Amazon’s Kindle and the original Barnes & Noble Nook are two very popular e-readers available for purchase today. Both have been around for a while and both have advantages and disadvantages. In this Kindle v Nook review, I’ll provide you with an honest and unbiased look at both to make it easier for you to make the right choice for you. At this point, I’d like to let you know that I’m a long-time e-reader enthusiast and would never review a product I haven’t tried (which isn’t the case with most so-called “reviewers” out there). So, I hope you enjoy my review and feel free to comment or ask any questions you may have.
I have categorized the various features of the two to make it easy for you to navigate through this review.
Speed
In the world we live in, speed tends to mean everything to people. Our lives run at 100 miles an hour and if we can save 5 minutes a week by having a faster eReader, that’s important to some. If all you care about is speed, the Kindle 3 is your obvious choice. Amazon took the old Kindle 2, which was already faster than the Nook, and made it even faster with the Kindle 3. The time it takes to turn a page feels like forever on the Nook compared to the Kindle 3. Now Well, not all of us are in such a rush, but I have to say that having tried both, once you’ve tried the Kindle, it somehow feels like you’re wasting precious seconds of your life with the Nook.
Another thing that is much faster with the Kindle is navigation. This means its ability to move the cursor around the page smoothly and predictably. The Kindle has what is called a rocker button that can be moved in 5 ways and it moves very fast. On the Nook, you need to activate the LCD display which turns on a small virtual rocker button that needs to be tapped to move the cursor around the screen. Compared to the Kindle, the Nook’s virtual rocker button seems very slow and lazy. Again, this may not bother you, but once you get used to the Kindle, going back to the Nook’s sluggishness can be quite irritating. I know Barnes & Noble has released software updates that have made it faster, but it still doesn’t work like the Kindle.
screen contrast
The quality of an eReader screen is really important. It could handle slower page turns, but if the screen is glare or your eyes hurt from reading more than half an hour, it goes to waste. Amazon took the Kindle 2 and drastically improved the screen when they released number 3. The official numbers say that the contrast is 50% better than the Kindle 2 and I believe them. The Nook’s screen contrast is about the same as the Kindle 2, so the new Kindle is way ahead. Effectively, what this means for you as a user is an eReader that can be read both inside and out in any conditions and keeps the strain on your eyes to a minimum. After an hour or so on the Nook, I’ve had enough, especially if the lights are a bit dim, but I’m still not at my limit with the Kindle 3.
If you’re reading in good lighting conditions, the Nook will do just fine, but if you’re like me, you might like to read in bed, and rooms can be poorly lit. Take the Nook to bed with you and you’ll have a headache in an hour unless you have a decent bedside lamp.
Battery duration
The new battery installed in Kindle 3 is really amazing. I charge mine every two weeks and that is with the WiFi on. If I turn it off it lasts about a month. Unfortunately for the Nook, its LCD touch screen drains the battery very quickly and is unlikely to last you more than a week. Of great importance? Well, if all you do is have your eReader at home and read before bed, you probably don’t. But if you’re going on a vacation of any significant length and want to take your library with you, the Nook will require you to bring the charger. Personally, the big difference in battery life doesn’t really matter. I have no problem plugging in the charger once a week.
Weight
In the blue corner, from Barnes & Noble, weighing in at 11.5 ounces, the Nook! And in the red corner, straight from Amazon, weighing just 8.5 ounces, the Kindle 3! If it were a boxing match, the Nook would probably “hide” (get it?) the Kindle’s shorts, but unfortunately for Barnes & Noble, it’s not. 3 ounces might not sound like much, but when you hold the Nook for a while and then switch to the Kindle 3, you can feel the difference right away. Kindle feels better in your hand, and because it’s lighter, it’s easier to take with you. The case that comes with the Nook makes it even worse as it’s quite heavy, while the Kindle’s case is lightweight and works great.
So far, the Kindle 3 has butchered the Nook. But, for all you Nook fans out there, don’t despair. There are reasons that might make you consider the Nook as well. Let’s go through them one by one and check the summary at the end to see the result.
Have a physical store
If you ever need help with your Nook, all you have to do is take it to a Barnes & Noble store and they’ll take care of it for you. If you’re at Barnes & Noble with your Nook, you can read any book in their library for free for one hour a day. If you’re lucky, you might even get a free book that will appear on your screen.
Battery replaceable by user
The batteries used in both the Nook and Kindle will eventually lose their charging capacity. With years of use, what used to last two weeks can now last just a few days. The Nook’s battery is easy for the user to change and inexpensive to purchase. To replace the Kindle battery, on the other hand, you have to send it (at your own expense) to Amazon and they’ll replace your entire Kindle with a refurbished one (not yours). That said, according to Amazon, the Kindle’s battery should last up to 3 years and I’m guessing most of us would have upgraded to the newer model by then anyway.
ePub
Unlike the Kindle 3, the Nook uses the widely used open format, ePub. This means that with a Nook you have the ability to “borrow” ePub format e-books from many digital libraries. Amazon uses its own e-book format that other e-readers don’t recognize. What this means for you as a user is that you can’t take a Kindle eBook and transfer it to your Nook, unless you use a free program called Caliber that will translate the eBook formats for you. The only drawback here is that Caliber doesn’t work with copy- and write-protected workbooks.
Nook’s LCD Screen
Having a color LCD screen on your eReader can be a plus for some and a minus for others. It really depends on what is important to you. It makes the Nook look great if that’s important to you, but when it comes to ease of use, the Kindle is faster and easier to use. Looking at the LCD screen is a lot like looking at a computer, so if this gives you a headache, the Nook probably does the same thing.
expandable memory
The Nook comes with 2GB as standard, but you can add an extra 16GB if you want by purchasing a microSD card. The Kindle comes with 4 GB as standard, but it cannot be expanded. Now, I’m not sure who would need 16GB of books on their Nook, but the 4GB that comes standard on the Kindle is definitely enough, holding up to 3,500 books.
ABSTRACT:
Look, both the Kindle 3 and the Nook are two of the best e-readers on the market today. Hence they face each other in the “fight of champions”. Most other e-readers fall short of these two and it seems that every time a newer and better model is released, the gap widens. Both the Kindle and the Nook come with their pros and cons, as you have already read. However, when it comes to putting down your hard-earned money, I’d back the Kindle 3, any day of the week. Why? Well, there are only two things I like the most about the Nook. Its user-replaceable battery and the fact that you can have a real person fix it while you wait. But at the end of the day, these two features don’t make up for the fact that the Kindle 3 is faster, lasts longer, has a better screen that’s easier on the eyes, is much easier to use, is smaller and lighter, it makes it more portable and better for those long hours of reading. So, ring-a-ding-ding, Kindle is king!
