Cheap windows tablet as kindle?

[slackerinabox]

My wife's beloved kindle paperwhite bit the dust, how would a windows 8 tablet do as a replacement? I mean, the paperwhite is $119 and an hp stream 7 is $79 - 25 windows store credit. Is the kindle app smooth on it (my android tablet stutter's a bit)? I'm fine with lcd vs e-ink, but is the experience painful?

I figure windows 8.1 and outlook would make for a nice personal organizer/ old school PDA with the kindle app for books. Doable, or not worth the compromises?

 

[lopri]

I personally wouldn't. My eyes are getting tired of LCDs. With so many electronics screens around these days (most of them being LCDs) I guess one can call it "LCD fatigue." It doesn't matter how great a screen is. They all look plasticky and reflective. Even for a black and white, I cannot avoid seeing its backlight which causes reflection and secondary reflections. For reading books I would rather choose e-ink screen and let my eyes relax.

And of course battery life is something you wouldn't worry about with Kindles. The same cannot be said for LCD tablets.

 

[paperwastage]

the hp stream 7 is known for having poor battery life among its tablet class and only 1280x800 7+1GB

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8760/hp-stream-7-review/5

It's definitely a really good price/performance device, but it won't do well as a straight kindle replacement for reading

 

[maevinj]

the hp stream 7 is known for having poor battery life among its tablet class and only 1280x800 7+1GB

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8760/hp-stream-7-review/5

It's definitely a really good price/performance device, but it won't do well as a straight kindle replacement for reading

I'm confused as to why it wouldn't do well as a straight kindle replacement for reading?

It seems like it would work pretty well, especially considering the price.

 

[paperwastage]

I'm confused as to why it wouldn't do well as a straight kindle replacement for reading?

It seems like it would work pretty well, especially considering the price.

if you're comparing this to a kindle (eInk or tablet), there are multiple cons.

1. Weight (paperwhite = 8ounces, fire hdx 7" 11 ounces, hp 13 ounces
2. Battery (paperwhite = days, fire hdx 7" >8 hours, hp <5 hours
3. Android touch experience vs windows 8 touch experience, gets annoying after a while
4. only 1GB ram, very limited especially in a windows environment
5. Threat of viruses/worms on windows vs android. on android without root, it's hard to brick the device. on windows, if I delete the wrong file/folder or misconfig something, i can easily break it

you'll have to decide if the pros below outweight the cons
-> full windows experience. you can do anything - run photoshop(if it even loads with 1GB ram) to edit photos/backup your dslr, ...

the hp stream 7 might be a good alternative to the kindle LCD tablets, or replacing a kindle eInk+android tablet with 1 device, but it's a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none thing

 

[sham63]

One thing to consider is that the Kindle app for Windows sucks. I have it on my windows tab(Winbook TW801) and it blows compared to the android version. Even when a book is downloaded it may not let you read until you connect to wifi. Also text size options are extremely limited. I ended up downloading and using the regular Kindle for Windows when I read on it. Not ideal, but it will do when I do not have my Shield with me.

 

[corkyg]

You say your wife's Paperwhite bit the dust. Well, I thought I had the same thing. My wife's PW would not charge nor turn on. After perusing the troubleshooting site, I was able to fix it. On the bottom edge, next to the recharge port, is a small button - this is the Sleep button. To re-do the Paperwhite, hold that button down for at least 40 seconds. You will see the Kindle reload and reset itself. Give it a try.

 

[Thump553]

Try the reset corkyg suggested first. Personally I don't think any tablet, notebook, desktop, etc., can do the same job as well as a Kindle. I can read using Kindle's e-ink (or whatever it is called) for hours at a stretch without any eyestrain. No way I can do that on any tablet, etc.

If her Paperwhite is truly dead, and if money is too tight to buy a new one and if she can get by without the backlighting the basic kindle goes on sale a lot for around $60.

 

[bassoprofundo]

One thing to consider is that the Kindle app for Windows sucks. I have it on my windows tab(Winbook TW801) and it blows compared to the android version. Even when a book is downloaded it may not let you read until you connect to wifi. Also text size options are extremely limited. I ended up downloading and using the regular Kindle for Windows when I read on it. Not ideal, but it will do when I do not have my Shield with me.

^^^This^^^ I love W8 tablets, but Amazon's support is the suck when it comes to the Windows ecosystem. If you want a cheap tablet primarily to use as a Kindle, pick up a previous gen Fire. I didn't care for the Fires I owned, but I'll admit that the Amazon experience (duh) is best there.

As others have said, though, nothing beats the e-ink Kindles for the best pure reading experience.

 

[MrSquished]

they had a thing on the paperwhite the other day where you could get it for 4 payments of like 32 bucks a month if you had a card on file for 90 days or more. so i bought it. awesome little reader. i shop a lot on amazon and have been a paying prime member for years now, so maybe it was targeted as an experiment to certain long-time customers or maybe it was for everyone. contact amazon support and ask them if you don't see it.