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Kindle Fire HD.



minnieme

New member
Sep 10, 2006
934
Brighton
Reduced to £100 at Argos, does anyone have one & are they worth investing in? thanks.
 

Bozza

You can change this
Helpful Moderator
Jul 4, 2003
55,530
Back in Sussex

Superphil

Dismember
Jul 7, 2003
25,387
In a pile of football shirts
Opinion: Amazon Fire HD, I found it very difficult (impossible) to read in the sunshine on holiday. The old original B&W one works a treat in this situation.

Re the Hudl, my mum got one, was planning on using it for Skyping family around the globe, the odd email, etc. The camera is very poor, made it impossible to hold a Skype conversation, plus Skype started to terminate as soon as someone called. Furthermore, despite reloading rebooting etc. apps constantly terminate, fail to load. Yesterday it was consigned to the back of the cupboard and Ma & Pa went out and bought her an iPad mini. I'd read up on independent reviews about using the Hudl before buying one, I am not so sure they are the bargain people beleive they are.

NB, these are opinions, based on experience. Others may find the flaws I've pointed out as acceptable, or maybe they'll not experience them at all.
 

porterr

New member
Jan 7, 2007
12
It all depends on what you want to use it for, and what price you want to pay. The £100.00 price is excellent, I got mine in the summer 32gb through Tesco's and spent £139.00 , and I have been delighted with it. I went away to Australia in the summer, and the Skype was excellent. It was the first experience of reading electronically and have not been disappointed, and I would say that I have read more since getting the Fire HD. The Apps store is clearly more limited than the Apple Store, but you weigh up £100.00 v £269.00 +. I get all my e-mails and tweets through the tablet. The connection works in Dick's Bar so you get all the up to date Albion news right up until kick off. The camera is very limited, but I have a camera for that role. The wi-fi is pretty good and the seamless nature of getting connected has been good to me. So you pays your money and you take the choice. I took the budget route and to be honest it has been a good choice, however if i wanted the all singing, dancing money no option then Apple wins hands down all the time, but if you are on a budget you will not go far wrong with the Fire HD.
 

Bozza

You can change this
Helpful Moderator
Jul 4, 2003
55,530
Back in Sussex
There's not many tablets that would be very legible in bright sunlight, including both my iPad and iPad mini. It's still the case that if you want to do a lot of reading, get an e-reader and the Kindle itself is as good as it gets.

I imagine a few people would have bought a Kindle tablet and been disappointed with the reading capabilities.

It sounds like your Skype problems on the Hudl are not uncommon, but it has decent reviews for other tablet tasks - web, email, video and games. At the £100 price point there are always going to compromises, I guess.
 


Papa Lazarou

Living in a De Zerbi wonderland
Jul 7, 2003
18,822
Worthing
I have a Kindle Fire HD and it's good at most things. The only problem I have with it, and it's a BIG problem is the fact that Amazon don't allow access to the Google App Store, but restrict the onwer to their own limited selection of apps.
 

Green Cross Code Man

Wunt be druv
Mar 30, 2006
19,592
Eastbourne
I have a Kindle Fire HD and it's good at most things. The only problem I have with it, and it's a BIG problem is the fact that Amazon don't allow access to the Google App Store, but restrict the onwer to their own limited selection of apps.

It's very locked down. It uses a form of android although Amazon's skin is only removable if it's rooted. One of the advantages android has over Apple is the freedom to set things up in a new individual way, but with Amazon that freedom is gone.
 


Papa Lazarou

Living in a De Zerbi wonderland
Jul 7, 2003
18,822
Worthing
It's very locked down. It uses a form of android although Amazon's skin is only removable if it's rooted. One of the advantages android has over Apple is the freedom to set things up in a new individual way, but with Amazon that freedom is gone.

I beleive there are ways to install Google Apps on, but it's a pain to do.
 

Superphil

Dismember
Jul 7, 2003
25,387
In a pile of football shirts
One of the advantages android has over Apple is the freedom to set things up in a new individual way,

If that is an advantage, then I believe you can do something similar on Apple devices, it's called Jailbreaking. Apparently it allows you to use apps from non Apple sanctioned providers, which do things with your kit that Apple sanctioned apps don't allow you to do.

It's all a bit confusuing to me, I am not sure what I'd really want to do with my iPad that I can't do currently, or how I would like to set it up differently. Likewise, I am not sure what else my Google Android HTC phone can do that's different, it does emails, eBay, FB, Twitter, browsing, makes calls, does texts, etc, although, when I downloaded some alternative visual effects for it (an 'improved' keyboard), I got a load of advertising appear all over the place and had to reset the phone to factory settings to get it back to normal.

Can anyone, in a nutshell, explain just what you can do with Google to set things up in a individual way, as mentioned, that makes it stand out from iOS?, I'd love to give it a try.
 

Gazwag

5 millionth post poster
Mar 4, 2004
30,086
Bexhill-on-Sea
Had my Kindle Fire HD for a year now and still love it, does everything I need it to do, took about 20 minutes of googling and fiddling to get seagulls player working but that wasn't a big chore.
 


Green Cross Code Man

Wunt be druv
Mar 30, 2006
19,592
Eastbourne
If that is an advantage, then I believe you can do something similar on Apple devices, it's called Jailbreaking. Apparently it allows you to use apps from non Apple sanctioned providers, which do things with your kit that Apple sanctioned apps don't allow you to do.

It's all a bit confusuing to me, I am not sure what I'd really want to do with my iPad that I can't do currently, or how I would like to set it up differently. Likewise, I am not sure what else my Google Android HTC phone can do that's different, it does emails, eBay, FB, Twitter, browsing, makes calls, does texts, etc, although, when I downloaded some alternative visual effects for it (an 'improved' keyboard), I got a load of advertising appear all over the place and had to reset the phone to factory settings to get it back to normal.

Can anyone, in a nutshell, explain just what you can do with Google to set things up in a individual way, as mentioned, that makes it stand out from iOS?, I'd love to give it a try.

Well, on an android device there is no need to 'jailbreak' in order to gain extra control. Android users can gain even more control by rooting the phone which does not always result in voiding the warranty as it does with jailbreaking an Apple device. By default though, any android phone user can install different launchers which will give a user control and choice over the whole layout of the UI. Google's launcher is catching up, but several years ago the capabilities and features that are taken for granted now such as resizable widgets, all manner of fancy transitions between screens and the ability to change the number of homescreens for example were available long before they were Google standard features. Add to that resizable app shortcuts, a multitude of ways in which one can set up folders and docks. I particularly like the scrolling dock I employ with Nova launcher. There are also tons of useful features one can employ if one so desires. There are hundreds of tweaks, big and small which can personalise your device this way. I realise that this won't appeal to everyone, and indeed can put some folks off. My brother was pretty much of the opinion 'what's the point?' But then he's not geeky and I am.
 


Superphil

Dismember
Jul 7, 2003
25,387
In a pile of football shirts
Well, on an android device there is no need to 'jailbreak' in order to gain extra control. Android users can gain even more control by rooting the phone which does not always result in voiding the warranty as it does with jailbreaking an Apple device. By default though, any android phone user can install different launchers which will give a user control and choice over the whole layout of the UI. Google's launcher is catching up, but several years ago the capabilities and features that are taken for granted now such as resizable widgets, all manner of fancy transitions between screens and the ability to change the number of homescreens for example were available long before they were Google standard features. Add to that resizable app shortcuts, a multitude of ways in which one can set up folders and docks. I particularly like the scrolling dock I employ with Nova launcher. There are also tons of useful features one can employ if one so desires. There are hundreds of tweaks, big and small which can personalise your device this way. I realise that this won't appeal to everyone, and indeed can put some folks off. My brother was pretty much of the opinion 'what's the point?' But then he's not geeky and I am.

Fair enough, sounds like it's more of a geek thing as you say. I've never even thought that I'd like my device UI to look different, other than changing the wallpaper. I'm more into the useability of the apps, which seem to work just fine on both iOS or Google. What is a Launcher, is that the desktop as it were? It seems that the things you have described are more about how it looks and how you access things, rather than doing anything different. I understand there are apps available for Rooted Google devices, and for Jailbroken iOS devices, that are not available through the official Play Store or the iOS App Store, I don't know what they are as a) I am not going to Jailbreak my iPad, b) I don't know where to look for Google phone.
 

Green Cross Code Man

Wunt be druv
Mar 30, 2006
19,592
Eastbourne
Fair enough, sounds like it's more of a geek thing as you say. I've never even thought that I'd like my device UI to look different, other than changing the wallpaper. I'm more into the useability of the apps, which seem to work just fine on both iOS or Google. What is a Launcher, is that the desktop as it were? It seems that the things you have described are more about how it looks and how you access things, rather than doing anything different. I understand there are apps available for Rooted Google devices, and for Jailbroken iOS devices, that are not available through the official Play Store or the iOS App Store, I don't know what they are as a) I am not going to Jailbreak my iPad, b) I don't know where to look for Google phone.

Yes you're right that generally the differences tend to be cosmetic. A launcher is, I suppose, the fancy name for the ui. I enjoy that aspect of android but as you say, the way the games, apps and more importantly the phone works is of greater importance. Of course, at the users risk, one is free to download anything and install it at will unlike the Apple prescribed situation for iPhone.
 

Beach Hut

Brighton Bhuna Boy
Jul 5, 2003
71,891
Living In a Box
Any tablet in intense sun shuts down, our iPad did several times in Turkey proclaiming it was too hot.
 

Superphil

Dismember
Jul 7, 2003
25,387
In a pile of football shirts
Any tablet in intense sun shuts down, our iPad did several times in Turkey proclaiming it was too hot.

I guess that's the beauty of the original e-ink based e-readers like Kindle etc, not affected by the heat.
 


I'm very happy with my Kindle Fire HD. It's not so much the access to a range of features that I like (although easy use of BBC iPlayer is handy), but the fact that it's got me back into the habit of reading good books.
 

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