer makes an inexpensive one. Google windows tablets and click the shopping filter to find a bunch. FWIW, there are four inexpensive apps (office suite, quickoffice, smart office, and documents to go) that allow you to create and edit office docs on most android devices and, of course, there is google docs.
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Wow I have been at a swim meet for 3 days of 4-5 hour sessions + warm up and 1.5 hr travel time and didnt run my battery down...I charged it during "sleep time" (approx 5 hrs each night) and the lowest it got was it came off of the full mark. Since I was reading the whole time and if I dared set it down the kids grabbed it for games or other adults just wanted to see it was basically on the whole time....I was impressed with the battery life. Well and above what I expected. and returns to full QUICK

 

Biggest complaint was the wifi...the Nat we were at has wifi but when I asked for password for the guest login was told that its only for the host teams spectators...so unless Amazon has stick extraction devices for sale my complaint is more with snotty host teams them the Fire LMAO

 

hope that the app store adds more niche apps....want swim log after seeing it on an android phone this weekend...didnt like the swim apps available

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Hubby told me last night that his folks are getting a Kindle for our kids. Kids are 16/11. Both of our children LIKE to read but don't LOVE to read. I'm concerned that it won't get as much use from them as it will by us. Do children enjoy them as much as much as adults? Our son does a fair amount of reading for his Honors English course. Maybe he can get those books on this? I've never used one, so I know very little. Any info would be appreciated.

My oldest, who does like to read, got a Kindle 2 years ago when he was 13. I went out on a limb on that, because that's when e-readers were just coming popular and he didn't even know they existed. Luckily, it was a big hit, and he loved it. So did his little brother who was 10. So, last year for Christmas, grandma got both boys new Kindles, and they both love them, even the little one who just "likes" to read, not loves it. (And I got the "hand-me-down"!)

My oldest is in Honors English, and he does about half and half. Some books he would rather have in hand, but he does get a lot on Kindle. I try to always make sure he has a gift card handy to make purchases with so no unexpected charges come out of the bank. It's nice when he remembers the day before that he needs a book, no more running around the bookstores looking for one! The youngest (12) much prefers having his books on Kindle.

Before counting on that though, I would make sure with the school and/or teacher that they will allow it. Some may not.

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It's not really a trade in program, but they will buy it back and give you a credit. They give very little though, around 20 or 30 for the average kindle. Also, beware it's a 3rd party doin g this and there are complaints on amazon forums. Couple people sent theirs in and they refused them in the condition they requested so they were sent back, came back scratched and damaged. Amazon deleted their posts although they were truthful and said they had before and after pics.

 

Does anyone know if there is a trade in program for regular Kindle (e-reader), in order to purchase a Kindle Fire?

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