Oct 02 2014

Compare Amazon’s Fire HD 6 $99 Tablets

Thinking about a tablet? In addition to their new kid-friendly Kindle Fire, Amazon has two new Fire HD tablets starting at only $99. Which one is right for you? Here’s a handy-dandy graphic comparing the two new low-priced models. (Note: I’m not sure why Amazon has dropped the Kindle name from the Fire HD, but as far as I can tell they have.)

Compare Fire HD tablets

 

Both are good options. I can’t say I’ve used either one hands on, but the price is right especially if you are an Amazon Prime member.

Fire HD 6 – Amazon.


Sep 19 2014

Amazon Has a New Kid-Friendly Kindle Fire

Maybe you have an iPad, or an Android Tablet. Or maybe even a Kindle Fire. You love it. So do your kids. They get their greasy fingerprints all over your greasy fingerprints. (Aside: tablets have got to be a germaphobe’s nightmare. All that touching…)

Ideally, if you can afford it, you’d like to get your kid(s) a tablet of their own. Amazon hopes that you will buy their new kid-friendly Kindle Fire.

Amazon Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition Tablet

Called the Fire HD Kids Edition, this is not a kiddie-Kindle. It’s a full-fledged Fire HD, available with either a 6 or 7-inch display. What makes it kid-friendly are the following features:

A “Kid-Proof Case” is included. Basically it’s a protective bumper-style case that you can buy for existing tablets, but with the Fire HD Kids Edition, you don’t have to buy it separately and you can pick between three different colors — blue, green, or pink. More important is this next bit.

– 2-Year Worry-Free Guarantee. Here is the wording from Amazon.com: “Enjoy the peace of mind with an unprecedented 2-year worry-free guarantee—if they break it, we’ll replace it for free. No questions asked.” That’s huge. Really. Kids break stuff. It happens. Usually you have to pay a bundle for an extended warranty, and if the thing actually does break you have to crawl through broken glass to get them to repair/replace it. A 2-year, no questions asked replacement policy is a sweet thing.

– One Year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited. Described by Amazon as, “a hand-curated subscription of over 5,000 kid-friendly books, movies, TV shows, educational apps, and games,” this is presumably the razor blade to the Fire razor. Get a year for free, get the kid hooked, then start making your annual tithe to Amazon after the free year is up. There’s no obligation to do so, though. Sometimes parents forget that they can say no.

That said, here are two quotes from Amazon’s site:

“FreeTime is AWESOME. Age appropriate for each kid and the parental controls are priceless. My son has to read books for 30 min each day before it unlocks videos and games.” – Valerie
“I use Kindle FreeTime & it is PERFECT!!!! I can use the apps that FreeTime has, but also add other apps like Angry Birds, Temple Run, etc.” – Whitney

So you can use the tablet yourself when the kids are done with it. That’s handy. Also, as much as I prefer the idea of actually saying “you have to read a book before you can play video games”, the idea of assigning that task to a machine is… well, it’s future-thinking, it’s where we’re headed as a society (at least those who can afford it) and I like the feature. It’s not clear to me if you would still be able to use the Parental Controls/Kindle FreeTime without a subscription.

Bottom line: not a bad price for what looks like a pretty powerful and useful tablet. Available for pre-order now. Read more about it at Amazon.com, and also check out the articles below (which come from other sites and we take no responsibility for their content).


Jul 15 2014

Neat-Oh! Barbie ZipBin 40 Doll Dream House (DaddyDeal)

Save 40% on a  Neat-Oh! Barbie ZipBin 40 Doll Dream House Toy Box & Playmat at Amazon.com. The Amazon lightning deal price? $15.00, you save $9.99. After that, the price is listed as $19.21. Full price is $24.99.

Anyway, it’s Barbie, and it’s not expensive. If you have a kid to buy this toy for, grab it while it’s cheaper.

Amazon.com: Neat-Oh! Barbie ZipBin 40 Doll Dream House Toy Box & Playmat: Toys & Games (Amazon)


Jun 03 2014

Amazon.com Mac Software Sale (DaddyDeals)

Amazon.com is having a big ol’ Mac software sale through June 7. There’s a heap of hot steamin’ DaddyDeals, with many a useful program available at a nice price. Check it out.

Parallels Desktop 9 for Mac

 

The cheesy “Wow!” on the box notwithstanding, Parallels Desktop is a useful piece of Mac software that allows you to run Windows without rebooting. Or to put it another way, you can run Windows in a window on your Mac. Why would you want to do this? Maybe there’s a game only available on Windows and you have a Mac. You can use OSX’s built-in BootCamp, but that requires rebooting your machine. With Parallels you don’t. Here’s a video that shows what I mean:

That’s nice, but what’s the deal? Regular price is $79.95, sale price is $54.99. That’s 31% off. (I didn’t do the math, I’m taking Amazon’s word for it.)

Other bits of bits you might want to scoop up include writing software Scrivener 2 (regular price $45.00, on sale for $23.99, a 47% discount), and popular screenwriting program Final Draft 9 (list price $299.99, on sale for $149.99, which is a full 50% off – half!).

There’s also various Adobe titles, Rosetta Stone language software, and more specific stuff such as Manga Studio 5, which helps you (or your kids, or both) create comics. (Unfortunately for the art-challenged among us, it doesn’t help you draw them.)

So go forth and buy the software! Browse the available titles by clicking the link below. G’wan. You know you want to. No pressure. But, you know. You should click the link. (Click the link.)

Amazon.com: Mac Software Sale: June 1-7.

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