Couple things going on. 1. My iPad is on its last leg and 2. off to Europe soon and I don’t want to bring hardcover books.
Given that 99% of iPad usage is at-home internet access, is there any reason not to purchase a Kindle Fire Tablet for internet access and books? The cost difference is significant.
One really good reason not to buy an “Kindle Fire Tablet” is no such device has been made in quite a few years. You might want to look at either Kindles or Fire tablets.
The bottom line on all such questions is what do you want to do with it??? Given the ambiguity of your question, step 1 is tell us exactly what purpose you will be using the tablet for.
Does Wifi work the same way worldwide? Are there any issues involved in getting a device from one part of the world to connect to the internet in a different part?
The iPad screen has a higher resolution - 2048x1536 (iPad 9.7-inch) vs 1920x1080 (Fire HD 10). Also, those numbers also mean the aspect ratio is very different - the Fire HD is more elongated (wider in landscape orientation, and narrower in portrait orientation). If you mainly view widescreen movies, the Fire HD screen is a better fit, but if you mainly browse the web or read documents in portrait orientation, the iPad screen may be better.
Whether that’s enough to justify the price difference is a matter of preference & eyesight.
WiFi is the same everywhere.
Mobile data (3G/4G/LTE etc) is not the same, but I assume you aren’t looking for that. (I don’t think Amazon even sells Fire tablets with mobile data anymore.)
Internet usage is simply surging sites such as this one, news, Facebook, etc. W/regard to reading ebooks it’s just that. Hopefully this clarifies.
I have a Kindle Paperwhite e-reader and also a Fire HD 8. I love the HD 8 for watching movies and TV shows in bed but the Kindle is absolutely my go-to device for reading books, mostly because of the marvel of e-ink, made all the more marvelous by the front-lighting of the Paperwhite that makes it possible to read in relative darkness, but without the annoying backlight glare of a tablet. Aside from that very critical feature of e-ink and very long battery life, the Kindle is also much smaller and lighter than the tablet.
I totally agree with Wolfpup above. I take my Kindle all over the place and always have a few books in reserve to read if I have to wait anywhere. It is small enough for a pocket, easy to read etc.
I also have a Microsoft Surface. This was a choice because I like that it uses W10 so I don’t have to learn anything new, and it also happily runs all the apps and games I use on my home desktop. It has a brilliant screen (better IMHO than the iPad), I can use it to write notes with the pen, check in at the airport and anything else that a laptop/desktop will do. Free wifi is easy to find now, but, should I need to, I can always tether it to my phone.
Which Fire tablet are you looking at? I got a bunch of Fire 7s for my kids because, you know, $50, but I have two issues with them. One, they’re sloooow. You might think you don’t need a powerful tablet because you’re not doing anything intensive, but smooth scrolling itself is an intensive task. I found myself constantly frustrated at just how unpleasant the user experience was, and my kids have basically stopped using them in favor of old iPhones. Two, ads. I ended up paying extra for the “ad free” experience and even then you’re getting an Amazon sales device, not a real tablet. I modded them to have access to the real Google Play store, if that sounds like work to you then just keep in mind you’re only going to have access to Amazon approved apps.
Well, almost the same. There are some small differences, e.g., some countries have more WiFi channels allocated than in the US. So if a hotspot you’re trying to use overseas is on one of those and you’re US-market tablet can’t be set up to use it then that’s a no-go. And that’s with the 2.4GHz band. Other bands are more hit or miss.
The OP still hasn’t provided enough information for a helpful answer. Reading a lot of books vs. using general apps is a major divide. Either pick one or resign yourself to poorer options. E.g., carrying two tablets or using a tablet designed for one use and not being able to do the other well or at all.
Regarding the 7" basic Amazon Fire tablet. I have one that is several years old. It is remarkably speedy. I have no problems with it at all, speed-wise. (It’s main issue is screen resolution.)
It is very common for people to load crapware on a device, find out it is running slow, and blame the device.
When anyone asks my advice about purchasing any kind of hardware, my first response is, “What are you going to use it for?” If your primary purpose is for reading books then, without a doubt, get the Kindle.
Thanks for the comments. Knowing I can return it, I ordered a Fire HD 10 Tablet. Should get in tomorrow. I will post my thoughts w/regard to internet access.
I love my Fire 10. Got a case with a Bluetooth keyboard at the same time, and it handles almost all of my travel needs. I can read books and newspapers, post here, submit tournament ballots, handle email and all that much cheaper than if I had bought an iPad (which in truth I did anyway because the wife wanted one.)
This is totally my experience as well. I have a Surface Pro Go for “serious” computing and a Fire HD for surfacing the web. I even use it for Netfilx and YouTube streaming without a noticeable problems. I’m not sure why anyone bothers to use an iPad anymore.
Love my fire tablets. A few years ago, my boss took one to Paris. I don’t know if this is still the case, but she could not download Prime video while outside of the US. She could access everything downloaded to the library with no problem.
Definitely get an SD card for your tablet!
[Moderating]
Requests for advice are better suited for IMHO than GQ. Moving.
I’m returning the Fire HD 10 (or whatever it is) that I got at Christmas. it will no longer charge. Apparently, a piece of soldering breaks loose and renders charging nearly impossible. It’s a known issue with the charging port.
I also didn’t like that it didn’t have predictive text on the keyboard. I wish I’d just gotten the more expensive Samsung I wanted in the first place, which I’ll do now.
The regular Kindles are great, however.
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