Amazon Kindle Fire vs. B&N Nook Tablet vs. Nook Color

[The_Swedish_Chef]

Just in time for holiday gift-giving, Barnes & Noble goes toe-to-toe with amazon's Fire tablet! And who wins? The consumer, of course!

Barnes & Noble today unveiled the Nook Tablet, a beefed-up follow-up to the popular Nook Color ebook reader/tablet. The Nook Color also remains in the company's arsenal, but with a lower price. The Nook Color is available now, while the Nook Tablet is available for pre-order and ships by November 18.

Amazon, meanwhile, last month took the wraps of its first color touch-screen ereader/tablet, the Kindle Fire, which is currently on pre-order and ships by November 15.

The big draw with these tablets is a tight focus on media consumption including video, music, and, most importantly books. The Kindle Fire taps into Amazon's massive book store, newsstand, and MP3 and video stores, while the cloud-accelerated Silk browser promises to deliver speedy Web browsing. The Nook devices offer on-device access to millions of books and magazines in the B&N book store, and the Nook Tablet is pre-loaded with Netflix and Hulu Plus for video.

It's unclear how many apps will be available on each of these tablets, but both Amazon and B&N promise that you'll be able to find your favorites. The Amazon Android App store is already considered a viable alternative to the Android Marketplace on other Android devices.

Another huge selling point: Price. The Kindle Fire and the Nook Color both slide in under the $200 mark ($199 each). The Nook Tablet, at $249, is still relatively inexpensive when you compare its price with current Android tablets from major manufacturers. B&N is hoping to justify the extra 50 bucks with some hardware upgrades, including twice the RAM and double the integrated storage of the Kindle Fire.

All tech sites that do hand's on reviews are gleefully rubbing their empty hands, waiting to finally get to use and abuse/tear apart these two tablets. For the average consumer, who only plans on using a tablet to read, stream video and check email from their cozy home, these 7" tablets hit the Sweet Spot, both in price and user friendliness.

I'll be updating this thread after the tablets launch and I read reviews. Currently, I'm leaing toward the amazon Fire, for the following reasons: I already am a Prime Member so I can tap into their FREE library-loaning feature (a $200 value, per year!) and their FREE streaming videos. With the Nook Tablet, yes, it hooks up to Netflix and Hulu, but both of those services are cost per use. Plus, the Fire has Gorilla Glass protecting it's screen, so if you are a butterfinger's type person, having a bullet proof screen is for YOU!

Both companies have their fans, so it will be interesting to see which tablet pulls ahead in the Christmas Crush, or if it will become a Dead Heat.

[Misa]

My hubby has been reading up over the past few days, so Santa knows what to bring him this year.

We're leaning toward a Fire (I can get my iPad back!).

[racrgal]

After the NookColor software upgrade, I knew that a Nook Tablet wasn't going to be far behind. I love the NookColor for reading but am not a fan of web browsing with it. I make way too many mistakes on the touch screen keypad.

[The_Swedish_Chef]

It's not been since last year, when I was waiting for the Samsung tablet to launch that I've been so excited about a tech launch! (I guess this is MY version of what Apple fans go through!!!)

My four Fire tablets I've bought for Christmas are scheduled to ship on Monday, so I should have them 2 days after shipping. Because they are presents, I can't rip into the packaging and play with them....darn!!! But, I do/did SO want a Fire for myself...that is, until I read about the Nook tablet.

However, after thinking about it for a couple of days, I believe I'll order a Fire for myself, after all, vs. the Nook. Why? Many reasons.

1) All the amazon apps that I've already downloaded onto my Gal-Tab can be automatically transfered to the Fire.

2) I'm already a Prime Member so all those FREE! FREE! FREE! movies and videos that you gain access to with Prime, will play on the Fire. I can NOT play them on my Gal-Tab well; the screen will NOT enlarge and I believe amazon has them positioned so only half of the video will show on my tablet.

3) The Lending Library that amazon is putting into place will give me access to books I would LOVE to read, but refuse to buy or go to the library. Yes, I know...I'm a Spoiled Brat, when it comes to reading paper books any longer. Having been a devoted fan of e-readers since 2007, I just can't bring myself to read a paper book any longer. They just BUG me! So although I could put my name on a list at our lovely libraries, I know I won't. Amazon currently has a set limit for free loans: one book per month. That adds up to a minimum of $120.00 saved in downloads to my Kindle app, if you figure the low-ball cost of $10.00 bucks per download...and many e-books are much more expensive than that!

4) The amazon Fire has Gorilla Glass, which is of mega importance to me! It makes your screen virtually indestructable and completely scratch/damage resistant! I hate those opaque screen savers that you stick on MP3 players and the like, so being able to have nothing between me and my screen...I love it! My Gal-Tab has Gorilla Glass; that's when I fell in love with it!

So, as of this exact moment in time, I'm leaning toward the Fire. However, before I cough up $199 or $249 for another tablet that will ONLY be used in home, I'll wait for the reviews to come in from both tablets and make my decision based on actual customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction.

[The_Swedish_Chef]

I'm updating this thread to include the iPad. The Fire launches tomorrow; the Nook on the 18th. I can not wait to read the reviews, of both!
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Amazon’s tablet captured lot of media attention in the past weeks and it seems to be the only one that can successfully take on the iPad 2, the best tablet of this year. Excellent preorder numbers were reported by Amazon, who raised their order for manufacturing to over 5 millions units, if we are to trust sources. The Barnes and Noble Nook Tablet is a slightly more expensive tablet, at $249, versus the $199 of the Amazon tablet, but it it also offers double the storage, double the RAM and better battery life. That’s why it’s hard to ignore it.

Here’s the only chapter where the iPad 2 is clearly surpassed by its competitors. It costs $300 more than the Kindle Fire and $250 more than the Nook Tablet. Specs are similar at this starting price point, but the iPad 2 can easily go over $800 if you choose the 64GB with 3G version. So if price is your main concern then the battle is fought between Kindle and Nook. The second one is $50 more expensive but offers more RAM and storage. Don’t decide yet, as Amazon’s tablet has better support and access to a larger multimedia library. Read on and decide at the end.

The iPad 2 features a larger 9.7 inch screen, IPS with great viewing angles (just like the other two), but a 4:3 aspect ratio. Resolution is comparable (1024 x 768 vs 1024 x 600) so the 7 inch slates have better pixel density which results in crisp text and graphic elements. The choice is yours, but for media consumption a larger screen is better, despite the fact it affects portability. Also take note that most video content today is widescreen, so the 4:3 ratio of the iPad 2 screen means you’ll see black bars al the top and bottom of the picture.

While the iPad 2 is clearly heavier than the two others, by roughly 50%, it’s the slimmest tablet (which might not matter to most people). It’s the battle between a larger 10″ tablet vs smaller, pocketable 7 inch models. Depending on your preference you have to basically choose between the two form factors, as the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet are almost identical in size.

Apps are the things that make or break a tablet. They’ve killed the Blackberry Playbook this year, so by far this is the most important chapter to look after. The iPad 2 wins in this case, with a huge library of titles that cover anything. The slogan “there’s an app for that” applies here successfully. Second comes the Kindle Fire, with its own Amazon Appstore, independent of the Google Marketplace. It features over 19.000 apps, a number which will grow significantly if interest in the Kindle Fire tablet grows after launch. Last comes the Nook Tablet, which offers a good array of preinstalled apps, and access to Barnes and Noble own marketplace, but don’t expect wonders if apps are the things you look after most on a tablet.

Here’s a slightly different picture than the ones we’ve found when analysing apps: for TV Shows and Movies iTunes is king, but you have to pay for each title. At the same time Amazon offers 10.000 free shows and movies to stream for free if subscribed to the $79/year Prime service, plus other 100.000 or so titles for you to purchase. No such luck with Nook, but it offers access to Hulu Plus and Netflix. Amazon’s tablet comes with Netflix, but no Hulu, while the iPad 2 offers access to Hulu Plus, Netflix and a few other movie streaming services. Update: Hulu Plus and ESPN will be available on the Kindle Fire at launch.

When it comes to books, magazines and comics here Amazon is king, but remember that you can install the Kindle app on the iPad 2, Macs, PCs and Android tablets, so no edge here for the Kindle Fire, except the customized interface focused better around your media library. And if we’re talking about music there’s no denial iTunes offers the most songs, but Amazon is not shy either.

The only loser here is Nook Tablet, which is a match for the others only when it comes to reading books.

[Misa]

The Fires shipped a day early - so maybe some reviews will start hitting tonight.

[The_Swedish_Chef]

Misa and anyone else interested: YES! the reviews are trickling into amazon but be aware!!!! There are already SIXTEEN one star ratings....and they are from Apple trolls and people who are complaining about shipping costs or....are you ready for this?....complaints about the one star reviews, themselves!

If you want a good day's laugh, read the blistering comments written back to the one star reviewer's: I've had to wipe tears out of my eyes, I'm laughing so hard! Honestly, people posting One Star reviews, bashing trolls posting One Star reviews. Just pure silliness, I'll tell you!

The five and four star reviews are the ones I'm concentrating upon. My ship date is today, so I'll know that I'll have my four "gift" Fire's by day's end. I'm bummed to the max that I can't break into a box and try one out; but that's like wearing a clothing gift, meant for a friend. Exceedingly bad taste, Sweedie!!!

So, I'll keep my hand's in my pockets and at month's end, decide if a Fire is for myself. I already have and love-love-love my pricy Samsung tablet, so there's no true reason that I 'need' a Fire, but I do want one! Why? For the streaming amazon video's which do NOT run on my tablet and for the lending library. I refuse to read paper books any longer and I don't like libraries so being able to download and read for FREE the entire Hunger Games trilogy has massive appeal to me!

[Misa]

The free lending books on Prime have peeked my interest in at least considering going to being a Prime member. I need a giggle - I think I'll go read some comments.

[invictus]

Swedish I'm hoping you know the answer to this. Does the lending library available with prime membership allow you only one loan per month? That's the sense I'm getting.

[The_Swedish_Chef]

Swedish I'm hoping you know the answer to this. Does the lending library available with prime membership allow you only one loan per month? That's the sense I'm getting.

invictus: Yes, it's ONE per month. For someone like me, that works perfectly. For a fast reader like Felix, I don't think so.

I just lost a MASSIVE & EPIC review of mine for the Fire! I am too frustrated and angry right now, to bother re-writing it!!!!!

Back in a day or so, when I cool down and have the time.