Kindle Fire HDX and other tablets?

[ny biker]

I have a Kindle that's old and only for reading. While I like the ease of taking it on vacation and quickly getting my books, I miss going to the library... I kind of don't get why you would need a Kindle to do stuff like search on line. I mean, I if I really have the urge, when I'm not at home, I use my phone.

I find the phone is too small. It's a pain to type anything longer than a text and it can be very hard to really search for something online, when you need to drill down through multiple pages of a website.

And having to use my laptop for work everyday, carrying it back and forth to the office everyday, it is just wearing me down and I end up leaving it packed up in the bag when I get home instead of taking it out to use it. In theory this is a temporary arrangement, but there is no end in sight. It doesn't make sense to buy a second pc so that I can keep one at home and one at work, because if they ever do get us pcs at work then I will have an extra that I have no need for. I think a Kindle would fill the gap so I can use the web at home more easily without needing to unpack the laptop, and it would be better for traveling than having to bring my laptop with me or be limited to the small screen of the phone. I never go to the library now, I don't have the time or the energy to fight traffic to get there. I don't want to buy more books or subscribe to magazines because I don't have room for them in my tiny condo. With a Kindle I can get books and magazines from the library without having to leave home, I can buy them online if I want to, and I can still get a physical book now and then if it's something special that I will want to keep.

One lesson my father taught me was to really think long and hard before making a big purchase, to be sure that it's something that I will really use and that will be worth spending the money on. I think this is something that will be useful for me. I have to work late tomorrow night, but I'll be running some errands either at lunch or in the evening, and I plan to pick up the Kindle then.

Thanks again for everyone's input.

[Flirty&Fit]

I'm a fan of keeping everything simple and practical, so I have the kobo app on my iPad. That way I have my entire e-reader library at my finger tips, plus all of my other apps that I use daily, including my outlook account. Sometimes reading on the train is all I want to do, but other times going through my emails or working on an article is time better spent.

Using my iPad makes the most sense because it condenses all of my needs into one device. Now my problem is that if I ever lose it for some reason, I will no longer know how to survive.

[ny biker]

I've been muddling along with a Galaxy Tab S2. It seemed easy and intuitive to use when I played with it in the store, but since I brought it home it's been somewhat frustrating. I had to turn off autocorrect because it was changing almost every word I typed into a totally unrelated word. The stock android browser drove me crazy, even though the old version of the same browser that I use on my phone is fine. I installed Firefox which is better but not perfect. For some reason the orientation won't change when I turn the tablet horizontal, which is really necessary for some websites. I found recommendations for Opera and one other browser (might have been Dolphin?) on the Android user forums, but the recent app reviews for both say "this used to be great but since the last update it's horrible." So I'm waiting and hoping that they will fix whatever they messed up soon.

The screen on the S2 is great, so I've been working on setting things up to use it for viewing photos and videos that I take with my great new Nikon camera, trying to figure out the easiest way to get photos from the camera to the tablet via my pc.

For reading, I've been using Moon+. So far I've only been reading technical stuff related to work and it's been working okay for that. I haven't tried to borrow or buy any novels or other non-work books yet. Next up I need to figure out how to download my Kindle books from Amazon's server to the tablet so I can read them when there's no wifi, i.e., on an airplane.

So I'm getting there, but have concluded that all of these things have a high annoyance factor. I'm kinda regretting getting the more expensive S2, given the price I pay in terms of being irritated and frustrated getting the tablet to do what I want. I'd be less ticked off I had paid less cash for it.

[Catrin]

There is both Kindle and Nook software for Android in the app store, they both work well and you can access all of your Amazon content this way. There is a setting for allowing the orientation to change based on how you're holding the tablet, but not all programs will change. Look in your settings for the "device" settings and check "auto rotate screen". This will work for most Android apps - I hope this helps! I've a Galaxy Tab 4 (10.1), not the S2 but that shouldn't matter.

[ny biker]

I have screen rotation turned on but it's not working for anything. I think it used to work.


===

Okay I rebooted and now it works again. The magical on/off button strikes again...

[Catrin]

I have screen rotation turned on but it's not working for anything. I think it used to work.


===

Okay I rebooted and now it works again. The magical on/off button strikes again...

Glad to read this! Amazing how often that seems to take care of things There are a few automatic updates that I've learned I really need to reboot afterwards or odd things happen with my tablet. Phone as well, but most often tablet.