Kids back seat entertainment - Kindle Fire?

[Fridge Magnet]

I'm looking for some advice from forum techies about which way to go on multimedia tablets.

As much as we'd love our little almost 2 year old boy to listen to dad's great music and not make a peep on long trips, it's getting to the stage where back seat entertainment needs to be addressed.

I don't really want to fork out 400-600 bucks for a good tablet, or pay 100-150  for a DVD player that can't be used for anything else. I know that there are lots of cheap (<$200) Chinese tablets but have been advised to steer well clear due to a number of issues.  I've read some great reviews of the Kindle Fire that I can get delivered for $243. Does anyone have one or know anything about them?

As far as I can work out the drawbacks are:

- Limited and non extendable 8g memory (should be plenty for a few wiggles videos, kid's books and kid's apps, as well as other stuff eg. Email, Facebook, ebay, music etc.)
- No 3g (if needed can hotspot with android phone)
- No GPS (have one in the car)
- Issues with accessing Amazon market and related streaming sites (I have an Amazon account linked to a US credit card and US IP address so atm not an issue).
- Works on an older Amazon modified Android OS (I think 2.2?), not sure if this will be an issue or otherwise 

To sum up, this tab will be used for video, kid's books and apps, basic net browsing. I'd be interested to hear what others think.

Bearing in mind that this thread is NOT meant to be an Apple v Google competition  , I'm well aware of how amazing the $600 tablets are, just want to know whether I should buy this one for the purposes stated.

FM 



 

[D4D]

I'll be looking at the same thing shortly. As it will be a consumption only device, my idea is some sort of cheap media player that plays via USB stick. Cheap, throw away, portable etc.

[briann532]

I use one of these for the kids entertainment

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/C1003-Car-Black-2x-7-LCD-Pillow-Headrest-DVD-Player-Speaker-IR-Headphone-n8-/290621313970?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43aa6153b2

Then use an ipad or similar for yourself. No kids fiddling with it, dropping it, or putting it somewhere you can't find.
The IR headsets are great as we can listen to our tunes while they happily watch a movie.

Couldn't recommend them enough!!!!!!.

I have a friend who bought 2 ipads for the kids, but they get knocked around a bit and I doubt they will last long.

Cheers
Brian

[kiva]

We recently bought a couple of 8 GiB iPod touches for Mr 2yo and Ms 5yo. They can be found for under $200 each and are good enough to hold a bunch of TV shows copied off the TiVo and various other kids movies. The surprising thing is that the kids also discovered the photo and movie making abilities of the iPod and love making their own short movies.

[dazzler]

We have four kids and we have three ipods, one dvd player, 1 x psp a notebook and an older laptop.

Aint nothin' sweeter than the sound of serenity.   

Number 1 for us though is anything that plays movies.

[3.8v6lover]

We have a roof mounted dvd player that us and the kids love. I like that its up out of the way, no cords or charging worries and the 2 rows of back seats can all see it. Its got IR headphones if we dont want to hear or you can stream it through the stereo. From memory it was about $200 on ebay and has'nt missed a beat in 3 years. The only downsiide is i now know every line of every kids movie there is. Our only rule is once we hit the bush it gets turned off

[UTE 701]

We're still a bit behind the times in gizmo world ....

Just a DS each , and some music on a couple of old ipods .

We get the old personal cd players out , and hit the library for books on cd . My daughter got a couple of Harry Potter ones once , and they were about 15 cd's each !

I even recreated the old Spotto game , we played as kids .
Made my own list , and my son loved it .....
eg. blue ute , post office , emu , statue , number plates with the numbers all the same .... and so on ... about 100 items I think !

Also get them to study the map with you for the next day's drive , so they know what towns are coming up .

[cancan]

I am looking at getting 2 android tablets for the new car...looking at Acer iconia a200.
Can be picked up for $250 each plus a pair of Bluetooth headrests and headrests mounts.
They can be used to play movies like dvd players in last car or they can hold them and play games plus they will use them out of the car.
Only issue I can see is charging in the car , hate exposed cables everywhere.

[D4D]

Only issue I can see is charging in the car , hate exposed cables everywhere.

Whoever develops cordless power will make a fortune

[Fridge Magnet]

I am looking at getting 2 android tablets for the new car...looking at Acer iconia a200.
Can be picked up for $250 each plus a pair of Bluetooth headrests and headrests mounts.
They can be used to play movies like dvd players in last car or they can hold them and play games plus they will use them out of the car.
Only issue I can see is charging in the car , hate exposed cables everywhere.

Do you have a link for the a200 at that price? I can't find them that cheap.

[Estelle]

Whoever develops cordless power will make a fortune

Apple is close with their induced voltage on their laptops/Air thingies.

FM, have heard the Kindle Fire is good for the purpose you have in mind. The storage limitation should be able to be overcome by using an external storage and swapping out videos or music or whatever.

Our 2 year old GK's noticed the overhead DVD player in our Paj. We told them what it was, but at this stage they haven't asked us to flash it up, well, seriously anyway

[cancan]

Do you have a link for the a200 at that price? I can't find them that cheap.

i think it was Harvey Normans a few weeks back.

Will go back to whirlpool forum when i am ready to buy and search the android tablet threads..... not a priority yet

[DeLuxHiLux]

WE run 2 x "Laser" eBook Readers courtesy of the Red Spot boutique, aka Target. MP4/MP3/eBooks (Not from Kindle but we have used Amazon and a few other ebook sites with no worries. Both free and purchasded books work. Has 4gb on board memory and can have Mico SD card to boost storage.

COst $100 normal, we got for $70 on special. runs for about 12 hours reading, 6 hours playing videos. We had the Kids watching MP4's of Star Wars Clone wars while away, as well as our 8 year old book worm kept happy at night with books a plenty.
Downside - It is NOT a touch screen, so you have to press a button to change the page, yes, shock-horror!!! a BUTTON i know, but what do you expect for $70 bucks!!

Also, it has an active lit screen so unlike a few of the Kindle's, you dont need a light source to read by (althoug i dont think the Fire does? )

Anyway, thats what we used.

[jetcrew]

We recently bought a couple of 8 GiB iPod touches for Mr 2yo and Ms 5yo. They can be found for under $200 each and are good enough to hold a bunch of TV shows copied off the TiVo and various other kids movies. The surprising thing is that the kids also discovered the photo and movie making abilities of the iPod and love making their own short movies.

X 2 on all of the above .we bought 2 of them for the cape trip this year..and best of all I DID NOT HAVE TO WIRE THEM UP OR IN...LOL

Jet

[lilstookie]

Our little hamish watches a movie on the iPhone which gets wedged in the headrest.
It also has games too. We just put it in flight mode so he can't call people.
I've been needing an excuse to get an iPad but can't seem to justify the price.

[cancan]

http://www.harveynorman.com.au/computers/acer-iconia-tab-a200-tablet.html] [url]http://www.harveynorman.com.au/computers/acer-iconia-tab-a200-tablet.html [/url]

$329 less $50 cashback but they were $300 less cashback

ice cream update is available now as well just to improve them a bit more.

[krisandkev]

It is amazing how much is spent on entertaining kids now days.  It really is a different world, so many choices, so many technical gadgets.  Yet so many kids will still tell you they are bored?  Don’t figure.       Kevin

[UTE 701]

Whoever develops cordless power will make a fortune

That's one of my shed projects at the moment .....

" making a cordless extension lead "   

I even ran the idea past Henry Hoke for some advice ....

[Roddersz]

A set of the DVD screens picked up from K-mart on Special for $100 have been brilliant for us. Bit of a PITA to get in and out but well worth the peace and quiet and reduced "Are we there yets". Bonus is they play DIVX off a memory stick too so no DVDs getting scratched etc. The master unit also has an inbuilt rechargeable battery which means if we go away and the kids are stuck inside because of weather etc they can watch at least 1 or 2 movies before it runs flat (longer off a memory stick as it doesn't have to spin a DVD). Our 2 (compliments of Santa) also have Ipod Touches to play games on if they get really stuck - trying not to let them use them too much though, they need to be out enjoying the REAL world not the technological one. Don't like the idea of them sitting inside watching TV when there is a cool camp site to explore around!

Cheers
Rod

[briann532]

That's one of my shed projects at the moment .....

" making a cordless extension lead "   

I even ran the idea past Henry Hoke for some advice ....

Don't they call it a battery???
He he he...............
 

[cancan]

I just purchased my 2 x a200 tablets..had to get Harvey Norman to check there online price as they wanted a lot more....couldn't be fudged waiting for them to come back to $300 and cashback explores end of this month.
There charging while i think about head sets...Bluetooth or cable

forgot to mention i should be able to claim these for school use which of course is why we purchased them

[Fridge Magnet]

I just purchased my 2 x a200 tablets..had to get Harvey Norman to check there online price as they wanted a lot more....couldn't be fudged waiting for them to come back to $300 and cashback explores end of this month.
There charging while i think about head sets...Bluetooth or cable

forgot to mention i should be able to claim these for school use which of course is why we purchased them

Nice one, just bought the a200 from Harvey Norman, salesman quoted $389 as the 'cash' price and I had to tell him to check their online price too  .  Seems like a good gadget, thanks for the tip. Fill me in on the school use lurk, tax deductible??

[cancan]

Off to the accountant on Tuesday so will let you know.

Run all the updates 3 all up and it will update operating rom to ics which is designed for tablets and a lot better

[cancan]

Fill me in on the school use lurk, tax deductible??

Accountant said as long as its for school use then they can be claimed with your tax although there is a limit that can be claimed but they are under this.

Now looking for headrest holders for them although they are ugly when there is no tablet in them....,may wait and see how they go holding them.

[Renno]

Samsung are about to release the Galaxy Tab 2 in competition of the Kindle fires and other cheaper tabs. The 7 inch will be about $250US.
I like the Galaxy's and will be waiting to see how they go. The specs seem pretty good for what I want it to do.
Renno