Which to get? Wait for Kindle Fire or get my Nook Tablet now?

[techh]

BN just released the Nook Tablet, seems very cool!

I previously owned no e-reader, just got an iPad.

Is it good idea to get the NOOK Tablet for $249 now?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/14...17145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=1400532655

Or wait for a week to get Kindle Fire?


Not much difference between the two right? except the price?

 

[Sako7STW]

I like the look of the Nook Tablet! More memory is the key for me!

 

[Spider]

I'd get the Nook, the lack of an SD card on the Kindle is a show stopper for me.

 

[spdsl]

Not much difference between the two right? except the price?

There is a huge difference between the two. The nook has proven itself to be a capable well built device that is root-able. "Root" gives you the freedom of choice. The freedom of choice concerning your OS alone is worth the extra money for a nook color 2 and the original color nook. Don't forget the freedom of content. If your going to buy the original nook I would wait for the announced price drop. Its hard to get a unbiased answer on a Nook forum but there you go.

 

[MISRy]

Nook Tablet is the nomenclature for what we might call the Nook Color 2 and they are accepting preorders for it. The price drops, $200 for NC and $99 for Nook have been announced and are official.

OP, I have a Nook Color and may be a bit biased but as Spider said, no SD card slot makes the Fire of no value to me.

 

[Spider]

If your going to buy the original nook I would wait for the announced price drop.

It's now officially $199 for the Nook Color, just got a B&N email.

 

[tumpy]

In my household we don't discriminate, wife has blackberry curve, ipod touch, Ipad2 wifi/3G, nook 1st edition, preorder kindle fire, some one stole here kindle 3G, myself windows 7.5 mango and acer A500, daughter #1 HTC evo 3D, daughter#2 samsung galaxy S and galaxy tab 7", daughter#3 elocity A7 and blackberry bold, son is a gamer and have computer, wii, ps3, and soon both grand daughters 3&4 will be getting their own tablets not sure which. as for the nook color2 only forum dwelers will be buy them, kindle fire will out sell them more female will have kindle than nook..

 

[MultimediaExpert]

NOOK Tablet vs. Kindle Fire

http://tablet-tips.com/fight-nook-tablet-vs-kindle-fire/

 

[tonyp]

That one comment is interesting. I wonder if the launch demo really did show poorer browser performance.

 

[J515OP]

Even if it did show poor browser perfornace so what? At least for the people here that is. If you root or run a custom ROM, something not know to be possible on the Kindle at this time and probably will never be as flexible as the Nook on this issue, then you have access to any browser available for Andoird. There are many and some work better than others. Certainly there are many that work far better than the stock B&N browser so it is a non-issue.

This isn't the best comparisson of all out specs between the two devices but it makes some good points. I think the commentor's other issues are off basis too. Both devices might have the same ips display but the air gap between the screen and the glass certainly makes a difference. This is a valid point of differenetiation if it appears you are looking at a screen inside the device rather than not being able to distinguish the difference between the screen and the device.

To say the RAM doesn't matter because the Fire uses backend processing to speed up the browser is silly unless the only thng you do on the tablet is to browse the internet. More RAM means you can run more apps, can run them smoother and can have a faster experince on everything not just the browser. To also say that this is a no contest because of the reach of Amazon is also silly. With the Nook you have the option of the Amazon Market, the B&N Market and the Google Market. Together this means far more options for the Nook.

So how can the Fire be the better long term play? Not to mention that the Nook will have the latest Android OSes with in weeks of their open source release if not within days and is supported by several custom ROMs. Will the Fire ever have the long term ability to upgrade beyond whatever Amazon puts on there?

Ok, so enough ranting. Everybody is entitled to their opinion. If you compare stock device to stock device and depending on your use the Fire might be a better choice for you. However, with simple modifications (which may not ever be possible with the Fire) the Nook becomes much more than the Fire, so don't let the little comment about browser performance scare you away from a Nook

 

[jinnijinn]

Well, I'm getting the Fire, even though the Nook looks like a nice device (I used to own a rooted Nook Color, and was fond of it).

Why?

-Fire has unlimited cloud storage of Amazon content plus limited free storage for non-Amazon content (Does Nook's cloud store non-Nook content, even for a price?)
-Fire's 6GB interior storage accepts both Amazon and non-Amazon content; Nook is partitioned with only 1 GB of its 16GB available for non-BN content
-Fire has Silk (it may not be better, but I'm curious to try it)
-Fire has stereo speakers, Nook has mono (My Kindle e-ink has nicer sound than my NC did)
-Fire has much more content (I'm a Prime customer already) plus Netflix, plus there are reports that it'll allow side-loaded apps
-Fire has Amazon Customer Support and better official return policies on content

I wish the Fire had more RAM, but its RAM amount matches that of the iPad 2, so I think it'll be fine. And it has Gorilla Glass. I'll be comparing screen quality with the Nook tab.

All in all, the Fire is the better initial choice for me--I can always return it if it comes up short against the Nook.

 

[J515OP]

Well you'll definitely have to report back and let us know how the Fire is. I think it is going to be a great little tablet for what it is but will not compare to a Nook Color as a truly adaptable low cost full feature tablet. Not that I'm trying to convinvce you not to get a Fire but in repsonse to some of your other points here is some food for thought...

Well, I'm getting the Fire, even though the Nook looks like a nice device (I used to own a rooted Nook Color, and was fond of it).

Why?

-Fire has unlimited cloud storage of Amazon content plus limited free storage for non-Amazon content (Does Nook's cloud store non-Nook content, even for a price?)

B&N has announced Nook Could Service. The cloud is all the rage many people are offering clould services for free and premium cloud services for a charge. You should be able to sync your Nook with your Amazon account already, plus I also have multiple books and magazines in B&N's reader could which are available on any device I can put the B&N App on. This is at best a push.

-Fire's 6GB interior storage accepts both Amazon and non-Amazon content; Nook is partitioned with only 1 GB of its 16GB available for non-BN content

This can be changed plus with a micro SD card you have up to 32GB at a time of non-BN content and in theory unlimited becasue you can spwap cards. Don't see this as an advantage for the Fire.

-Fire has Silk (it may not be better, but I'm curious to try it)

This is a moblie browser meant to be a very fast mobile browser but you sitll don't get full site features unless you turn silk off. Many privacy issues have already been raised regarding Amazon's control on the backend of this. Give me a full fledge browser of my choice with Flash on the device please.

-Fire has stereo speakers, Nook has mono (My Kindle e-ink has nicer sound than my NC did)

The iPad only has a mono speaker (not that its an excuse to have mono). While stereo is preferable keep in mind both speakers are so close you are getting a point source of sound anyway and not a true stereo effect. If you want good sound with any of these devices you need good headphones.

-Fire has much more content (I'm a Prime customer already) plus Netflix, plus there are reports that it'll allow side-loaded apps

The Nook needs a little help here but once rooted you have All of Amazon's content plus B&N and google content. Even without the help B&N is quickly expanding first party content. Amazon pushes its own content store (as does Apple via iTunes) so there is a market for the first party sources with B&N, don't count them out because conflicts may arise with Amazon and iTunes promoting their own agendas.

-Fire has Amazon Customer Support and better official return policies on content

Amazon has always had amazing customer service and return policies. B&N has done a great service to the Nook though and had policies on par with B&N in this case. They will also be offering in store help to drive this point home.

I wish the Fire had more RAM, but its RAM amount matches that of the iPad 2, so I think it'll be fine.

This is a fualty comparisson. You can in no way compare the iPad specs here. Different OS, different hardware. It runs as good or better on an 800MHz processor and 512MB of RAM as any 1GB 1.2 GHz android device.

And it has Gorilla Glass. I'll be comparing screen quality with the Nook tab.

All in all, the Fire is the better initial choice for me--I can always return it if it comes up short against the Nook.

Same screen differnt assembly process possibly leading to an air gap between the screen and glass. Have to wait for your report and see on this one.

 

[tonyp]

Same screen differnt assembly process possibly leading to an air gap between the screen and glass. Have to wait for your report and see on this one.

It has been reported that the Fire does have an air gap. I'm not quite sure what that means though.

(I read this from a link to another article from one of the posts here today or yesterday. Can't find it now.)

 

[J515OP]

The acutal display screen sits behind the glass touch screen. If the gap is big enough it can bee seen and can contribute to glare and image washout. The effect is like looking though a dual pane window where the gap between the panes seperates you from what is on the other side of the window.

This link has details Vartech Systems Inc. Whitepapers Optical Bonding Technical Description and here is a picture from a little down the page.

 

[tonyp]

The acutal display screen sits behind the glass touch screen. If the gap is big enough it can bee seen and can contribute to glare and image washout. The effect is like looking though a dual pane window where the gap between the panes seperates you from what is on the other side of the window.

Ah. That would suggest the Nook Tablet may view better under a wider range of conditions. OTOH it doesn't have Gorilla Glass, so it may be more fragile.

Why can't somebody make a 7" with all the best features in one device?