My Kindle Fire has usurped my laptop!

Toonces · October 22, 2012, 12:30:29 AM

I think it has!

I've had the same laptop of about 5 or 6 years now. I really don't have much use for it, though, except for when I travel or when I went underway on my ship on my last tour. Anyway, since I took this job in Hawaii, I've only been off-island once. I think when I did that trip I took my laptop; good for browsing the net and I still have some decent games on it like Morrowind, M2TW, etc.

However, I got a Kindle Fire last Christmas, and since I got that I find that I never use my laptop anymore. My Fire browses all of the (ahem) websites I go to just fine, and I have some interesting little game apps if I'm laying on the couch and don't want to be bothered to climb into the Obutto and game on the desktop.

So, I'm heading to Norfolk tomorrow for a conference, and I find that I'm only going to bring my Fire. No laptop this time. I just don't see any need for it. If I was going for an extended trip, like several weeks, I'd probably bring it, but for 4 days my Fire does just about everything I need it to- internet, games, books, and so on.

What a great little device! I wish the battery lasted a bit longer, though.

LongBlade · October 22, 2012, 07:56:30 AM

I like my Fire.

I game on a laptop so I don't reach for my Fire as much. Mostly I do reading in bed, last minute news checks, etc.

I do like to tote it around if I've bought a new paper book just in case it isn't good. Then I have access to several ebooks if the one I bought isn't that interesting.

If I go to the shop for an oil change or something then the Fire comes with me. It's too convenient not to.

The size also rocks - fits in a back pocket or a sports jacket inner pocket. More portable than an iPad and at least half the cost.

Keunert · October 22, 2012, 08:43:21 AM

Fire? I call it 'The Lukewarm'

You guys call yourself grognards eh?
But you play Angry Pigs or whatever that silly thing is called, all day long?

LB will have to bansword you two.

Toonces · October 22, 2012, 12:50:50 PM

I haven't found any GREAT apps on Fire yet, but I have a couple of little time wasters that I have been playing.

One is called Deadly Dungeons, which is sort of a 1st person dungeon crawl with randomized dungeon levels. Very basic (3 classes, put points into skills at level up, lots of loot), but it's great to kill an hour or two- simple gameplay.

Next is a new game I got called Aralon or something like that. Billed as an "Elder Scrolls lite" it plays 1st person and is open like Morrowind with quests and all. I just started it but it says it has 30 or 60 hours of gameplay, so that's a lot of gaming for like $3.

Finally, I got a rogue-like game that I don't remember the name of, Bard's Tale, Madden, a Napoleonic war game...this isn't your grandma's iPhone!

eyebiter · October 22, 2012, 12:59:03 PM

Tablets are great for surfing the net and watching movies.

Content creation activities (copy, cut and paste, typing) require a laptop. You can do some of them using a tablet virtual keyboard, but it's very inefficient.

Shelldrake · October 29, 2012, 08:34:43 AM

I am really liking my Acer Iconia A700 since the Jellybean update. Great for checking email, surfing, watching movies and reading pdfs but it won't replace my netbook and laptop for on the go gaming. If I am traveling by air I take my netbook which runs a library of GOG classics quite nicely. If traveling by car so weight is not a factor I take my laptop.

bob48 · October 31, 2012, 02:20:49 PM

Mrs Bob is dropping some very heavy hints about having a Kindle Fire for Christmas. I gather from some of the comments made by you chaps that it is a pretty nifty bit of kit?

bayonetbrant · October 31, 2012, 02:26:53 PM

I've actually toyed around with getting one of the $79 tablets I saw on sale at Big Lots and mounting it to the wall in the kitchen with the weekly family calendar on it, and use it to keep calendars / schedules straight in there, and play music when I'm cooking. I figure at under $100, it's worth it to experiment. Then I remember that I don't have a job right now...

LongBlade · October 31, 2012, 03:36:07 PM

Quote from: bob48 on October 31, 2012, 02:20:49 PM
Mrs Bob is dropping some very heavy hints about having a Kindle Fire for Christmas. I gather from some of the comments made by you chaps that it is a pretty nifty bit of kit?

For the money I don't think you can go wrong. If she wants one, get her one.

bob48 · October 31, 2012, 04:33:55 PM

Looks like being top of the list. In fact, since they are £160 here, it may be the ONLY thing on the list!