nook and Kindle Comparison

6charlong · 06-11-2011, 06:07 PM

I’ve been using a Kindle for the past nine months and can’t help comparing the new nook with it. I have to say the touch interface on the nook is a big improvement. When I go back to my Kindle I keep wanting to touch my choices, especially when it comes to choosing a book to read or picking a word to look up in the dictionary. The nook’s touch interface does not support the stylus but I’ve had no trouble with “fat-fingering” it.

The touch interface is put to good use in selecting books from your library and in using the “settings” feature. It is especially nice when you shop in the B&N store. I should mention here that my nook has a superior antenna to my Kindle. It gets a stronger signal than my Kindle judged by the number of bars I see both in my home and at public “hot spots.” Of course, this is anecdotal so others may find more or less and of course, nook has a faster CPU than Kindle and it really shows. It’s not so noticeable when you’re just turning pages, but the nook is quite snappy online and the better connections could result from the fact that the new nook supports b/g/n routers.

There is little difference of clarity between the screens. As others have noticed, the nook’s touch screen technology does not diminish the brilliance of its Pearl Screen, and the touch works perfectly--more accurate, in my opinion--than even the touch interface on the iPad 1.

I was fascinated by the nook's sculptured back with its rubberized surface and the promise of a better grip on the lighter nook reader, however the system didn’t work for me. On the other hand, Barnes and Noble sells a series of tasteful covers for the nook and I was very pleased to have a brick and mortar store to shop at where I could compare real life models of the covers. With a cover attached I find the lighter weight, smaller form factor and better balance of the nook make reading for hours more pleasant.

The new nook is a step ahead in hardware, but content always has been the real issue with eBook readers. I found the contest between Amazon and Barnes and Noble a mixed bag to say the least. In the first place, the nook flawlessly handled my library of almost 200 secure ePub books, a collection I started when the first PRS500 came out while Amazon was still selling eBooks with the old Mobi DRM (I bought a few of those too but the Kindle can’t read them and I’ve deleted them years ago.) Adobe Digital Editions recognized the nook the moment the two met and ADE authorized it without a fuss. I copied my ePub library to the nook’s SD card and started setting them up in collections.

The book covers for generic ePub books don’t show up when I put them on the nook’s “bookshelves” (nook’s term for collections); it displays them as outlines with the book’s name inside the outline. Personal choice here but I’ve never liked frills like that anyway, so I display the bookshelves as a list of titles within my collections the way they’re displayed on the Kindle. I have more content available on the nook due to that big library of formerly purchased books and it pleases me no end knowing it’s all legal. But there’s another side to this issue of content and I suspect it’s the real issue between Barns and Noble and Amazon.

I’ve only found one eBook that B&N sold and Amazon didn’t. It was a relatively new eBook and it turned up on Amazon a week after B&N had it. I wondered if this was possibly as a result of Amazon’s “I want this book for Kindle” feature on the screens for paper books, a clever move that puts Amazon’s customers happily to work building the Amazon store. (Barnes and Noble used to have this feature but they seem to have dropped it.) In only a couple of weeks I found several other eBooks I wanted that only Amazon sells.

I tried looking at other ePub sources. Since I knew the books were digitized it seemed reasonable to expect someone to sell them but no, I went from the Sony Reader store to Books on Board and on and on. I had to conclude that some books, even some that are frankly important, are available for the Kindle alone. This surprised me so I looked again with some other books and sure enough, there are some eBooks that if you can’t buy them from Amazon you can’t read them.

Of course, Amazon famously went out of its way to become a sort of digital publishing house. They encourage writers to publish their work in Amazon’s Kindle store and they even print paper versions of the most popular eBook only titles. The store offers Amazon Shorts too, a brilliant idea and a way to sell inexpensive monographs, short essays, novellas and short stories. And Amazon’s library of magazines and newspapers includes many publications that are not available for the nook or any other reader.

Amazon has always been riding the tip of the technology wave. At the moment the nook strikes me as the best reader for reading fiction and nonfiction hampered only by having less content. Certainly there are many books in the backlists that are not available on any book reader. I don't want to overstate the case here: the Kindle isn’t far behind. Amazon is almost certain to take steps to catch up.

Perhaps Amazon’s plan to support ePub will make all the other content sources available to Amazon customers, and, of course make the Amazon eBookstore available to everyone who reads digital books, magazines and newspapers, putting Amazon in direct competition with every other online store. Now I’ve started speculating and I should stop. We’ll all know soon enough what they’re going to do. In the meantime, I’m thoroughly enjoying my Allnew nook.

Ransom · 06-13-2011, 03:52 PM

Not a bad comparison. I did a review of the Knidle-3 here if anyone's interested.

I agree that the Nook is much better to hold. The Kindle is too darn skinny and floppy. A good thick cover helps a lot though.

KierstenFay · 06-18-2011, 12:26 PM

I kinda like the lightness of the Kindle. I have dainty hands though

I read for looong periods of time—because once I start a story, I need to know what happens next—so holding up heavier books (ahem...Twilight and Harry Potter hardcovers) or e-readers can get tiresome.

The Nook Color is a bit heavier than the kindle, but I like the interface and the touch screen better. The touch screen causes the battery life to die quickly though.

I like the Kindle because I can read outside in the sun, and it looks more like the page of a book than a screen, which is easier on my eyes.

I just wish I could transfer my books from one to the other.

6charlong · 06-18-2011, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KierstenFay

I kinda like the lightness of the Kindle. I have dainty hands though

I read for looong periods of time—because once I start a story, I need to know what happens next—so holding up heavier books (ahem...Twilight and Harry Potter hardcovers) or e-readers can get tiresome.

The Nook Color is a bit heavier than the kindle, but I like the interface and the touch screen better. The touch screen causes the battery life to die quickly though.

I like the Kindle because I can read outside in the sun, and it looks more like the page of a book than a screen, which is easier on my eyes.

I just wish I could transfer my books from one to the other.

These incompatible DRM schemes are irritating. Now I have to keep track of which books I have on the Kindle and what's on the (All New) nook. Since I already have about 200 ePub books, which sideloaded onto the nook without a hitch, I was finally able to access that whole library which includes some of my favorites.

I have trouble holding big books too. I'm finding that the nook is easier on my hands than my Kindle. It's lighter than the Kindle and a bit thicker. I need a book cover to hold both and the nook cover is smaller and lighter too. I think nook's fat, squat little shape in the book cover is the best I've found.

emoorman · 06-19-2011, 09:22 PM

I actually don't have either a Kindle or a Nook, but I do read on my Android phone and my PC. I have been reading on PDAs and phones for years. I started on a Sharp, then went to a Palm and Peanut Press. Then I downloaded eReader.com's software and found I liked it very much. Since then I have on my PC and have used Kindle for OC, Nook for PC, eReader for PC, Kobo for PC and FBReader. Of these, I actually like the eReader software the best.

It turns out that Fictionwise bought eReader.com, then B&N bought Fictionwise. The first Nook, as I understand, could read eReader.com books.

Soon, I'm going to break down and buy a dedicated ereader. I figured I'd get me a Nook Simple Touch or Second Edition (whatever they call it). After emailing several times and calling 3 times, I find that B&N is no longer recognizing eReader books. They won't even convert my eReader format books to ePub so I can use them on a Nook. I thought I was going to have all my books, past, present & future on one reader. No such luck. I'll have to buy them again if I want them on a new reader. One of their managers told me that they let eReader operate as a separate entity. That sort of makes me more than a little put out at B&N.

I have bought many books and electronics from Amazon, and their customer service is excellent, so it looks like a Kindle in my future.

rdfry · 06-19-2011, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emoorman

I actually don't have either a Kindle or a Nook, but I do read on my Android phone and my PC. I have been reading on PDAs and phones for years. I started on a Sharp, then went to a Palm and Peanut Press. Then I downloaded eReader.com's software and found I liked it very much. Since then I have on my PC and have used Kindle for OC, Nook for PC, eReader for PC, Kobo for PC and FBReader. Of these, I actually like the eReader software the best.

It turns out that Fictionwise bought eReader.com, then B&N bought Fictionwise. The first Nook, as I understand, could read eReader.com books.

Soon, I'm going to break down and buy a dedicated ereader. I figured I'd get me a Nook Simple Touch or Second Edition (whatever they call it). After emailing several times and calling 3 times, I find that B&N is no longer recognizing eReader books. They won't even convert my eReader format books to ePub so I can use them on a Nook. I thought I was going to have all my books, past, present & future on one reader. No such luck. I'll have to buy them again if I want them on a new reader. One of their managers told me that they let eReader operate as a separate entity. That sort of makes me more than a little put out at B&N.

I have bought many books and electronics from Amazon, and their customer service is excellent, so it looks like a Kindle in my future.

If you own the books I would remove the DRM and convert the pdbs to epub

astrangerhere · 06-20-2011, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6charlong

The book covers for generic ePub books don’t show up when I put them on the nook’s “bookshelves” (nook’s term for collections); it displays them as outlines with the book’s name inside the outline. Personal choice here but I’ve never liked frills like that anyway, so I display the bookshelves as a list of titles within my collections the way they’re displayed on the Kindle.

Than can be fixed by removing/replacing the cover in Calibre and then re-loading the book. Its a bug with Calibre, which might be fixed in an update, but I've found that just removing and re-adding the cover fixes it.

RainingLemur · 06-20-2011, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rdfry

If you own the books I would remove the DRM and convert the pdbs to epub

I love the removing of DRM from the new books I buy. It's a small personal victory.

EldRick · 06-20-2011, 12:03 PM

I too had a K3 since the first shipments, and I put it on eBay three days after receiving the Nook Touch. The NT is a much superior reader.

One noticeable flaw in the NT is Library "list" of books - the "list" format only shows five titles, while the Covers format shows six. Really stupid programming, that; the point of a list view is to show MORE items, not fewer.

BTW, I second the strategy of removing DRM and converting to epub. I still prefer to buy from Amazon, as they offer a much richer purchase decision experience.

06-11-2011, 06:07 PM	#1
6charlong friendly lurker Posts: 896 Karma: 2436026 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: US Device: Kindle, nook, Apple and Kobo	nook and Kindle Comparison I’ve been using a Kindle for the past nine months and can’t help comparing the new nook with it. I have to say the touch interface on the nook is a big improvement. When I go back to my Kindle I keep wanting to touch my choices, especially when it comes to choosing a book to read or picking a word to look up in the dictionary. The nook’s touch interface does not support the stylus but I’ve had no trouble with “fat-fingering” it. The touch interface is put to good use in selecting books from your library and in using the “settings” feature. It is especially nice when you shop in the B&N store. I should mention here that my nook has a superior antenna to my Kindle. It gets a stronger signal than my Kindle judged by the number of bars I see both in my home and at public “hot spots.” Of course, this is anecdotal so others may find more or less and of course, nook has a faster CPU than Kindle and it really shows. It’s not so noticeable when you’re just turning pages, but the nook is quite snappy online and the better connections could result from the fact that the new nook supports b/g/n routers. There is little difference of clarity between the screens. As others have noticed, the nook’s touch screen technology does not diminish the brilliance of its Pearl Screen, and the touch works perfectly--more accurate, in my opinion--than even the touch interface on the iPad 1. I was fascinated by the nook's sculptured back with its rubberized surface and the promise of a better grip on the lighter nook reader, however the system didn’t work for me. On the other hand, Barnes and Noble sells a series of tasteful covers for the nook and I was very pleased to have a brick and mortar store to shop at where I could compare real life models of the covers. With a cover attached I find the lighter weight, smaller form factor and better balance of the nook make reading for hours more pleasant. The new nook is a step ahead in hardware, but content always has been the real issue with eBook readers. I found the contest between Amazon and Barnes and Noble a mixed bag to say the least. In the first place, the nook flawlessly handled my library of almost 200 secure ePub books, a collection I started when the first PRS500 came out while Amazon was still selling eBooks with the old Mobi DRM (I bought a few of those too but the Kindle can’t read them and I’ve deleted them years ago.) Adobe Digital Editions recognized the nook the moment the two met and ADE authorized it without a fuss. I copied my ePub library to the nook’s SD card and started setting them up in collections. The book covers for generic ePub books don’t show up when I put them on the nook’s “bookshelves” (nook’s term for collections); it displays them as outlines with the book’s name inside the outline. Personal choice here but I’ve never liked frills like that anyway, so I display the bookshelves as a list of titles within my collections the way they’re displayed on the Kindle. I have more content available on the nook due to that big library of formerly purchased books and it pleases me no end knowing it’s all legal. But there’s another side to this issue of content and I suspect it’s the real issue between Barns and Noble and Amazon. I’ve only found one eBook that B&N sold and Amazon didn’t. It was a relatively new eBook and it turned up on Amazon a week after B&N had it. I wondered if this was possibly as a result of Amazon’s “I want this book for Kindle” feature on the screens for paper books, a clever move that puts Amazon’s customers happily to work building the Amazon store. (Barnes and Noble used to have this feature but they seem to have dropped it.) In only a couple of weeks I found several other eBooks I wanted that only Amazon sells. I tried looking at other ePub sources. Since I knew the books were digitized it seemed reasonable to expect someone to sell them but no, I went from the Sony Reader store to Books on Board and on and on. I had to conclude that some books, even some that are frankly important, are available for the Kindle alone. This surprised me so I looked again with some other books and sure enough, there are some eBooks that if you can’t buy them from Amazon you can’t read them. Of course, Amazon famously went out of its way to become a sort of digital publishing house. They encourage writers to publish their work in Amazon’s Kindle store and they even print paper versions of the most popular eBook only titles. The store offers Amazon Shorts too, a brilliant idea and a way to sell inexpensive monographs, short essays, novellas and short stories. And Amazon’s library of magazines and newspapers includes many publications that are not available for the nook or any other reader. Amazon has always been riding the tip of the technology wave. At the moment the nook strikes me as the best reader for reading fiction and nonfiction hampered only by having less content. Certainly there are many books in the backlists that are not available on any book reader. I don't want to overstate the case here: the Kindle isn’t far behind. Amazon is almost certain to take steps to catch up. Perhaps Amazon’s plan to support ePub will make all the other content sources available to Amazon customers, and, of course make the Amazon eBookstore available to everyone who reads digital books, magazines and newspapers, putting Amazon in direct competition with every other online store. Now I’ve started speculating and I should stop. We’ll all know soon enough what they’re going to do. In the meantime, I’m thoroughly enjoying my Allnew nook. Last edited by 6charlong; 06-11-2011 at 08:59 PM.

06-18-2011, 12:26 PM	#3
KierstenFay Author Posts: 40 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: Kindle	I have a Nook Color and a Kindle. I kinda like the lightness of the Kindle. I have dainty hands though I read for looong periods of time—because once I start a story, I need to know what happens next—so holding up heavier books (ahem...Twilight and Harry Potter hardcovers) or e-readers can get tiresome. The Nook Color is a bit heavier than the kindle, but I like the interface and the touch screen better. The touch screen causes the battery life to die quickly though. I like the Kindle because I can read outside in the sun, and it looks more like the page of a book than a screen, which is easier on my eyes. I just wish I could transfer my books from one to the other.

06-19-2011, 09:22 PM	#5
emoorman Obsessive Reader Posts: 74 Karma: 515292 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Shalimar, FL (in the panhandle) Device: Kindle PW, Nokia 1520	Just my opinion I actually don't have either a Kindle or a Nook, but I do read on my Android phone and my PC. I have been reading on PDAs and phones for years. I started on a Sharp, then went to a Palm and Peanut Press. Then I downloaded eReader.com's software and found I liked it very much. Since then I have on my PC and have used Kindle for OC, Nook for PC, eReader for PC, Kobo for PC and FBReader. Of these, I actually like the eReader software the best. It turns out that Fictionwise bought eReader.com, then B&N bought Fictionwise. The first Nook, as I understand, could read eReader.com books. Soon, I'm going to break down and buy a dedicated ereader. I figured I'd get me a Nook Simple Touch or Second Edition (whatever they call it). After emailing several times and calling 3 times, I find that B&N is no longer recognizing eReader books. They won't even convert my eReader format books to ePub so I can use them on a Nook. I thought I was going to have all my books, past, present & future on one reader. No such luck. I'll have to buy them again if I want them on a new reader. One of their managers told me that they let eReader operate as a separate entity. That sort of makes me more than a little put out at B&N. I have bought many books and electronics from Amazon, and their customer service is excellent, so it looks like a Kindle in my future.

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06-13-2011, 03:52 PM	#2
Ransom Banned Posts: 242 Karma: 51054 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Belleville, IL Device: Kindle-3	Not a bad comparison. I did a review of the Knidle-3 here if anyone's interested. I agree that the Nook is much better to hold. The Kindle is too darn skinny and floppy. A good thick cover helps a lot though.

06-20-2011, 12:03 PM	#9
EldRick Evangelist Posts: 470 Karma: 112801 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Aura H2O (i86, M96C, Mini&Glo, PRS-950, STR, K-Touch, K-DX, K-3)	I too had a K3 since the first shipments, and I put it on eBay three days after receiving the Nook Touch. The NT is a much superior reader. One noticeable flaw in the NT is Library "list" of books - the "list" format only shows five titles, while the Covers format shows six. Really stupid programming, that; the point of a list view is to show MORE items, not fewer. BTW, I second the strategy of removing DRM and converting to epub. I still prefer to buy from Amazon, as they offer a much richer purchase decision experience.

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