Quote:
Originally Posted by Doju
I'm having a hard time deciding between buying a nook or a Kindle 2 in Canada.
On one hand, the Kindle is actually official in Canada, and wireless downloads are awesome that way. Officialness brings a lot of compelling features that unofficial devices can't touch.
On the other hand, in Canada, just about every ebook is $2 cheaper than the Kindle version at the Barnes and Noble ebook store. This is kind of depressing, the nook isn't even available officially here and they're trouncing Kindle's prices.
What would you guys recommend? I was leaning towards the Kindle until I saw this unfortunate fact, which is rather troubling.
I'm still leaning towards the Kindle, it being available in Canada is a very tempting asset, but the nook seems like an interesting device as well, but I'm not sure if it's worth it (it's thicker too) the touch screen almost seems more distracting than it would be useful, and the Kindle is a lot thinner.
Gah, help? 
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- Bought my wife a nook for Christmas -- she really likes it
- A side-by-side comparison by her and two book-reading friends resulted in the nook winning -- it has a slightly whiter background on the b&w display making it easier to read with slightly less light (maybe 10% -- not huge, but noticeable when they are side by side).
- B&N sell (many of, but not all) their eBooks in Canada, they just don't sell the nook. Amazon had exactly the same policy initially, so I don't expect this to last very long. Some publishers restrict eBooks to just USA -- not B&N's choice, but the publishers. As time goes on, authors and publishers will loosen up and go international. Amazon is leading this at the moment, but watch the others.
- Wi-Fi and USB-attached options work just fine with the nook in Canada. Amazon doesn't have a 3G cell phone partner in Canada either, but I expect they both will at some point.
- Form factors are slightly different -- the nook is thicker but feels quite comfortable; the kindle is thin, but personal taste might be that it feels flimsy, or better, or whatever -- your experience may vary -- this is not a tie-breaker. A nice leather case is an excellent accessory for each, and inside a case you won't be able to tell the difference because the wieght is almost identical.
- eBook prices will even out in the marketplace and should not be an issue -- my wife has books from 2 or 3 eBook stores including B&N, and they all work fine, so shop around (Kobo and others).
- I think the color touch-screen on the nook looks much better and has way more potential than the Kindle's keyboard -- but then I'm more of a techie
- I really don't like that fact that Amazon use a proprietary file format... who do they think they are? Microsoft? The nook and the Sony are the wave of the future and I think Amazon will eventually adopt ePub when the competition starts killing them.