If I get one of these for the kids, are they able to download movies (rent/buy) from Amazon, and then watch them on a road trip in offline mode? Or is it streaming only?

If you buy them, you can download them.

That being said, I advise against getting the Fire HD. I got one for my 6-year-old in May and it is slow, choppy and locks up a lot. It's also a major pain in the ass to get Google Play (where most of the Androd apps are) set up.

I'd look at the Nabi 2 or maybe the older iPad Mini, which you can typically find around $200 due to the release of the next generation of iPads. The difference in power between the Fire HD and Mini is obvious when playing 3rd party games. (Shark Evo comes to mind)

The HDX might be a different story. Maybe someone here can speak to that.

Well, dang it. I was going to get this one for $114

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IKPYKWG/ref=KET_dp_firehd7

But if I need to step up to this one for $199 I will

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BWYRF7E/ref=fs_ft

Looking for feedback, TIA...

That's just been my experience. I don't play with the thing much, and my son, of course, doesn't notice the difference. But I do.

Also, I had no idea Google Play would be such a pain. The HDX won't solve that problem.

I have a Fire HD. It's not a bad tablet for a kid, but I'd definitely recommend rooting it to get it to work more like a regular Android tablet and have access to Google Play (not that difficult - plenty of walkthroughs available online). I also can't stand Amazon's carousel overlay, but you can switch in and out of it after root.

As far as the taking videos on the road: you'd have to pay for any videos you want to view offline as the Amazon Prime Instant Streaming only includes streaming.

If downloaded movies is a key feature, I'd look for an Android tablet that has a micro SD slot.

If you have Amazon prime, you can dl movies to it for the road. I just got an HDX for myself aft e r using my kids for several years. Downloaded several kids shows for the flight this week.

Don't get the kid version though. The reviews are bad on the kid locked software.

I would say the Amazon app store has a decent selection just not as much as Google play.

Only locks my kids experienced are very rare.

I pulled the trigger on a HDX 7. Appreciate the advice.

I love my HDX. I easily upload movies and TV shows to it for travel. Only need to make sure they're not avi format.

To be clear, I load movies and tv to mine as well, but it's stuff that I have already ripped or downloaded one way or another. As far as I'm aware, Amazon Prime doesn't allow offline viewing of their 'free' content.

You can download movies and tv shows from Amazon to watch if streaming is not available. You have 48 hours to watch the movie after starting it for the first time.

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Only need to make sure they're not avi format.

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There are video players available for free in app store that play all formats.
I'm on my second one (first one I had problems updating) and it works like a charm -- not sure which one it is off the top of my head but it was one of the top 2 or 3 listed after ranking by download count and ratings.

I rip a lot of videos. Our vehicle has usb for kids to watch movies but only plays avi files less than 1 gb, and of course I used to only rip h264 for the kindle fire, but now I can load up all the kids avi format movies I ripped previously.

We leave on a road trip on the 27th and I won't have time to buy and rip movies before then. I just want to let them pick some on Amazon, buy those, download them, and have them watch those movies in the car. That will work, right?

Does the HDX use a different OS than the regular HD?

I think there are some differences as I was able to download madden mobile on my hdx but my kid can't get it for his HD. Not sure why either. His kindle is 2 years old so maybe that is it.

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I think there are some differences as I was able to download madden mobile on my hdx but my kid can't get it for his HD. Not sure why either. His kindle is 2 years old so maybe that is it.

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Hmmm...does your kid have the HD7 or the previous version?

Side note: Madden Mobile is my favorite tablet game of all time. I can't put it down.

I like Madden Mobile as well, just don't like that you can only play till your Stamina wears down and then have to wait an hour to play again.

I try doing the challenges to build my team quicker, but after 4 challenges your stamina is shot and you have to wait an hour.