SurvivingInfidelity.com^®

We're looking at buying our first eReader's and we need opinions.

Why a Nook?

Why a Kindle?

3G or Wi-Fi only??

I'd really like to get your opinions before I shell out a bunch of money.

Thanks

Can't speak to the Nook but I can tell you that my Kindle is my favorite piece of gadgetry.

I'm not sure what the differences are.

I love Amazon whispernet delivery. Never had a single problem. There are many free books available. The other books average around $7 and 15 seconds to download.

I really enjoy my kindle as well. I literally take it with me every time I leave the house. You never know when you might have 5 extra minutes to read!

Yes, there are numerous classics/newer authors whose books are free.

However....lately, the publishers of popular authors have been setting the price higher-more around $13 for a just released 'hard back'. One of the main reasons for me to get the kindle was the advertised $9.99 for all those same popular authors. Soooo, I have waged my own personal boycott and will now wait until *hopefully* they bring the $$$ down. So far, my patience has paid off for the latest Jack Reacher novel and I waited probably two weeks.

I'm still sold.

Thanks Ladies!!

I hope some Nook users weigh in on this too!!

I don't own either, but B&N stores have a display Nook and a Nook expert there to talk about the features. I played with it, but shoo'd away the sells person. I personally wasn't impressed, prices were much higher at the time and the books that were already loaded onto display took a long time to display. At the time I found the processing just way to slow.

If your really curious and there is a store near you, go check it out for yourself. It's been about 8 months since and several price drops since I've looked at the Nook, maybe it's been given a few nice upgrades.

Oh, we've been to B & N to play with the Nook several times... but we just can't decide if that's what we want or if we want a Kindle.

Just hoping to get some feedback from those who have one... KWIM?

I researched eReaders quite a bit and watched hands-on reviews on YouTube before opting to get a Nook for my b-day. I have been very pleased with Nook. The reasons I went with Nook over Kindle are DRM (Digital Rights Management) issues. Amazon's Kindle is wonderful, fast delivery of titles, good prices (though I've found Nook's prices of new releases to be equally good). However, the books are converted into Amazon's Az file format for Kindle, whereas Nook and Sony use ePub format files for all of the books. ePub was a draw for me because it meant:

-I can check out eBooks from libraries offering this service with my Nook,

-I can upload files from my computer without paying a small (dime) fee to translate the file to Amazon's format,

-I can share books with friends who also have a Nook for 2 weeks (and then my Nook takes the book back, lol!).

Another big draw for me was that Nook runs on an Android-based platform, which leaves it room to develop many future apps. It is a blank canvas waiting to be filled with more wonderful things!

When the first Nook reviews were done, Nook had been rushed to production, and there were still issues with programming that needed to be fixed. Readers complained that there was slightly greater page-turning lag with Nook compared to Kindle. There were other issues, too - nothing terrible.

Just after I got my Nook, Barnes&Noble released Firmware Update 1.2, which fixed the slow pageturn and other small things.

A few months ago, Nook users got Firmware Update 1.3, which added a web browser (it's in early stages - Beta - nothing to brag about, but it works!), chess, sudoku, and other goodies.

Yesterday, Barnes&Noble released Firmware Update 1.4, which gave us a larger font among the options and which lets us navigate to any page in a book instead of navigating by chapter or "furthest read point".

The frequent firmware updates tell me that B&N is very committed to giving users what they ask for, and to constantly improving Nook to make it competetive with Apple's iPad, PlasticLogic's eReader, Sony's eReaders, and Amazon's Kindle.

One thing I have loved about using Nook is being able to sit in the car listening to NPR waiting for the kids to get out of school, and hearing about a new title - instead of scribbling it on a scrap of paper, turning on Nook's "shop" feature, finding the book, and downloading a free sample to read instantly. That is just delicious!!

The eReader market is booming, and the price cut for Nook and Kindle are certainly something you should take advantage of! Enjoy!

S.O.L

Thank you so much for your thoughtful feedback. A lot of what you like about the Nook, I have also found attractive in the Nook.

I appreciate you taking the time to give my your input.

jrc - coming late to the party but wanted to chime in.

My dad has a Sony reader and loves it. Our local library has tons of freebie e-books through their website (PM me if you want more info - we're both in FL). The benefit to the Sony and some of the other ereaders over the Kindle is what Lotus said - the Kindle has their own proprietary file. You can still download the freebies, but you have to send the file to Amazon and have them send it back to you in the right format.

Our local library has a couple of eReaders (not sure what brand) that you can check out and try out. Might not hurt to check with your library.

I have a Kindle and a Sony Pocket reader. I use the Kindle at home, and most of the books on it are ones I've bought (under $10) and it is wonderful.

I use the Sony for library books and it's wonderful too. Just smaller and better for my purse! The ebook selection at the 2 different libraries I use is wonderful, but I can't go in expecting to find a specific title, that's a recipe for disappointment. I just show up and get interested in what's there. For specific titles I must have, I buy on the Kindle.

I sometimes have 5 books going at once, in different formats or on different devices. I hate to be stuck without a book!

I can't speak about the Nook, but the DRM issues won't go away anytime soon. I just hope I'm done buying readers, at least for a decade or so.

I to did some research on the Kindle and the Nook. I ended up buying the Nook and I love it! The best part, is I can loan books out to my friends that have a Nook! How can you go wrong with that? Also, B&N, has them on sale this week, I paid $259 for mine, and now the same one is $199.

Well I have eNook and LOVE it!

I like the fact that I can take it anywhere with me and read anytime.

SwitchedonLotus said it all!

No complaints for me..

Thank You everyone for weighing in on this...

I really appreciate everyones feedback and input!!

We're probably going to get the Nook... but I'll let ya all know, when we get it.

Thanks for this post. I'm a die-hard physical book lover, but I've become more and more intrigued by the book readers.

This was a great read and gave me lots of food for thought!

I have a Kindle. I like that I can check my email and SI on the road. The 3G feature is handy. Also, you can send docs to a free email address and they upload to your Kindle (no fee)

The share feature of the Nook is handy, but if you and a partner each have a Kindle, you just need to share the same email for Kindle purposes and you can share books. There is also a Kindle reader for PC and smartphones so you can have your books on several devices.

Whichever you choose, you'll love it. I rarely read other books, and I am a librarian!

I have a Nook and have been very happy with it. I like that I was able to download free books from Google Books. It also has a couple of games, Sudoku and Chess, although playing them takes a little getting used to. The Wifi and 3G mean I can connect to the web just about anywhere and I can also check email and websites. I'm ashamed to admit that my daughter had to show me how to work the web search, though. It's kind of different than what you expect because you're typing your search into the bottom screen and looking at the data on the top screen.

There were 3 reasons I chose the Nook over Kindle:

1. I can get books from anywhere without converting.

2. It has a MicroSD slot to add up to 32 GB of memory, giving it far more capacity when I need it. This feature means I can have a lot of MP3s on it and it won't cut into my book space.

3. I can buy and replace the battery myself without having to mail it anywhere.

A couple of other cool things I didn't factor in but found out about afterward:

Barnes and Noble offers freebies when you're in the store. Sometimes it's a free book or a dessert from the café. My daughter was so excited when I got her a free toffee bar just by showing the employee the coupon on my Nook. You can read entire books for free while you're in the store and it allows you to loan books to others with Nooks or the B&N ereader. Plus, you can upload your own photos to use as backgrounds which really makes it feel like it's yours.

A couple of drawbacks: You have this tendency to want to touch the top screen, especially when playing the games, because it seems odd to only touch the small section in the bottom. The touchscreen is really only sensitive to my fingers so I can't use a Nintendo stylus with it which would make searching the web and the bookstore easier.

I believe they have fixed the glitches with the new software update but I did have some problems with my Nook locking in sleep mode when I first got it. I kept thinking it was broken but then I'd charge it and it would work fine. One of the software updates was supposed to fix that problem and it seems to be working now.

I don't have a Kindle so I can't compare but I did a lot of research before I decided and I'm happy with my decision.

I have a Kindle 1 and love it.

Amazon recently dropped the price of the Kindle 2 to $189, as oppposed to $259.

This could mean a Kindle 3 is coming soon, some are speculating in August.

I just got a Nook and I LOVE it! The posters above have listed many reasons why I chose the Nook including the expandable memory and replaceable battery. I also liked that I could buy the Nook in Best Buy and buy their protection plan for the device. I would much rather have my electronics serviced by an electronic store than having to mail it off to be fixed.

I have a Nook question:

1. Can you buy ebooks from places other than B&N?

Just for the battery alone, I'd buy a Nook. The only thing holding me back is some of the books I'm interested in reading are not offered at B&N or my library but I can get them on a Kindle.

I'm not too thrilled about the small navigation window. Typing was a little difficult, and the Kindle appears to be much easier.

Consumer reports July edition has a comparison of the Kindle, Nook and Sony.

In their test they found that the Kindle had "crisper, more readable type than another other e-reader" They also found that Kindle was the fastest at page turning. It is also lighter, smaller and easier to navigate according to their tests.

The overall score was a 63 compared to Nook at 52 and Sony at 60.