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Is the Kindle Fire worth buying?
November_Rain
11-11-2012
I'm thinking about buying one of these as a Christmas present for my mum but I'm wondering if I'm better off going for a similarly priced alternative?

She will be using it for browsing and shopping on eBay mostly. I can't see her being a heavy application user or playing many games.

I would appreciate any feedback.
john176bramley
11-11-2012
The Kindle Fire is £129 for 8GB, which seems adequate for what your mum would use it for.

You could get a Blackberry Playbook 16GB for £109 which is every bit as good as the Kindle for £20 less.
Anika Hanson
11-11-2012
I think the Google nexus would be better. The kindle fire is really limited.
LostFool
11-11-2012
It may be worth it if you are planning on consuming a lot of Amazon content. If you want a tablet for general web, multimedia and apps then the Nexus would be better.
November_Rain
12-11-2012
Funnily enough I did consider the Nexus as I have one myself and I love it. I see the 16GB model has been reduced to £160 now, so for the sake of an extra £20 to £30 quid it's worth it if the Kindle Fire is really that limited. May look into that Blackberry Playbook yet though for £109.
john176bramley
12-11-2012
Originally Posted by November_Rain:
“Funnily enough I did consider the Nexus as I have one myself and I love it. I see the 16GB model has been reduced to £160 now, so for the sake of an extra £20 to £30 quid it's worth it if the Kindle Fire is really that limited. May look into that Blackberry Playbook yet though for £109.”

The reason I mentioned the Playbook is that you said your mum won't be using many apps and the Blackberry has nowhere near as many as the Nexus, but it does have all the common ones.

The Playbook has a fantastic user interface and is very simple to use (which might suit less technically minded mums), the browser supports flash so web browsing is identical to browsing on a computer. The screen is nice and for a tablet the speakers are fantastic, it's great for watching videos or TV, etc.

I got one for my GF because she likes to surf, check her email, watch videos and play the occasional game of Angry Birds but doesn't really use apps, so it was perfect for her.

If I was buying for a 14 year old I'd go for the Nexus but at £50 less the Playbook is a bargain for the kind of stuff your mum would probably use a tablet for.
November_Rain
12-11-2012
Quote:
“The reason I mentioned the Playbook is that you said your mum won't be using many apps and the Blackberry has nowhere near as many as the Nexus, but it does have all the common ones.

The Playbook has a fantastic user interface and is very simple to use (which might suit less technically minded mums), the browser supports flash so web browsing is identical to browsing on a computer. The screen is nice and for a tablet the speakers are fantastic, it's great for watching videos or TV, etc.

I got one for my GF because she likes to surf, check her email, watch videos and play the occasional game of Angry Birds but doesn't really use apps, so it was perfect for her.

If I was buying for a 14 year old I'd go for the Nexus but at £50 less the Playbook is a bargain for the kind of stuff your mum would probably use a tablet for.”

How does your girlfriend find the battery life? According to tech radar the battery life is weak, but they don't really say how weak. I don't want to buy a tablet that'll run out quite quickly just from general web browsing.
Rodney McKay
13-11-2012
Originally Posted by November_Rain:
“How does your girlfriend find the battery life? According to tech radar the battery life is weak, but they don't really say how weak. I don't want to buy a tablet that'll run out quite quickly just from general web browsing.”

Playbook battery life is very good several hours of use without a problem.
November_Rain
13-11-2012
Originally Posted by Rodney McKay:
“Playbook battery life is very good several hours of use without a problem.”

In that case I'll look into it a bit further. Thanks.
grassmarket
13-11-2012
Originally Posted by November_Rain:
“She will be using it for browsing and shopping on eBay mostly. I can't see her being a heavy application user or playing many games. ”

It's great as a bookreader, and as an emergency browser, but for day-to-day use it is a bit small and fiddly. I'd definitely vote for a 10" minimum screen if browsing was important.
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