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Amazon Fire HD 6 Tablet and Practiscore


BJinPass

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Our three USPSA clubs on the Mississippi Gulf Coast have been using Nooks to run Practiscore for almost two years now. Over this period, we have dramatically improved score accuracy (it's almost impossible to forget to record a time), eliminated lots of paper and made the calculation of the match results almost instantaneous. As a system, it has been great. Practiscore has been very good to us. We use it for USPSA pistol and 3-gun.

If anything ever gets criticized, it is the Nook itself. You couldn't beat the price, when they were available as just a plain Nook Simple Touch, especially after they were discontinued. The battery life was fantastic as well. But that's where the praise ended. As the tech guy for 2 of these 3 clubs, I was always dealing with little issues with the Nooks. We never lost any data, and no devices died in the making of any matches, but the user interface experience leaves a lot to be desired.

This led me to purchase one of the new Amazon Fire HD 6 tablets on Black Friday. They were $79. I had played with PS on my Fire HDX 7" Tablet for quite a while, and really liked the UI. But that model is expensive and just a little too large to hand hold comfortably. Enter the Fire HD 6. It solves all of the problems that the HDX had.

Over the past two weeks, I have used the Fire HD 6 in one of our 3-gun matches and two different club's USPSA pistol matches. This review is about the Fire HD 6 and not Practiscore.

Instead of rambling on, as I often do, let me cut to the summary first. Here are the Pluses and Minuses of both the Fire HD 6 and the Barnes and Noble Nook Simple Touch:

Nook Simple Touch

Pluses

  • Low cost, when it was available. The Nook Glowlight that replaced the Simple Touch is now $99. You may find the Simple Touch new, but it's no longer easy to find.
  • Great battery life. You could easily run 5-6 matches before having to recharge. However, you really only need to get though one day.
  • Wi-Fi connectivity is pretty easy to do.
  • Very good viewability in direct sunlight.
  • Reliable. No data lost so far in approximately 60 matches with 14 devices.

Minuses

  • Has to be rooted to run Practiscore. This process is not difficult for those technically inclined, but it is daunting for those will little real computer skill. Sure, you can get a buddy to do it for you.
  • Updating to a new version of Practiscore is not like updating apps on your phone or tablet. Yes, it is straightforward, but easy, it isn't.
  • The UI is just plain bad. This is definitely not a fault of Practiscore as it has to play with what the Nook offers. The biggest complaint from users is the extremely slow response to touch input.
  • The back button is tough to get for those afflicted with "sausage fingers". You also can't change the size of the on-screen font (that I am aware of).
  • Painfully slow page-wise scrolling. When moving to the second page of targets during scoring, you just need to be patient. The back button is hard to touch, as well.
  • Monochrome screen only. By itself, this isn't a fatal feature, but PS has some nice color cues if you have a color screen.
  • Doesn't seem to like getting warm in the Sun. The screens occasionally start to act funny, by either getting light or slow to respond. Again, not fatal, but not desirable.
  • Definitely doesn't like rain. A light sprinkle can cause erratic operation of the touch screen. It doesn't work well inside a zip lock bag, either.
  • Definitely can't read the results screens if you are over 40.

So, you might have figured out that the Nook, up until now, is the best overall scoring computer on the market. You can't beat the price, and it works really well for being a completely hacked computer. You need a bit of geek to get it going and keep it going, but they work. Practiscore alone probably contributed to selling thousands of these.

But things change. Technology advances, and prices go down. Enter the Amazon Fire HD 6.

Pluses

  • Well priced at $99, a steal at $79.
  • Requires NO geek power to get Practiscore running. This is an app in the Amazon store. Just download it.
  • The same goes for updating PS. It does it automatically when connected to the Internet, unless you disable this feature.
  • Exceptionally easy Wi-Fi setup.
  • Great screen brightness, even in direct Sun, even better than my Fire HDX 7" Tablet. The white background of most screens helps a great deal outdoors.
  • Great battery life, even on max. brightness and no sleeping. We have about 50% battery life left after a 5 stage pistol match with 10 shooters per squad, which takes 3-4 hours.
  • Is full color, so it takes advantage of the color cues in PS.
  • Scrolls like a phone or tablet, with the slide of a finger. No patience required.
  • Perfect size for holding on one hand, as it is narrower by about 1 inch when compared to the Nook.
  • Easy to set up an email account if you want to mail out files.
  • Can replace the iPad as the master device. Yes, of course the Nook can do this too, if you are a masochist.
  • If the user accidentally gets out of PS, it is very easy to get back in.
  • The touch screen response is instantaneous.
  • Resizable on-screen font, so old people (like me) can read it without their reading glasses. Touch areas are larger compared to the Nook.
  • Results screens are zoomable with the normal two finger method to see everything.

Minuses

  • Battery life may not get you through an entire day for a very large match, unless you let it sleep when not in use.
  • The touch numeric keypad (for entering the time) is a bit hard to see because it is a black background with white text. Once you know where everything is, it is not a big deal.
  • If you accidentally hit the alphanumeric key to switch the numeric keypad to letters, it doesn't go back to the "normal" numeric keypad when you go back. It changes to a single row of number keys, which works, but is less user friendly or usable. I had to reinstall PS to get this fixed when I did it during testing.
  • If you let it sleep or turn it off to save power, the user has to swipe the lock screen to get back to PS. This is trivial, but the Nook never needs to sleep. I think you can eliminate this lock screen if you buy the one without “special offers” or pay $15 to disable this after purchasing it.
  • The touch screen is not recessed, as it is on the Nook, which can lead to accidental touches, if not careful when handling it. Turn it off while handling between stages to avoid this.
  • Requires a bit of configuring to make the tablet ideal for PS. Nothing a phone or tablet user can't do, though. Definitely no rooting or hacking required, though.

Unknowns (at this point)

  • Performance in light rain.
  • Performance in the summer heat.
  • Reliability. Amazon updates the O/S on a regular basis, though, unlike the rooted Nook.

Over the past three matches where the Fire HD 6 has been used, every single user said they liked it much better than the Nook, especially because of the touch response time. No one ever commented about the screen not being able to be read, and all matches experienced lots of Sun. Many commented on the use of color, and how it helps see when shooters have already completed their stage. Other comments included actually being able to see the words on the screen, as compared to the Nook.

To be fair, I spent about 30 minutes playing around with the Fire to get it optimized for inexperienced users in the outdoor environment. I will list the changes I made to the device when I get the chance. The only one required is cranking up the brightness all the way. Others just make it more idiot-proof and user friendly.

It is too early to declare a new winner for best Practiscore computer, but there is definitely a contender in the Amazon Fire HD 6. There are no downsides to it compared to the Nook, unless you can't recharge it before about 7-8 hours of use. As mentioned earlier, if it goes on sale at $79, it is a slam dunk. If you are just about to buy new Nooks for $99, don't. The GlowLight Nook can't hold a candle to the Fire HD 6.

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Thanks for the post!

So, you might have figured out that the Nook, up until now, is the best overall scoring computer on the market. You can't beat the price, and it works really well for being a completely hacked computer. You need a bit of geek to get it going and keep it going, but they work. Practiscore alone probably contributed to selling thousands of these.

Word! ;-) I know that much of Target and Walmart's left over stock liquidated courtesy of PS

The GlowLight Nook can't hold a candle to the Fire HD 6.

I was under the impression that the post-Simple Touch version of Glowlight would not run PS?

Edited by jdonohue
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Nice review, BJinPass. Looks promising, I think I'll buy one to play with.

The only cost downside I see is the probable necessity of adding a case of some kind. Cases are the razor blade of the Schick business model. I have a couple NOOKs that have clearly been dropped, but not broken. Atlanta 3-Gun, who uses iPad Mini's, had someone drop one and it landed face down on a rock, and shattered the screen. The case was a LifeProof nud', which doesn't have the screen protector. I'm curious if that would have saved it or not.

And these should work as well as any other capacitive touch system in the rain. Not having that raised bezel for the IR field that the NOOK has, there's no place for dust to collect, which is a definite plus.

I'm not sure about the overheating issues, as we haven't run into that here in the GA summers (that I'm aware of). I do know that in direct sunlight, the touch system can get wonky because of the IR component in sunlight. Simply shading the screen with your body has been enough to solve that particular problem.

The IR touch system is also why it doesn't work in a ziplock bag, or any case that puts something between your finger and the screen. Your finger looks like something the size of a quarter to the touch system, and can't cope with that. Generally it looks like you're touching random areas of the screen.

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For anyone looking to play with this device, they ARE on sale again at $79 at Amazon! I am going to get one or two more, as we can get by with 3 score computers. We have 4 Nooks that may end up on eBay shortly. With the generous return policy at Amazon, if you don't like it, just return it.

For instant gratification, you can buy these at Best Buy for $79.99, but you pay sales tax there. However, it is easier to get and to return if you don't like it.

Phong, if you haven't actually received the Nooks, you ordered, you may want to change over to the Fire HD 6.

I will post the details this weekend about what I did to it to make it work best for this application.

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We're actually going live with the Nooks this weekend! So, we're kinda locked in on them now.

But definitely please post your settings with the Fire HD 6. I'd be willing to change over, if the battery life holds and the screens are actually viewable in our direct sunlight. Here on the West Coast, I've seen scopes wash out in bright sunlight when others reported the same scope being daylight bright.

Thanks!

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Here are the change I made to the Fire HD 6 to make it work better in daylight conditions. All of these setting are part of the device, no hacking or rooting is required.

  1. Adjust brightness to max. level. Run the Settings app. Select Display and Sounds. Touch Brightness and slide the brightness control to the max. value. There is no ambient light sensor for automatic brightness control on this device.
  2. In this same menu (Display and Sounds), set the Display Sleep to a value that will keep the device on most of the time. The goal is to avoid having it turn off during a match. I select Never, and still get 6-7 hours of life out of a single charge with the device never turning off. If it does go off, as long as it was in PractiScore when it went off, it will return there when turned back on. You will need to swipe at the lock screen to get in, though.
  3. In this same menu, set the Font Size to 3 (max. value). This helps the hard of seeing (old people). However the default of 2 also works well, and shows a little more on the screen at one time.
  4. I removed all other apps from the carousel and the home screen. This helps when someone accidentally exits from Practiscore. It isn't required but helps. To remove an app from the carousel, touch and hold the icon for about a second and a check mark will appear on top of it, and a menu appears at the top of the screen. TOuch Remove to remove the app from the carousel. Note, this does not uninstall it, just removes it from the carousel.
  5. If you turn off the WiFi during the match, you can save a bit of battery life, but I have found this to not be necessary. You also have to remember to turn it back on when you are done and need to sync.

With these changes, you still get battery life in excess of any typical match. You can expect 5-6 hours before things start getting low.

The viewability in bright daylight will never be quite as good as the Nook, but it is still quite usable. The other benefits make up for the downsides of the Nook. The size of the text on screen, the instant touch response, the scrollability and zoomability of the screen all make this a better choice when compared to the Nook.

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