Pointless Announcements

The Kindle Fire's are pretty cheap, very easy to use, and have the massive Amazon infrastructure behind them. If you want to spend a few more bucks you can go with the Kindle Fire HD or 8.9" screen. But I have the basic Kindle Fire, have had it since the week they came out, and I love it. Amazon customer service freaking kicks butt too.

I think they are great for someone (like me, and I would guess you) who likes all the cool things a tablet will do easily, but won't be the type to hack the software or go all nerd/tech geek on it. I carry mine with me all the time so I can read on it. That's 85% of the use mine gets. But I can also post here on it (Tapatalk App), play games, watch movies in the tub , check email, or jump online.

 

Personally, I love my Nexus 7. I might love it a little too much. My husband calls it the "devilpad."

 

I love my Nexus 7 for reading PDFs and articles online for school. Since it's about the size of a trade paperback, it's very easy to hold, especially once I got a case with a little hand strap. What's nice is that I can use the Evernote app alongside reading an article, and the Nexus 7 switches between both seamlessly with a couple of clicks. Makes my life easier. It's wifi only, but that hasn't been a dealbreaker for me since I can link it to the mobile hotspot on my phone.

 

Kindle Fire's also come with a free year of Amazon Prime. Which basically means free 2-day shipping on a massive amount of items on Amazon, free streaming movies/TV shows, and a handful of other perks.

 

Yeah, but mixedmedia is eligible for Amazon Student, which is the same but cheaper, and as I recall, comes with a long free trial.

 

Amazon Student does give you a 6-month trial of the free shipping, and they will pre-ship books and media so you get them on release day. But I don't think it includes the streaming movies and TV for free that the Prime account will give.

Remember, we are talking movies in the bathtub here! That part is an important upgrade!

 

Yes, it does include TV and movies. I have it. We use it to stream stuff sometimes, but we use Hulu and Netflix more. Plus, in terms of content, there isn't much they have that Hulu and Netflix don't have.

 

I wonder if new accounts do too, or if you are grandfathered in somehow.

When I go to the sign-up page it only lists these:

Amazon Prime shipping benefits free for six months
FREE Two-Day Shipping on millions of items
FREE Release-Date Delivery on video games, DVDs, books and more
Deals and promotions exclusively for Students​

Sounds to me like, if she hasn't signed up for this yet, and does decide to get a Kindle, she should wait until her free year is up, then sign up as a Student and get another 6 months.

 

All we need is your CC number and we'll hook you up.

 

Wait. I've been going about this "advice for a tablet to use in bubblebaths" thing all wrong. *facepalm*

snowy, does the Nexus have a camera? Because the Fire doesn't. I'm thinking she needs a camera built in. Yeah, we need to convince her to go that route............where's my halo? I know it's around here somewhere....

 

A forward facing one, in fact.

 

FYI, I dug into the streaming video question about Prime v. Student. When I walked through adding a Student Trial to my Prime account it told me this:


For me, it said this:
Your Amazon Prime membership:


By signing up for Amazon Student you will receive a prorated refund on the remaining months of your Amazon Prime membership. Your account will also be updated to reflect the following:

• You will get a six months of free Amazon Primeshipping benefits.
• You will no longer have access to Prime instant videos.
• Current guests on your membership will also have six months of free shipping benefits. You may remove guests at any time, but you will not be able to add any additional guests.

I did some digging and found out that Amazon Student is not supposed to offer free streaming during the 6-mo trial. Once the trial is over and you sign up for the discounted Amazon Student service and pay the $39 for it, then they add the lending library and streaming video. So mystery solved.

However, we've already decided she's getting something with a camera, so the point is moot.