I’m thinking of getting my parents a tablet for Christmas, something that they can take on vacation with them to check email and play games or watch movies. Dad loves online gambling games such as Poker and my mother likes word games.
They’re both in their 70s so not technologically advanced, if you know what I mean.
My first instinct was to get them an iPad, but they’re pretty expensive. Do you think a Kindle Fire would be an adequate tablet? They don’t have a wireless router yet, but I can get them one, so Wifi cabable will probably work fine.
I have zero experience with the Kindle fire and hope that if it is an adequate substitute that I could learn how to use it to connect them to their email, etc. easily.
Kindle Fire is adequate. Side-by-side with an iPad it’s certainly no contest, but for what your parents are most likely to use it for, it’s sufficient.
Only real issue I see for you is if there are specific games your parents like, you may want to check if they are available for Android vs iOS.
Hardwarewise, I think either would be perfectly adequate. It may come down to whether they’d find it easier to deal with Amazon or Apple for acquiring content (games, movies, apps, etc.). Do they have prior experience with either?
Actually, no. Either I or their grandkids would have to download any content, which is fine because it’s not like they’ll want the latest and greatest. She does order things from Amazon…through me!
Fire is the cheap one. Fire HD is in the middle, Fire HDX is the more expensive/best one (but still substantially cheaper than iPads).
Considering your audience, it probably makes little sense to get too spendy. You could also get a regular Android tablet. Fire OS is based on Android. It has some restrictions (no Google Play), which can be overcome by a more technical user, which doesn’t sound like your parents.
That works beautifully for my mother, who’s your parents’ age and has my old Android tablet: it’s a good model, but at 10" I found it too large and she finds it just fine. It accepts a SIM but I took it out, so it only works on WiFi but can be used for Whatsup (my brother uses it to send pics of the kids).
Since the tablet is linked to my google profile but not authorized to spend money, I get to see what have The Nephews downloaded and there’s no risk of unexpected charges.
I couldn’t deny the iPad is technically superior but the huge cost savings makes the Kindle Fire a much better product, in my opinion. I think that’s only more true for the average 70-something. My own mother is in her 60s and really content with her Kindle Fire.
Over the summer I bought a Kindle Fire HDX under the assumption it would do everything I wanted… and within a few weeks purchased an iPad once I realized I wanted more App options.
If your 70 something parent wants a great reader the Kindle is an excellent choice. I still like my Kindle as a reader and still use it. If Apps are a need, well unfortunately you really have to look at something else.
What apps in particular did you miss? The Amazon app store seems to have virtually every major non-Google Android app there is (and 400,000 in total). I can’t imagine which of the missing ones any old person would really want.
I use my Kindle Fire for reading and video. It is more than adequate for that purpose. Can’t speak for the apps angle because I don’t use many but they certainly are out there.
You can get books outside Amazon, there are instructions regarding compatibility and methods in the Fire user manual.
Also inherited my dad’s old Android tablet. Plays games just fine, although I’m still cleaning some of the weird stuff he downloaded in his last few months off of it. Lots of apps, can also be used as a reader or for video.
I personally prefer my Fire, but that’s probably because I read a lot.
You can get them each a new 7" Fire tablet and a year of Prime for less than the cost of an iPad. I haven’t looked into it much yet, but the new Fire has a “Family Library” feature that might even let you share stuff from your Prime account (if you have one) with them, so they wouldn’t even need their own.
My wife knows nothing about computers and likes it that way. I bought her a kindle fire and she really enjoys it. Facebook, Pinterest and photos is about all she does, and it does those pretty well.
My experience with the Kindle was it could use some of the Android apps but not all of them. It’s similar or close to an Android, not the same. For work I use a lot of scanner, mapping, weather and other news gathering tools including some specific apps only written for the iPad or iPhone, so I went ahead an switched over.
Not a slight at all on the Kindle, lovely machine. But it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for.
I am just learning about the Kindles, but one thing I believe to be true is only a few of the higher end models (the HD series) support the latest OS-V5 Bellini.
I am not certain what that means, but usually one wants to get hardware that can handle the newest OS.
Use the ones from the app store, but it’s missing some that Google Play has (especially commercial games).
Jailbreak your Kindle. This is advanced and voids the warranty, so most people avoid it.
Less known: sideload apps from the Google Play store. Turn on installation of 3rd party programs in options, then use a website that generates a downloadble .apk from the Play link. For the most part this works (as long as the hardware is sufficient). It works less well with Google’s core app package but pretty much every 3rd party app not available in Prime Store has worked so far. It’s not hard, and doesn’t affect your warranty like jailbreaking does.
Some apps require a specific OS release is what it means.
got that. Usually but by no means always that means the latest OS. In more detail, while in more traditional computer realms, having the latest OS is the default best answer because apps are updated to work on the latest OS. In a closed specialty system like the Kindle things might be different. Amazon after all is selling a lot of other models that don’t appear to support the latest version of the OS. Perhaps app makers know to/have to support older OS as well as the newest ones. I don’t know, hence my hesitation to simply recommend only hardware that supports the latest OS. A closed system may play by different rules than we are used to.
BTW, is my belief that only the latest models (HD models) support the latest OS correct?
At least in the Mac world, which is the only one I know where the same manufacturer controls both the hardware and OS, any machine currently being sold by the manufacturer supports the latest OS. When that is no longer true, the old hardware is discontinued.
Can I buy any Kindle from Amazon and expect to use the latest OS available at the time of purchase?
It’s exactly the same as Apple. The Fire tablets that Amazon sells have Fire OS 5.0 (the latest), including the regular Fire (which is the only non HD tablet they sell).
You can find the old models on Amazon, but they aren’t sold by Amazon (third parties may sell them).
Usually but by no means always that means the latest OS. In more detail, while in more traditional computer realms, having the latest OS is the default best answer because apps are updated to work on the latest OS. In a closed specialty system like the Kindle things might be different. Amazon after all is selling a lot of other models that don’t appear to support the latest version of the OS. Perhaps app makers know to/have to support older OS as well as the newest ones. I don’t know, hence my hesitation to simply recommend only hardware that supports the latest OS. A closed system may play by different rules than we are used to.