2009 Must-Have Techie Gift: Kindle vs. Nook
VS.
Could this be this year's Tickle Me Elmo?
With the unveiling of the Barnes & Noble Nook, the Amazon Kindle is in a run for its money....literally! The upcoming holiday season has both companies looking for ways to maximize their sales. Whether consumers prefer the Nook or the Kindle will be one of those things to. The question is which one is really better and why?
The Amazon Kindle was the first of its kind and hit the ground running. With its free internet and actual keyboard, it is simple to use. You get access to many of the magazines and newspaper you want to read as well as a large variety of book content. You also get Wikipedia access and who doesn't love the Wiki? One of the features that I truly like would be the text to speech feature for those times when you just have to know what comes next but are too busy driving down the road. The Kindle also appears to have a longer battery running time than the Nook.
The Nook isn't A Kindle Killer, but it's still awesome
The B&N Nook has its great features as well. The fact that you can view in color is a big thing. Its 3.5" touchscreen is not limited to black and white like the Kindle. You do get free internet access like the Kindle but it does not come with a browser so there won't be any actual web browsing other than the B&N website as far as I can tell. The Nook does offer a friends and family sharing program. You can lend each book you purchase to one friend or family member. Each "lend" only lasts 14 days so hopefully it doesn't take them that long for them to read the actual book. The Nook does come with an expandable SD memory slot so you don't have to worry about running out of memory and that is a big plus.
Remarkably similar, but stick with the Kindle
Both the Kindle and the Nook have the same purchase price, the same per book price on thousands of books, and appear to have similar "free" books. So which should you choose? That is an entirely subjective question. The Nook is smaller but it weighs more. They both have free internet, the both have good downloads, the Nook comes in color, the Kindle has text to speech. Which one is better for you all depends on your needs and wants so I can't really tell you which one is better than the other as each have their own high points.
Gizmodo Review: "if you have to pick one right now, stick with the Kindle"
Update:
The one aspect that might be your deciding factor is that the wireless Kindle is available now and has been for quite some time and there are many, many satisfied users. The Nook is sold out till February 1st.. .
