Despite having an Apple iPad 3 64 G with WiFi and 3G since 2012, I felt the need for another tablet. Why? My husband was always using it when I needed it, it’s awkward and painful, to the hands and wrist, to hold at 4 am when writing a blog post, I was bored of it, I was curious about having a non-Apple device or any/all of the above.
As fate would have it my desire for another tablet coincided with a flash sale on Amazon UK for the Kindle Fire HDX 7. I’ve had this tablet for 10 months now and I do like the majority of its features, however two things really bug me about this device: no rear facing camera and too frequent crashes, particularly when I use the WordPress or Facebook apps.
A lengthy chat with technical support a week ago led to a full factory reset for my device, which was another unnecessary inconvenience since it didn’t really help much and I had to recollect a score of passwords. No, I feel frequent crashes are an added feature of this tablet that they just don’t tell you about.
Now I stand at a decision precipice of buying another tablet to replace my Fire HDX and ashamedly the new devices on sale from Amazon UK have caught my eye. Do I upgrade to a Kindle Fire HD 8 (£200 approx)? Or do I just blow the budget and get an Apple iPad air 2 (£700 approx)?
The pros of my current set up is a lot of free Amazon Prime TV boxsets and films, not to mention music, which I can access with ease on my HDX and it probably will be super simple to move to the Fire HD 8. The other consideration is my ability to adapt and change has semi-retired and it makes me cranky to change systems, whereas only 5 years ago a new device out of a sealed box set my heart soaring, so why not live a little?
Life is short and considerably shorter for us Pulmonary Hypertension sufferers. If I believe the studies out there I have somewhere between 2-5 years since diagnosis to live, (I really must follow my own advice and not Google pulmonary hypertension!) or more realistically I will be fine until 2027ish when things will start to head south, if I read between the lines of what they tell me at outpatients clinics. In which case I can afford to procrastinate over buying a tablet for a bit longer.
The cons of staying with my current set up: no rear facing camera, which if I’m being brutal really really ticks me off more than I expected when I bought this device and going from no rear facing camera to a good quality one from Apple is a huge tick in the box. Putting up with the frequent crashes is not an appealing choice either, my expectations of the HD 8 crashing just as much are very high indeed. It would be a challenge and an exercise in patience and adaptability to get a new Apple device at this stage, with more advance technology, therefore reducing the time I have bufferface.
My heart desires a new tablet but my mind is saying no. The argument put forth by my mind is that it’s cheaper to do nothing and remain in the status quo thus avoiding the capitalist trap of wanting more and more and feeling like you’re less and less. This argument has held constantly valid against buying a new TV (we really don’t watch many programmes at all), a new smartphone (I hardly use the one I have) and I am constantly using it against my husband when he insists I need a little supercar to run about town in. Any car that doesn’t draw attention and I can reach the peddles is fine with me.
Ideally it would be great if my HDX 7 just grew a rear facing camera, however this is about as likely as me winning the lottery (I don’t buy tickets), so my position against capitalism remains and if fate intervenes and there’s another flash tablet sale (very unlikely), I know I must face the challenge to adapt. In the meantime I continue to save my work frequently in case it all disappears and let my heart and mind grapple with the pros and cons.
Victor (above) and Victory (below) illustrating the
concept of grappling.
Ajoobacats Blog 
Have you considered an iPad Mini and installing the Kindle App? I got my Mini at a regular store as a return so it was a little cheaper than 100% brand new
I have the Mini2 with a cover which also acts as a prop so I can sit it at an angle for ease of typing or watching a movie or show.
The new iPad is out now, regular iPad, and is slightly larger than the previous versions.
The mini isn’t as bulky as the full size version, fits in my purse, has a rear facing camera and is easier to hold, I assume, than it’s big brother. I can read books bought from other sources via their App (Kobo and Kindle) so when an author sends me an ARC I can open my email on the mini and download directly to the App instead of having to download to the computer then transfer to my eReader.
I have the Kindle App on my phone as well, so already had some Amazon books when I bought the mini, they automatically transfer, the only thing required of you will be signing in then it will show what books you have once it synchs with Amazon. The only thing you’ll have to be wary of is the books aren’t stored locally so if you are about to finish a book you need to make sure you have already downloaded the next one you want to read if you will be away from Wi-fi when you finish it. (Apple store has free Wi-fi, did you know that? lol)
They touch screen keyboard keys are large enough that they are easy to use without double striking or hitting two at once, or the wrong one altogether.
The one thing that irks me is that when I read email on there it isn’t full screen since the inbox is along the left side. I asked the guy at the workshop on how to use iPhone and iPad if there was any way to make it full screen and he said there isn’t :(.
Ohhhhhh, there is something else that irks me but it is across ALL Apple products. They changed my iTunes player! It is now music and it doesn’t have a play all feature so I have to take far too much time to set up a play list so I can listen *sigh*. I used to be able to just scroll through the one Songs screen and see all the music I have. Now it only goes by Music which is subdivided into artists which is subdivided into the music you have from those albums. You have to touch each individual album in order to see which songs you have from it :(. I want my old iTunes back!
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I have always wondered if I should have got a mini iPad instead of the Kindle Fire, but now that I have one and use prime etc, it would be nice to have a more powerfully functioning Kindle Fire and the iPad. I know they have totally jazzed up iTunes way more than it needed to be. Thankfully my iPod classic still just plays from wherever I set it in my library.
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I do like my iPad. It functions much better than my Kobo tablet did since it was set up as a jazzed up eReader with a few more functions. Ipad was set up as a tablet in the first place so the Apps only enhance it.
Why not ask Amazon how compatible their Kindle is with other computers/tablets since you do use Prime. I’m thinking it will be 100% compatible.
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I’m more worried about the glitches Amazon don’t tell you about, as the regular crashes with my current one is getting tiresome and according to Amazon there’s nothing they can pinpoint that’s wrong with the actual tablet, so the generation I have certainly had a quality control issue, whereas my 3 year old iPad 3 has no glitches at all, it’s true you get what you pay for I suppose but Apple tax is heavy.
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I haven’t had an issue with my iPad and I’ve had it for a few months. The closest I can come to a complaint is with the Apps and their developers and even then, it’s more on my Windows computer than on an Apple product.
What do you mean Apple tax is heavy? Here it’s simply the 13% tax on everything that’s non-essential to daily living (food and what not). Funerals are even taxed *shrug*
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I’ve never had to contact technical support for Apple about my iPad, we lovingly call the price difference between Apple products and android products Apple tax, but if paying double means you don’t have glitches I’m tempted to just pay it.
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Ahhhh, ok, yes, they’re like that here too but, as I’ve said, and you said earlier, sometimes it’s worth it just to know you’re getting good quality. You get what you pay for and in Apple’s case, with what I DO own, I’m more than happy to pay it.
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Yes, but apps and games are cheaper on Kindle, almost half price in some cases and I can buy music tracks for 59 p as opposed to 99 p on iTunes. Also the Kindle is better at some things than the Apple sometimes.
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A conundrum then. Stick with what you know and pay the price for what you know works or go cheaper and possibly have the same issue again. Good luck :).
I would stick with Apple, but that’s because I came from a product which wasn’t everything I wanted and needed to one that was.
I rarely pay for an App since what I use is free through both Apple and Microsoft.
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I will scout around the Apple store for any offers before I decide.
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🙂
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I honestly have very little to say in the realm of tablets (I use an old Samsung S3 for one basically) but I do love the cats. SO CUTE.
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Thank you 🙂
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Amazon is getting ready to release a new line of Kindles. I personally have 4 kindles, two readers, and two kindle fires. Feel free to check them out. http://amzn.to/1V1n0Z4
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Yes I was comparing the new Fire HD 8, due to be released 30th September to the iPad Air 2 in this post.
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I’m a Kindle fan because you can add an SD card for more memory
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That and the fact I’m already using Amazon cloud make the new Kindle very attractive.
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Okay, you have to stop googling pulmonary hypertension. I’ve been googling a lot these past few weeks( my post is brewing) and it hasn’t helped. I have a lot going on health wise, not too serious, just tedious.
Ah Apple vs. Kindle… my favorite topic. I am still trying to figure out which one I prefer. I use an ipad but wordpress has caused more problems than I ever thought possible that I simply do not use the ipad to blog anymore. I have the kindle app on my ipad which has served beautifully in terms of downloading the books I want. The ipad mini is fantastic but as with all apple products I pay more for everything. My husband has a Samsung Galaxy tablet which he loves, but he doesn’t do a lot with it. Unfortunately we’re an apple family (pfffft) I wish we had dedicated more time to researching the Kindle Fire. Who knows, I just might upgrade from my old ipad to the new Kindle Fire – it looks fantastic. I hope you find the best one for you…
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I googled it when I was first diagnosed and then kept off the topic on the internet but googled it this month to see if there were any new developments and I should have just not bothered. It is strange how the WordPress app on iPad runs ok without crashes but is just not as user friendly as the Kindle WordPress app, which is a bit glitchy to say the least. I think I would prefer to have one foot in the Apple camp and one foot in the Kindle camp.
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