iPad 2 vs Kindle Fire – Which Tablet Creates More Trouble for Users?

FixYa, the leading product Q&A destination on the Internet, has released a report on the top consumer issues on Apple's iPad 2 and Amazon's Kindle Fire.

The findings, which are included in the FixYa Tablet Index, are based on tens of thousands of issues for each product.

Product call centers are the closest thing to consumer hell, making the Web the new owner's manual, says FixYa CEO Yaniv Bensadon.

We see this first hand and have experienced an explosion in consumer issues with tablets, mainly the variety of devices running Android software. Despite Apple's god-like status with consumers, it is no stranger to consumer issues, as noted in today's report, he adds.

With a cheap price tag of $200 (cheaper when compared to any other Android tablets and iPads) and Amazon's grand marketing strategies, the Seattle-based company is reported to have sold almost four million Kindle Fire devices in the fourth quarter of last year and quite easily outnumbered the best bets of Samsung, Asus, and other Android manufacturers and take 14 percent of the tablet market.

Meanwhile, the Cupertino, California-based Apple shipped 15.4 million iPads during the same quarter last year and its share of the tablet market fell to 57 percent from 64 percent a year earlier, IHS iSuppli reported.

The latest FixYa report reveals that both the devices have one significant problem in common - Wi-Fi Connection Issues. 35 percent of iPad 2 users who took assistance from FixYa voted this problem as the biggest of all issues pertaining to iPad 2 whereas 25 percent of the Kindle Fire sample users pointed out that Kindle Fire's Wi-Fi has been plagued with significant issues from the start, with numerous FixYa users complaining of faulty connections, getting kicked off in the middle of browsing, and being unable to connect to the Internet at all.

Check out the top 5 user complaints about both the tablets.

Kindle Fire - Top 5 User Complaints

• One-Click Shopping- This feature of one-click shopping makes Kindle Fire desirable among many Amazon enthusiasts for making online shopping convenient and easy but the same feature breaks the image of the tablet too.

FIxYA finds most of the consumers (about 30%) complaint about this feature as they find that the absence of password authorization feature in Amazon's tablet creates a security issue of accidental purchases and increases the chance of credit card payment information theft. While Amazon indicated that they are working on the solution of this problem, FixYa experts advise to set up a Wi-FI password.

• Wi-Fi Connection Issues- the second biggest complaint about (25%) the Kindle Fire is its Wi-Fi connection. However, Amazon tablet had this Internet connection problem since its launch. As the tablet does not support 3G connection, the user has to connect through Wi-Fi for browsing and the FixYa users often complain about faulty connections, getting kicked off in the middle of browsing and being unable to connect to the Internet at all.

FixYa provides three solutions for this problem - first is to upgrade to Kindle's 6.1 or 6.2 version, which has the best chance to reduce the problem. The second solution is to reset the home router before logging in. The final solution is to set a static IP address for the Kindle tablet.

• No Parental Settings- Almost 15 percent of FixYa users complained about Kindle Fire's lack of parental controls for children safety. FixYa advises the Kindle Fire owners to set a Wi-Fi password to solve this problem for Web browsing.
• Touchscreen Precision- Another major issue of Kindle Fire is a hardware problem and FixYa does not detail on the problem and offers no solution in its report.
• Computer Does Not Recognize Kindle Fire (USB Issue)- This problem constitutes 10 percent of all the major complaints made by the users. According to the Fire tablet users, computer often fails to recognize the Kindle Fire. As the Amazon tablet does not come with a great storage capacity, users prefer to offload content from their tablets to computer but fail to do so as computers do not recognize their tablet.

FixYA suggests unplugging Kindle Fire from the USB and then try to connect to another USB on the computer.

iPad 2 - Top 5 User Complaints

• Wi-Fi Connection Issues:35 percent of the complaints that came from the iPad 2 users are regarding the tablet's Wi-Fi connection. The iPad 2 (without 3G) owners often complain that they are unable to connect to the Internet through Wi-Fi or soon that they get logged on, they are booted off.

FixYa provides a few fixes for this problem such as turning Wi-Fi on and off, renewing the DHCP lease, and resetting the Wi-Fi network settings etc.

• LED Display Issue:15 percent of iPad 2 issues are related to display problems. The problems include the prominence of splotchy light patches around the edges of the device when their screens display dark graphics or pages.

FixYa experts suggest adjusting the device's screen brightness can reduce the display issue somewhat, but insists that a full fix is difficult as it is a hardware issue.

• Microphone Quality -15 percent of issues regarding iPad 2 say that microphone sound quality differs between iPad 2 models. The 3G-enabled iPad 2 are often criticized for its poor sound quality. The 3G + Wi-Fi models come with a plastic mic opening while on Wi-Fi only models the mic is surrounded by aluminum and that resulted into poor sound quality.
• USB Issues -10 percent of the iPad users complained that like Kindle Fire, computers also fail to recognize iPad 2. iTunes are often unable to recognize iPad 2 and thus transferring files between tablet and computer becomes impossible.
• Screen Issues -10 percent of the users complained about the screen resolution of iPad 2. Apple enthusiasts, who were eagerly waiting for the introduction of Retina Display with the Apple tablet, were disappointed receiving the same resolution as that of the original iPad. The resolution problem, however, this time with the launch of iPad 3 will be addressed, believe the Apple lovers.

Click here to check out the FixYa report