Is the Kindle HDX a good tablet?

[mystika1]

Hi,
I was thinking about getting the Kindle HDX tablet to replace my slow nook hd+. I would really like opinions. I do not have prime. I watch movies and such using xbmc and I check my email.

Thanks,

Penny

[misling]

It's a decent tablet, but if you don't 1) already have a lot of amazon content you need to access and 2) don't use prime, there's no big advantage to it.
You might be better off with a more generic tablet such as the Nexus instead.
I own both, and a Samsung.
I got the HDX because I own TONS of amazon content, and the Amazon tablets are best for that content. I got the nexus mainly because I wanted to try out a generic Android environment without a lot of overlay from a reseller. I got the Samsung galaxy tab 3 because I fell in love with it in the store. YMMV but if at all possible go to a best buy or somewhere and try them all out - you may find one that really appeals to you.
The Samsung is my favorite but (cons) it's a lot more expensive than the other two; it came with a lot of bloatware (I searched out a list of what could be safely disabled and disabled most of it, so that can be got around); and the colors are over-saturated.
The Amazon is my second favorite as a tablet but (cons) I'm not crazy about the Amazon app store. Software is usually released a couple months later than the Google play store for the same apps. I don't like the carousel and would really prefer to turn if off, instead I just scroll the home page to the 'favorites' and ignore the carousel.
The nexus is my 3rd fav, mainly because the aspect ratio is a bit too narrow for my taste in landscape mode (I usually do everything in landscape). Beautiful screen though. And no bloatware other than the usual google play, maps, etc. Really nice tablet but for some reason just doesn't grab me like the samsung does.

[jscarbo]

Although I love the e-ink Kindles, I'm not a fan at all of their Fire tablets. They're too locked in to the Amazon ecosystem and without an sd card slot, they are overly limited.

I've found that rooting my Nook HD+ makes it run much faster. I use a dual boot AFN card. They are available with Jelly Bean 4.2.2 or Kit Kat 4.4 and are currently on sale for $11.99 for either version: http://www.androidfornook.com/nook-s...ownload-detail

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by jscarbo

Although I love the e-ink Kindles, I'm not a fan at all of their Fire tablets. They're too locked in to the Amazon ecosystem and without an sd card slot, they are overly limited.

Unfortunately, the latest version of Android (4.4) has made an SD card of very little use on an Android tablet. For security reasons, it's following the road that iOS has taken, and now an app can only access its own folder on the SD card. This means that you can't, for example, have a "Books" or a "Movies" folder, and access it from several applications.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by mystika1

Hi,
I was thinking about getting the Kindle HDX tablet to replace my slow nook hd+. I would really like opinions. I do not have prime. I watch movies and such using xbmc and I check my email.

I like my HDX a lot and use it for hours every day. I don't really use it for video (that's what my TV, blu-ray player & roku are for) just primarily for reading and occasionally for the casual game or some quick web browsing. I don't read using the built in Kindle app except or rare occasion. I use Moon+ Pro (or sometimes Mantano) to read in conjunction with Calibre Companion for library organization. Calibre Companion is, IMO, indispensable and is the first thing I've encountered that really allows one to carry their entire library and use it in a meaningful way.


That said. Reading apps like Moon+ must be sideloaded because Amazon marks all reading apps in their app store as incompatible with the Fire's (obviously they want you to use theirs) and it can be a bit of hoop jumping to sideload paid apps (I installed the Amazon appstore on my Nexus 7 and backed up the apps there, the security check once installed uses your Amazon account info which the Fire has since it's also registered to the account). Sideloading free apps from Google Play is very easy by using the website http://apps.evozi.com/apk-downloader/ to get the apk. Once sideloaded I have to search the Fire to launch the app the first time which adds it to the carousel, from there you can tap and hold to add the app to the home screen. If there are certain apps you want to be able to use make sure Amazon has them and also that they're compatible or available through a third party appstore (or free Play apps you can use the downloader site on).



Would I buy one again? I don't know. The hardware has been great and I primarily bought it because I liked the form factor and the excellent screen ppi. The screen was most important since it's mainly for reading.


I haven't looked at it a lot since I'm not currently in the market, but I'm told the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 is a good one to look at in the 8-9" range too.

[clintbradford]

>> ... don't use prime, there's no big advantage to it ...

I enjoy my Amazon Prime benefits, like ...

-Free 2-day shipping on purchase
-Instant videos
-Billions of music titles to enjoy (well, OK - maybe a million)
-Kindle Lending Library with more than 500,000 titles from which to choose

[HarryT]

Seems like an awful lot of hassle to have to go through, Brian. Much easier, to my mind, to buy a "vanilla" Android tablet such as a Nexus.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Seems like an awful lot of hassle to have to go through, Brian. Much easier, to my mind, to buy a "vanilla" Android tablet such as a Nexus.

Well, yes but the 8.9" HDX had the specs I wanted (weight, size, screen quality) at the right time. In general I'm not overly impressed with the design and form factor of most tablets, but for some reason the HDX 8.9 really clicked with me when I had the chance to try one out before I bought mine.