Sell me on the Kindle or Nook

gilliatt

 Looking for a Christmas gift for my wife and and looking at these.  She has a laptop that is pretty new.  I think she will mostly use it for the ebooks.  She definitely won't need the 3G.  I am leaning towards the Kindle.

Steven Ford

I just got the colored nook and love it so far, I actually put the pdf copy of the workouts on it so I can look at them.

 

jburbatt

In my own search I decided to go with the Nook- regular for a couple of reasons. With the Nook you can download library books from the library and share books with others, something you can't do with the Kindle (unless you hack it, and even the hack doesn't work all the time). Buying books can get pretty expensive, and I wanted the option to get from the library. Nook regular vs. color goes to what she'll be using it for. If it's mainly an e-reader, then go with the regular since it uses the e-ink technology that makes it easy to read in any setting and has a super long battery life. If she wants more like an iPad experience, the Color is a good option, but since it's backlit it can be harder on the eyes for reading, and the battery life is not as long.

jburbatt

Oh, and Barnes and Noble lets you hook up with their instore wifi network and read books on the nook without paying for them (unless you want to take them with you) similar to how it is when you go into a bookstore and read a nice little side option I thought.

Beth_S

Kindle hater here. It is like reading books in Microsoft Word. I made it through less than a chapter of Stephen Colbert's book on it before abandoning it in favor of a hard copy.

Spokane_Al

I have the latest Kindle model and really like it. It does exactly what it is supposed to do in that it provides a great book reading platform. The battery life is amazing and I go weeks without needing a recharging. I also purchases a cover with a built in nightlight that is powered by the Kindle so I can read in bed.

chuckg

I bought my wife a new Kindle for her birthday. She's an avid reader, several books a week. She loves it and has it with her most of the time. The one drawback that she mentioned was the ease that she can buy books. She thinks she could get in trouble pretty quick, but this can happen not matter what your platform is.

Al Truscott

Here's  list of the things I've done with my iPad in the 48 hours surrounding IM Arizona, which I saw in person:

Read two books on the Kindle app; paid my bills with the Chase mobile app; followed the IM AZ race tracker and sent emails to EN in real time while viewing the race in person, then showed Greg C and Todd Mellinger their results and placement in the finish chute 4 minutes after they were done; shared pics of my bike acident on the 9" screen at the EN dinners; downloaded two of my snail mail magazines to read on the plane home, then viewed a movie on the COLOR screen while siting out a 2 hour snow (in Seattle, not Phoenix) delay; got real time updates once I was on the plane and we'd learned that the Seattle airport was on ground hold after a cargo plane there went off the runway; took advantage of the free wifi demo on the plane trip home; listened to my local radio station whenever I wanted; listened to my music collection over my home stero via the new air play feature; printed off my motel reservation for next year's IM AZ via the new Air print funtion; and generally used email and browser functions freely.

All this with a battery which basically lasts all day, so no worries about having to recharge while at the race or at the airport or on the plane.

Since the iPad has a Kindle app, and thus access to all of Amazons ebooks, has a color 9" screen with great resolution, and is also nearly the same as a full function computer, yet as easy to hold as a magazine/book, why not splurge and get it all?

ht001

I was writing a response based on my experience as a Kindle owner (who has also used the iPad), then I found this article.

news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20009738-1.html

This sums things up pretty well in terms of all of the considerations that you would likely want to weigh.

I think it ultimately comes down to matching the device with the type of book vs. other electronic content that your wife might be interested in. I'm a reader and I wanted a device that would allow me to read a lot, and conveniently. For reading, I have found the Kindle to be great! Love it!

I used a friend's iPad recently and found it to be pretty cool for all of the things it does, although the reading wasn't ideal for me. It is a heavier device than a dedicated eReader and the LCD screen is difficult to read in bright light. The LCD would enable easy reading in the dark without a light, similar to using a laptop in the dark. Definitely lots of cool stuff on offer there, if those are things that your wife might want or enjoy. It'd be lost on me at this point....but I'm slow to adapt!  I just want to read.

In pretty much every review I've read the Nook is noted as a good contender to the Kindle, and as the only option for folks wanting a dedicated eReader with a color screen (Kindle doesn't offer that). The Nook does also support EPUB format straightup. That means it is easy to upload ebooks from your library. It IS possible to do file conversions to load library ebooks on the Kindle...It takes a bit of research and set up, and not everyone's going to have the desire or patience to do that....So that may be a consideration. I haven't seen anyone unconditionally recommend the Nook over the Kindle in head to head tests on form factor, design, and execution of the eInk format. But I'm sure the reader in me wouldn't care much if I was reading on a nook vs. a Kindle. Interestingly my Mom, who doesn't have a technical bone in her body (well except the titanium hip) recently decided to go with Kindle after fiddling with both and thinking about it for a while. Maybe she did it to be like me...but she did say she thought the page turn and look and feel of the kindle suited her better.

Amazon has done a good job with offering firmware updates to enhance the functionality. Recent upgrades enabled better content organization options, and sharing with another device with the same limitations as Nook "lend me" (only the content that is enabled for lending can be lent, one book can be lent only once, 14 day lend period).

Lots to think about, but I don't think your wife'd be disappointed with either the Nook or the Kindle for reading. She'll be jazzed to get such a great gift!  I'm done rambling...time to go run!

left.right.repeat

In an attempt to thoroughly confuse you....I agree with Al. I owned a Nook. Loved it. Really like the "Lend Me" feature of many books. You can loan them to a friend for two weeks and then they come back to you....MAGIC!

Then I got an Ipad....ooooohhhhhhh mmmmmmmyyyyyy.....bye bye Nook.....hello Kindle app, Nook app, iBooks app.....now I have EVERYTHING. I know there are a lot of Jobs haters out there BUT this guy has got so many things right....I gotta say he has changed my life.....between my iPods and iPhone and iPad....I am a very, very happy customer.

I am glad I sold my Nook when I did. Based on functionality alone, the Nook and Kindle should be much less expensive compared to an iPad -- again, one man's opinion.

J.T. Thompson

I'm with Al....hard to find myself buying a nook or Kindle when you can get so much more.....!! The Oracle has seen the future....

gilliatt

thanks everyone, leaning towards the Nook because of the library feature (thanks Jennifer). Since she doesn't even own an Ipod I think an Ipad might be a bit of a waste.