Advise Please?

Winchester

In the kitchen with my cookies
Thread starter
Veteran
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
29,730
Purraise
28,024
Location
In the kitchen
I've read all the threads and posts about e-readers and well, I'm still confused. Rick told me that Santa will give me the Nook Tablet or the Kindle Fire. I'm leaning toward the Nook. Here's why.....

To read books and magazines

To surf the web

Email, but only to a certain extent

To use apps

To play Angry Birds
 and some of the other games that I enjoy playing.

I know that the Kindle Fire essentially has more storage space than the Nook. The Nook has more GC of space, but most of it is reserved for B & N books only....only 1 GB can be used for other items. That's kind of stupid, IMO. (But I could always grab a SD card for more storage, I guess. But that's on top of the $50 we'd already be paying extra just for the Nook.) Then again, the Nook has more RAM than the Fire.

I read that the Kindle's surface is a bit slippery, compared to the Nook Tablet. I do think the Nook just looks better than the Kindle Fire. Not sure how the Kindle's touch screen works, if it actually works better than the Nook.

Some of B & N's apps cost money, but can be found free on Amazon. But then again, there's Amazon Prime, which is really good for the Fire.....but I don't currently have Amazon Prime and it seems a little pricy at $79 per year.

I'm not going to use it for music and I doubt I'd be using it for video either. But you never know.

On another board I frequent, people seem to like Kindle Fire. Their reasoning is that Amazon is bigger than B & N and they trust Amazon more.

See what I mean? Is it any wonder people are confused? (Heck, maybe I'd just be better off hitting the library every week!)
 
Last edited:

3catsn1dog

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Messages
2,987
Purraise
11
Location
Trapped in the catroom! ;o)
I am personally a kindle fan. I have the kindle app on my phone and love it. I did have the nook app but a big thing for me was the lack of selection. Amazon has way more free books and I could access.the older zebra and Avon romance novels I couldn't find on nook.

I would definitely go the kindle. Plus if you invest in the prime membership you might find yourself using it more than you think. I know once I.discovered amazon it was like a whole new world opened.up and if I had the extra money I would totally have a prime membership.
 

MoochNNoodles

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
36,646
Purraise
23,468
Location
Where my cats are
crazyforinfo just got a Kindle Fire.  You should PM her if she doesn't see this!

I have a regular kindle reader.  One thing that made me go for it was that Amazon seemed to have a larger selection of books in my preferred genera.  Also they have a list of 100 free books (all the classics are free BTW; these are 'newer' books) that is updated pretty regularly. 

Other than that I'm not sure I can give any good info on the rest of it.  I'd love to sit down and play with both.  Do you have any stores in your area you can do that?  Like Best Buy and a B&N?  When I was looking at e-readers the sales guy at Best Buy was really helpful.  They started carrying the Kindle just after I bought mine.

Oh!  I do recommend getting a cover if they don't come with one.  I know my kindle didn't and I managed to damage the screen a bit. It's really minor and doesn't affect my reading at all, but still.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

Winchester

In the kitchen with my cookies
Thread starter
Veteran
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
29,730
Purraise
28,024
Location
In the kitchen
I have the small Kindle on my Droid, too, Tyler. I've been using that for now.

Just called our public library. It doesn't matter which one I get. The library has the software for several readers and such, so it makes no difference. I'm really intrigued with borrowing books from the library, too. If there's three feet of snow outside or there's an ice storm and I'm stuck inside the house, I can just download a book or two (not sure how long it takes for downloads). If it's 2:00 in the morning and Rick isn't home and I can't sleep, I can download a library book and read for awhile. I love that idea. Library books can be kept for two weeks; after that, they're automatically deleted.

Unfortunately, every time I've gone into Best Buy or our local mall's bookstore, everybody and his brother are playing with the machines, too. It's really difficult to get close to them, let alone actually spend some time with them. I've been doing a ton of research, but it would be nice to be able to actually play a bit.

If crazyforinfo doesn't see my post, maybe I'll PM her tonight and pick her brain a bit. Thanks, Tyler and Mooch! Oh, and yes, a cover is definitely part of the deal.....you can't be too careful.
 

3catsn1dog

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Messages
2,987
Purraise
11
Location
Trapped in the catroom! ;o)
I haven't been able to actually download via kindle but I did do library lending with the overdrive software for the phone and it doesn't take long at all. The same amount of time as it takes to get a book off amazon.

I didn't bother playing with kindle or nook irl because the mobile software itself and book selection sold me. I couldn't handle the limited selection on Barnes and nobles site. I'm a sucker for my favorite four letter word. Free. Lol and amazon has that market well covered. The downside. I got hooked on an on going series by getting a middle book for free. I'm now waiting for book 12 to be released tomorrow.....lol I had to find out what happened before amd after the middle book. Lol
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

Winchester

In the kitchen with my cookies
Thread starter
Veteran
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
29,730
Purraise
28,024
Location
In the kitchen
I downloaded the new Diane Mott Davidson book via Amazon on my phone Kindle and it was fine. Rather quick, too.
 

mrblanche

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 28, 2008
Messages
12,578
Purraise
119
Location
Texas
Some of your information is wrong about the Nook Tablet.  It comes with 16gb of memory, and you'd be surprised how little is used by the software.  In addition, you can add another micro SD memory card, which you can't do with the Kindle Fire.  Notice I'm talking about the Nook Tablet, which is the newest version of the Nook Color, which you can still get for $199 right now.  The Tablet is $249, but you can get it for $225 is you buy a $25 B&N membership at the same time (or you could figure you're paying full price but getting a free membership with it.

Even the stock Nook Color has over 1gb of space available, and, since the average book is less than 400K, that means it could hold over 2,000 books.
 

crazyforinfo

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 26, 2006
Messages
6,773
Purraise
4
Location
Philly
Mooch told me about this thread! I have the fire. I have nothing to compare it to. I use the pc for surfing and music, my phone to dial and hard back books to read.

I do love my fire. I can surf the web, post on facebook(though can't share posts or remove posts). I know many who use Angry Birds. I just use farmville and KOC on facebook which don't work on fire. I did hear more apps are coming soon. It's super fast. The video is awesome. There is a headphone jack too. DH like kindle-Eink better than the fire. He says it's better on the eyes. I know nothing of the nook. I use Pandora for music too. The screen is easier to use than DH's andriod. Um idk what else you would like to know. Just Pm me.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #9

Winchester

In the kitchen with my cookies
Thread starter
Veteran
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
29,730
Purraise
28,024
Location
In the kitchen
Thanks, crazy! You did answer some of my questions in your PM. I appeciate your help!
 

mrblanche

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 28, 2008
Messages
12,578
Purraise
119
Location
Texas
I read some info on the Nook Tablet, and it does say that only 1gb of the 16gb onboard memory is reserved for non-B&N content.  I'm not clear on whether that is all content not bought from B&N, or just content that doesn't match their native format.  Still, that's a lot of space, and with an additional micro SD card (something you can't do with the Fire), you could make good progress on a fantastic library.  The rumor is that the a subsequent update will give you access to the Android Market, where you can get a lot of apps.  And you always have the option of rooting the Nook.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #11

Winchester

In the kitchen with my cookies
Thread starter
Veteran
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
29,730
Purraise
28,024
Location
In the kitchen
Thank you, Mike. That's what I was a little confused about.....that only 1 GB of space for B & N material and did that mean just B & N or that particular format. But Rick bought the Nook Tablet last night, so it's a done deal. Our son is buying the storage card. So I guess I'm joining the Nook gang. I hope the rumor about the Android market is true. Thank you for your responses, everyone.
 

3catsn1dog

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Messages
2,987
Purraise
11
Location
Trapped in the catroom! ;o)
I just got an early Christmas present. My friend overseas bought a basic kindle for me and it took some getting used to but I love it. Having my phone I don't need.the fancy pants stuff but I would get the fire if I had the money for it. I'm pretty die hard when it comes to brands I like. Android, kindle, etc. I find what I like and that's it.

I hope you like your nook Pam. It may not be my choice but I hope its exactly what you are looking for.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #14

Winchester

In the kitchen with my cookies
Thread starter
Veteran
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
29,730
Purraise
28,024
Location
In the kitchen
"For users whose fingers are not as slender as toothpicks" is me. I've always had fat fingers and I have trouble with my phone textng sometimes because of my fingers. I've read about the volume control issues on the Kindle Fire and that some users have tried to turn the page while reading and the whole thing shut down. There will be improvements and upgrades and all kinds of adjustments for the Fire. I'm sure the same can be said for the Nook, too.

I did ask the person at Barnes and Noble (we have a B & N in town; it's actually Bucknell University's store, but it's in the center of town, not on campus) about that 1 GB being "native format" or stuff that's only from B & N. She was honest about it; she didn't know for sure. Not that it matters, really, because the 16 GB storage card can be used for anything. And that's a lot of material. I can also go into B & N and sit there for an hour or so and download and read anything I want for free...for one hour, which is perfect for a lunch time break from work. I forget if that is once a week or once a month. She did tell me, but I forget. I can do a lot of serious reading in a hour. The annual B & N fee also gives a discount for virtually everything in the store, too. So if I want to spend my lunch sitting at B & N's coffee shop in town, I even get a discount on my coffee, not to mention one hour of free reading.

I can't say that I would have loved it or hated it or been regretful or anything with the Fire. A lot of people have the Fire and they love it. If I wanted it solely for reading purposes, I think a Fire would have been OK, barring that pesky shut-down issue, which a lot of people seem to be having (but I'm sure there are also a lot of people with Fires who don't have that problem, too). But I don't...there are other things I'd like to do and web-surfing is one of them. Since I am starting out with the Nook Tablet, I guess it doesn't really matter. I can say that I think I made the right decision for me, but I guess we'll find out on Christmas. (And if I don't like it? I can always return it.)

I understand about Amazon being so big and having such a big "warehouse" of books and material, much more so than what B & N has. But B & N is increasing inventory all the time. And since our local B & N is Bucknell's collegiate store, it's not going anywhere any time soon.

Tyler, I'm really glad you love your Kindle! And wow! What a neat Christmas present!
 
Last edited:

subconsciousme

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
May 25, 2010
Messages
247
Purraise
12
Location
Phoenix
I would favor the iPad (I have all Apple products though) but if I were to choose between the  Fire and Nook, I'd choose the Fire but not the first generation. I would wait until the second generation comes out so they can work out all their kinks and this is true of everything I buy. Also, every single B&N here except 2 in a city of ~ 6 million closed recently. That leaves me to assume the fate of B&N is not that strong. Hopefully I will be wrong.

However, with that said, I also have the Amazon Prime membership and LOVE it. It is worth every penny for me. I don't see much need for an e-reader in my life though, even as a student the prices for textbooks are usually on par with a used copy and I prefer hard copy textbooks.
 
Last edited:
Top