ok, I may have be late to the party here, but…

I already have a Kobo mini E-reader. It’s great and I use it a lot, but not all books are available on Kobo. I have a Kindle app on both my home PC (desktop) and smartphone, but never use it on either – the PC obviously isn’t portable, and the battery life on the smartphone is disappointingly less than I expected

So I’m thinking of getting a Kindle Fire 7 HD at around £100, standalone so I can only download / surf / stream when I’m connected to a wifi network. Not sure if I’d need to use the tablet when I’m out & about – usually if I don’t have access to wifi, I’m probably driving… but then again, Mrs_D might want to use it while in the passenger seat…

Does anyone have experience of the Kindle Fire? any good? compared with other tablets? Do you use the tablet when out & about, enough to justify the cost of the extra phone line?

Jesus Christ, dont buy an extra phone line. Connect to your mobile phone hot spot. Yes they are good, I have two. Only downside is the app market is a bit shiit but you can side load them.on anyways.

I wouldn’t buy a Kindle Fire. They are tablets, not e-readers which is fine – but plain Android tablets such as the Hudl have all the e-reader apps (not just the Kindle one) and they have access to all the other Android apps. Kindle Fire is Android based but does not have access to the Google Play store (where all the apps live) only the Amazon one, so you can only get a sub-set of apps.

Why would you get an extra phone line? Your phone will be able to act as a wifi hotspot – it’s expensive if you go over your data allowance but Kindle usage will be very light so you probably won’t.

thanks guys. I wasn’t planning to buy an extra phone line, very much the opposite. but good to know that other tablets are more versatile than the kindle fire. Strangely enough, Hudl got a mention on FB when I asked on there, so that might be definitely worth looking at.

I was planning on going stand-alone – use of any tablet would be mostly in a location where there’s a wifi connection already. I didn’t know you could create a wifi hotspot with your mobile phone. like I said, late to the party 😉

Yeah – speak to your mobile provider about data. Some people get very little data, I get 2GB which is plenty unless you’re on STW all day ever day (ahem), or watching TV online etc.

Do you want a tablet or an eBook reader?

If the former there are many better choices than the Fire. Tesco’s Hudl2 is a budget best-buy, or the Nexuses (Nexi? Nexen?) if you want to go a bit more up market.

If the latter, the Kindle Paperwhite is hard to beat.

not all books are available on Kobo.

If that’s your only issue, might I suggest you check out Calibre?

Last week in Schipol airport they had Samsung Galaxy Tab 3s for 99 €, I was rather tempted. Are they any good?

TBH I was thinking “tablet with Kindle app” but I haven’t a clue.

I’ll quite happily surf on my android phone so I was thinking of an android tablet.

Kindle app for Android is really nice. No problems using it instead of the real thing.

How about a Chromebook? Battery life at least as good as a tablet, faster and (I think) better in nearly every way.

Some sort of 8″ tablet, I reckon.

Choose a budget and see what fits. The Hudl 2 Looks to be a very good budget tablet. There’s quite a few to choose from.
I’ve got an LG Gpad 8.3 and it’s great, but I got a good deal on it. I paid £160, but think it’s nearer £200.

As above, I would not get the Kindle Fire; it’s too tied into Amazon.

Nah, sod that. I already have a smartphone, can’t see what a tablet can do that my phone can’t. Besides, i’m a tight git and i won’t spend money on gadgets for gadgets’ sake.

And for some bizarre reason my username has reverted

Sodding smartphone has had a software update today and lost my passwords

that is very annoying

ok, reset my password on here. Now how the hell do I logout on my Android phone with updated software?

Ah, that’s how

I was also thinking about getting a cheap tablet – what should I be looking out for? Latest version of Android I suppose? Anything else?

if you convert the files from amazon to EPUB using a file converter, you can drop them onto the e-reader when you plug it in using the USB

having said that, the hudl is really good value at the moment, if you have tesco vouchers from your clubcard account it comes to a really cheap price (mrsEd got one for about £60 quid??? )

if you have tesco vouchers from your clubcard account

no sir, not got one of them, not having Tesco know what I buy. which going on last Sunday’s shopping in there, will not be very much in future

If it’s more content for the kobo you’re looking for have you looked on google play?

If you download the ebook from the play store you can load it onto your kobo via adobe digital editions.

I’ll give that a try, cheers.
Got to be cheaper than buying another new gadget

not having Tesco know what I buy

Stick it to the man!

I don’t mind Waitrose knowing what beers i buy from them though