E-readers: Nook, Kindle, iPad--comparison thoughts, anyone?

Color is good if you are planning on reading magazines or read books that you'd want to see a lot of colored pictures.
The Nook allows you to "lend" a book to someone for either two or three weeks. The Kindle does not.
The Kindle has more books available.
The Nook has ePub capability - the Kindle doesn't.

I don't think that you would go wrong with either one.

Well I can't really pass judgement on any of the newer E-books but I have had a Kindle since they were first introduced (on my second one now) and it is one the greatest inventions ever! I love to read and my house is full of books - bookcases in every room. We were being overrun but I have to read! So now I always have a book. As soon as I finish one I can download a new one.
My newest Kindle (this past X-mas) seems to have a longer battery life than my first one and the screen is very easy to read - even outdoors. You can make the font size very large so I don't even need my reading glasses. I know it has tons of features that I have never really investigated but I just love it because I always have a book with me.
My only complaint and this might apply to all the E-books is the cost of some of the books. I don't like to spend more than $9.99 for an e-book (after all it's not a hardback) but Amazon claims the prices are established by the publishers. Some of the best sellers are now being priced at $12.99 or higher but I've found if I can wait the price will come down. And there are thousands of books for 99 cents or even free so I guess I shouldn't complain.
If you like to read I don't think you can go wrong with a Kindle or any other type of E-Reader.

What? No love for the Kobo?



- Jeff

I have a kindle. I have tons of books and this was the best Christmas present I bought for me last year. I also like that I just buy amazon.com gift cards and load them into my account. That way my debit card number is not floating out in internetland. I just feel safer doing it that way. Hope it helps.
Jenn

Barb and I both have Kindle's. She loves hers and I'm liking mine more each day. One feature that I believe the Nook has that the Kindle doesn't which we'd use was the "sharing" option that a few posters mentioned. As an example, in our case, we both have a subscription to the R-J...this is like having two newspapers delivered to your home. Kind of crazy and it's still only like $12/mth. combined so it's cheaper than a single hard copy subscription so I'm not complaining too much. Nonetheless, it would be a useful feature for us.

The battery life of the Kindle is very good.....days without needing to recharge. I have the one with 3G so I just remember to turn off the wifi when I'm not downloading anything. I also use this device as my host for audio books so it's easier to carry just one item for these two functions.

While I don't have direct comparison experience, I can tell you that we're very happy with the Kindle.

Dan

I guess Kindle does not "share" so I was wrong. Their info below explains the "Lend" option

"Kindle Book Lending:
Lend eligible Kindle books to other Kindle or Kindle app users. Each eligible book can be lent once for a period of 14 days. Not all books are lendable — the publisher or rights holder determines which titles are enabled for lending. For more information on how to lend Kindle books, visit our help page."

Quote - I also use this device as my host for audio books so it's easier to carry just one item for these two functions -

So does the kindle have audio? If it does I'm even more interested.

Tonyrob

Yes, the kindle does have audio. In fact, there is a function that will "read" written books to you. I haven't explored this but I know this as a result of buying one for my son. His doctor suggested this to assist with reading comprehension as I guess some people retain more verbally than they do by reading.

Amazon acquired Audible which was the company I have a subscription with for audio books so playing them on this device is seamless. FWIW, I play $21-22/mth. which entitles me to two audio books per month.

Dan

My husband and I both got BnN nooks this past Summer and we love them.

The two main reasons that we went with the nooks over the Kindle was that you can add memory chips to the nook, not to the Kindle. The other is that you can replace the rechargeable battery in the nook, not so with the Kindle. (rechargeable batteries can only be recharged a finite number of times)

We also purposely went with the black and white nook rather than the color one because the black and white version is not back lite. You have to have an external light source to read the nook at night. The fact that the screen is not back lite is a good thing as it is much easier on the eyes. I really drug my feet about getting an e-reader to begin with because I look at a computer screen all day long and I really didn't want to look at another one when I was trying to read a book. The type that the nook uses is similar to a very sophisticated etch-a-sketch. On the other hand, the color nook is back lite and therefore also has a shorter battery life between charges.

The other reason that I love the nook is that it is very easy to check e-books out of the library and load them to the nook. You can check them out for up to 21 days. Once the time is up, the e-book is automatically disabled on the nook and "returned" to the library. You do not physically have to take the e-book back to the library. (The best part as I hate the overdue charges!!!) You have the option of "returning" the e-book early by selecting that option when the nook is attached to your computer. Because of the ease of library e-book access, we have not actually purchased very many e-books since we got the nooks.

Thanks for the link to the side by side comparison. That was very helpful!