Moving to Germany- buy a Kindle or Nook?

JStew · 12-07-2010, 09:42 PM

We're moving to Germany this summer and my daughter wants a Nook. I have a kindle and it downloaded a book from Italy so I'm assuming my Kindle will work in Germany. Does the Nook download books in Germany? Which would be better to have in Europe?
Help! Need to Christmas shop! Thanks!

polly · 12-07-2010, 10:42 PM

Having lived in Germany, I'd say neither one. B&N and Amazon were the two most stringent book stores for enforcing geographic restrictions. A lot of the books you might want to read are not available, in English, when you live there. There are workarounds that usually involve a VPN connection that will give you a US IP address on your computer. (HotSpot Shield will do it for free with advertising, but Firefox and AdBlock Plus will remove the ads.) Some stores just require that you have an American credit card or address. I'd certainly hang on to an American credit card while you're there. There are several book stores selling ePub format, so if you can't get around one store's restrictions, you can try another. Library books are available in ePub format. I'd suggest that you see if a library near you offers electronic books (ask about OverDrive). My old library was happy to continue loaning me books while I lived there.

B&N will NOT support their Nook outside of the US. If it breaks in Germany, that's not B&N's problem. I'd recommend looking at the matrix (https://www.mobileread.com/eink/) to get a better idea of what's available. Some of the less well known brands are sold and supported world wide.

osnova · 12-08-2010, 12:17 AM

I have no experience with Nooks. Kindles 3G's connect to the Internet pretty much throughout Europe, even Eastern Europe.

wvcherrybomb · 12-08-2010, 12:30 AM

From what I understand, geo-restrictions are not retailer specific. The same restrictions apply to all of them.

Amazon is the only retailer I am aware of where you can keep a United States address listed on your Amazon account and have access to all the US books. From what I have read on this forum, you can use foreign credit cards with no problem. If your Kindle was purchased in the US and you keep your US address (or that of a friend or family member) listed on your account, there will be no problem.

SkyDream · 12-08-2010, 01:03 AM

Kindle 3G will not work in Germany except for Amazon book store.
No internet using Kindle Basic Web !

Europe is best for Sony or Pocketbook.

aceflor · 12-08-2010, 03:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkyDream

Kindle 3G will not work in Germany except for Amazon book store.
No internet using Kindle Basic Web !

Europe is best for Sony or Pocketbook.

... or the other way around. Now sincerely, having had (and for some still having) many readers, and living in Europe (Germany for 20 years, just moved to Spain now), If a good reader is what you are looking for and you do not want to have to hack or change things on it, plus you want to read in english, then I think your best choice is the Kindle. It is very well adapted to Europe, you can access your Amazon US account anywhere and download all the books you want from your account. I myself have a US account at amazon, have had for years, and it is working with no problem at all

The Kindle is very easy to use and a no nonsense reader, with a high quality (the highest for the time being on the market) display and an excellent customer service.

The Nook is really nice too, I love mine, but getting the books over here means "tricking" a bit and this tricking might one day not work anymore. Plus I would be very very sorry if my Nook broke, since getting it fixed from here would be a real hassle.

This of course is based on the supposition you want to read books in english. If not, then you might be better off buying a Sony Reader, which reads epub from almost any store. The newest ones (350 and 650) have also the best display on the market for the time being, using the same display as the Kindle does. They are very, very good devices indeed.

I personally would not advise the Pockebooks if you are not into "playing" with softwares and so on. They could be good devices if their Firmware was completed properly, which it never is, an update always eliminating some problems to bring new ones.

To sum it up, if in the middle of your moving preparations (and I know how stressful that is, just moved this summer from one country to the other with kids and all), you just want your base covered with a solid reader and a great amount of english books available, get the Kindle with a US amazon account.

PM me if you need more information, will be glad to help.

SkyDream · 12-08-2010, 04:46 AM

I wonder why you think Sony is not good for english literature.
Although Amazon/Kindle currently have the biggest collections doesn't means Sony is bad for english books.

aceflor · 12-08-2010, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkyDream

Although Amazon/Kindle currently have the biggest collections doesn't means Sony is bad for english books.

I did not say it is bad, I love my Sony, I said the Kindle is the easiest way to come to ereading and it has the biggest available collections. That might change, but for the time being that is the way things are.

SkyDream · 12-08-2010, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aceflor

I did not say it is bad, I love my Sony, I said the Kindle is the easiest way to come to ereading and it has the biggest available collections. That might change, but for the time being that is the way things are.

Ok, that said you are right.

HansTWN · 12-08-2010, 09:30 AM

The most important thing is to keep a US credit card, issued by a US bank. Then there will be no 'geographic restrictions" for the OP. No need to jump through hoops to work around them. That is the hard part, using a VPN is easy, when necessary. With that setup, either one works. He shouldn't use the Kindle 3G, anyway if it is US registered. Otherwise they might reclassify it. Just side load via USB or use WiFi.

But in the end, I would decide on which store I would want to use and then get the respective device. For library books, of course, the Kindle is out.

boswd · 12-08-2010, 12:08 PM

As long as you can download ebooks in ePub in Germany you should be ok with a Nook, downloading from BN's Nook store may be a bit of a hassel and may require you to keep your US address on file with them and have to sideload them from your computer.

aceflor · 12-08-2010, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boswd

As long as you can download ebooks in ePub in Germany you should be ok with a Nook, downloading from BN's Nook store may be a bit of a hassel and may require you to keep your US address on file with them and have to sideload them from your computer.

The Problem is not so much the downloading of epubs, but

the downloading of epubs in english (the offer is not huge in Germany, and the prices are not attractive at all, to say the least), and UK ebook sites such as WHSmith or Waterstones do not allow us to buy ebooks from outsde the UK (you need a UK credit Card AS WELL AS a UK IP Adress) anymore
the Aftersales Service for the NOOK being inexistant in Germany

As I said, Sony Reader and Nook are very good readers, but if you are an english native speaker in Europe (outside UK and Ireland) and want to read the newest mainstream releases in english, then it is either complicated, or expensive, or both.

leclospierre · 12-08-2010, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JStew

We're moving to Germany this summer and my daughter wants a Nook. I have a kindle and it downloaded a book from Italy so I'm assuming my Kindle will work in Germany. Does the Nook download books in Germany? Which would be better to have in Europe?
Help! Need to Christmas shop! Thanks!

I have a Kindle 3 & live in France. I have absolutely no problem in buying English books from Amazon.com using a non-US address & non-US credit card and having my [English] newspapers delivered every morning to my Kindle (courtesy of Calibre). If I wanted French books, there would be a problem because, effectively, there aren't any. The Kindle is supported Internationally so why would you consider an alternative that is in world-terms just a little local niche player?

polly · 12-08-2010, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wvcherrybomb

From what I understand, geo-restrictions are not retailer specific. The same restrictions apply to all of them.

Amazon is the only retailer I am aware of where you can keep a United States address listed on your Amazon account and have access to all the US books. From what I have read on this forum, you can use foreign credit cards with no problem. If your Kindle was purchased in the US and you keep your US address (or that of a friend or family member) listed on your account, there will be no problem.

The funny thing about the Amazon store is that they use IP address location to determine what books to show you as available for sale. I realized that once when i followed an Inkmesh link to my desired title and then Amazon wouldn't sell it to me. Also, they will charge VAT, even for free books, if you don't go in with a VPN. B&N makes you wait until checkout before telling you that you can't buy it. For the Sony store and BooksOnBoard, a made up US address and a US address were enough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by boswd

As long as you can download ebooks in ePub in Germany you should be ok with a Nook, downloading from BN's Nook store may be a bit of a hassel and may require you to keep your US address on file with them and have to sideload them from your computer.

The Nook store will require you to have a VPN running with a US IP address before you ever access the store. If you have a German IP address for any part of your bookstore visit, they won't sell to you, even if you turn on the VPN before making the purchase. Amazon will sell non-geo restricted books to you. B&N won't even let you download free titles and wouldn't let me redownload titles that I already owned. It was the least friendly of all the book stores.

ProfCrash · 12-08-2010, 08:35 PM

If you have a Kindle then I would get your daughter a Kindle. The ability to share accounts is very valuable.

12-07-2010, 09:42 PM	#1
JStew Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kindle	Moving to Germany- buy a Kindle or Nook? We're moving to Germany this summer and my daughter wants a Nook. I have a kindle and it downloaded a book from Italy so I'm assuming my Kindle will work in Germany. Does the Nook download books in Germany? Which would be better to have in Europe? Help! Need to Christmas shop! Thanks!

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12-07-2010, 10:42 PM	#2
polly Evangelist Posts: 454 Karma: 270240 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: Sony PRS 650, PocketBook 360, Astak PocketPro (RIP), Tungsten T3	Having lived in Germany, I'd say neither one. B&N and Amazon were the two most stringent book stores for enforcing geographic restrictions. A lot of the books you might want to read are not available, in English, when you live there. There are workarounds that usually involve a VPN connection that will give you a US IP address on your computer. (HotSpot Shield will do it for free with advertising, but Firefox and AdBlock Plus will remove the ads.) Some stores just require that you have an American credit card or address. I'd certainly hang on to an American credit card while you're there. There are several book stores selling ePub format, so if you can't get around one store's restrictions, you can try another. Library books are available in ePub format. I'd suggest that you see if a library near you offers electronic books (ask about OverDrive). My old library was happy to continue loaning me books while I lived there. B&N will NOT support their Nook outside of the US. If it breaks in Germany, that's not B&N's problem. I'd recommend looking at the matrix (https://www.mobileread.com/eink/) to get a better idea of what's available. Some of the less well known brands are sold and supported world wide.

12-08-2010, 12:17 AM	#3
osnova Kindler of the Flame Posts: 582 Karma: 646016 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: US of A Device: K DX,3,KT,KP,KF, KFHD; Nook C, PRS600, iPad, Xoom, N900, N810, Zaurus	I have no experience with Nooks. Kindles 3G's connect to the Internet pretty much throughout Europe, even Eastern Europe.

12-08-2010, 12:30 AM	#4
wvcherrybomb Sharp Shootin' Grandma Posts: 847 Karma: 1123940 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Sunny Florida Device: Kindle 3, Kindle Fire, Literati (has been adopted by my daughter)	From what I understand, geo-restrictions are not retailer specific. The same restrictions apply to all of them. Amazon is the only retailer I am aware of where you can keep a United States address listed on your Amazon account and have access to all the US books. From what I have read on this forum, you can use foreign credit cards with no problem. If your Kindle was purchased in the US and you keep your US address (or that of a friend or family member) listed on your account, there will be no problem.

12-08-2010, 01:03 AM	#5
SkyDream Wizard Posts: 1,377 Karma: 9400 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Europe Device: PRS-650, iPod touch 4G, iPad 3	Kindle 3G will not work in Germany except for Amazon book store. No internet using Kindle Basic Web ! Europe is best for Sony or Pocketbook.

12-08-2010, 04:46 AM	#7
SkyDream Wizard Posts: 1,377 Karma: 9400 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Europe Device: PRS-650, iPod touch 4G, iPad 3	I wonder why you think Sony is not good for english literature. Although Amazon/Kindle currently have the biggest collections doesn't means Sony is bad for english books.

12-08-2010, 09:30 AM	#10
HansTWN Wizard Posts: 4,538 Karma: 264065402 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Taiwan Device: HP Touchpad, Sony Duo 13, Lumia 920, Kobo Aura HD	The most important thing is to keep a US credit card, issued by a US bank. Then there will be no 'geographic restrictions" for the OP. No need to jump through hoops to work around them. That is the hard part, using a VPN is easy, when necessary. With that setup, either one works. He shouldn't use the Kindle 3G, anyway if it is US registered. Otherwise they might reclassify it. Just side load via USB or use WiFi. But in the end, I would decide on which store I would want to use and then get the respective device. For library books, of course, the Kindle is out.

12-08-2010, 12:08 PM	#11
boswd Banned Posts: 2,391 Karma: 1001781 Join Date: May 2010 Device: The Nook, Nook color and Droid X	As long as you can download ebooks in ePub in Germany you should be ok with a Nook, downloading from BN's Nook store may be a bit of a hassel and may require you to keep your US address on file with them and have to sideload them from your computer.

12-08-2010, 08:35 PM	#15
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	If you have a Kindle then I would get your daughter a Kindle. The ability to share accounts is very valuable.

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