The REAL reason behind Amazon's $50 tablet

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by leebase

However, acquiring apk files puts you on the dark side of the internet.

There's no need to go to the darkside.
Check this:

http://the-digital-reader.com/2015/1...r-fire-tablet/

And look in the comments for a way to install paid-for Google Play apps on Fire tablets.
http://teleread.com/kindle/paid-goog...ng-play-store/

The only thing you really miss on Fire Tablets are the Google apps themselves. Which I don't use. Even on my phone which comes with them.

BTW, my reader of choice these days is FBReader and I get that straight off their website; no trick needed. Check it out: it has subpixel addressing that should make it pretty good for ebook reading on that screen. (It's under font properties.)

[leebase]

What would be the reader app for those who like Marvin on iOS? Particularly the easy integration with ODPS

[shalym]

Originally Posted by leebase

What would be the reader app for those who like Marvin on iOS? Particularly the easy integration with ODPS

In my opinion, your best bet is Moon reader plus Calibre companion. Calibre Companion is available from the app store, and Moon Reader is available from 1Mobile. http://www.1mobile.com/search.html?k...Moon%2B+Reader

Shari

[leebase]

Thanks for the FBReader recommendation. I was able to download and install the apk directly from their site - and it as OPDS recommendation. AND - it has one of my favorite ebook reader features...slide your finger up and down the screen to control brightness. First had that with Stanza, then Amazon killed Stanza. Then got it back with Marvin.

Moon may be better, I don't know. Had a terrible experience with apk's I downloaded for it. Could totally be that I got bogus apk's. Don't know. But now I have an acceptable epub reader with opds. I'm good to go.

Still not sure if I'll do that much reading on this tablet. Even with my full screen iPad, I often preferred to just read fiction on my iPhone.

As a movie watching device, it passes my needs with flying colors. The ability to have an sd card is a real boon. With my iPad I could only load a couple movies at most. The rest had to stay on my computer. Fine enough to cover my airplane travel. And at the hotel I could always load another from the computer. Now, though, I could load up several cards worth of movies and shows to view at my leisure.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by disconnected

I don't see this info on the product page but people have posted that music, Kindle books, and audiobooks can't be put on an SD card.

I suppose that you might be able to get around some of that by storing stuff on the SD card and using a file explorer to move things into main memory before using them -- always supposing that the files are recognizable and that the device storage isn't hidden or locked.

The product page does mention that some apps can't be moved to an SD card.

I heard now movies can't either. I wonder what Amazon are playing at with the SDCard tbh.

[Josieb1]

If anyone's interested you can sideloaded Firefox on the Fires. It's called Aurora and is available directly from their website

[shalym]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I heard now movies can't either. I wonder what Amazon are playing at with the SDCard tbh.

Actually, leebase said that Prime movies and Kindle books can both be downloaded to the SD card.

Originally Posted by leebase

Prime movies download to the SD card as do kindle books. Don't know if apps run from the card. Was able to get the Aldiko ereader app to load and it can open books from the SD card.

Shari

[leebase]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I heard now movies can't either. I wonder what Amazon are playing at with the SDCard tbh.

Don't know where you are getting your information but they are ill informed.

In the settings there are options for:
Install supported Aps on your sd card
Download Movies and Tv Shows to You SD card
Store Photos and Personal Videos on Your SD card

Then there is a link to help on the sd card where it says:

Audiobooks, Books, Silk Browser Downloads and Email can only be downloaded to and stored on the internal storage of your Fire tablet.

Of course, these notes are referring to the Amazon official apps. Kindle books, Audible audio books. You can install other book apps and other audio book apps (I presume, haven't tried that one) and access files on the sd card (if the app in question has that support).

So unless you have gigs and gigs of emails you want downloaded locally to your Fire 7 tablet, I don't think it's really an issue.

[booklover6]

That is very encouraging. These cheap tablets are better than I thought, since they can install apps to the SD card. I might consider one for my youngest daughter, as her Nook HD has a hardware fault. She loves it, but I won't buy another, as it's a 3 year old product. And she has the HD6-16 GB but it's full So a cheap Fire (think Black Friday sale) with a 32 GB card in it should last her a while.

[fjtorres]

Here's a nice summary on how the Fire Tablets handle SD cards:

http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/201...-need-to-know/

[tubemonkey]

Audiobooks, Books, Silk Browser Downloads and Email can only be downloaded to and stored on the internal storage of your Fire tablet.

Audiobooks would be a major issue, as they have rather large files.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by leebase

If you have Amazon Prime, you can get a lot of value from this tablet. That's who it's really for. And there is plenty of extra "Amazon Value". There is the Underground (the name Amazon gives to it's free games library). Some 11,000 apps completely free (included in the price of the tablet) - including all the in app purchases and powerups. And there is Amazon Free time which allows you to lock down the tablet for kids and set how much time they can use it.

There is the Kindle lending library as well.

These are features you don't get when you have an iPad or a general Android tablet, even if you are an Amazon Prime member. Yes, on my iPad I can watch Prime Movies, listen to Prime Music and read Kindle books. But I can't use the Kindle Unlimited library, the Underground apps and iOS has nothing like Freetime, neither does generic Google Android.

A couple of small corrections:
- Amazon Underground is available to anyone with an Android device, who chooses to side-load the Amazon app from amazon.com.
- Kindle Unlimited is available on 'any device or app' including (among others) the iOS and Android apps. Kindle Owner Lending Library requires a Fire or Kindle device.
- Family Library is likewise 'any device or app', though only Kindle and Fire can have 'child' accounts set up (and K1/K1/DX don't support it).

[leebase]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Audiobooks would be a major issue, as they have rather large files.

Audible books come in parts for the bigger books. So no, you might not be able to keep your entire audible collection on the device...not sure who would need to do that as you can download a book part or a whole book from the cloud on demand.

Otherwise, if your audio book source isn't audible, you can download the files to the card and play them with an app.

Plus the device just came out. Amazon also makes the Audible app, so who knows what the future will bring in this regard.

Of course, you can pay a lot more than $50 to get an Android tablet with a lot more built in space. And then use your Audible app to download more books. It will be the app, after all, that determines whether it supports sd storage.

I saw the Nexus 7 for $199 on Amazon with 32gig ram. No expandable storage, though.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by booklover6

That is very encouraging. These cheap tablets are better than I thought, since they can install apps to the SD card. I might consider one for my youngest daughter, as her Nook HD has a hardware fault. She loves it, but I won't buy another, as it's a 3 year old product. And she has the HD6-16 GB but it's full So a cheap Fire (think Black Friday sale) with a 32 GB card in it should last her a while.

I would think so. It's a step back in resolutions but a bit bigger screen. And it's only 8gig but has memory expansion. And half the price.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

The limitations on the use of the SD card are limitations of the apps, not the hardware or the OS. Apps that are smart enough to look for SD cards and know how to use them will see it and use it just fine.
But it will be on a case by case basis, depending on the app.

So far, everything I've seen says the screen is good, the CPU/GPU performance is good and the new GUI is good. Beyond that? It's a $50 tablet!

Like the chess-playing dog, the wonder is that it exists at all.

I just finished reading a good review on it over at Teleread that spends half the article detailing all the many ways it *isn't* a Google tablet and only peripherally mentions the ways (like the included Freetime app for kids) that Amazon adds value. The thing allows sideloading apps. That alone adds a lot of value to the package.

A product like this needs to be seen and understood for what it is more than what it isn't, like the early Netbooks. Look at what it does do and if that justifies the cost then you're good to go.

My wife likes it.