Amazon’s £50 Fire tablet: Suprisingly, it doesn’t suck

It won't win any speed or design awards, but it does everything a tablet needs to.

Read the whole story

 

[SDBud]

Low res screen, low res camera, lousy sound, Fire O/S, and no mention of GPS.

I'll wait, save, and get something more capable.

 

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

MunkiLord[/url]":v9qvawm6]I picked up one of these a few weeks ago and so far I'm enjoying it. By no means is this the greatest thing ever, but it is worth fifty bucks. It gets me through random Facebook and Feedly browsing while sitting on my couch, and that is really all I want from a tablet. My biggest complaint is only one gig of RAM because that is definitely noticeable, but for such a low price I understand. I will likely be picking up the six pack shortly to give out to my nieces and nephews for Christmas.

At such a low price, I do see this having some potential to do interesting things once some hackers get their hands on a few six packs. For less than three hundred dollars you can have six tablets sitting around, I'm sure someone will eventually think of something interesting to do with them.

Perhaps somebody will crack this generation's bootloader open, I haven't been keeping a close eye on Kindle-related hackery; but it seems likely to me that the 'hacker/tinkerer' interest in Kindles(except the e-ink ones, Amazon appears to be much more aggressively positioned there) is likely to be decreasing.

$50 isn't a bad price; but it's actually not terribly exceptional if you are willing to wade into no-name-OEM land($60 will get you the 1280x800, microSD and HDMI-out, "Wanxin TR-7U" from Newegg right now; if you step down to 1024x600, $40 appears to be available from a variety of vendors, going up to $50 if you want to be sure of getting 1GB of RAM). Now, in terms of out-of-box experience, I have very little doubt that Amazon does a better job than 'Wanxin' or 'Ematic' or 'Astro Tab'; but I also strongly suspect that none of the bottom feeders have any real incentive to try to lock out software modifications(their GPL compliance is probably nonexistent, and I don't even want to know what crap their stock firmware is; but why would they spend even a penny more when they have zero 'ecosystem' to protect; and absolutely nothing to gain by controlling what the customer does with the device?). Amazon, for obvious reasons, has been both improving their 'FireOS' and making reflashing to stock or Cyanogenmod more difficult over time.

Given the limited number of SoC vendors in play, the hacker/tinkerer route seems much better served by going with the cheapest device for which adequate support has been cobbled together(it's somewhat rare for any single vendor to actually be GPL compliant enough to get AOSP up and running on one of their products with just their assistance; but if enough vendors provide overlapping support that sucks in different ways, the necessary collection of code and driver blobs can often be cobbled together for a variety of devices based on the same basic hardware) that doesn't have horror stories about screen or build quality.

A few years ago, Amazon was very aggressive, and their lockdown was weak; but at this point their lockdown can be expected to be at least as competent, probably more, with each passing iteration; and their prices are aggressive by the standards of people who actually want to make money on device sales; but are not terribly exceptional compared to no-names on the low end, or a variety of stock-Android options on the higher end.

 

[LordDaMan]

How is FireOS 5 compared to earlier versions?

 

[Belisarius]

Yay for racing to the bottom.

 

[.airstrike]

D-Fresh[/url]":35nuq5l7]

PRICE: £50 / €60 / $50

Interesting spread of currency conversions, google tells me £50 is currently around €68 / $77.

Well, exchange rates are one thing and purchasing power parity is something else

 

[Robotech_Master]

fuzzyfuzzyfungus[/url]":3i8988hk]
$50 isn't a bad price; but it's actually not terribly exceptional if you are willing to wade into no-name-OEM land($60 will get you the 1280x800, microSD and HDMI-out, "Wanxin TR-7U" from Newegg right now; if you step down to 1024x600, $40 appears to be available from a variety of vendors, going up to $50 if you want to be sure of getting 1GB of RAM). Now, in terms of out-of-box experience,

Yeah, but on the other hand, a lot of those OEMs use bottom-of-the-barrel parts, including SD card slots that only go up to 32 gigs, not the full 128 the Fire offers. Say what you will about Amazon's tablet being low-end, at least it's made from high-quality low-end parts. Remember, the Fire technically costs $70, it's just that you're paying $20 of that in the form of tolerating lock-screen ads.

A few years ago, Amazon was very aggressive, and their lockdown was weak; but at this point their lockdown can be expected to be at least as competent, probably more, with each passing iteration; and their prices are aggressive by the standards of people who actually want to make money on device sales; but are not terribly exceptional compared to no-names on the low end, or a variety of stock-Android options on the higher end.

Yes, Amazon locks out Cyanogenmod, other launchers, etc. However, they don't lock out putting the Google Play store and associated apps on it. In fact, it's flat-out weird how easy it is. It's like they intentionally didn't lock it out—the method uses a bog-standard developer-mode USB debug option that you access by tapping the device's serial number several times, just like on every other Android tablet. And if you can put Google Play on there, you can do about 90% of what you could have done with Cyanogenmod. Once you've done that, it actually is a pretty decent little tablet for the money.

 

[Fatesrider]

D-Fresh[/url]":3023ryy1]

PRICE: £50 / €60 / $50

Interesting spread of currency conversions, google tells me £50 is currently around €68 / $77.

Assuming it's what I get with regard to selling my books overseas, there are many taxes involved on imported goods the cost of which are born by the buyer. My books are marked up by 20% for a VAT in the UK and other EU countries by Amazon, though I always charge the same price.

I expect that might have something to do with it.

 

[iOSecure]

shaun444[/url]":1wx4y2s3]Looks pretty good.

I personally would stay away from the 'Amazon shop window' and pay an extra £15 for a Nexus 7 (2012), which is running great now with Lollipop. But then that's just my preference.

You mean the one with a Tegra 3 and NAND flash issues?

If you value stock Android might as well get the 2013... because the N7 2012 is complete trash. I'd rank this tablet over it

 

[ethd]

My wife wanted one of these so I pre-ordered one and I've gotta say, it feels like a tablet twice the price. I'm really impressed by how snappy it feels. There's obviously some jitter, but not as much as I'd expect. And it took maybe ten minutes, including download time, to get Google Play Services on it. I just wish the launcher could be changed, but other than that, I like it a lot.

 

[QuarterSwede]

LordDaMan[/url]":11qqz01f]How is FireOS 5 compared to earlier versions?

Much better. I hated the first Kindle Fire's OS. FireOS 5 feels like Android and the XBox 360 UI mixed which is a much better thing than the carousel UI which was horrid. And as I said earlier, the parental controls with adult/kid profiles are better than any one else's. It's the best kid tablet bar none and not bad for an adult tablet.

 

[alxx]

Putrid Polecat[/url]":1drftgxl]I preordered a six-pack of these as soon as I heard, which is 6 for the price of 5, or $42/tablet. They make great gifts, especially for kids. You can afford to get each kid their own tablet, which makes kids super excited.

Also, check out Freetiime

http://www.howtogeek.com/178303/how-to- ... -freetime/

freetime is US only , as far as I know ?

 

[siliconaddict]

No Google Android Market = No sale.

 

[QuarterSwede]

siliconaddict[/url]":2mgp5sgd]No Google Android Market = No sale.

Google Play can be side loaded as mentioned by quite a few people.

 

[bthylafh]

iOSecure[/url]":rgu2ek6g]

shaun444[/url]":rgu2ek6g]Looks pretty good.

I personally would stay away from the 'Amazon shop window' and pay an extra £15 for a Nexus 7 (2012), which is running great now with Lollipop. But then that's just my preference.

You mean the one with a Tegra 3 and NAND flash issues?

If you value stock Android might as well get the 2013... because the N7 2012 is complete trash. I'd rank this tablet over it

AIUI the 2012 N7 with the crappy flash was the 8GB variant. My wife's (a 16GB version upgraded to 5.1.1) was still doing just fine 'til she dropped it right on the headphone jack a few days ago.

 

[Worminator]

My benchmark in Android tablets is the Nexus 7 (2013). <$200, latest Android updates, solid performance, 1200 pixel screen.

Obviously you can pay less, and sure $50 is a LOT less than $200, but considering how much I have used my Nexus in the last two years, and considering what most people fork out every month for a smartphone, and considering what a difference a high resolution screen makes for reading text, I really don't understand this unwillingness to pay more than $100 for an Android tablet and actually get something good.

(Kid's toy aka digital babysitter notwithstanding.)

 

[QuarterSwede]

iEvolution2[/url]":1pdrumr0]No offend to those who wants to get this for their kids. Personally I will get the best I can afford for my kids. The very best on the market. The top of the line or I will not get it at all. When there 's something I would't want one for myelf I wouldn't want my love ones to have it either. That's just me.

Sounds to me this tablet is good enough for those underdeveloped countries where every dollar counts for the parents. Perants who always wanted to get their kids something hi-tech, something like a tablet they couldn't have afforded now they can.

I take it you don't have kids. They destroy EVERYTHING. Plus this is the best tablet for parental controls hands down. Nothing else gives you as much control.

 

[redleader]

Robotech_Master[/url]":1o14dc23]

fuzzyfuzzyfungus[/url]":1o14dc23]
$50 isn't a bad price; but it's actually not terribly exceptional if you are willing to wade into no-name-OEM land($60 will get you the 1280x800, microSD and HDMI-out, "Wanxin TR-7U" from Newegg right now; if you step down to 1024x600, $40 appears to be available from a variety of vendors, going up to $50 if you want to be sure of getting 1GB of RAM). Now, in terms of out-of-box experience,

Yeah, but on the other hand, a lot of those OEMs use bottom-of-the-barrel parts, including SD card slots that only go up to 32 gigs, not the full 128 the Fire offers.

FWIW, there is no such thing as an SD card slot that only goes up to 32GB. 32GB is the FAT32 file system limit in the Windows disk format tool, which is what that limit refers to. The actual limit for SD cards is 2TB, regardless of labeling. Its just that above 32GB you're supposed to ship exFAT formatted cards (which Windows can format). So if a device says it only supports up to 32 GB, what that means is you'll need to format 64GB+ cards with a 3rd party tool (on Windows) or use a Mac/Linux PC. But it will work. Android doesn't care at all about Windows format utility limitations.

 

[jindofox]

TheFu[/url]":5hmnukpj]
So - any privacy concerns? Is amazon still running a web proxy for all http traffic?
https://www.eff.org/2011/october/amazon ... trade-offs - that article is 4+ yrs old. Anything new known?

$100-less to give up our privacy is NOT sufficient, if that is the deal.

That article about the Fire browser running a proxy to speed up loading is from 2011, and even then, it was an option that could be turned off. I can't recall anymore, but I think it might have even been off by default.

 

[jindofox]

QuarterSwede[/url]":4065kbjq]
I take it you don't have kids. They destroy EVERYTHING. Plus this is the best tablet for parental controls hands down. Nothing else gives you as much control.

My kid is pretty gentle with electronic stuff, no worries here, but there's definitely something to be said about not worrying about an easily replaceable thing hitting the pavement. 100% agreed about the kid ecosystem on the Kindle tablets, too. I wish iOS had a similar kid-friendly ecosystem. iOS has the apps, but Amazon has better thought through how families actually use technology.

 

[Kamus]

Pretty sure I posted here a few years ago, that in a few years we would have a 50 dollar tablet and I got downvoted quite a bit...

Well, what say you now, downvoters?

And yeah a 10 dollar tablet isn't that far off either, at which point you have to wonder just how long it will take schools to require students just bring a tablet instead of spending a lot on notebooks.

 

[Chadmasta5]

With it's low price I'm sure it will entice developers to work on custom roms for it. Even on it's own it would make a decent dashboard mount media center. You could even get an offline navigation app to use it as a GPS.

 

[quanticle]

Joost[/url]":1kpd2i50]

And it's inexpensive enough that, if you dropped it or lost it, or the kids dipped in a bucket of water for the lols, you could just hop back on Amazon and pick up another without breaking the bank.

But if they do do that, you shouldn’t go and buy another one, of course…

Well, at least not right away. Only when they start threatening to do the same with mommy’s or daddy’s more expensive tablet. ;-)

And I don't doubt that people will still want an iPad for their superior design and features, as well as iOS. But the end is nigh for those making tablets that sit between the two price extremes.

Well, here’s hoping they won’t disappear altogether. The cheapest tablets tend to give you something that might have been hot four years ago, where a mid-range device can reduce your lag to say one to two years. To me, that’s worth the higher price. A flagship device, however, is usually beyond what I’d be willing to pay.

(What I’m really looking for, though, is a tablet that’ll run Emacs comfortably…)

You could always get a Surface. Emacs runs remarkably well on Windows.

 

[evan_s]

redleader[/url]":m6y5y99v]

Robotech_Master[/url]":m6y5y99v]

fuzzyfuzzyfungus[/url]":m6y5y99v]
$50 isn't a bad price; but it's actually not terribly exceptional if you are willing to wade into no-name-OEM land($60 will get you the 1280x800, microSD and HDMI-out, "Wanxin TR-7U" from Newegg right now; if you step down to 1024x600, $40 appears to be available from a variety of vendors, going up to $50 if you want to be sure of getting 1GB of RAM). Now, in terms of out-of-box experience,

Yeah, but on the other hand, a lot of those OEMs use bottom-of-the-barrel parts, including SD card slots that only go up to 32 gigs, not the full 128 the Fire offers.

FWIW, there is no such thing as an SD card slot that only goes up to 32GB. 32GB is the FAT32 file system limit in the Windows disk format tool, which is what that limit refers to. The actual limit for SD cards is 2TB, regardless of labeling. Its just that above 32GB you're supposed to ship exFAT formatted cards (which Windows can format). So if a device says it only supports up to 32 GB, what that means is you'll need to format 64GB+ cards with a 3rd party tool (on Windows) or use a Mac/Linux PC. But it will work. Android doesn't care at all about Windows format utility limitations.

There most certainly is such a thing as a SD slot that only support 32gbs. In fact an original SD card slot will only support up to 2gb cards. A SDHC slot will support up to 32gbs. A SDXC slot is what supports up to 2tb. You are correct that SDXC cards come formatted exFAT and there are some devices that have SDXC slots but don't support exFAT because they don't want to pay MS for the patents. Those devices can support larger cards when they are formatted in a way that they can understand them but that doesn't change the fact that SDHC only supports a max of 32gb.

http://www.sdcard.org/developers/overview/capacity/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital#SDHC

 

[greenmky]

My wife has had this for a few weeks now as she pre-ordered hers. She has an iPad air but it isn't particularly portable given the size, and she wanted something she could throw in her purse and not worry about.

She can watch video on it on the go (tethered to her phone), use it for games. Something that wasn't a huge deal if it was stolen at work or gets broken somehow or food on it when being used for cooking recipes in the kitchen. Etc.

She seems pretty happy with it. It's a bit chunky but a fine, workable sort of $50 tablet.

 

[Gelid_Ganef]

Have you seen "Looking stupid taking photos with an iPad"?

Maybe the terrible camera is actually another perk.

 

[alxx]

Gelid_Ganef[/url]":1v900cfk]Have you seen "Looking stupid taking photos with an iPad"?

Maybe the terrible camera is actually another perk.

I'd prefer no camera

 

[Old_Fogie_Late_Bloomer]

Pixy Misa Mk II[/url]":522zdsa4]

Old_Fogie_Late_Bloomer[/url]":522zdsa4]Dat screen rez tho

Yeah, if someone manages to unlock the thing and get CyanogenMod on there, I'd be down with a $50 tablet--I have no desire to own a device so tied into Amazon though--but 1024x600? Eeeeeh...

The original iPad was 1024x768, and on a much larger screen. That was only five years ago.

The Nook Color was 1024x600 on a 7" screen. That was also five years ago. I've used screens of that size and pixel density and in my opinion, the resolution is limiting.

I'm not one of those "400+ PPI or GTFO" types but I do think you cross a threshold of usability when you hit 1280x720. Maybe I'm biased because both my phone and the Note 2 I use as a tablet have that resolution, but since we've established 720p as a standard for HD video and engineered devices around the HD standards, I think it's more of a self-fulfilling usability prophecy.

 

[AndreaFaulds]

Pixy Misa Mk II[/url]":2615myjb]

Old_Fogie_Late_Bloomer[/url]":2615myjb]Dat screen rez tho

Yeah, if someone manages to unlock the thing and get CyanogenMod on there, I'd be down with a $50 tablet--I have no desire to own a device so tied into Amazon though--but 1024x600? Eeeeeh...

The original iPad was 1024x768, and on a much larger screen. That was only five years ago.

The iPad is still 1024x768. Yes, it has the 'Retina Display' now, but that just doubled the DPI: the UI elements are the same visual size. What's improved is text legibility.

It's strange for me to hear people complain of this being too low a resolution, given how long that was the gold standard for personal computers.

 

[Old_Fogie_Late_Bloomer]

Robotech_Master[/url]":1megul95]

A few years ago, Amazon was very aggressive, and their lockdown was weak; but at this point their lockdown can be expected to be at least as competent, probably more, with each passing iteration; and their prices are aggressive by the standards of people who actually want to make money on device sales; but are not terribly exceptional compared to no-names on the low end, or a variety of stock-Android options on the higher end.

Yes, Amazon locks out Cyanogenmod, other launchers, etc. However, they don't lock out putting the Google Play store and associated apps on it. In fact, it's flat-out weird how easy it is. It's like they intentionally didn't lock it out—the method uses a bog-standard developer-mode USB debug option that you access by tapping the device's serial number several times, just like on every other Android tablet. And if you can put Google Play on there, you can do about 90% of what you could have done with Cyanogenmod. Once you've done that, it actually is a pretty decent little tablet for the money.

Be that as it may be, I don't particularly trust the idea of an Amazon Android fork from a privacy perspective. I have a bit more faith in CyanogenMod.

 

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

evan_s[/url]":2f01omvh]

redleader[/url]":2f01omvh]

Robotech_Master[/url]":2f01omvh]

fuzzyfuzzyfungus[/url]":2f01omvh]
$50 isn't a bad price; but it's actually not terribly exceptional if you are willing to wade into no-name-OEM land($60 will get you the 1280x800, microSD and HDMI-out, "Wanxin TR-7U" from Newegg right now; if you step down to 1024x600, $40 appears to be available from a variety of vendors, going up to $50 if you want to be sure of getting 1GB of RAM). Now, in terms of out-of-box experience,

Yeah, but on the other hand, a lot of those OEMs use bottom-of-the-barrel parts, including SD card slots that only go up to 32 gigs, not the full 128 the Fire offers.

FWIW, there is no such thing as an SD card slot that only goes up to 32GB. 32GB is the FAT32 file system limit in the Windows disk format tool, which is what that limit refers to. The actual limit for SD cards is 2TB, regardless of labeling. Its just that above 32GB you're supposed to ship exFAT formatted cards (which Windows can format). So if a device says it only supports up to 32 GB, what that means is you'll need to format 64GB+ cards with a 3rd party tool (on Windows) or use a Mac/Linux PC. But it will work. Android doesn't care at all about Windows format utility limitations.

There most certainly is such a thing as a SD slot that only support 32gbs. In fact an original SD card slot will only support up to 2gb cards. A SDHC slot will support up to 32gbs. A SDXC slot is what supports up to 2tb. You are correct that SDXC cards come formatted exFAT and there are some devices that have SDXC slots but don't support exFAT because they don't want to pay MS for the patents. Those devices can support larger cards when they are formatted in a way that they can understand them but that doesn't change the fact that SDHC only supports a max of 32gb.

http://www.sdcard.org/developers/overview/capacity/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital#SDHC

The situation is complicated by the fact that some 'SD card readers', most commonly the ones in PCs or sold as USB add-on devices, handle interaction with the card in firmware and expose the card to the host system as a USB MSC device. If you get one of those with SDHC firmware and you hand it an SDXC card, it will indeed typically freak out in some unhelpful way. I'm sure that at least one vendor has provided a firmware update for at least one such device at some point in time; but it's generally fixed for the life of the device.

In embedded systems, tablets, etc. it is more common for the card reader to be implemented by a direct connection to the SoC's MMC or SDIO controller. These still can be limited to SDHC or even SD-only, with suitably apathetic implementation; but the card is directly exposed to the OS, so SDXC support is usually only an OS bump away without hardware changes. ("UHS-II" devices add extra pins to support higher speeds, and should be backwards compatible; but obviously won't work at advertised speeds without appropriate hardware).

 

[MechR]

bthylafh[/url]":1zha04id]

iOSecure[/url]":1zha04id]

shaun444[/url]":1zha04id]Looks pretty good.

I personally would stay away from the 'Amazon shop window' and pay an extra £15 for a Nexus 7 (2012), which is running great now with Lollipop. But then that's just my preference.

You mean the one with a Tegra 3 and NAND flash issues?

If you value stock Android might as well get the 2013... because the N7 2012 is complete trash. I'd rank this tablet over it

AIUI the 2012 N7 with the crappy flash was the 8GB variant. My wife's (a 16GB version upgraded to 5.1.1) was still doing just fine 'til she dropped it right on the headphone jack a few days ago.

Your wife might've gotten a lucky one. My 16GB version started to slow noticeably in the late Kitkat days, and continued deteriorating on Lollipop. I never did anything funny with it either.

 

[AesirValkyr]

sanloublues[/url]":1qgdhb9q]

The ads on the lock screen aren't that intrusive, and sometimes it pops up with the odd game that actually seems quite interesting.

Give it time. On my wife's older Fire tablet, I sometimes get video ads (which you can exit from immediately), ads for movies I don't want my kids to see ads for, and the kids often accidentally touch the ad instead of the unlock icon. The only reason I haven't paid the no-ad fee yet is because it isn't a device I use regularly.

I have just about every version of Fire tablets, and the kindle readers. I have never seen a video ad.

 

[tricorn]

AndreaFaulds[/url]":fh243t92]
The iPad is still 1024x768. Yes, it has the 'Retina Display' now, but that just doubled the DPI: the UI elements are the same visual size. What's improved is text legibility.

No, doubling the DPI while keeping the display size the same yields twice the pixels in each axis (or four times the total pixels).

My iPad3 is 2048x1536, as is the iPad Air 2. Even the iPad mini (except the first one) is 2048x1536, same number of pixels packed into a smaller area.

 

[Thykon]

MechR[/url]":2jlbv2nr]

bthylafh[/url]":2jlbv2nr]

iOSecure[/url]":2jlbv2nr]

shaun444[/url]":2jlbv2nr]Looks pretty good.

I personally would stay away from the 'Amazon shop window' and pay an extra £15 for a Nexus 7 (2012), which is running great now with Lollipop. But then that's just my preference.

You mean the one with a Tegra 3 and NAND flash issues?

If you value stock Android might as well get the 2013... because the N7 2012 is complete trash. I'd rank this tablet over it

AIUI the 2012 N7 with the crappy flash was the 8GB variant. My wife's (a 16GB version upgraded to 5.1.1) was still doing just fine 'til she dropped it right on the headphone jack a few days ago.

Your wife might've gotten a lucky one. My 16GB version started to slow noticeably in the late Kitkat days, and continued deteriorating on Lollipop. I never did anything funny with it either.

^this, My 16GB 2012 N7 is garbage. Programs hang, wait times on normal programs that can average 20-30 seconds. And its never been mishandled. Its just shown a steady decline in its performance.

 

[psb]

All they need is a $75 version with an 8" 1080p screen and everything else the same. Don't care about bezel, don't care about camera, don't need faster SoC for content consumption uses...

I also have a Playbook, and it's just a shame that no Android replacement hacks were ever done for it. Still, as long as YouTube works (have to use a different browser in mobile mode) it's useful.

 

[greatn]

The bundle pricing was genius. My company has been snatching up dozens to give away at the holiday dinner function.

 

[TheThirdDictor]

logic_88[/url]":23513369]

Billy-Wonka[/url]":23513369]I could see this work as a fancy remote control for a media center, but I'm not sure what else. The low resolution and the fact that you virtually can't use it outside make it a poor e-reader; the lack of Play Store access makes it unfit as a "real" tablet replacement.

I'm skeptical of the review. While I haven't used this particular tablet, I've used other 1024x600 tablets and the low resolution was very annoying. Too much scrolling. Spending a little bit more to get at least a 720p tablet would be a wise investment, IMO.

I thought the same thing myself, but I went out and bought one this weekend. I'm used to high-end tablets (I own an iPad, a 2013 nexus 7, and a both a 7-inch and a 10-inch Windows tablet), and was surprised at how decent a tablet this actually is. It isn't "great", but it's wholly adequate. The pixellation is really only noticeable when reading smaller text. With the font size just slightly increased, it's a perfectly adequate e-reader. It performs reasonably well, and with a microSD card added, storage is adequate.

I have been able to come up with a number of use cases. I'm buying one for my daughter for Christmas, to replace her iPad (first generation). I'm also thinking of requiring my students to buy one (I teach some classes at a local community college, including one on digital literacy, for which this would be a perfect tool), as well as keeping the one I bought for travel. I drop a $50 tablet in the hot-tub? Well, that's annoying. Guess I have to stop by Best Buy when I go out for dinner to get another one.

I think Amazon may have hit a sweet spot here. $50 dramatically eliminates the barrier cost of entry (even for poorer people), and the performance and entertainment/app stack is perfectly adequate.

I framed it for a friend of mine this way: 80% of the performance and usability of an iPad Mini, for 20% of the price.

 

[rizzo420]

I have the 7" model from last year and it's great, thinking of picking up one of these just to have another one around.

 

[daneren2005]

panton41[/url]":7w6e3lxh]

cecilroytoo[/url]":7w6e3lxh]Look at that bezel! My God.

Am I the only person who's fine with a tablet having a bezel. I mean there needs to be someplace neutral to put your fingers while holding the device. The bezel on this looks about as wide as my thumb, which would making holding it a lot more comfortable than a tablet with a tiny sliver on the edges. Add on that this is almost perfect to give to little kids who might not have developed the fine motor control to hold onto a tiny lip, I don't see the big deal.

After watching my kids repeatedly accidentally press buttons or not be able to do anything because the tablet viewed the fingers on the edge of a screen as the main touch targets, large bezels are actually better for the target audience.