Nook Tablet

A few weeks ago, I made the mistake of letting my husband play Angry Birds on my Nook. Somehow while he was sling-shotting birds into unsuspecting pigs, he scratched the screen of my baby. His fault for the scratch or mine for not having a screen protector on it? Either way, I was instantly heartbroken… and the next day, Barnes and Noble announced their new Nook Color Tablet.

It was like fate had stepped up to me, smacked me in the face, and said, “Yo, just go buy a new one.” Who am I to argue?

And so began my research into the two new e-readers debuting in November – the Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet. Both had those beautiful color screens that I love so much, but could I go from a Nook to a Kindle? And what’s the real difference between the two anyway?

Thank goodness for Cnet. Within minutes, I had a side-by-side comparison of the two units that showed me exactly which one I needed to spend my money one… but we’ll get to that.

There are three big differences between these two readers – the cost, the memory, and the provider. Let’s start with the last one:

 

Kindle Fire

Amazon vs. Barnes & Noble

I love Amazon. Always have, always will. I have spent more money there in the last three years than I have at Target… which is really saying something. Their customer service is great, their products are excellent, and I can find just about anything I want 24-7. I have the Kindle app on my phone/laptop/tablet and have purchased books through them with no complaints.

I like Barnes & Noble. Please note, I did not say love. Their customer service needs some work – I once spent four days trying to get through to a specific department because they were the only ones that could handle my issue. Four days of not being able to purchase books through my B&N account… that’s just bad business. I’ve also noticed that, once I started purchasing e-books regularly from the retailer, the emails with coupons and discount codes disappeared. My other account that I no longer use gets them every week. I can understand trying to gain new customers or win back lost ones, but Nook users are consistent buyers. Throw me a ten percent off now and again.

Winner: Kindle Fire

 

Memory Lane, or how many books do you really need?

My husband is not a reader. He thinks my actual books are more clutter than function and likes to complain when I leave them all over the house. Since I married him (and would like to stay married to him), I have gone digital with my book collection. Hundreds upon hundreds of books reside on my little blue hard drive… or rather, hard drives. Knowing my addiction and not wanting to need one of my babies when I don’t have it loaded onto my e-reader, memory is a big issue for me.

The Kindle Fire offers its owner 512MB of RAM and 8GB of additional storage. The Nook Tablet offers up 1GB RAM, 16GB additional storage PLUS a microSD™ slot for an additional 32GB of books, music, photos, and more.

To give you an idea of what that means, let’s look at my copy of Ashes of Fire by Lara Adrian:

Reader Format Size Storage Books
Nook Tablet E-pub 0.34 MB 16 GB (1024 MB) 48,188
Kindle Fire Mobi 0.47 MB 8 GB 17,430

As you can see, the Nook Tablet has space for almost three times as many books as the Kindle Fire. Would anyone load their e-reader with 48,000 books? Maybe not – but remember, you also need space for your music, pictures, and videos (if you so choose… which I do). Plus the additional feature of the microSD™ slot offers you an extra 32GB of storage space which translates into an additional 96,376 books. Yeah, now that’s a little nuts… even for me. Doesn’t mean I won’t use up most of that space for something.

Winner: Nook Tablet

 

Money money money

The Kindle Fire is priced at $199; the Nook Tablet will set you back $249. If you choose to purchase the 32 GB microSD™ card, you’ll be out an additional $80.

Winner: Kindle Fire, though you get what you pay for

 

Overall, I’m still a Nook girl. Is that extra $49 worth it? To me, absolutely. The amount of extra storage space plus the ability to watch TV and movies via Hulu and Netflix make the Nook Tablet perfect for someone who has to travel as much as I do. The Kindle Fire is a close runner-up, but it just doesn’t offer me enough to win the crown… or rather, my money.

Sorry, Amazon.

 

The Kindle Fire will be released November 15th, 2011. The Nook Tablet will be released November 18th, 2011.