Nook or Kindle?

[Madi]

I'm thinking about buying one of the two for reading. Which do you prefer/have and what do you think of them? I'm kind of leaning towards a nook simple touch right now.

 

[Emma]

Whatever you get, I highly suggest you get one with buttons only, and not touch. From experience, touch doesn't work well for a reading device. Fingerprints are a big issue, especially if you want to read in light.
Speaking of that, get a more basic black and white one. Not the color Nook or Kindle Fire. They show fingerprints very badly and they aren't that visible in brighter light. Also the touch controls for changing pages can be somewhat sloppy for both lines. Sometimes you go further than you want, or you go in the wrong direction, or it takes too much force just to get it to respond to your touch. It gets annoying fast and you'll grow to hate doing it for every page. Button versions are way less stressful.

Between the two, I suggest Kindle. Amazon has a better selection of books, including a lot of free books that Barnes and Noble doesn't have. And the best Kindle for just reading is actually the cheapest one. The more complex ones have a bunch of annoying features that get in the way of reading.

I've had excellent service from Amazon. I didn't purchase a warranty plan. I had my Kindle get damaged. I payed $109 for the original (the non-ad version of the cheapest one). They gave me a replacement for $65, and when they received the damage one I sent back they refunded me $85. More than I payed for the replacement. So I felt pretty good. Amazon has superior service to Barnes and Noble. I've heard from a lot of people that had issues with their Nooks. They said that the service was terrible and they had to wait a long time to speak to anyone, and they didn't even solve their problem and they had to pay a lot of money to replace broken units.

I strongly suggest you go with Kindle. It has a better library, better service, its more durable, and it's better in the sunlight. Both have the same sort of tech for working in sunlight, but the Kindle's is better and they have a better, stronger screen.

But no matter what you get, absolutely never let anything put too much pressure on the screen. It's tough and will resist scratches better than your phone's screen. But it's not tough enough to withstand force pressing against the screen.

 

[nonoitall]

I'd go for the Nook because other geeks have been successful at getting Android running on it. Not that it's useful for a whole lot, but still, it adds a bit more functionality and flexibility than you'd otherwise have. If you're just going to use it for its intended purpose, I'd just pick the cheaper of the two.

 

[donpedrox]

Fingerprints are not an issue with e-ink because it is not a LCD nor is sunlight. Unlike with the Color variation of the nook or the fire version of kindle both of which have an LCD. Now I think your initial thought of the nook touch is a good one. Its cheap and it's e-ink I've also had some first hand experience with it and I have to say changing the page isn't as sloppy or annoying as Matt claims it to be. I bought a nook touch for my girlfriends birthday and from what I hear she likes it (never see her use it...........never).

 

[linkmoon89]

I don't actually have the physical kindle, untouchable the kindle app on my touchpad. I like it a lot.

 

[Emma]

Fingerprints are not an issue with e-ink because it is not a LCD nor is sunlight.

They are better than LCD with figureprints, but not immune. And certainly not a non-issue. In direct sunlight you can still clearly see the fingerprints. But it's not nearly as bad as with LCDs.

I've also had some first hand experience with it and I have to say changing the page isn't as sloppy or annoying as Matt claims it to be.

So have I. The touch features were exactly how I described them in my previous post. Poorly responsive. It is the absolute worst in the color versions of the Nook and Kindle. It's not as bad in the e-ink screen versions. But it can still be annoying. And it will compound with the fingerprint problem.

Fingerprints do not show up as badly on an e-ink screen, HOWEVER, e-ink screens are textured and more difficult to clean fingerprints from than LCD screens. LCDs hide fingerprints poorly, but clean far more easily. They just can't stay clean and are fingerprint magnets.

 

[IamDazed]

Why bother with either? You can read ebooks on virtually every phone.

 

[DisappearingMist]

I like my Kindle, mainly because I use Amazon for everything and earn many amazon gift cards online. They have great support for the Kindle as well. I'm sure the Nook is great in its own way as well, so do some research to figure out what's more important for how you will use it!

 

[misskitten]

Never tried the Nook, so cannot give an opinion on which is the superior device, but I have the Kindle Keyboard and I absolutely frickin LOVE it, lol. The screen is like reading the page in a book, it's simple to use, great to use for other types of documents - like I've put all my favorite fanfics in PHD-documents, which translates to thousands upon thousands of pages of reading material in addition to the books I purchased I also love the free internet on it, giving me the opportunity to go on twitter if I'm otherwise lacking the internet, which is a nice feature in my opinion.

I hope whichever you end up choosing will have everything that you need for your personal usage...

 

[Emma]

Why bother with either? You can read ebooks on virtually every phone.

One word: e-ink

The black and white e-readers use a technology called e-ink that replicates how real ink looks like on real paper. It is far more visible in bright light, or direct sunlight, than any LCD screen, which every phone uses. Reading apps for phones are also very primitive and don't work that well. And phone screens are very small and it can be difficult to comfortably read.

 

[Kuddlesnot]

One word: e-ink

The black and white e-readers use a technology called e-ink that replicates how real ink looks like on real paper. It is far more visible in bright light, or direct sunlight, than any LCD screen, which every phone uses. Reading apps for phones are also very primitive and don't work that well. And phone screens are very small and it can be difficult to comfortably read.

Absolutely. E-ink is the way to go. This rules out most color e-readers, which are essentially stripped tablets that are much less capable, anyway. Definitely not the way to go if you are looking for a strict e-reader, and not the way to go if you are looking for a tablet. The odd middle ground results in essentially a worthless piece of crap. At least, that is what my own experience with a borrowed Kindle Fire (and the owners many grunts of frustration).

I do disagree on your other points.
I have an e-ink Nook with a touch screen, and it has seen heavy, heavy use, and have not had any issues with either fingerprints (in direct sunlight or otherwise) or controls. There are buttons to turn pages anyway, so page change responses are a non-issue. Trying to type up a review on it with a touch keyboard? Another story. But I don't use it for that, so it has been a non-issue. My mother has a non-touch screen Nook, and she loves it, but tried my touch screen one and wouldn't give it back for a few days. The interface, overall capabilities (dictionary search, etc) and feel of it IMO is just superior to the non-touch.

Can't make any comparisons to e-ink Kindles, which I have not tried in any capacity.

As for the selection, it may be slightly reduced compared to the Kindle (although this is arguably not the case), and nothing quite compares to essentially walk into a barnes and noble and read whatever you want, just like if you took it off the shelf. Depends on how you like to use it, I guess.

 

[Emma]

Absolutely. E-ink is the way to go. This rules out most color e-readers, which are essentially stripped tablets that are much less capable, anyway. Definitely not the way to go if you are looking for a strict e-reader, and not the way to go if you are looking for a tablet. The odd middle ground results in essentially a worthless piece of crap. At least, that is what my own experience with a borrowed Kindle Fire (and the owners many grunts of frustration).

I too borrowed a Fire. I was not impressed at all. The controls were even more unresponsive than on other touch screen readers, though I've heard that was improved in a recent update. The screen was the absolute worst for fingerprints. The slightest touch would leave a huge, unsightly mark. The screen was basically completely black in bright light or sunlight. It was very, very heavy for its size. The battery life wasn't impressive. The speakers were pretty bad. Basically everything about it was bad.

If you want a reader, do not get a color one. It won't be worth it.

 

[donpedrox]

I too borrowed a Fire. I was not impressed at all. The controls were even more unresponsive than on other touch screen readers, though I've heard that was improved in a recent update. The screen was the absolute worst for fingerprints. The slightest touch would leave a huge, unsightly mark. The screen was basically completely black in bright light or sunlight. It was very, very heavy for its size. The battery life wasn't impressive. The speakers were pretty bad. Basically everything about it was bad.

If you want a reader, do not get a color one. It won't be worth it.

Ok I own a Kindle Fire and it certainly is not that bad. sure it leaves finger prints but what LCD screen doesn't? The weight I think is perfect, makes you think you've got something instead of a cheap plastic McDonalds toy the battery life on mine is above average. I'm not good on telling the quality of sound but if it's in the gutter then I'm pretty sure I'll know. Overall it is a great device for what it is A TABLET as far as an e-reader yea it sucks in sunlight and e-ink will be easier on your eyes. It is a great alternative to the vastly overpriced iPad.

EDIT: Do you have something against tablets or something because you've done nothing but degrade them. I'm not a fan of tablets but still.......

 

[MonkeyFightSquad]

I like Kindle better. Anyways, I would just get the Ipad.. The Kindle is a lot like the Ipad.

 

[Emma]

Ok I own a Kindle Fire and it certainly is not that bad. sure it leaves finger prints but what LCD screen doesn't? The weight I think is perfect, makes you think you've got something instead of a cheap plastic McDonalds toy the battery life on mine is above average. I'm not good on telling the quality of sound but if it's in the gutter then I'm pretty sure I'll know. Overall it is a great device for what it is A TABLET as far as an e-reader yea it sucks in sunlight and e-ink will be easier on your eyes. It is a great alternative to the vastly overpriced iPad.

EDIT: Do you have something against tablets or something because you've done nothing but degrade them. I'm not a fan of tablets but still.......

I was referring to the Fire as a reading device, not as a tablet. As a reading device, it's terrible in every way. As a tablet, it's okay, Good alternative to the iPad. It's the first of its line really, so it's wrong to expect it to be perfect from the onset. I expect the successor to the Fire will be far better.

But yeah... I suppose I do have a problem with tablets. I see tablets as kind of an awkward device. Their battery life isn't much different from laptops. You can't really use them outdoors or in bright light any better than you can laptops. They basically have the same limitations as a laptop, and a laptop can do more, far more efficiently too. So why not just get a laptop? If you insist on the touch screen, they do make laptops that flip closed to form a tablet. They're called tablet PCs, I spent my senior year of high school repairing those things. I find touch screens to be overrated and far too inaccurate for the finer work where you'd think it's be helpful (like art). Tablets are over-hyped in my opinion. More like a piece of jewelry meant to show off to other people.

Anyway, this is about reading. For reading, get something with e-ink. The Nook and Kindle without e-ink are more so tablets, not e-readers.