On 6/19/2012 10:18 AM, Pat Barber wrote:
http://reviews.cnet.com/tablets/?tag=hdr;brandnav
but....that market is changing almost every week, so current reviews
are fairly thin.
The various ups and downs are really hard to determine and when you
start talking about the o/s of the tablet, you are never sure which version
of Android you might be getting.
The Nook seems to lock you in VERY tightly with B&N company.
The Kindle Fire seems to lock you into Amazon,etc,etc.
The support level for these products is **zero** which is what
$200 products get.
Sorry for the zombie thread; just now catching up. I won a Kindle Fire
in a drawing several months ago. Amazon definitely want you locked in.
Support is as you'd expect - Amazon official support is thin but the
community support is pretty darned good as long as you know what
questions to ask. I was able to root my Fire with a minimum of fuss,
and I have Google Play, Swype, Flipboard, etc. loaded on it with little
effort. The underlying OS is a fork of Android OS 2.3. The Fire has no
camera and no GPS which does restrict some of the apps you can run.
It's pretty good as an e-reader, OK for web surfing and I don't like
typing on it hardly at all. Can't work out whether it's the distance
between the 'keys' or what. Typing is better with Swype but still not
nearly as nice as a netbook. If you want the web you'll need a WiFi
connexion because there's no other way to do it.
As an e-reader, it's way better than I thought. I read several short
stories on it to break myself in. The first thing I did was get an app
called Screen Filter. This lets me read in the dark by letting me set
the screen brightness very low. The next thing I did was to get Les
Misérables and see what it was like. It was wonderful! The Fire weighs
less than a hardcover book, so it was comfortable to hold. I turn pages
with my right thumb and it was very easy to get used to.
I don't do a lot of web browsing, but it hasn't left the house either,
so why would I fire up the Fire when I have a real PC a few feet away?
Maybe I'll find different uses if I take it somewhere.
Hope this was helpful to someone.
--buck
midrange.com
