Ipad vs Ipad mini vs kindle fire HD

SpikeK6

SpikeK6

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Need some advice, father in law is looking to buy his wife along the lines of the above for xmas. apparently her cousin came round to their house the other week with an Ipad and was showing her their holiday pics on it and the mother in law has decided she wants one.

Here is what and where it would be used.

They go away often to France in their caravan (most sites have wifi) but would be used in and around the home
Read books on it
Wants to look at pics she has taken on her camera (compact)
Able to look and send emails
Able to take pics with it if the need arose (this is not a must more of a want)
Shop on it through internet and play games(app sort of games not full blown video games)

We have been today and looked at the very limited stock here in Guernsey, we are not totally limited to the above so even maybe a tablet of some sort. Price is not an issue is more about best for what she wants/needs

All advice taken on board from people who own these or owned a few of these.

Thanks

spike
So any advice
 
To be honest, it's a case of spending some real tine with them to say for sure. That said, I would recommend the iPad 3 to anyone, that screen is just brilliant.
 
Latest generation retina display ipad. Problem solved.
 
I've just bought an ipad mini. It's a good size for sitting and reading. The larger ipad is a bit cumbersome but the larger screen is nice. If it is mostly going to be used indoors then the larger screen of the larger ipad will be better. If you might go out with it then the smaller size of the mini is better to carry around. It's about an A5 fat desk diary size when in a case. The resolution is slightly too little on the ipad mini though. There's definitely a knack to setting it to a slightly larger default text size or using it in landscape for anything text heavy as otherwise it is just on the edge of what is comfortable to read.

Nexus 10 is supposed to be quite good as well. The android store isn't as good as the apple store yet though.

I don't know what the screen reflection is like on the Kindle Fire HD but it is fairly bad on the ipad. For intense book reading outside the cheap kindle at £70 would probably beat it hands down. But it wouldn't do any of the other stuff.

Built in camera is pretty hopeless. No led flash so bright conditions only.

If you want to see photos taken on a camera then you need the camera connection kit with an ipad (£25 ish). I don't know whether the kindle HD supports doing that at all.

I'd also recommend the 32GB version of any tablet as the 16GB will probably fill up surprisingly quickly unless there is some way of either archiving old content off elsewhere or some kind of expanded cloud facility to pop it into.
 
Moos3h said:
To be honest, it's a case of spending some real tine with them to say for sure. That said, I would recommend the iPad 3 to anyone, that screen is just brilliant.
Click to expand...

Thats the thing, here in Guernsey we are VERY limited as to what you can pick up and play with, as to why i was looking for real world crit so to speak.

Ricardodaforce said:
She said she wants an iPad.
Click to expand...

She was also hankering over the kindle fire as she already has a kindle, guess ts just her becoming a tech geek ha ha!!!

johnnypanic said:
Latest generation retina display ipad. Problem solved.
Click to expand...

Forgive my stupidity but what exactly is the retina display??

srichards said:
I've just bought an ipad mini. It's a good size for sitting and reading. The larger ipad is a bit cumbersome but the larger screen is nice. If it is mostly going to be used indoors then the larger screen of the larger ipad will be better. If you might go out with it then the smaller size of the mini is better to carry around. It's about an A5 fat desk diary size when in a case. The resolution is slightly too little on the ipad mini though. There's definitely a knack to setting it to a slightly larger default text size or using it in landscape for anything text heavy as otherwise it is just on the edge of what is comfortable to read.

Nexus 10 is supposed to be quite good as well. The android store isn't as good as the apple store yet though.

I don't know what the screen reflection is like on the Kindle Fire HD but it is fairly bad on the ipad. For intense book reading outside the cheap kindle at £70 would probably beat it hands down. But it wouldn't do any of the other stuff.

Built in camera is pretty hopeless. No led flash so bright conditions only.

If you want to see photos taken on a camera then you need the camera connection kit with an ipad (£25 ish). I don't know whether the kindle HD supports doing that at all.

I'd also recommend the 32GB version of any tablet as the 16GB will probably fill up surprisingly quickly unless there is some way of either archiving old content off elsewhere or some kind of expanded cloud facility to pop it into.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the great write up, gives me a great idea as to her needs and what she actually wants now.

Thanks for all the reply's
 
The retina display is the high resolution on the 3rd and 4th generation ipads. Not available on the ipad mini and the reason I would not buy the ipad mini at the current price point.
 
the mini iPad is only the same res as iPad 2 so I would personally go for iPad 3 unless size is an issue Kindle Fire is same size as the mini iPad but much cheaper as you can get kindle app on all three of them it's as always down to personal choice
 
I think it's easy to get blinded by specs just like it is with buying cameras ;)

For someone not so tech savvy I would say generally that iOS is more intuitive - there is a reason why the devices do not come with any instructions to speak of

I know a number of people who get on easily with iPads even more than any other device, that includes technophiles and technophobes

Unless you are sat comparing tablets side by side I doubt that you will notice the ipad 3 retina display being that much better
...however, in my opinion it is. Not so much for general use but certainly when reading books it's crisp,and clear. Would be surprised if the kindle survives the purchase of a tablet to be honest, particularly ipad

Unless watching lots of video, wanting to view 1000s of photos or have your whole music library at hand I would guess that actually a 16gb device would suffice but if budget allows there is no harm in getting a larger device. Sme of the android tablets are more flexible in this regard because they take memory cards, iPads do not so you have to think carefully upfront.

iOS comes with iCloud which means you can backup and store data out on apple servers, so providing you have a wifi connection you can get it. Dropbox app offers similar and I usually sync my photos to it, but this is not iOS specific.

Personally given that ipad 4 rumours are abound, which may well give UK 4g compatibility I would wait. I went for the wi-fi and mobile version and have not regretted it and don't use half the data allowance I thought I would....3gb for 3 months (whichever comes first), PAYG from 3 via amazon seller for 11 quid, sorted.
 
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I have iPad 2 and kindle hd. Out of the two I would suggest the iPad. Much easier operating system and has the camera included( though not very good). Bought the kindle hd for book reading as it is smaller to transport.

You can transfer photos to kindle via PC but the camera connection kit on iPad is much easier.

Not sure about iPad mini because of price but def get an iPad over the kindle hd. Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for all the comments guys.

I think reading all this and reading specs on all of the devices I think it will be an ipad of some sort whether it would be mini or otherwise
 
I would suggest the iPad 3 - what I'm using now, I actually do notice the difference between the 2 and 3, I compared them and played with them side by side at the store for about three hours before settling on the three, then coming back a week later, doing the same and finally making the purchase.

The only time I pick up the kindle now (normal, basic kindle) is when sun baking... No reflections, though I doubt you guys do much sun baking this time of year!!

iOS is far more intuitive and simple to use (I've had my iPad for about 4 or 5 months now and I'm still discovering new things - partly from iOS 6 and partly because it is quite comprehensive.

I do all of my photo editing on here and it's also replaced my course textbooks, I browse this forum, have a few fiction books, usually an episode or two of my favourite tv shows and some music and I still have free space. When I need to clear it off I connect it to the computer (running windows until Saturday when my iMac should be here) select the 'import all photos and videos' option from the auto play window and click the checkbox for 'erase after importing' then I just move everything I've imported across to the external HDD, and the iPad is ready to go again. How often depends on how many photos I have on the iPad at the time.

I've never found the size to be too clunky (and I have small hands!) though it does bulk up a little when it's in a case (not by much) and it fits in my handbag. I've got the Smart Cover and a smart case for it, both are a pleasure to use.

My iPad goes nearly everywhere with me, though I really wish they would update the software to allow an external drive to be attached... That's about my only gripe.
 
i use my 2 all the time and was brilliant in France

tip mcdonalds in france has easy access free wi-fi.
 
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