Kindle or nook??

[maddie80]

I got a kindle last week as an early mother's day gift! My husband debated between that and the nook for a while, and went with the kindle because when we played with a nook (before the last software upgrade) it seemed pretty slow.

Now that I have the kindle though, we are both having second thoughts - mostly about the openness of the device (for e-books from the library, etc., and not being locked in to amazon only), and the design factor (the nook is so much smoother and doesn't have the many many buttons to mess with). I was sad that one of the books I was dying to read wasn't available for kindle because of the penguin publishing issue.

I was hoping you guys could sell me one way or the other. My main hesitations about the nook are battery life (how long does it really last in "reading hours," not just "days of use? - I read a lot, often several hours a day or more), the menuing (does it get more intuitive - the kindle was super easy out of the box, but the nook seems like it would take more time, even though I'm pretty tech/gadget savvy), and the speed of the device (page turning, downloading books, etc. - I've read very mixed reports about it).

Also, how is the B$N bookstore? I know they say they have more books than amazon, but that includes a lot of the free ebooks that are public domain, right?

[Kate22689]

Hi!

I have had a Kindle 2 over a year now but heard so much about the Nook that last week I went out and bought one. Returned it the next day.

The battery life is awful! The touch screen is really what drains the battery so quickly but sheesh. I read a few pages of a free book and the battery went down 2%. And that was only in a few minutes! The lady at B&N said it would last 2 days, my Kindle lasts for a good week.

As far as design, yes the Kindle has a lot of buttons, but to be honest its easier than the Nooks design. With the nook if you want to highlight, for instance, you have to go to the menu, find bookmark and highlight, click highlight, then click add a highlight, then scroll to get the highlight you want. With the Kindle you just use the 5-way button and highlight what you want. Personally, I'd rather highlight quickly and get back to my reading. But that's me.

The page turning takes a few seconds longer than Kindle, but its still pretty quick. The downloading takes about the same time as the Kindle.

As far as books, I've seen almost all the same books on B&N as I have on Amazon. And the prices are exactly the same. Yes, B&N has additional free books, but they are almost all by new authors and not something most people would like to read.

One plus about the Nook is that if you go to a B&N with it, you can read any ebook for free for an hour. And then after an hour start another one. I thought that was cool.

However, at the end of the day I returned the Nook and kept my Kindle.

If you have any more questions, feel free to give me a shout. I'd be more than happy to help you out

--Kate

[pboss]

That pretty much sums it up. If I had to return one of them, I would return the Nook, too. But I don't have to. Most of the issues with the Nook are obviously software-based. This means that bugs could go away and performance could improve as new updates get released.

[boswd]

After using my co-workers Kindle I was all set on getting one, until my wife came home with the Nook. I'm sorry it is just an overall better e-reading experience.

reasons I like the Nook better than the Kindle After the v.1.3 update, to me it's a no brainer, it's snappier, smoother it's just plain fun. All those old "rush to market" bugs have fixed. it's performance is nice I love my nook

1.) Looks and feel. The Nook is a very sexy e-reader, its slick it's nice. The Kindle looks like an over sized PDA or Calculator.

2.) Navigation - The Nook with the color touchscreen navigation is just a more fun way to enjoy the whole experience. You feel like you own an e-reader that has today's techonology. It really has that whole iPhone feel to it.
The Kindle uses a stubby joystick. Seriously? Are you kidding me? The kindle, I'm sorry does feel like an old out of date navigation.
Yes the Nook does take a learning curve to navigate but so didn't your blackberry, your iphone etc. Do you prefer your old cell phone from 1992 because it was initially easir to navigate?

I also like the fact the Nook displays your book cover art.
It's just an overall better look and feel to it.

3.) epub (open format) the one thing I hated about my iPod for years was the pain in the you know what to convert files etc. Amazon is taking a page right out of Apple's play book with the whole walled in garden. Yes Yes I know you can convert but WHY.
e-pub is an Open format. I can go to my local library and check out a book.

4.) Brick and Mortar Advantage- want it today, buy it today. Need to return and get a refund or and exchange it can happen in the same day. Can try it out hands on. Don't understand something or it's acting up and don't want to call support you can bring it in. That is really nice.
Kindle, box it up and mail it and WAIT.

5.) I'm a bookstore nut, yes I'm one of those who drinks coffee and reads book in the lounge area. The In-store reading of any book is beautiful to me. I'll take that perk over the buying a book internationally anyday. When I'm on vacation I don't particularly find myself going bonkers if I can't download a book. Though I do think it's a nice touch, def. not a "must have" or a "deal breaker" by any means. Call me crazy but If I'm going oversea's and plan on reading alot, I will buy a few books ahead of time.
6.) I'll take Wi Fi over Whispernet anyday of the week. That's a silly oversight by Amazon to go with Whispernet over Wi Fi

Again the Nook just has too many more nice features. Free Friday's, in store coupons etc.

Did i mention it's soooooooooo much more sexier.

Go ahead and return that outdated oversize PDA lookin Atari navigating clunker and get a sexy Nook

[HaggisMacJedi]

Each to his own. I think the Nook looks like a toy, and the cheap plastic back felt like it could break at any moment. The Kindle has a nice, sturdy, but light brushed metal back that I think is far sexier than the Nook's Disney meets Barnes and Noble back.

But each person's opinion is valid.

I also think the Kindle's Whispernet is great for its primary purpose: delivery of content. I personally wouldn't want to surf the 'Net on an e-ink screen on ANY device, WiFi or not. Further, if I want to surf the 'Net with an Android device I'll use my Droid over the Nook.

And as far as reading a book in a B&N, if I went to the trouble to go there in person, I'd just get the book off the shelf rather than read THERE on an electronic device. I don't know, it just seems strange for me personally to sit in an actual bookstore reading an e-book when the actual paper book is sitting there 10 feet away from me.

[randyharris]

We're all different, and so are the readers - hopefully we can all find one that we like best.

Myself, I really wanted to love the Sony PRS600 and almost bought it at the recent $199 price. But the more reflective screen, no wireless, no wifi made me get the nook. I do love that touch screen interface though... To me the Kindle industrial design just makes me cringe, I can't get past it. I like the feel and style of the nook. Most of my reading on it will actually be web content. With Instapaper and Ephemera I can now effortlessly compile reading and automatically transfer it to the nook for evening reading. Loving it so far.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by HaggisMacJedi

Each to his own. I think the Nook looks like a toy, and the cheap plastic back felt like it could break at any moment. The Kindle has a nice, sturdy, but light brushed metal back that I think is far sexier than the Nook's Disney meets Barnes and Noble back.

But each person's opinion is valid.

I also think the Kindle's Whispernet is great for its primary purpose: delivery of content. I personally wouldn't want to surf the 'Net on an e-ink screen on ANY device, WiFi or not. Further, if I want to surf the 'Net with an Android device I'll use my Droid over the Nook.

And as far as reading a book in a B&N, if I went to the trouble to go there in person, I'd just get the book off the shelf rather than read THERE on an electronic device. I don't know, it just seems strange for me personally to sit in an actual bookstore reading an e-book when the actual paper book is sitting there 10 feet away from me.

are you sure you are talking about the Nook? The Nook doesn't have plastic back. It has a rubberized back. Nor does it look like a Disney product. that's an odd observation. One I don't think you would find even the biggest Kindle fanboy would agree with. I don't know maybe you are speaking of the Kobo? That actually has been a Universal praise of the Nook, it's build has that very high end feel and look to it.
I mean come on you know the Kindle is anything but sexy

Hmmm Whispernet isn't available everywhere and I do agree about surfing the net, it's clumsy on both units, If I do I look for their mobile sites. it's better.

Wi fi is faster for shopping wirelessly than 3G. And is more widely available than whispernet. I still find that an interesting choice by Amazon to bypass Wi Fil, it just more universal.

But as others have said to each his own.

As far as reading in-store? I used to think the same way but once you are there and take advantage of it. It's really cool, to be able to just pop it up. Plus you get coupons and specials that are only available when you bring your nook in and it connects automatically.
I mean we can really say the same about actually owning a e-reader why when we can just get a book and donate it afterwards. We know why we got them

[JSWolf]

One problem with the Kindle is that unless you can strip the DRM from eBooks, you cannot borrow any eBooks from the library should your local library support eBooks.

[fafaforza]

I think the screen on the Nook is better than the Kindle. Don't own a Kindle2 myself, but have seen plenty of people with them on the train and the screen just looks very dark and gray. In comparison, the Nook's screen is very bright so that you get better contrast to the text.

The downside is that from what I've seen of a coworker's nook, is that the interface is really clumsy and the android os is pretty choppy. So I guess the choice isn't so clear cut.

I think I would still get a PRS-505, as the screen seems comparable to the nook, the battery lasts a long time and a PSP charger probably runs less than $10 on ebay now.

If you want something newer, you could take a look at the Pocket Edition, as the screen is just as sharp and bright, though it is smaller, which is something you should check in person.

[boswd]

I love the interface, it's no different getting used to than your smartphone or Blackberry.

how long ago did you see it being choppy? I bought mine post v.1.3 update and it's pretty smooth to me.

[fafaforza]

Last I saw it was Wednesday, and my friend keeps up with all the updates, for his Droid and the nook. At one point, I think it got stuck for a good couple of seconds while it was loading something up between menus.

[boswd]

mine is about 3 weeks old or so and havent' seen anything like that. Hmm could just be a random hiccup. Happens on my computer and just about any electronic device every now and then. My iPhone hiccups alot. I don't consider it choppy though.