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Katie (868 KP) rated Fire HD 8 Tablet with Alexa in Tech

May 30, 2018

Affordable (3 more)

Expandable Storage

Good for reading

Good for video

Somewhat poor image quality (2 more)

Some apps/browsers are slow

Need to sideload some apps

Fire HD 8 6th Generation Tablet

For the most part, this is a solid tablet. I mostly use it for reading and watching movies and it works well for those things. Most apps run pretty smoothly on it. The browser (Silk) works pretty well but can be somewhat slow.

Another downside was that I had to sideload Google Play onto this tablet because there are several apps that were not available through Amazon's selection. They do seem to have most things, but obviously, they would prefer you to use their reading platforms over others so some of them are not available through their app store.

The screen may not be as clear as an iPad or some other tablets, but it still works very well. I've watched movies on it and read comics and have had no issues. If it's important to see an image as clear as possible for any reason this may not be the tablet for you. I've spoken with some photographers who will not use this tablet because it somewhat distorts the images they want to view. Of course, for most people, I doubt that will be a problem.

The device has either 16GB or 32 GB options. This may seem small to most people, but the Fire allows you to expand that with an SD card.

If tablet color matters to you, I love the magenta option for this tablet and I think that the color choices of the 6th generation were much better than the current generation.

Overall, this is not a perfect tablet but it is still a great device. If you have the need for high image quality or fast speed, this may not be the tablet for you. If you just want a tablet to enjoy media on that can fit into just about any budget, this might be what you're looking for.

Kudos

Kelly Knows (95 KP) rated White Squall (1996) in Movies

Jul 3, 2019

White Squall (1996)

1996 | Action, Drama

7.5

(2 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Fantastic camaraderie story, intense visuals. (0 more)

Sometimes comes off as sappy instead of sad. (0 more)

Skipper Kills All The Waves

The fantastic telling of the true story of the ill-fated Albatross. Sometimes you watch a movie at a young age, and the power of it sticks with you well into adulthood. White Squall is such a movie for me, and I imagine, many others. A sailor once, and a sailor someday to be, my father and I first watched this movie together when I was a youngster. Those silvered memories can be tarnished if a movie doesn't age well. Not the case with White Squall. Jeff Bridges is a powerhouse as the indomitable Skipper. You will instantly become caught up in the story of these young men learning what it means to indeed be called a man, especially on the sea. Some of the tropes are clunky, but merely a product of the time. You still buy in to the plot with little to no eye rolling. The archetypes of the characters run from Oscar level to 2D flat, but with a main cast of over a dozen, that is to be expected. Again, Jeff Bridges is amazing and more than carries the slack, performance wise. Parents be warned, this is based on a tragedy at sea. Do the math on that one, and adjust accordingly for the kids. The plot is fairly tame for the first half of the movie. The reason this movie gets high marks from me is the incredible direction from Ridley Scott, and the powerhouse sea visuals. The effects department really went to town on this one. You can feel the fury of the ocean, for she is a fickle mistress. They even used a full-scale mock-up of the ship in a horizon tank. Google that. It's awesome. With an amazing story, cast, score, all the above, this movie will always be the perfect with side of popcorn and a comfy recliner.