Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD ?

[Bene288]

Title says it all. I'm not very tech savvy, but I'm thinking of picking one of these up for a Christmas present. The person receiving the gift is a super geek, hates Apple so Ipad is out of the question, loves PC's, reads A LOT. Any recommendations ?

 

[bvibert]

With the fire you're more or less locked into using Amazons services and app store. The nexus is much more open and you can get your content from various sources instead of just Amazon. I haven't done much research since the HD came out, but i knew it was coming when i was looking at buying the nexus 7. I considered waiting for it, but decided the Amazon factor probably wasn't worth it for me. IIRC the only advantage the fire had it's that you can stream their VOD content on it, which they don't allow on other Android devices. This might be a big deal for Amazon prime members who watch a lot of videos through that service. We're prime members, but that wasn't enough to make me go the Amazon tablet route. I'm very happy with my nexus 7. I'm not a huge reader, but I find the google play store library to be adequate. I can also get content from the Amazon kindle and b&n nook apps.

 

[bobbutts]

Nexus 7
Especially for the anti-apple type. The unlocked bootloader on Nexus devices is the antithesis of Apple's walled garden.

 

[selski]

For those using other Android devices you can download Dolphin HD Browser. In the settings there is an option for User Agent. Choose desktop. You can then stream your Amazon Prime content in Dolphin.

 

[Nick]

I'm voting Nexus 7 as well. The thing with Nexus 7 is that you can basically do almost all the same things you can do on the kindle. There is a Kindle app, and an Amazon MP3 app. The only thing you miss out on is the Video on Demand store, which is kind of annoying ... I do wish Amazon would release a VOD app. The logic behind why they haven't apparently has to do with the fact that they are cannabilizing their base, but aren't they already doing that with the Kindle app and with the MP3 app?

I really like my Nexus 7. I have almost replaced my phone entirely in the house with it.

 

[fbrissette]

Haven't used the kindle fire. However, I have used a lot the tablets on the market (Apple and Android), and the Nexus is the first one I am totally happy with. Form factor, quality, speed, it's all there. Unless you are dead set on the exclusive use of the Amazon environment I can't see why you shouldn't go with the Nexus 7.

 

[bvibert]

For those using other Android devices you can download Dolphin HD Browser. In the settings there is an option for User Agent. Choose desktop. You can then stream your Amazon Prime content in Dolphin.

You can choose to load the desktop version of sites with chrome (which is the default browser for Android 4.1) as well. However, from what I can see amazon videos require flash to view, which is no longer supported on Android. I don't have dolphin loaded on my Nexus 7, so I couldn't try it, but I couldn't watch Amazon videos using Chrome because of no flash support.

I was a big dolphin browser user for a while, but the stock browsers on the last few versions of Android have been so good i haven't bothered.

 

[severine]

You can choose to load the desktop version of sites with chrome (which is the default browser for Android 4.1) as well. However, from what I can see amazon videos require flash to view, which is no longer supported on Android. I don't have dolphin loaded on my Nexus 7, so I couldn't try it, but I couldn't watch Amazon videos using Chrome because of no flash support.

Wait... did I read that correctly? One of the things you call a downfall for Apple products is now no longer supported in Android either...?

 

[fbrissette]

Wait... did I read that correctly? One of the things you call a downfall for Apple products is now no longer supported in Android either...?

It's been known for a while that HTML5 was going to eventually replace flash. The last version of Android had abandonned flash but this is at a point where flash is really dying (still annoying some times). Apple left flash when it was in full force, and mostly because of a feud between Jobs and Adobe.

 

[severine]

It's been known for a while that HTML5 was going to eventually replace flash. The last version of Android had abandonned flash but this is at a point where flash is really dying (still annoying some times). Apple left flash when it was in full force, and mostly because of a feud between Jobs and Adobe.

So they were ahead of their time!

(psst... bvibert is my husband. Just some harmless ribbing.)

 

[o3jeff]

So they were ahead of their time!

(psst... bvibert is my husband. Just some harmless ribbing.)

I don't even think he will even eat an apple(the fruit) because of the company!

 

[bvibert]

I don't even think he will even eat an apple(the fruit) because of the company!

Pffft!! Just like Android I eat Apple for breakfast! :lol:

 

[bvibert]

Wait... did I read that correctly? One of the things you call a downfall for Apple products is now no longer supported in Android either...?

Yup, it's true, but that was never one of the big Apple detractors for me. As noted by fbrissette, Flash is going away, but I feel that the drop of Android support was a little premature.