Our long-time school secretary is retiring , and because she loves to read and wants to travel, we are thinking about getting her a Nook or Kindle. Any advice or suggestions on which is better, and why? Thanks!
I think you'll find the opinions pretty evenly divided. Both have wonderful reputations and lots of fans. The reason I got Peter the Kindle for Christmas was because of the screen. From what I researched, I found that it's the preferable reader in bright sunlight. As a teacher with 3 kids, he spends lots of time over the summer in the yard (as do I) while the kids are in the pool. If she travels a lot, look at the more expensive ($189) Kindle.
I vote for the Kindle. Well, mostly because I have one and am pretty happy with it, and like having a physical keyboard layout. They're both pretty solid e-readers from what I understand, though.
Why not get her an iPad so she can have both the Nook and Kindle apps for free. Just kidding! I don't have either but I have borrowed both for a week each (from friends) to see which I liked better. As 3Sons stated, I liked the physical keyboard of the Kindle. I have the iPad (so hence the Nook and Kindle apps comment), and that is the one thing I hate about it. I love the feel of a physical keyboard. The pain for me with both was having to have an extra light to read in the dark. That's a feature I like about my iPad, is the lcd screen. However, like Alice said, it can be a pain when the sun hits it just right. It becomes hard to read. I didn't have that problem with either the Nook or Kindle. Another thing I have heard my friends complain about is the version of Nook or Kindle they bought. Not having the 3G was a real pain if not in a WiFi spot. I haven't seen or played around with the new versions of both (is the new Kindle out yet?), so I can't comment any on those. Not sure if any of my rambling helps, but it's there for you if you want to read it.
I had some random problems with my nook, but in spite of those I love it! I have the original nook (not the nook Color). I like it because it lacks the backlighting that causes a lot of eyestrain. The Kindle has the same e-ink technology. Both the nook and the Kindle seem to have the same reviews as far as being able to be used in direct sunlight. The nook Color and iPad both have backlighting. I like that the nook has a touch screen instead of a keyboard. The nook is meant for reading, not writing or typing, so a full keyboard at the bottom seems like a tremendous waste to me. I like that the nook has the Barnes and Noble store associated with it. You can take the nook to the store and get lots of freebies, including free drinks and snacks from the cafe (which show up as promotions on the nook from time to time). I like the LendMe feature of the nook, where you can share books with friends. Finally, what tipped the scales in favor of the nook in my case was that the nook is compatible with library eBooks; Kindle is not. Since I prefer to check out books rather than buy them, it was extremely important to be able to view library books on my reader.
I have a Nook Color and love love love it!! It's like a mini ipad without all the apps; the color is amazing, you can go out on the internet and check e-mail, etc. It's great!
One of them is compatible with local libraries that can loan you books for free and one of them is not. I don't know which is which. You might want to check her local library and see.
I have a Kindle and LOVE it. Not being able to get library books hasn't mattered to me. I have several hundred books I've "bought" for free. Several book publishers make their books free for short periods of time (along with all the classics for free) so I haven't had to pay for most of the books on my kindle. They also have the lending feature now. I have a touchscreen phone and like having the actual keypad on my kindle. I don't have to clean the screen and it makes it really easy to search for books in the kindle store or play games.
In the next few months the Kindle will be compatible with libraries. I love my Kindle. I have the cheaper version and have not had a problem at all. I just download books at home. I also got the leather case for it that comes with a light to use at night. I tested both out and to me, the nook was much heavier. Also the time it took to change "pages" was longer. Mind you we are talking about seconds here but still noticeable I thought.
I love my Mr. Nookington so much! I feel like I'm cheating on him if I read a "real" book now. LOL. Seriously though, I don't think there is much difference between the two eReaders. It's just a personal preference. Most of my friends have a Nook, so it's easy for us to use the "Lend me" service through Barnes and Noble with each other.
There are many links comparing the two...... Here's one: http://bookpublishingnews.blogspot.com/2011/01/nook-vs-kindle-3-review-and-comparison.html Would someone please just tell me which one I should buy.....
I have a Kindle, and I love it. It doesn't strain my eyes at all. I recommend getting the one with 3G--it makes it really easy to download books whenever you want. You can send other files to it if you want (I know people who have sent PDFs to theirs because so many free e-books are online in PDF format). EDIT: I want to add that Amazon's customer service can't be beat. If you have a problem, they'll fix it immediately.
The nook also allows you to download other files and non-Barnes and Noble books. The process is called "sideloading" and it's super easy. I've gotten about a million free Google books that way.
I have a kindle... I live in Abu Dhabi right now and have the one with 3g. I admit I don't know much about the nook, but my version of the kindle is great if she wants to travel. I have had no problem downloading books, and it really is so easy and convenient to be able to take one 'book' with you in a carry-on instead of trying to take a whole library on a plane (well that was the problem I had at least...) I use it everyday!
I just got my Kindle a few days ago, and I love it! I was kinda of "against" it at first - I love curling up with a book - but so far, it's awesome. I have the Wi-Fi version, so unless I'm at home or in a Wi-Fi area, I can't download books. But - I love that I can read it in direct sunlight; I love that I can put it down (or fall asleep reading) without losing my page; I love that my book arrives in less than one minute
