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Kindle Fire for document creation and editing?
#1  carld 09-29-2011, 01:42 PM
Does anyone have any idea, perhaps based on using the similar sized nook, what the Kindle Fire (are well calling it the KF yet?) might be like for document editing?

I'm really leaning toward the possible 10" Kindle or *shudder* an iPad 2/3 just because the larger size should make document editing much easier. But, now that I think about it, if the KF is useable for light editing, then it could fulfill roles as an ebook reader, game system, and tablet for me.

Also, has anyone seen anything about how well TTS and audiobooks sound on the Fire?
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#2  stonetools 09-29-2011, 02:18 PM
I think the best you can hope for with the KF is a Notes app. Who knows, though, there may be a Documents to Go Android Version.
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#3  hgwlackey 09-29-2011, 02:18 PM
I do a lot of editing, and I tried to do it on the iPad, but without a mouse it was too much hassle trying select phrases or blocks of text, or to put your cursor in the middle of a word to change a letter. Some of that was solved by using a bluetooth keyboard (to give me access to arrow keys), but it was still slower and more painful going than just sitting at my desktop.

The best tablet solution I found for editing was the Toshiba Thrive*, which has a USB port. I'd connect my bluetooth keyboard, plug in my USB mouse, and away I went.

(But then I was frustrated with not being able to use the same software on the tablet that I use on my desktop--or at least sync my documents easily between the two different programs--so I replaced the Thrive with a MacBook Air, and gave up on tablet editing till the tablet OSes and desktop OSes finally merge into each other.)

(This was the 10" Thrive. I see they announced a 7" model today. I don't know if the 7" model is going to have the same full-size USB input as the 10".)
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#4  jswinden 09-29-2011, 02:39 PM
I agree with @hgwlackey that doing a lot of editing via a tablet is a hassle. I tried it on my iPad and on a rooted NookColor, but it is a painfully slow process without a physical keyboard and mouse.
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#5  susan_cassidy 09-29-2011, 02:43 PM
I don't think there is text-to-speech on the Fire. The Android app doesn't have it, and it isn't mentioned on the product page. Audible probably has an app for the Fire, since Amazon owns it.
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#6  carld 09-29-2011, 03:38 PM
Quote stonetools
I think the best you can hope for with the KF is a Notes app. Who knows, though, there may be a Documents to Go Android Version.
Yes, there is a docs to go app for Android. I've used it on my phone. It's okay, but I was hoping for something more like Pages for the iPad or even Word for Windows Mobile, which really wasn't bad at all.
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#7  carld 09-29-2011, 05:37 PM
I thought QuickOffice PRO HD would be good enough, but it needs Honeycomb.

Edit: It looks like the regular Quickoffice Pro would work well on the Kindle Fire.
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#8  basschick 10-04-2011, 09:08 AM
i use a small usb keyboard to do editing on my kyros. they're both small enough that it's no hassle to carry them around.
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#9  HarryT 10-04-2011, 09:11 AM
Quote basschick
i use a small usb keyboard to do editing on my kyros. they're both small enough that it's no hassle to carry them around.
You won't be able to do that on the Fire though - it has no USB host capability. I don't think it even has Bluetooth, so you can't use a BT keyboard, either.
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#10  carld 10-04-2011, 09:47 AM
Quote susan_cassidy
I don't think there is text-to-speech on the Fire. The Android app doesn't have it, and it isn't mentioned on the product page. Audible probably has an app for the Fire, since Amazon owns it.
I didn't even realize that my Android phone apparently can't do TTS. I sort of just assumed it was built into the Kindle App.

Also, I guess my main editing scenario would be that I know I'm going to be away from home for a few hours, so I DL whatever I'm working from Dropbox to the KF, do some reviewing and editing while I'm away, and UL it to Dropbox when I get back home. I'd only be working in plain text files with little to no formatting, graphics or layout needed.
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