Please help with what tablet is best for the long run

[j510]

ok ive narrowed it down to 3 tablets: Blackberry Playbook, Acer Iconia a100, and the Kindle Fire.

Since this is a kindle fire forum, all user reviews are welcome. Please include the pros and cons. Preferrably stock gingerbread.

keep in mind: portability, I will be using my future tablet for college papers

ok so ill start off with my opinions:

Kindle: From the demo unit ive messed with i felt lag (hear 6.2 fixed a bit of lag), lack of android market is not available (accessible through root but i rather not, i prefer stock) (work around which i prefer would be sideloading), Interface is very boring, gorilla glass is a plus, adobe flash support

Acer a100:Great tablet BUT the battery life is Horrible from many reviews ive read (only thing killing it for me with this tab). (personally best interface out of the 3), running honeycomb (it will be receiving ICS early next year and was wondering if it would Improve battery life optimization?), adobe flash support, very Fast, Hdmi, camera/flash,

Blackberry Playbook: lack of apps, no android apps available as of yet (supposedly until Feb 2012), camera,

any information i might be missing for kindle will be appreciated. If you have user information towards the other tablets please inform me

 

[adamkesher]

I've owned three iPads, the Playbook and the Fire. Avoid the Playbook...there isn't even a Kindle app, to mention one of its many shortcomings. I paid 500 for mine and don't even think its worth the 199 their currently pushing it for.

 

[j510]

I've owned three iPads, the Playbook and the Fire. Avoid the Playbook...there isn't even a Kindle app, to mention one of its many shortcomings. I paid 500 for mine and don't even think its worth the 199 their currently pushing it for.

ok thanks, how is the kindle holding up for you? are most of the apps running flawless or does it have some stutter/lag to it?

 

[adamkesher]

Not enough for me to care about for its price. The only thing is you'll press an icon a split second longer to open it sometimes. The apps look great, video is good, sound is good, interfaces with computer easily. The Amazon Android app selection is fine with me, it has all the big ones. An iPad would be better if you can afford the extra $300. Embarrassingly (for Amazon), the Kindle app works better in iOS than it does on the Fire...but that is an Android 2.3 limitation, not really Amazon's fault.

Cloud services work perfectly. You can download content to the device or stream it, and delete whenever the Cloud will always have it ready for you!

When I got my Fire, I thought of it as "expendable" and kind of just threw it around. Now I value it so much I'm getting a case!

 

[aapold]

Since you say long term I don't know if RIM is still going to be there and supporting the playbook. Long term.

Amazon I don't think is going anywhere. The Acer at least will be some flavor of regular android and acer as a company I'm not aware of any trouble.

I feel amazon is going to keep pushing this thing in a major way. And I'm very happy with mine now. I haven't even tried to do all the stuff people are doing with it. I'm probably reading about a third of the time, watching videos from amazon prime (do not underestimate the value of this) about a third and messing with various apps the rest of the time.

Some of the amazon limitations are annoying (e.g., no facebook app (use moble), have to work around to get apps we already have) but nothing unsurmountable.

I haven't used either of the others, and haven't had another tablet. But I can say it has changed the way I do a number of things. I used to do an IRC chat while watching football games, would drag laptop out and keep it on coffee table and grab it on occasion but it was annoying. Now I run andchat on this thing and its perfect. I commonly browse Pulse on it and have come to quite enjoy that. Now going to get google current on it when I get around to it.

 

[j510]

Since you say long term I don't know if RIM is still going to be there and supporting the playbook. Long term.

Amazon I don't think is going anywhere. The Acer at least will be some flavor of regular android and acer as a company I'm not aware of any trouble.

I feel amazon is going to keep pushing this thing in a major way. And I'm very happy with mine now. I haven't even tried to do all the stuff people are doing with it. I'm probably reading about a third of the time, watching videos from amazon prime (do not underestimate the value of this) about a third and messing with various apps the rest of the time.

Some of the amazon limitations are annoying (e.g., no facebook app (use moble), have to work around to get apps we already have) but nothing unsurmountable.

I haven't used either of the others, and haven't had another tablet. But I can say it has changed the way I do a number of things. I used to do an IRC chat while watching football games, would drag laptop out and keep it on coffee table and grab it on occasion but it was annoying. Now I run andchat on this thing and its perfect. I commonly browse Pulse on it and have come to quite enjoy that. Now going to get google current on it when I get around to it.

thanks for the input again! i think i will go with the fire. the bad battery on the acer is what really has me turning the other way. and the blackberrys lack of apps and support doesnt sit well with me. i have a galaxy s2 for the camera and extra stuff the kindle doesnt have so now to wait to place my order over the weekend

 

[adamkesher]

The app situation with the Playbook really has to be experienced to be believed. It is that bad.1

 

[anon(392870)]

Avoid the playbook at all costs.

I don't know much about the Acer.

I've been really pleased with my Fire so far, and I know that in the future more apps will be coming and more support will be coming as Amazon pushes the Fire (and newer versions) and supports it heavily. That is a good thing. I have not yet rooted, and don't plan to for a bit.

My one complaint is the size. I knew it coming in, and I realize that I got it for much cheaper than an iPad, but I do find myself at times wishing for a bigger screen. Mostly when reading webpages. That's about it though, I'm pretty pleased with the thing.

 

[ricktat]

I bought a Playbook at $199 and returned it for the Fire. I couldn't be happier with that decision.

As stated... When you are used to your S2 and then go to the playbook the app store is complete trash.( I mean with no angry birds or twitter kinda bad. largest apps arent there) They may have android market in Feb and you can use a dev version to have it now... but its a ton of work just to get the device to do what every other device can.

The Fire does not have all apps. Any app that ises GPS or cameras won't be able to be used. But that is self explanitory.

I use the Amazon App store for my S2 and the Fire. Its great how I can sync both devices and buy on one and it goes to the other.

I would like the Android app store but the lack of any type of gift card use (like itunes cards) kills it for me.

Amazon has my information anyways and I would rather just use them.

 

[adamkesher]

Not to beat up all day on the Playbook, but it is relevant to the discussion seeing as how it looks exactly like the Fire and now costs the same.

By the time the Playbook gets an onboard email client, the iPad 3 will hit the shelves, putting exactly two years behind the curve. As far as the "Android player", how sad is it to have your direct competitor propping up interest in your product?

The Fire, Nook, iPad 1, Touchpad all would be way better than the Playbook.

 

[crazy_skier]

If your planning on writing college papers id really consider a 10 inch plus keyboard. Its going to be a headache imo to write a 10 page paper on a 7" tablet. Or get the kf and a super cheap laptop. They do a lot but aren't computer replacements.

 

[Rich Coralli]

Dont use a cheap tablet for college. Tabs are not there yet. Get a cheap lptip or ultrabook. Being young weight should not be a problem.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[j510]

Dont use a cheap tablet for college. Tabs are not there yet. Get a cheap lptip or ultrabook. Being young weight should not be a problem.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

im not getting this kindle anymore. Im still getting a tablet though. + I have a laptop already and i rather not take it to school, 7" tablets are more compact and suitable.

 

[grvthang]

Dont use a cheap tablet for college. Tabs are not there yet. Get a cheap lptip or ultrabook. Being young weight should not be a problem.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

I have to agree 100%. You're not going to write papers on a touchscreen tablet. J bought a full-scale Acer laptop (not a netbook) for my girlfriend a few weeks ago for 300 bucks. Okay - it has a Celerin processor, but so what? For school and business applications, that's fine. Keep an eye out for Xmas sales.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk

 

[Celandine]

My only problem with the Fire is the lack of storage potential. It's what turned me off from it. No SD card slot whatsoever, and what you buy is basically what you get.

The price is the one good thing going for this device, but not worth it for me. I actually picked up the Thrive instead. I can read books through the Kindle app, play games, browse the web, watch movies and the storage potential with all the ports is amazing. Worth checking out.