Keep in mind I’m just a guy who writes books for a living. But this is also a question I found myself asking, and though I would post an honest review now that I have owned them both.
Kindle
- Easy page turns
- Very affordable
- Huge selection of titles available
- MP3 player and web browser included
- Text-to-speech available on select titles
- Games available in the Kindle Store
The Kindle, in many ways, does a good job of providing a b/w tablet. Lots of extras, though they are very basic in operation and a bit slow. In terms of reading books, however, the Kindle does a fantastic job with no complaints. Quick page turns, great button layout and a much larger selection of books are available. There are also A LOT of free books available for the Kindle, as well as games.
Nook
- Solid construction
- Realistic pages
- A better interface/easier to navigate menus
- Free books available while inside of B&N stores
It’s not that the Nook does a bad job, in fact, it is a bit better in a few areas. For starters, the pages look more like paper. The interface when navigating menus seemed a bit smoother, and the books loaded up very fast. What didn’t load up fast, however, was the unit itself. While the Kindle is ready at the slide of a button, the Nook takes nearly thirty-seconds before it’s ready to read. While it boasts a micro-SD expansion slot, you’ll likely never even need the added memory, yet you will end up without an MP3 player or web browser. The biggest pitfall, in my opinion, was the selection of books. I noticed right away that several key titles weren’t available. Also, though it seems like a small complaint, it is VERY easy to brush your hand across the screen and spend several moments fishing for the page you were on. The Nook will recognize the brush of a hand(which happens quite often) as a page turn(or multiple turns in some cases). Again, a minor complaint, but it does get irritating.
At the end of the day, neither eBook reader is a bad purchase. But in my opinion, Kindle is king. If you’re in the market for a reader, I strongly suggest a Kindle. In fact, just for checking out this blog, you can take the link below and grab your Kindle today at a steep discount. Our little secret 😉
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Additional selling points for the classic Nook for me were types of files that could be sideloaded and the expandable memory.
That’s a good point Troy. I actually loaded a 4GB card into mine as soon as I brought it home. But I’m starting to wonder if I’ll ever need the extra memory as I’ve only scratched the surface of the Nook’s internal memory. Preparation for a Zombie apocalypse maybe.
Nook now has google play so it can run all the Android apps, even Kindle app!!! That is a game changer now without a doubt it is advantage Nook
This review is based strictly on the b/w versions of both, but I agree, it could be a game changer for the Nook HD tablet vs. Kindle Fire. Once I’ve had hands on a bit more with the Nook tablet, I plan to review those as well. Thanks!
Nook has a ton of free books, online, without being in the store. Nook also has a MP3 player, web browser, Movie player, games, the list goes on and on.
Yes, I own a Nook HD+. Before that I owned a 1st edition Nook WIFI that passed down to my daughter.
Now, Nook is teamed up with Google and its reach is even wider.
But really. Didn’t you buy the eReader to, you know, read?