Resources
Welcome!
If you found this page then you are probably looking for reviews and other useful info on budget tablets. Below you will find links to the reviews and informative posts that I have written over the years.
Reviews
Here are the latest reviews, posted by chronological order. You can find all of the tablet reviews here.
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eBooks and Audiobooks
- A Dozen Sites for Free Audiobooks
- 5 Sites With Truly Free eBooks
- Five Sites to Help You Find Your Next Read
- Five Subscription eBook Services Compared
- Round-Up: Text-to-Speech in Reading Apps on Android
How To Guides
- How to Turn Your Android Tablet into the Quintessential eReader
- How to turn your Chrome device into an Adequate eReader
- How to Download Kobo eBooks (Including the Ones They Won’t Allow) And Strip the DRM
- How to Install Custom Dictionaries on Your Kobo eReader
- How to Upload ePub and PDF Files to Google Play Books
Kindle Guides
- The Drop Dead Simple Guide to Finding (and Loading) Free eBooks for Your Kindle
- How to Download Your Kindle Notes and Highlights and Export Them
- How to Use IFTTT to Send Content From Dropbox, Feedly, Pocket, and Instapaper to Your Kindle
- How to Upload eBooks and Documents to Your Kindle Account
- How to Take a Screen Shot on Any Kindle (Paperwhite, Touch, Basic, Keyboard)
Getting Started With an Android Tablet
Over the past few years I have written a few getting started guides (it almost became an annual tradition). Many of the suggestions and tips don’t apply to the newer Android tablets, but there are older devices that are still on the market. I’m sure that at least some readers will have a tablet that is even older than these posts.
First up is a post written for fall 2014. This is a buying guide and not a getting started guide, so it doesn’t quite fit here.
Next is a post I wrote for Christmas 2010. If you are using a tablet that is running a version of Android older than 2.3 Gingerbread, read this post.
Next up is the post I wrote for the following Christmas. It is more focused on how you might set up a tablet before giving it away than on setting up your own tablet.
In the following years I turned to writing posts which suggested apps to install rather than how to set up a tablet. New tablets no longer needed quite so much explanation, so instead I suggested apps to install on the Kindle Fire HD (2012). And in December 2013 I wrote a similar post focused on generic budget tablets.
- 5 Free Apps You Should Install on Your New Kindle Fire HD
- 5 Apps You Should Install on Your New Budget Android Tablet
I have also written a post on how to add Android Market to cheap Android tablets. It was originally written for certain tablets from certain device makers but it has been used successfully on many tablets running Android 2.2 Froyo to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
Simple Ways to Hack Amazon’s Tablets
Speaking of Amazon’s Android tablets, I also wrote a couple posts which explained how to add Google apps. Please note that if you have the newer Kindle Fire HD, the one which was released in 2013, you are going to want the second set of instructions and not the first.
- How to Install Google Apps (Gmail, Google Reader, etc) on the 2012 Kindle Fire Android Tablets
- How to Install Google Apps on the 2013 Kindle Fire Android Tablets
Fun and Useful Tips for Your Android Tablet
- How to Turn Your Android Tablet into the Quintessential eReader
- Five Launchers Which Make Your Android Tablet Look Like an iPhone, WindowsPhone, and More
- Lessons From a Failed Attempt to Turn my Android Tablet into an eBook Reader
- How to Make Your Tablet Safe for Kids
- How to Stream Amazon Instant Video on Android Tablets
- What to do With an Android Tablet With a Broken Screen
Library eBooks
Do you need help getting started with ebooks borrowed from the library? Then check out this guide. It includes a heavy dash of the Kindle Fire HDX, so it might not be for everyone.
Comments
NB July 1, 2014 um 6:30 pm
After reading your blog, I thought you might be interested… 'NEW' Palm Foleo on eBay today.
Nate Hoffelder July 1, 2014 um 7:07 pm
They’re still showing up. Wow. I’ve got two, so I’m not tempted, but I hope someone is happy.
gary November 24, 2014 um 9:33 am
my review on the ematic 7″ quad core tablet EGQ307 is this it seems to me to have a really clear picture, and runs fairly well for the price. but, the fact that it don’t have front and back cameras seemed well kinda cheesy, and then the issue im having already with the port being to loose for charger to do its job? I think it could be better built but you get what you pay for and im blessed to have one at all.
zucccchini February 14, 2017 um 8:42 pm
I have a technical question….No one uses my Kindle Fire device but ME! Yet I have two children that can access my purchased library if they chose. Nothing there I read that they should not. But when I gave them access to my library I now have to type in a password each and everytime I access my book. When I am listening to an audio book the screen goes dark and when I try to shut it off or go back I must retype the dumb password to get into it. HOw can I get rid of the password on my Kindle Fire without throwing them out of my library? REally appreciate anyone’s help on this.
Nate Hoffelder February 14, 2017 um 9:50 pm
It sounds like your account is in parent mode, so it is protected by a password.
I think the only way you can get rid of the password is by letting them have complete access to the tablet.
Mike Evans April 25, 2017 um 6:10 pm
Has anyone else noticed that Amazon has done away with the ability to sort a wishlist by price? In my case, I keep all the Kindle books I might be interested in on the wishlist, and purchase only when they descend from the stratosphere … for most titles this means 9.99 or below.
greg rudowsky November 17, 2018 um 3:29 pm
i have a nook s2 tab. and s6 phone and a lot of kindle books. any way to use prime? i can not load my kindle books to anything but a pc as they fill up the storage(and i never see a way to load to the sd card*the nook has one)
(prime like mags and prime books)(180k)
i convert to epub and use several of the many readers out their
Likebook November 20, 2018 um 9:20 am
The Likebook Mars North America Amazon store. https://amzn.to/2oQfTvD
Welcome to order.
Ralph February 20, 2019 um 2:36 pm
Majority of all the links for the cheap Android Tablet upgrades are all broken. Sure would be nice to learn how to install Play Store on my old Polaroid for my grandson. I have version 4.04
Nate Hoffelder February 21, 2019 um 7:16 am
I haven’t updated this page in the longest time, sorry.
Kathy Ryfa August 2, 2019 um 10:06 am
I thought that when you read a kindle book it saved your notes and location in the book? reason being I didn’t finish a library kindle book before my loan expired and now that I have it back it isn’t bringing to my last read page – is that not what it does if you read a library book?