As a frugal tech librarian, I love nothing more than a deal on electronics. And I found one with the Kindle Fire, original/current price of $50.
I didn’t know what to expect from a tablet purchased on sale for $35. My expectations were not high when I pressed the order button, but, hey, it was only $35. Why not? After spending a few hours playing with it, I think it was an excellent deal. And what about if I’d spent $50 on it? I still think it’d be a good deal for what it does.
So, what does it do? It appears to do nearly everything I want an entertainment tablet to do — but that’s honestly because I’m both an Amazon customer and a digital library user. Let me explain:
- I’ve purchased a lot of books and music from Amazon. Both are available to me immediately.
- I’m an Amazon Prime customer and have access to lots of great TV shows and movies for free.
- I borrow eBooks from my library. The Kindle Books work perfectly with the device.
- I listen to audiobooks from my library. The OverDrive app works well to manage these.
For $35, I don’t really think that I have much reason to complain, but here are few things to be aware of:
- It feels like a $35 device. There is nothing slick about its blocky form.
- It is narrower than I’m used to and it’s weird for eBook reading and too narrow to easily read magazines. (But it is pretty good with video. I guess that’s the trade-off.)
- It is all about Amazon/Kindle/Audible. The device wants to pull you into the Amazon marketplace at every click.
- The short amount of research I’ve done about sideloading your own audiobooks to the device isn’t promising. (But you can use the OverDrive app or Audible audiobooks.)
It’s probably the perfect device for kids or, really, anyone who doesn’t mind the strong Amazon branding/commercialization and wants to purchase a cheap tablet device for entertainment. Parents: Look into the parental controls and protect your credit card!