# Tablets **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 28, 2017, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920 "2017-11-28T02:06:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/41 "2017-11-28T22:58:18Z")
I love my Fire H8, except for the bizarre autocorrect. The sight that seems to work least we’ll with the tablets I’ve used (iPad 2 and Samsung)? This one. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/42 "2017-11-28T23:37:06Z")
Correction: my SO’s tablet is a pre-owned refurbished Surface 3 for $200. Doing a factory reset right now because the seller (Factory Certified Deals) didn’t bother doing that themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/43 "2017-11-29T00:46:40Z")
I have an iPad for traveling because we refuse to buy iPhones. It comes in handy for finding local businesses, checking the weather, and getting around in an unfamiliar town. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/44 "2017-11-29T00:57:15Z")
I once travelled to Barcelona for business. I extended my trip by a couple of days for personal touring, as I like to do, and one day I rented a motorcycle and went exploring. I’d downloaded some offline maps. You don’t need any wifi or cell signal, you just use its internal GPS on the preloaded maps. Getting around was easy, certainly not as easy as using a full-blown GPS giving every turn, but you’d have to prexenter destinations. It was fun exploring the hectic city (weekday) on the bike. I used a caribiner to clip it to the handlebar near the triple clamp and just left it running, checking it every once in a while. You can do this on a smart phone but I really like maps on a tablet and its larger screen size. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/45 "2017-11-29T01:00:58Z")
For what it’s worth, we have both an iPad and a Fire HD 10. The wife trades off between the iPad and her laptop. I bounce between the Fire and the desktop. Both of the tablets are just fine for what we want to do with them, which is mainly web-based entertainment and light word processing. Debate has moved into completely on-line posting and balloting, so the Fire gets a workout every weekend and has given me zero problems. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/46 "2017-11-29T04:18:26Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > You don’t need any wifi or cell signal, you just use its internal GPS on the preloaded maps. It doesn’t look like the Fire HD has GPS. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/47 "2017-11-29T07:26:30Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I think The Missus would probably use it for light entertainment. She has Amazon Prime, so she can stream if she wants to. And she’ll probably use it for looking stuff up on vacation. I’ll plan on getting her a Fire 8 for Christmas, unless someone can convince me there’s a better option. > > Thanks. the thing ive heard about fires is there walled in to amazon as in you have to get everything through them if you want to get anything amazon doesn’t want you to is you have to get it rooted aka jailbreaking ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/48 "2017-11-29T07:56:57Z")
Decide on an OS ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/49 "2017-11-29T11:47:09Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > the thing ive heard about fires is there walled in to amazon as in you have to get everything through them Not true. I have loaded documents (books and others) onto my Kindle Fire via USB and e-mail from non-Amazon sources. Haven’t done a lot with apps, though, they might be a problem, can’t speak to that. But no, you aren’t completely restricted to Amazon and only Amazon content. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/50 "2017-11-29T12:53:17Z")
As far as I understand it, the Fire tablets, although they are essentially Android-based, can’t access the Google Play app store - so they will be limited to the subset of apps available on the Amazon app store. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/51 "2017-11-29T14:31:10Z")
It’s not hard to get individual Android apps on the Kindle, or you can just install the Google Play store and proceed as normal. > **[How to Get Google Play on a Kindle Fire and Install Any Android App You Want](https://lifehacker.com/how-to-get-google-play-on-a-kindle-fire-and-install-any-1790706649)** > > Kindle Fire tablets are some of the best, cheapest Android tablets around, but they’re limited to Amazon’s app store, which is more than lacking compared to the thousands of apps available on the Google Play Store. With a little tweaking, though, you... But the Kindle app store is pretty big these days. You’ll probably find what you’re looking for or something similar without too much effort. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/52 "2017-11-29T14:38:21Z")
Bugger. I should have added - The Play store involves rooting it, however, which I really don’t recommend, but the individual apps process is simple enough. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/53 "2017-11-29T14:51:27Z")
I like that I can get the Fire HD 8, 32 GB, with Alexa, without adds, for $125. I don’t know where Mrs. L.A. gets her games. She probably googles ‘games’ and downloads them from whatever site. My only experience with apps is with a flashlight (used ‘for real’ once), a GPS-based speedometer (fun to see how fast we’re going on the airplane), Waze (not particularly useful), a chromatic tuner, and a calculator. I got them all from Google Store. I’d like to get Uber (there’s an icon for it, but it doesn’t work), some streaming entertainment apps, and such, but my phone doesn’t have enough memory. The point is (Can you tell I haven’t had coffee yet?) the HD Fire will probably have enough ‘stuff’ on it for her uses and enjoyment. It would be nice to have GPS (_really_ nice) and not be ‘locked into’ Amazon, but I think the Fire is probably sufficient for now. If there are other options in the price range, let me know! ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/54 "2017-11-29T15:04:00Z")
$125 looks like a great price. No way an Apple device would cost that little. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/55 "2017-11-29T15:24:07Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > $125 looks like a great price. No way an Apple device would cost that little. At this point I’m deferring a tablet for myself, and $125 _is_ a good price considering my financial worries. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/56 "2017-11-29T15:44:37Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I forgot about memory! :smack: I think I’ll pass on my own tablet at this time, since I’d like an iPad and they get expensive with more memory. The Fire HD 8 maxes out at 32 GB, which I think would be enough for Mrs. L.A. And she has Amazon Prime, so there’s that. I haven’t pulled the trigger yet, but the Fire HD is in my shopping cart. > > . The Fire can take an external microSD card up to 256gb if you need more space. One nice thing about the Amazon tablets is you can download stuff to watch off-line, but your storage fills up quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/57 "2017-11-29T18:51:43Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > The Fire can take an external microSD card up to 256gb if you need more space. One nice thing about the Amazon tablets is you can download stuff to watch off-line, but your storage fills up quickly. That’s good to know about the external storage. It looks like the Fire HD is the one to get. [ul][li]It fits the budget. Other suggestions are too expensive for me right now;[/li][li]It seems adequate for a new tablet user;[/li][li]There have been several positive remarks about it in this thread;[/li][li]It has good reviews on Amazon.[/ul][/li] If I’m not convinced otherwise, I’ll plan on ordering Wifey the Fire HD later today. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/58 "2017-11-30T15:32:10Z")
Get a keyboard/case for it at the same time. The tablet pops in/out easily, and the keyboard is essential for extended typing. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/59 "2017-11-30T16:03:27Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > the thing ive heard about fires is there walled in to amazon as in you have to get everything through them > > if you want to get anything amazon doesn’t want you to is you have to get it rooted aka jailbreaking I have no idea why people persist in repeating this trivially refuted myth. Oh, and jailbreaking is _not_ the same thing as rooting. All current Fire tablets and such can be jailbroken to allow installing apps from other sources via a simple setting. People install Google Play on them all the time. I installed an app from the Play store on my Fire 7" just two days ago. If you want root access on these, you’ve got a real chore on your hands. Being more informed about these matters wouldn’t hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920/60 "2017-12-28T16:57:58Z")
Mrs. L.A. is even less tech-savvy than I am. I put in the rather complicated Xfinity password so she could connect to Wi-Fi in the house. It took her a while just to register the Fire HD I got her for Christmas. She tried to play with it a bit (‘Show me the weather.’), and then said, ‘It looks like you can only buy stuff with it. I guess I could use it to buy stuff.’ I googled, and showed her what the browser icon looks like. So far, she hasn’t had a lot of time to see what she can do on it. I know she’d like to have access to her email, but she doesn’t remember her password. There’s an email icon on the Home screen. Can she get to her Yahoo email with that? Or does she have to go through the browser? I told her that she can download movies and TV with her Amazon Prime account, but she doesn’t really watch anything that’s not on the cable. She can download games of course, but she probably thinks it’s easier to just play them on her phone. She took a picture with the camera. I’d really like her to like the tablet, so I’m still looking for suggestions as to what she can do with it. As I said, right now she says it looks like it’s just for buying stuff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets/802920.md?page=4)