My wife and I are going to Australia for 4 months at the end of the year, and she has decided that we need a tablet computer before we go. We will have daily internet access at my in-laws house while we are there, but possibly not in the house we are staying in. Does anyone regularly use a Kindle Fire to read STW, and is it ok?

Our other option is an iPad, which looks great, but we don’t have any other Apple products and budget is a reasonably big factor as this trip is going to be expensive. If anyone wants to weigh in on the Kindle v. Android (probably Samsung Galaxy) v. iPad debate, that would be very welcome too.

Cheers,
Dave

If you’ve got a load of apple products I can just about see why you’d maybe possibly justify getting an iPad. Otherwise, I just can’t see it. YMMV of course but we have four android tablets at home ranging from a £60 (yes, really and it’s ok…) one from Amazon to Galaxy and Nexuses (nexii?). All work as they should, everyone’s happy with them and I can’t think of any real problems other than that the £60 scratches easily (so it’s got a screen protector, problem solved).

I haven’t tried a Kindle HD but I’m lead to believe that they work well enough on the internet.

All work as they should, everyone’s happy with them and I can’t think of any real problems other than that the £60 scratches easily (so it’s got a screen protector, problem solved).

I’ve got a cheap 10″ tablet at home, and the poor screen resolution gets irritating when you’re reading text for any length of time. The 7″ Samsung tab is much nicer to use.

But… I’d be inclined to get an ultrabook / macbook air / surface or similar if you’re going to be using it for 4 months, a keyboard makes a huge difference to usability, and the weight penalty is minimal.

Ah, I wasn’t actually proposing the £60 for the OP, more just that android seems to do what it’s intended to do.

kindle fire browser and screen absolutely do my nut in.

imagine trying to operate an ipad with boxing gloves on…. the screen on the kindle is that good.

Stw just fine on both my androids (nexus 4 and 7)
Consider a nexus7 . I’m impressed with it for a $200 product

But… I’d be inclined to get an ultrabook / macbook air / surface or similar if you’re going to be using it for 4 months, a keyboard makes a huge difference to usability, and the weight penalty is minimal.

Most/all tablets will allow you to use a Bluetooth keyboard if that is a major consideration – and still be usable without a keyboard while out and about.

STW is fine on my iPad.

HP are doing a cheaper Android tablet at the moment : slate 7″. 8GB internal but has an expansion slot for micro-SD.

Think its about £129.

Here is is: linky

I personally would go for a Nexus 7 over a fire, I’ve had to root and rom my fire because like trail_rat said the Amazon OS and silk browser did my nut in!!!

The hardware just doesn’t feel nice and the screen is just gash at picking up your fingers!

Your guaranteed updates with the nexus as its supplied by Google and its android at its best without the horrible overlays and standard apps that companies like Samsung provide. Price difference aint much 😉

Hope I helped 🙂

I’ll be selling an iPad2 soon (as soon as I can get the sodding thing back from London, next week hopefully), if that’s any use to you? Will be looking for about £250 for it.

Thanks for all the replies – they were all very helpful, and I’m definitely going to drop the Kindle Fire as an option. Thanks also for the other suggestions, and we will look at those tonight.

Cougar, thanks for the offer, but if we get the iPad then we would be looking for a 4th generation.

Cheers,
Dave