Nook or Kindle?

[john doe]

So my wife gave me a Nook for my birthday last week. I have not expressed an interest in one, so it kind of threw me off. But I messed with it a bit and have almost decided I am not impressed with it and its limited capabilities. It seems to me that all you really can do with it is buy books from Barnes and Noble and read them and not really much more than that.

So she says I can return it if I want, she doesn't want to have given me something that I won't use. So I'm looking at possibly taking it back and spending a little more to get a Kindle Fire.

So my questions are, does anyone have any experience with either product? Am I missing something on the Nook, that makes it really better than the lame reader that it seems to be? What would be the advantages to a Kindle over the Nook?

Help me LDS.net, you're my only hope.

[pam]

Talk to your niece (my daughter). She has a nook and she uses it for everything.

[Guest]

Nook does a lot more than just download and read books. It actually has web browsing capabilities and has its own slew of apps... Yes, it even has angry birds.

In my opinion Nook is better than Kindle. The main reason to purchase a Nook instead of an iPad mini or any if the Android tablets, is for the e-reader. That's its main functionality. There are a lot more children books in Nook format and since I share my Nook with the rest of the family, we opted for Nook versus Kindle. In addition, I prefer the local presence of the brick and mortar store versus Amazon. I get instant face-to-face customer service.

But, if your purpose is not the e-reader, I'd rather get the iPad mini. Hands down.

[annewandering]

I have a nook tablet which is kinda like a nook color but cooler. It is a mini computer in truth. I can read, watch movies, listen to music, surf the web, etc. Pretty much anything. The screen is larger than on Kindles it looks like to me and mine has 16gb plus another 32 on a card. Their prices are nice right now because they are coming out with the NookHD. You could wait but I dont see anything I would pay more for.

There are almost 2 million free books and a lot of 99cent books available. For you classy people almost all the classics are free.

I completely love mine. We sold an old car so I was very glad to be able to buy one. Oh and they are backlite so you can read in bed and not disturb your spouse.

[skippy740]

Help me LDS.net, you're my only hope.

[in my best Obi-Wan voice]You must learn the ways of the Kindle Fire, if you're to come with me to Amazon.

I don't have any other advice. :)

[annewandering]

[in my best Obi-Wan voice]You must learn the ways of the Kindle Fire, if you're to come with me to Amazon.

I don't have any other advice. :)

It is true Amazon uses Kindle. It just seems like a poorer product and even I am not going to read 2 million books before I die. Admittedly some of those I am not going to read but it is still a daunting number. :)

Oh and they are just discovering backlight. One of my daughters has a kindle. She saw my nook and is wanting to buy her one if that tells you anything.

[john doe]

So if the Nook is so great, how come B&N doesn't want me to know about it? I played with it for 2 says and saw nothing to indicate that I could do anything more than buy a book from them and then read it. And it seemed very clunky to do that. Or do I need to buy the high-end version to do that stuff? I got the Simple Touch with glow light version. Maybe it's just too cheap to do what you guys claim it can do.

[annewandering]

I dont know, John. Did you find the manual for it? Mine is on the Nook itself.

[john doe]

What I read from the manual didn't really say much about anything, didn't even say anything about importing books from sources other than B&N, like either I can't or they don't want me to know that I can. Sorry, I like to read, but I don't believe in paying more for an electronic book than I can find it for on sale at the actual store. Maybe I should take it to their store and ask the people there if it will do anything more than collect dust. So far I'm unimpressed with my Nook experience.

[annewandering]

ok do you have an internet connection on it?

Do you have a b&n account?

On mine I just go to 'store' and find what I want to read. It makes sense to me for you to go to the store and ask someone to show you how to work your nook. They have free internet there for the nooks AND you can read any book, as far as I know, for the time you are at the store.

Even if its not top of the line it is still worth getting to know. I used my phone for reading ebooks till I got the Nook. I would guess that might be similar. For that one I just went to the store icon on the top of the page. It looks like a stylized shopping bag?

[Guest]

What I read from the manual didn't really say much about anything, didn't even say anything about importing books from sources other than B&N, like either I can't or they don't want me to know that I can. Sorry, I like to read, but I don't believe in paying more for an electronic book than I can find it for on sale at the actual store. Maybe I should take it to their store and ask the people there if it will do anything more than collect dust. So far I'm unimpressed with my Nook experience.

Uhm... Not all Nooks are tablets. Some Nooks are simply e-readers. That might be the one you got.

[jerome1232]

Android Tablet

Okay, I'mandroidtablet an open source fanboy and won'tandroidtabletbe of any real help here.

Android Tablet

The e-Reader only devices have better displays that you can see in the park at high noon in the sun and their batteries last practically forever, the tablets can obviously do more stuff but they don't have that highly reflective e-ink display and super long battery life that an eReader does.

I say android tablet because Google Play books come DRM free, meaning you can export them to any other device (like your phone) that can read ebooks and read them. As a rule of thumb I hate being told what I can do and can't do with media that I purchased, and despise DRM. Plus a tablet can, well do more stuff, and you seem to be interested in the do more stuff part.

[john doe]

Yes, it connects through the wifi just fine. But like I say, when I go to 'store' it just shows what I can buy from B&N. Some people have told me I can borrow ebooks from the library, but I see no controls on the unit that would indicate that that is possible.

[Bini]

Nook does a lot more than just download and read books. It actually has web browsing capabilities and has its own slew of apps... Yes, it even has angry birds.

In my opinion Nook is better than Kindle. The main reason to purchase a Nook instead of an iPad mini or any if the Android tablets, is for the e-reader. That's its main functionality. There are a lot more children books in Nook format and since I share my Nook with the rest of the family, we opted for Nook versus Kindle. In addition, I prefer the local presence of the brick and mortar store versus Amazon. I get instant face-to-face customer service.

But, if your purpose is not the e-reader, I'd rather get the iPad mini. Hands down.

I second the iPad mini for a smaller tablet. I got one. But for a 10" tablet, the ASUS Transformer Prime is a monstrous beast for doing anything and EVERYTHING.

[rameumptom]

I have seen the BN Nook. I bought a Kindle Touch for myself, and love it, though like all ereaders, its internet experience is limited. My wife loves the fact that the Touch can read a book to her, as her stigmatism is pretty strong. I like the built in wikipedia, book marks, etc. I have friends with the Kindle Fire HD, and they really like it a lot. The reviews I've seen rate it higher than the IPad Mini, for much less.

[Connie]

Your Nook sounds a lot like my regular Kindle. You can connect to wi-fi but only to go to the store to buy books. I can get library books on my Kindle. It's a bit of a process and i had to contact my local public library, but i quite enjoy being able to do that. You may want to contact your library and see if they have any info on what it takes to do that on a Nook.

Those i know with a Kindle Fire really like it. You can do everything like you can on a regular kindle but then you have internet browsing and the capability to watch movies and listen to music. My hubby has a Nexus which he loves. Very similar to the Fire.

[Windseeker]

Both my wife and I have a Nook Tablet and love them. They are perfect for watching Netflix and reading books and surfing the web. We also use them for Church as they have the Gospel Library application that contains all the scriptures, Conference Talks that go back to the 70's, all the church magazines etc. I used it in my class last week hooked up to some speakers to show my Sunday School class a video.

[prisonchaplain]

Uhm... Not all Nooks are tablets. Some Nooks are simply e-readers. That might be the one you got.

I suspect this is John's answer. Ironically, I have a Kindle Fire, and realize that 95% of what I use it for is as an e-reader. Had I gotten one of the better Kindle e-readers I could charge up once a month instead of every 8-hours. Also, the Fire, being a limited tabloid, it's catnip for the young ones. "Where's my Kindle Fire again? ... In which kid's room?" SIGH...

[Guest LiterateParakeet]

So if the Nook is so great, how come B&N doesn't want me to know about it? I played with it for 2 says and saw nothing to indicate that I could do anything more than buy a book from them and then read it. And it seemed very clunky to do that. Or do I need to buy the high-end version to do that stuff? I got the Simple Touch with glow light version. Maybe it's just too cheap to do what you guys claim it can do.

John, with Nook and Kindle there are different versions available, the more money you are willing to pay, the more bells and whistles you can get.

You mentioned you have the Simple Touch, well yeah that is an e-reader. It won't do the things a Kindle Fire will do, but the Kindle fire will cost a lot more. The equivilent Kindle Simple Touch is also "just" an ereader.

The problem here is that you are comparing apples and oranges.

Nook and Kindle both have two versions now of simple e-readers.

Both have an upgraged version that has ereader and internet access...

Both have an even nicer (and naturally more expensive) version that is an ereader with internet access that can watch movies and TV etc.

At my house we have both Nook (mine) and Kindle (my son's). The only real differences I have noticed are:

Kindle has text to speech. It will read any book to you (unless the publisher prohibits it). The voice is a bit robotic, but it is just what I needed for my son who is a struggling reader. Nook does NOT have text to speech.

Kindle is a little easier/quicker to use to borrow ebooks from the library.

Kindle downloads new purchases quicker.

I love my Nook Color. When it dies, I will buy another one, but I would also get the Kindle Simple Touch...which is just an ereader, for my son again because of text to speech.

Basically...all you need to do is upgrade your Nook to a model equivalent to the Kindle Fire. The differences between the two are minimal.

[Guest LiterateParakeet]

Yes, it connects through the wifi just fine. But like I say, when I go to 'store' it just shows what I can buy from B&N. Some people have told me I can borrow ebooks from the library, but I see no controls on the unit that would indicate that that is possible.

Yes, you can do it. I do it with my Nook all the time. Once you know how, it is easy, but there is a bit of a learning curve. Now that I know the steps I teach my friends and they are always excited.

It would be easiest if you went to the library and had a librarian explain it. It only takes a about 10-15 min. then you will be set. Here are the basics though:

Publishers want libraries to treat ebooks just as regular books. So if they purchase 3 "copies" then they can only check out 3 copies at a time. So thus there must be something in place to control all that...with the Kindle it goes through amazon, and with Nook, you download free software that regulates it.

With either one, you go to your library website, to the downloads section...choose a book, select either Nook or Kindle. If it is available then you click to download it and Kindle will whisk you to the amazon site, With Nook it will be downloaded to that special app, and from the special app, you plug in your nook to the computer and download it from your computer to your nook.

If the library copies are all checked out, then you put a hold on it and they send you an email when it is available and you follow the same process.

Even the most basic models of Kindle or Nook can do this...the only question is whether we humans can figure it out. Having a librarian (or a friend who talked to the librarian) walk you through it the first time will help alot, believe me!

[annewandering]

My Nook downloads pretty close to instant. Only problem I ever have is with my internet service not the Nook. My Nook does read at least some, particularly childrens books. In fact you can let it read or record your own voice reading it. You can always download audio books as well.

I havent tried to use a library borrow. Got to get through the 2 million free books first. Its got more books and magazines and newspapers than my local and near local libraries have.

Nook has a section of interactive books that I havent taken much of a look at yet.

If Nook had nothing else the Gospel Library is worth it. LIke mentioned before it has everything. All the church magazines going back for years. The conferences forever back. Manuals, both student and teachers, It is just mind boggling and its all searchable. I was reading the gadionton robbers parts recently and I was flat out amazed. Oh my gosh. lol. I would seriously get a higher grade Nook just to make that fast and easy. It is seriously amazing. And free. I have found several Of Pres. Uch. books for FREE. sorry not spelling it right now lol. There islkoi quite a lineup of church books and apps on it. Including games.

I sure do love it all. Totally amazing.

[Echo2002]

Kindle has come out with the Paperwhite which looks a lot better than the Nook. There's several Youtube videos comparing the two.

John, it depends on what you want, do you want to read books or something that is portable where you can surf the internet, watch movies, listen to music, and read books? If you want the latter I would get a tablet.