Not long ago the cost of the Wall Street Journal’s annual print subscription for Hawaii readers doubled to more than $1,000, and my friend, a longtime subscriber, decided he’d had enough of print. He asked me about going digital. “About time you join the 21st century and get a tablet!”
“OK,” he said, “but what tablet?” Good question — and probably one that many people are asking. I asked my colleague Rob Kay to evaluate a couple of popular tablets. Here are his conclusions:
Amazon Fire HDX 8.9
To really understand the Fire HDX 8.9, all you need to recognize is that it’s the latest incarnation of the humble Kindle reading device. Amazon has fine-tuned its tablets for ease of use. The on-off and volume buttons are located on the back (as opposed to the sides), the edges of the tablet are beveled and the HDX’s 8.9-inch screen and 13.2-ounce weight all feel right.
The hardware-software does video very well. The screen is brilliant, the system is fast and the speakers won’t shortchange you. Battery life and power management are first-rate. The only problem was that the screen would flicker occasionally. (Perhaps this was a flaw with this particular unit.)
Web surfing is done on Amazon’s proprietary Silk browser, which works satisfactorily.
The only potential hitch with the Fire HDX 8.9 is that if you’re a Chrome user and want all the Google apps, you’re going to be disappointed. There’s no Gmail, no Google Maps, etc., and grabbing documents from any cloud other than Amazon’s is a hassle. Essentially the device is proprietary and built around the Amazon universe, which includes merchandising their stuff. If you’re OK with all Amazon, all the time, and want a high-end reader, you’ll be happy with the Fire HDX 8.9. The price starts at $379 for 16 GB storage.
Nexus9
Google’s newest tablet, the Nexus9, has the same general dimensions as the HDX 8.9 and also makes for a good e-reader/video player. The screen quality and display are excellent, but the color saturation isn’t quite as rich as the HDX 8.9. (Not a deal-breaker by any means.) The system has easily adjustable brightness controls, which helps keep photos and illustrations readable when you’re in the sun. The surface, brushed plastic, has a pleasing tactile sense. The placement of the on-off and volume buttons are sort of hidden on the upper right edge. They could be more accessible, but this is a personal preference.
The dual front-facing speakers generate lots of clean volume — better than you’d expect for a midrange tablet. Battery life is respectable, but you’d have to give the Amazon tablet a slight edge.
A huge plus with the Nexus9 is its integration of Google apps. If you already own an Android phone, this tablet will fit like an old shoe. For many users who need the tablet as a Web tool (rather than a reader), this is a huge advantage over the Amazon product. For example, if you use Google drive or Microsoft’s One Drive, grabbing items out of the cloud is easy. At $363 (with 16 GB) it’s a very solid player.
The Zagg keyboard
Zagg’s new “Pocket Keyboard” ($69) breaks new ground by providing a universal platform that will accept just about any mobile device (Apple or Android) up to 9 inches. Unlike the typical carrying case models, it folds into a thin (9-by-2-1/2-by-1/2-inch) rectangle that you carry separately. We tested it on both the Nexus and the Amazon tablets as well as a Samsung smartphone. The keyboard is small but has a nice “clickable” touch. It’s perfect for the occasional email or touching up a short document, but you wouldn’t write a novel with it. If you don’t need or want a case/combined keyboard and like the option of one keyboard for all your mobile devices, this is a winner.
Mike Meyer, formerly Internet general manager at Oceanic Time Warner Cable, is now chief information officer at Honolulu Community College. Reach him at mmeyer@hawaii.edu.
