I have questions. Who owns one?

Ron

What's your question, and which model of which are you considering? (It really is a decision about which store you're picking rather than device. I chose Amazon back with the original Kindle.)

Do you mean Kindle Fire or Nook Color/Tablet...? These are with colour LCD. They also have e-ink based models.

I imagine someone who's not into rooting and tinkering with the device will base his decision more on the content available from Amazon and B&N.

Cheers.

nook tablet

My husband purchased his Kindle last year and he loves it. I don't know much about it except it's the 3G Kindle.

I downloaded the free Kindle app on my iPhone and his iPhone. That way I can read his books (or order a book for myself) on my iPhone using our Kindle account. He also can read his Kindle books on his iPhone if he has unexpected downtime somewhere.

"Uunderboi", my son with the learning disability, has decided that he can read books better off the computer than he can off the page. That said I know next to nothing about them. He is 10 years old and generally not that hard on his equipment. It took him 3 years to crack the LCD on the custom x31 I built for him. Currently he is dragging a x30 with Macbuntu around everywhere he goes. I guess an icon based OS would suit him best? Looking for opinions, its a Christmas gift.

Thanks
Ron

Maybe you could first make a decision between e-ink and LCD...?

E-ink is probably better for reading and on the eyes, but it's not backlited if that matters to your son.

And you know what LCD can be used for besides reading - Video, browsing webpages... Can be good (more functions) or bad (more distractions). They also draw more power (shorter battery life) and is less easy on the eyes.

E-ink devices, AFAIK, are generally cheaper than LCD devices, and lighter in weight.

BTW, are you sure it would help...? Maybe you can borrow one from your friends or let him try it out at stores beforehand...?

Cheers.

Edit: Ars just published an article about NT and KF, be sure to check out the comments as well if you have time and want to find out more...

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/reviews/ ... ou-buy.ars

Just got a kindle fire, am moving up from the kindle three. Here are my first impressions

reading books: there is a difference between the e-ink and LCD. I have to set the bright as low as it will go no the fire to read comfortably for several hours at a time, also set the display for sepia rather that straight black and white. this would have been a deal breaker if I couldn't comfortably read on it.
I think the e-ink is still slightly better, but you can read in lower light and get color.

Tablet wise: Here I mainly looked at Android vs Apple. I'm not an apple guy so I want an android based system for nor freedom.
But remember, that the fire is not a true android either. It is a customized version of android 2.3 I believe. web browsing is mainly built around the Amazon Eco-system. There is a setting that allows to use third party apps from wherever you can find them, not just the amazon app store, in fact the only app I have installed from amazon is a file manager that allows me to access the side-loaded apps.

Size wise: I like the 7.1 inch size because I carry it wherever I go and it can fit in my coat pocket or even the back pocket of my jeans. For reading the size is about the size of a paper back. for web browsing I turn it sideways for landscape, but for serious web browsing it is not optimal for my eyes.

E-mail: out of the box it will connect to web based e-mail (gmail, hotmail, etc.). I side-loaded a program to connect to exchange ( does basic functions, send, receive, forward).

Games: again the size is a drawback.

other thoughts: WiFi only, I am looking usb tethering to my blackberry like I do my X61, but it involves rooting an some modding. No Bluetooth, again there is talk in the development community about this but nothing concrete, needless to say it will involve some technical mods. battery life is not going to be great, figure 6 hours or less depending on what you have enabled.

I can't compare it to a nook because I never played with one but these are my experiences so far. If you have further questions post them here or PM me I will update this further as I plan to explore the other possibilities.

S. McBride

I've got a Nook Color, flashed with CyanogenMod. It's a great tablet for the money. I currently use it as a dumb front-end for my living room stereo, but it may go back to tablet duty soon.

The e-reader is dead in the enterprise
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tablet ... ag=nl.e550

Meh.

Another IT consultant declares ______ dead in the _______ market. News at 11.

I think you are over thinking this guys...........
10 year old, that needs "encouragement" to read. He does not need $500, $750, or $1000 laptop (tablet).


Ron

My teenage nephew, who is an avid reader, uses a Sony eBook. They are available at fairly low prices in the UK (including 20% VAT) so they'd probably be much cheaper on your side of the pond.

I have had 2 Nooks and I love them both. I had the original Nook and the Simple Touch (or whatever they are calling it nowadays). I like that the Nook has more features that matter. SD card slot, better format support. The tie in with their physical stores is great as well (Free WiFi, reading whole books fore free for an hour a day, Nook support in-store).

I honestly don't think is much of a competition. Between the Nook and Kindle, the Nook just knocks it out of the park.

just a quick comment...............

Last night I was playing with a Nook Color and a Nook Tablet. Sweet machines......

The Color has less ram and might be a tad smaller but ran great at the bookstore surfing the net and is cheaper..........

Ron

Thank you to everyone who has offered and opinion. I think we are leaning toward the $139.00 Kindle 3g. Add the Square Trade warranty and i believe we will be set.

Ron

Get the model with special offers. It's cheaper, the ads aren't intrusive, and there have been some great deals!

The difference between nook and Kindle is that with Kindle, you lock yourself to one single bookshop - Amazon. With the nook, you can buy from many bookshops. I prefer competition to monopoly.

If you go with the Kindle 3G (that's what my husband has and loves) you can also use the Kindle App for any of your family's computers: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/r ... 1000426311

You just sign in with whatever account you set up for your son, and you can read any purchased books on any of your family computers. That might also encourage your son to continue his reading if you read along with him on your computer.

Also, if you have a smart phone, there is a Kindle app which allows you to read any of your son's purchases on your smart phone. I use my husband's Kindle account to read and/or purchase books for my iPhone. We don't read on our computers, but it's nice to have that choice.

Had not thought about that.........multiple copies (sort of) on multiple platforms might come in handy.

Ron

A colour device is more attractive to kids, in general, I suppose.

Refurbished Nook Color went as low as $120 on last Cyber Monday, and you can probably get one for not much more than that these days. Give it a silicone sleeve and it should be fine. I'm not sure if you can install the Android Kindle app on the stock ROM but you can always root it.

Cheers.

I have a Nook Color which I love dearly, it is a great tablet.

But the more I think about it, the more I want a dedicated, distraction free e-reader. If I can sideload content on Kindle I might just get one. This way I have devices from both of them and I've always wanted an e-ink device. I do not like the aesthetics of the Nook Simple Touch. However the Nook's are far more format friendly than the Kindle's from what I have heard.

If you don't like the looks of the nook, the Sony Reader Wi-Fi might be an alternative (model PRS-T1WC). It supports the DRM-protected EPUB format, DRM-protected .pdf, unsecured EPUB, unsecured .pdf and .txt. I suppose that the nook simple touch also supports these formats, except possibly unsecured .txt.

We went with the Kindle WiFi/3G. Being able to use multiple platforms seems, interesting.

Ron

I've looked into these tablets and researched everything about them extensively. If you want to get the most function for your money, The best options are the Nook Color, Having an 800Mhz ARM (sometimes overclock-able to decent performances without loss in stability), 512MB of ram and 8GB of internal flash memory. Which can run a fully fledged android OS. It has a MicroSD card slot for expansion up to 32GB. Making it a full-featured tablet, apart from camera and GPS functions.

Then the Kindle Fire at second place, Having 2X the CPU cores (i'll go ahead and estimate 2.2x better processing power) but the same RAM and internal storage, and lacking any sort of removable storage media. This one can also be hacked to run a fully fledged android OS, making it also usedful as a regular tablet.

I wouldn't quite get the Nook "Tablet" yet, Because of it's bootloader being locked, rather ristricting you to B&N's android mod, that's crippled. Although I'm not sure yet.

Otherwise, if you want an e-reader only, or a 3G capable tablet, I don't have information. But It looks like you decided already anyways. xb Perhaps this'll be useful to someone else.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nook_Color
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindle_Fire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nook_tablet

We went the kindle route, and now that some of the newness has worn off, he is still using it....guess we have a success!

Ron