Nook Tablet or Kindle Fire

[Larry Frank]

Two people in my family got the Kindle Fire for Christmas. I was very surprised at how well it works. Yes, it is not an ipad but it is $300 less.

Yes, it connects you to Amazon but that it the place for about the best prices on books and such. You can also connect to other sites to buy stuff.

I have used both the ipad and the kindle fire and recognize that the ipad is a more powerful tablet but the price is more than twice as much. It is great that there is so much competition which keeps the price down and offers everyone a choice.

[Bob Rufener]

Our kids bought me a Nook Tablet. I have been playing around with and am impressed with it. The one thing that made a bit of difference is that a user can insert a Mini SD card for additional storage space which feature, I don't believe, the Kindle has. I am a bit disappointed in that I was told I could download books through the public library but it appears that the list of available books is limited and there is a waiting list to download the books. Not sure if Kindle offers this feature or not. I think that both of these units will serve you well and I am sure they will improve over the years to provide heretofore unknown features.

[David Cramer]

Ipad 2. We got one for $381.73 plus tax ($404.63). Meijer's 15% off and then 10% off of that to open up a new credit card on the spot. When they have their 15% off sale, it "does apply to Apple products" as well as groceries. Not saying it's a great deal or not, but factually speaking, that's what we paid.

David

[Paul Gallian]

iPad 2------ redo the price comparison for those that are apple haters. Yes the ipad is more expensive but not out of line.. There is a fun commercial on TV that shows a couple with a new car and then the car that they really want drives by.... iPad 2 or wait for the soon to be iPad 3

[Dave Lehnert]

Our kids bought me a Nook Tablet. I have been playing around with and am impressed with it. The one thing that made a bit of difference is that a user can insert a Mini SD card for additional storage space which feature, I don't believe, the Kindle has. I am a bit disappointed in that I was told I could download books through the public library but it appears that the list of available books is limited and there is a waiting list to download the books. Not sure if Kindle offers this feature or not. I think that both of these units will serve you well and I am sure they will improve over the years to provide heretofore unknown features.

You can use most popular e-readers to download Library books. Just like a hard copy of the book at the Library an e-book can only be checked out one at a time.

[Jim Becker]

Secondly the nook with only Wifi will take a charge and last 30 + days no other reader comes close so that made the decision on the reader for us nook hands down.

I typically get that with my Kindle...Wifi only Kindle...and could likely exceed that if I turned off the WiFi to conserve power. (But I don't do that because I read through and buy more books too frequently...LOL)

[Brent Dorner]

Have the Kindle Fire... love it. Think it is about perfect size for web browsing, especially when you reclining or laying flat... at that point the 10 inch device is a bit large/bulky. Think it has a very nice display and was amazed how fast it loads movies from youtube and netflix... it is way faster than my Netflix on my tv and better quality picture. I think it has a very decent speed on the web. I guess I can't justify $500 for a basic Ipad, I would rather get a new Toshiba laptop (full on computer) and Fire and only spend about $525 for both and have the best of both worlds. I can sideload Android apps from my phone to my Fire as well so not having the entire Google apps store in the Amazon device is really no big deal. I think the 7 inch device is great for travel as well, my wife can stick it in her purse, toss it in an overnight bag or whatever. I like the cloud drive, free app a day, huge library of books, music and movies that Amazon provides. Is it the best device ever? No, but for $199 nothing else beats it in my book and spending an extra $300 for the ipad just doesn't make sense to me.

[David Cramer]

Not splitting hairs or claiming that one is better than the other, but it's only a $192 difference when tax is included on both items, not $300.

At least where I live it is, when comparing the Kindle Fire versus the Ipad2 anyways.

25% off from Meijers in Michigan or anywhere that there is a Meijer Store. I realize that everyone doesn't have a Meijer Store by them, but they may deliver?

David

[Brent Dorner]

Not splitting hairs or claiming that one is better than the other, but it's only a $192 difference when tax is included on both items, not $300.

At least where I live it is, when comparing the Kindle Fire versus the Ipad2 anyways.

25% off from Meijers in Michigan or anywhere that there is a Meijer Store. I realize that everyone doesn't have a Meijer Store by them, but they may deliver?

David

On their site it is $499 and they don't have one in my state.

[David Cramer]

On their site it is $499 and they don't have one in my state.

Yes their site says $499 Brent, but as I said, it's a sale, not their regular price (hence the percentage off) and that they are not in all states. Everything in the store is 15% off when they have a "15% off everything sale", not specifically just Ipod2's so they don't list them separately.

In addition, there is 10% more for opening a credit card on the spot. From my knowledge, the Apple Store doesn't sell them that low and never has.

My post was intended for anyone who has a Meijer's in their state Brent, not for those who don't as it will do them no good (unless they know someone who can mail it as they would still be well ahead of the game financially with the savings).

I was simply "trying" to share some good news with my fellow creekers who "have" a Meijer Store nearby but had no knowledge that they could save so much, even on Apple products. Our child, her friends, and their parents live here and they had no clue that Apple products were also included with the Meijer occasional 15% off sale....until we told them.

David

[Jim Becker]

B&H Photo also sells Apple products at "very attractive" prices...sometimes less than corporate and educational discounts from Apple.

[Jim N Burke]

My wife has a nook color and loves it for reading. She used it occasionally for browsing and email but it is not very good at that. The Tablet has a better ability to do more web related things but it is still only a 7" screen (as is the Fire). She also has am ASUS Transformer with the keyboard dock. This is a nice combination because you get a 10" tablet plus a keyboard with touchpad AND extra battery. I have three of these at work that our member relations people take instead of laptops for working with our members. Combined with Dropbox they can carry their presentations and have an instant-on system.

I have a Motorola Xoom (10") that I use for general internet use (mail/browsing). I use the Nook app for ebooks and probably do about 1/2 of my reading on it. The Xoom is not the best for this because it is fairly heavy. The Transformer is better but still heavier (as is the iPad) than any of Kindles or Nooks. If you want mainly reading, with some internet use, go with either of them.

The keyboard dock gives you a hybrid that works like a netbook. If you want to do any kind of writing on it, this is a big plus. I have a bluetooth keyboard for my Xoom but it is not a slick as the ASUS system.

Neither the Kindle Fire nor the Nook Color is going to give the real estate on the screen that a 10" Android or an iPad will have. Although both talk about watching movies on, I'm not certain that anyone will do this after the initial novelty of it wears off - but that may just be my 56 year old eyes speaking.

My ambivalence about both the Kindle and iPad is that, while the hardware and interface is good (or superior for Apple) you are locked into their "walled gardens" for all apps and media.

On my Xoom I have both the Kindle app and the Nook app. I buy MP3s from both Amazon and Google. I can buy DRM-Free (no copy-protection) epub format ebooks from O'Reilly (computer related) or Baen (science fiction) and read them with the Nook app. I buy MP3s from Amazon and Google and have ripped my vinyl and CDs and play them on it. This will hold for most Android devices.

Just my couple of pennies.

Jim

[Scott Gibbons]

I have the Samsung Tab 10.1 and love it.

[Chuck Stewart]

Movies streamed from Amazon look great on the Fire but I have to say I was not thinking when I bought into the $70 Amazon Prime membership since it only has Wifi. If I'm at home on my broadband connection why would I watch a movie on the Fire when I've got the bigger PC screen. When i'm on the road I doubt I'll stop at a McDonalds or other Wifi hotspot to watch a movie. Sure wish Amazon would let you stream at least one movie to the unit and store for later viewing. Sprint wants $30 to use my phone as a hotspot but I'm only getting 3G in my area so that's not gonna work. So I just ordered a Roku player for $99 from amazon that will stream Amazon movies and Netflix to my TV. Guess they got me good but hey, I like that 2 day shipping from amazon and the Fire is awsome for reading books, I like the fact you can see the print now in total darkness without having to have a backlight like the older models. and Calibre (free) let me load Readers Digest, Field and Stream, and Sports Illustrated on the Fire for free though I have to re-dock to the PC to update them. Also amazon had USA Today for free 9top stories) but I keep forgetting to update before I leave the house and loose my broadband connection

[Bonnie Campbell]

I have a Kindle already, but had thought about purchasing the Fire. That is until I noticed it's Wi-Fi only. The cost might be cheap, but I want other connecting options for something bragged about for being superior. +1 on the Roku for home usage. I bought one and have more or less enjoyed it.