Kindle vs. Nook

[accguy]

Now that these things have dropped dramatically in terms of price, I'm considering an e-reader. I think it would lead me to reading more (hopefully). I would also like to get an e-reader subscription to my metro paper and cancel my hard copy subscription.

Questions:
1. How do people like them?
2. How is the newspaper reading experience? I can see the metro hard copy at my place of employment, so the e-reader wouldn't have to be a full substitute.
3. How did people decide between the Kindle and the Nook?

I am considering a Nook because of the ability to "check out" e-books from my local library for free. You can't do that, obviously, on a Kindle.

I'll hang up and listen.

 

[StaggerLee]

Sorry I can't offer any reviews of either, but I'm one of the curious ones so I'll be checking this thread for any feedback.

My friend works at B&N, so he's obviously very high on the nook. I've checked it out at the local B&N and I like the feel of it. I'll probably be purchasing one in the next month or so.

 

[21]

Can't speak for the Nook but I love my Kindle so much it's ridiculous. Newspapers, magazines, and books in one skinny little device...so incredibly great, especially if you travel, or you tend to get behind on reading. I've picked up at least 200 sq feet of counter and desk space now that I no longer have to pile up weeks of Sunday NYTimes and New Yorkers. Also wonderful if you like to read more than one book at once, if you use various reading materials for work/pleasure, or if you tend to get 50 pages into a book and decide you hate it. With the Kindle, you just order another book, or open another one you already have.

Just got a very cool cover with a built-in light, which you really do need.

Whichever you choose, battery life is key, so definitely compare.

 

[heyabbott]

Can't speak for the Nook but I love my Kindle so much it's ridiculous. Newspapers, magazines, and books in one skinny little device...so incredibly great, especially if you travel, or you tend to get behind on reading. I've picked up at least 200 sq feet of counter and desk space now that I no longer have to pile up weeks of Sunday NYTimes and New Yorkers. Also wonderful if you like to read more than one book at once, if you use various reading materials for work/pleasure, or if you tend to get 50 pages into a book and decide you hate it. With the Kindle, you just order another book, or open another one you already have.

Just got a very cool cover with a built-in light, which you really do need.

Whichever you choose, battery life is key, so definitely compare.

I love my Kindle just don't have enough time to read. I get the NYTimes every day on it and I do seem to read more of the Times on my Kindle then I did when I got the paper version.

If you turn off the wirless feature except when you need it, the Kindle can last for at least a week without recharging

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

My guess -- Kindle wins long-term because it is connected with Amazon.

 

[21]

Latest Kindle sold out in advance, get in line for September.

http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Wireless-Reading-Display-Globally/dp/B003FSUDM4/ref=amb_link_353259562_2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-10&pf_rd_r=1HM8P75KF9QMVK6S85YM&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=1270985982&pf_rd_i=B002Y27P3M

 

[hondo]

My wife loves her Nook. One edge it has is that the battery is replaceable. When the battery can't be charged any longer in a Kindle, you've got to buy a new Kindle.

 

[Oggiedoggie]

Barnes and Noble should have put more though into the name, because when I hear it during an NPR sponsorship notice, it sounds like "nookie reader."

 

[Boom_70]

I went with Kindle initially because Nook was not yet shipping and also have always preferred Amazon over BN.

Love my Kindle - zero complaints. Makes traveling a lot lighter without a bag of books and magazines to lug.

Get the NYT daily and find it much easier and quicker to read in Kindle format. Would not go back to hard copy.

The 3G wireless is flawless.

Only complaint is that when flying you have to turn off in take offs and landings since it is considered an electronic device.

It will only get better from here. I imagine at some point it will become complete communications device.

 

[accguy]

Boom,

Thanks much for the insight. I think I'm going to get one of these bad boys. Just a matter of how soon.

Very much looking forward to reading more and not having piles of newspaper to recycle.

 

[linotype]

At the risk of sounding snarky, save a few extra bucks and spring for an iPad.

 

[accguy]

Linotype, I don't need/want an ipad. I have a Macbook.

And it's not just "a few extra bucks." The middle of the road wi-fi only ipad and the low end 3G ipad are $450 more than a wi-fi only Nook or Kindle.

 

[Boom_70]

At the risk of sounding snarky, save a few extra bucks and spring for an iPad.

Huge difference in cost and size. The small Kindle is very easy to carry.

 

[21]

At the risk of sounding snarky, save a few extra bucks and spring for an iPad.

Huge difference in cost and size. The small Kindle is very easy to carry.

Also, the Kindle is designed to have no glare on the screen...you can read it on the beach or anywhere with no problem. Not true for the iPad.

 

[StaggerLee]

At the risk of sounding snarky, save a few extra bucks and spring for an iPad.

While waiting for them to service my iPhone last week, I played on the Apple store's iPad and I didn't like it. And I wanted to like the iPad. It just felt too big in my hands and I don't really like the iBooks app.

I was pretty much settled on nook, mainly because my B&N friend has talked me into it, but I may have to dig a little deeper and see if the Kindle is a better value.

 

[JakeandElwood]

I can't speak for the nook, but I love my kindle. It's been great, the battery life is awesome and the international internet is not a joke. I downloaded a book from a hammock on the beach in Grand Cayman this summer.

 

[StaggerLee]

This is an article from last year comparing the two produts:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/gadgets/kindle-vs-nook-an-e-reader-face-off/

 

[linotype]

Linotype, I don't need/want an ipad. I have a Macbook.

And it's not just "a few extra bucks." The middle of the road wi-fi only ipad and the low end 3G ipad are $450 more than a wi-fi only Nook or Kindle.

To each his own, and didn't intend to **** you off. When I did my cost-benefit analysis of e-readers, the iPad graded out way ahead of the other two. One of the tipping points for me was that while I could download books from Kindle or BN on the iPad, I couldn't access iBooks on the others. Love the SI and Entertainment Weekly apps that leap off an iPad screen, and Zinio offers hundreds of magazines. I will disagree with 21's point about glare -- it hasn't been a problem at all with mine (I bought the cheapest Wifi iPad model, $499).

 

[accguy]

Linotype,

You didn't **** me off. For me, a $500 iPad is still overkill and with the recent price drops, that's still $350 more than a wifi Nook or Kindle.

The e-readers have reached a pricepoint for me that I'm willing to take a chance and see how I like it. And if I don't, I'm guessing I can sell it pretty fast on craigslist or eBay.

 

[J-School Blue]

For me, there's just not a lot the IPad does that my mid-size laptop doesn't do better. It seems like a product made to fulfill functions other things are already fulfilling better. But that's an entirely different sort of debate.

I'm sort of in the market for an e-reader now, too, that the prices have dropped. I was tempted to get the Nook just because the Kindle seems more strongly tied to making you use Amazon and Amazon's products, but I don't know if that's a rational concern or not. Or if the Nook is any better with B&N.