[November_Rain]

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]

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]

I think the Google nexus would be better. The kindle fire is really limited.

[LostFool]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.