Kitz Forum
Computers & Hardware => Android & other hand held devices => Topic started by: tickmike on February 10, 2013, 04:47:13 PM
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With my wife's birthday coming up on the 23rd :angel: she dropped a hint about a Kindle or other make as she likes her books.
What can you tell me about these devices please.
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Not much on a technical level, but I can recommend them personally. I didn't think I would adjust to E-reading but now, I don't think I'll ever buy a 'normal' book again. Is that a travesty in itself, or progress ??
Get one mate.
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Is that a travesty in itself, or progress ??
Sorry but yes it is a travesty ;) Seriously though I wish they had been around when I was working as I could have carried my whole manual collection on something like this, but to me there is nothing but nothing like a book in hardcopy, the smell, the feel, the way you can flip back (and forth if you cant wait) so easily, to me an e-reader is too much like being on a computer. Having a real book in hand is relaxing and that's how it should be. Plus what happens when you're on the beach and get to an exiting part and the battery goes flat and you left the spare at home on charge!
Stuart
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I've had a Kindle for some time, and now I wouldn't be without it. It's very readable, even in bright light, and so convenient. It's perfect for the kind of book which you read straight through from beginning to end (e.g. a novel) but not so convenient for the kind of book in which you need to refer to diagrams and then back to the text.
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what happens when you're on the beach and get to an exiting part and the battery goes flat and you left the spare at home on charge
Kindles last for months, literally!
(battery is inbuilt and recharges quite quickly)
Amazon say:
Battery Life
With Kindle's long battery life, you can read your Kindle device for up to 10 days with wireless on. In Aeroplane mode, you can read for up to one month. Battery life will vary based on wireless usage, such as shopping the Kindle Store and downloading content.
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I'm sure such devices have considerable merits and their devotees but I am aligned with Stuart with regards to having access to a proper physical book! ;) Eric has very succinctly summed up their deficiencies with the sorts of books/manuals/documents that I read.
As for on-disk Unix or Linux manual pages . . . don't get me started! >:(
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What started this was there was a 'Kindle' of 'freecycle' last week the guy said it had locked up and could not do anything with it, then my wife said I could do with one of them :o.
The Library closed down that my wife used and she has been buying fiction books for a £1 and the house is getting full of books, I believe you can download 'Free' books but how much do you pay for other downloads.
Is the Kindle only for 'Amazon' DRM books ? or can you put other stuff on it ?.
Can you share your downloaded books with other people ?.
I was looking at the 'KOBO' anyone got one ?.
What OS do they run on ? any Linux ?. :D
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I got a Kindle fire for Christmas.
It's quite nice to read from. I toned down the brightness and get it to display with a sepia backround rather than white. I find it nice to read and not too electronic in appearance. Adjusting the settings is quite easy.
We have an amazon prime account as a family. Buying books is quite easonable, it's easy, and the books are shared amongst all our devices. Two of the kids have I pads. Accessing which ever book is very easy and it does keep the current book your reading to hand straight at the page you were reading. Its easy to go forward and back between the pages. Although I don't find the book mark works very well, although I may be missing something in it's operation.
It's a very nice size, small enough to be portable and discrete to use. Yet large enough to be easily readable. I am still blessed with good eyesight so if thats an issue I'm the wrong person to comment.
A Handy feature is a definition of a word if you touch it within a text. Also addendums are easley accessed. I'm reading a Terry Pratchett who often has little notes. Theres appear as a blue character in the text. Just touch it and you get the note.
I'm also studying at the moment and a text book I'm using has online access. I can use all the online functions on any device except the Kindle. I don't know if its an issue with kindles or if I need to down load or set up something to get it to work.
The sound and images are good, surfing on the net is easy. It has a headphone jack for privacy. the keyboard is clear and the touchscreen is easy and positive.
I have a very nice leather case for it. It's looks smart, like a very nice hard bound book, not like an electronic device. But that suits my tastes. It does flip round to support the Kindle at a 30 degree angle for reading but it could be better. It's worth having a close look at whatever case you need and how well it supports the pad for reading hands free. It's worth spending some time in choosing a good case that suits which ever set up you go for. It's a big part of using any tablet and worth some consideration
On the down side, the battery lasts for a day after a full charge but, if your using it while plugged into a power supply the battery gets hardly any additional charge. So you need to have it charging without use in order to build up any reasonable battery life. It has a usb cable so you can charge it via a car ciggy lighter or from a usb output. I have a lead on the work pc.
If your out and about and not wishing or unable to connect wirelessly then you do need to go in and turn the wireless off when reading as it interupts every 2 min's asking to reconnect. then you have to remember to reconnect. It's a bit fiddly and annoying
Hope this helps. Overall I really like it. I use it mainly for reading books
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Are these called 'Tablets' or are they different ?.
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Tablets are general-purpose computers in small packages. E-readers are products with the specific purpose of being the electronic equivalent of a library of books and magazines. Of course, tablets can be used as e-readers, with varying degrees of convenience and capability.
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A Kindle Fire is a Tablet, not an E-Reader.
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Is there more advantage to have a 'Tablet' instead of an e book reader ?.
Just been to a nearby small town and they have an 'Argos' there and the only one on display was this
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/8140656.htm
I have not played around with these type before they seem nice, I may go to a bigger town tomorrow and have a look at some more.
On a tablet do you have to worry about virus's and as most of them are Android (A type of Linux) maybe not ?.
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Perhaps someone like Eric who has both, would be best to answer... But personally I'd go for a tablet over an e-reader if funds allow.
Whilst not a full Pc/laptop.. There are lots of apps available which allow you to do all sorts of things. Typically mail, web browsing, YouTube videos, iplayer, the list is practically endless because there are so many apps you can get. Try having a look in the app store (or android marketplace) to see what I mean.
Most tablets are either iOS , android or windows. Although I have an iPad, my phone runs on android so I'm familiar with a fair few apps and how it runs. My recommendation would be android purely because I don't like how apple control their devices and what you can/can't do.
As regard to viruses, there's no guarantee that someone in the future won't code a rogue app or that an exploit may be found... But on the whole you should be fine as long as the only apps you install are those from marketplace.
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As Kitz says, I have both, but my tablet is a 10-inch model, and this is a lot bigger than my Kindle. I guess a smaller tablet could fully replace a dedicated e-reader, but I would have to check carefully how the controls are laid out. When I'm reading a book I want to absorb myself in it and turn the pages without having to think about what control to press.
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This does not look good :o
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/11/e-reader-privacy-chart-2012-update
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I have to say, that doesn't make me lose any sleep. If people want to know what sort of books I read they're very welcome to the information. The targeted sales offers which result are only mildly irritating, and occasionally even interesting.
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Regarding tablets...the market is flooded with cheap Chinese imports which even though the price looks tempting the quality is very poor.
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http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/8140656.htm
Additional Information
Please note that this product is excluded from our 30 Day Money Back Guarantee. This does not affect your statutory rights.
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I dont know if this is of any interest to you, but in came in my 'deal of the day' type email from ebuyer this morning
Acer Iconia B1 Tablet PC (http://www.ebuyer.com/452365-acer-iconia-b1-tablet-pc-nt-l15ek-001?utm_source=b2c_acer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=b2c_wednesday) - £99.96 inc p+p
It only has 8GB of Flash Memory... but very interestingly it has an expansion slot - something that a lot of the cheaper Tablets (including all Apple) dont. So very easily expandable to 32GB.
It doesnt have the fastest processor, so may be a bit slow graphics wise (say if playing games/rendering ? ) when compared to more expensive models, but should be way more than enough for e-reading and general use. Also includes a camera and looks a decent buy for <£100... and at least you are going with a 'trusted' name.
Its something I'd consider if I had the money/was in the market to buy.
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Edited to add.
Theres a review of it here:-
http://gadgets.ndtv.com/tablets/reviews/acer-iconia-b1-a71-review-326197
and here:-
[youtube]hi3WOfQkIJI[/youtube]
The youtube review gives it a damn good work out on games such as NeedforSpeed... and it seems to perform remarkably well for a £99 tablet.
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@UncleUB With living in the 'Sticks' it's not easy to look / play with these devices and the Argos one was the first one I have come across, I was going to have a trip to another nearby town but it's heavy snow today.
@kitz That Acer looks nice but I think that screen is going to scratch being plastic and the battery life is poor, looking at the video I now understand why they have 'Accelerometers' on them.
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Just been to Tesco and had a play with Kindles, and Tablets, the one I have chosen is this one (same model as at Tesco but cheaper on Amazon ;) )
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Storage-Options-55662-Capacitive-Android/dp/B00ALTD6V0/ref=lh_ni_t?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It's got the latest operating system and CD card slot at 1.6Ghz processor :) .
It looks good at displaying books as that is what my wife wants one for.
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Glad you got something sorted :)
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Thanks all.
Lets hope it comes in time for my wife's BD. :)
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Lets hope it comes in time for my wife's BD. :)
:fingers:
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The wife had had a credit card payment confirmed by the bank, only for them to issue a charge 2 weeks later for not making the pymt and issueing a mark against the credit score. So she's changed bank's. Last night got a notification from the new bank.
For opening an new account with us, would like us to send you a free Kindle Fire. ;D
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The wife had had a credit card payment confirmed by the bank, only for them to issue a charge 2 weeks later for not making the pymt and issueing a mark against the credit score. So she's changed bank's. Last night got a notification from the new bank.
For opening an new account with us, would like us to send you a free Kindle Fire. ;D
That's great.
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My wife's tablet came today :) a day earlier than they said (thanks Royal Mail).
I'm very impressed with it and what you can do with it, it take a few seconds to boot and then it's very fast and responsive, good sized clear screen, it connected to our home WiFi ok, I added some 'Apps' so she can read her books and it seems nice and easy to use and turn the page's by touching the screen left or right, makes text larger or smaller etc. , CD card expansion slot (32Gb), USB, HDMI, internet browsing is fast thanks to the latest Android operating system (Linux based) ;D
On the negative side the power/ charger lead could have been longer and you should be able to charge from usb >:D, Flash is not easy to install (no Apps )
See http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57554629-285/install-adobe-flash-player-on-jelly-bean-devices/
, Music should be played over the speaker than the ear phones. Edit it does play over speakers :-[
But otherwise it's a very good buy for £114 and is better than some of the dearer tablets.
Edit... I have installed Firefox browser today and that is great. ;)
If you do not yet have play store set up you can get the Android version from
https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/mobile/releases/latest/android/multi/
Let it download then click install. notes = http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/download-and-install-firefox-android