Help, which tablet?

VoucherMan

On behalf of an ex work colleague, I'm attempting to find out a little about some of the current tablet offerings.

I've just had an email from him:

My Kindle is !!!!!!ed. The screen only works on the top half and the bottom stays grey so I can only read half the pages.

I'm wondering whether to buy the latest Kindle or whether to get an Ipad, Asus, Nexus 7.

Ideally what I want the unit to be able to do is
1) read kindle books
2) use Ordnance Survey maps app 1:25000 using GPS
3) surf the net wi-fi

Is it possible to achieve this with one unit or would I have to get a kindle and also a gps unit?

Can you do a little research and find out battery life doing each function, what RAM to run the thing and what hard drive I would need 16gb or 32gb

To start off I thought I'd try here, as many will have some of the devices he mentions.

I know when I got my Kindle a few years ago, it was considered by many far better for reading than a tablet, but displays may have improved since then.

At this point, I'd be happy knowing which, if any, devices could do all that he wants, but if anyone can answer any of his other queries, it would save me quite a bit of research time, and be much appreciated. :beer:

JJ_Egan

Seven inch tablet fits in the pocket or bigger screen ten inch .Will handle 1 2 3 with ease .

d70cw6

if that's all he wants to do then the new £50 kindle fire fits the bill.

Anne_Marie_2

You didn't say whether your friend's broken Kindle was an e-reader or a tablet. It's certainly much easier to read books on an e-reader than a tablet out in the sun. If that's not an issue, then a tablet will suffice, and then it's really down to what he wants to spend.

VoucherMan

d70cw6 wrote: »

if that's all he wants to do then the new £50 kindle fire fits the bill.

Thanks for the replies, but search results seem confusing, at best.

I've had limited success with Google so far, especially with the GPS question. Any articles mentioning it suggest it is not a feature.

The one possible exception being the HDX, which costs considerably more.

Anne_Marie wrote: »

You didn't say whether your friend's broken Kindle was an e-reader or a tablet.

It's a Kindle 4, I think. Definitely just a reader.
Money is not a major issue, functionality is probably top of the list, using a single device, if possible. If not he'll probably get a separate GPS device. If there's a few options, he'll probably go for a lower priced one though.

mac.d

Reading books on an e-ink ereader is still far better than reading on a tablet, but the e-ink screen isn't great for surfing the web and using the Ordnance Survey maps app isn't possible on a Kindle ereader (no GPS anyway).

Think you are correct, there is no GPS on the new cheaper Kindle Fire tablets, GPS was only on the HDX range.

Probably most half decent tablets will be able to do all three (just install the Kindle app to read books, he might be fine reading on a tablet, some people don't mind, especially if they don't read that much) Nexus 7, Hudl2 aren't expensive.

VoucherMan

mac.d wrote: »

Probably most half decent tablets will be able to do all three (just install the Kindle app to read books, he might be fine reading on a tablet, some people don't mind, especially if they don't read that much) Nexus 7, Hudl2 aren't expensive.

I must be doing something wrong when I'm searching. I'd have thought proper GPS, rather than some wifi based imitation, would be a selling feature, but although manufactures list it in the specs, it rarely gets a mention on shopping or review sites. Makes searching painfully slow.:mad:

mac.d

Yeah maybe not everyone's first point of interest for a tablet... but here's a couple of articles specifically about tablets & GPS:

http://mybestreviews.hubpages.com/hub/Tablets-With-GPS

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/2014/nov/13/whats-the-best-cheap-tablet-for-gps-use