Which is better: nook or Kindle? A question most reader enthusiasts ask when its time to buy an e-reader. The nook is an e-reader made by Barnes and Nobles. There are two options you have when buying a nook; the nook with Wi-Fi or the nook plus 3G and Wi-Fi. Of course the nook with 3G on average is about $50 more. This e-reader comes with the industry standard known as e-ink, which allows you to read the nook in the bright sun and blocking the glare and runs on the Android operating system. The internal memory holds 2GB.
As far as choosing which is better between the nook and Amazon’s Kindle, here are a couple of comparisons: the Kindle is thinner and has a larger reading screen but not by much, and the nook is thicker but more compact and may weigh an ounce more. The nook also has a MicroSD card slot in order to allow for greater memory capacity up to 16GB. The nook (like the Kindle) has a removable and replaceable battery. Interestingly enough one of the better advantages that the nook has over the Kindle is its touch screen. You can also browse book covers in color instead of the boring black and white screen available on the Kindle. The Android operating system also supports applications to be downloaded onto the nook which allows it to be used for more than one thing. Some cons about the nook include a shorter battery life than that of the Kindle. The Kindle does support international wireless which is a plus if using it out of the country, something the nook cannot do. Another capability of the Kindle is its text-to-speech feature, which again, the nook does not have.
An additional luxury of the nook is its capability to download and play MP3’s. You can also personalize your nook by downloading custom screensavers to it. Although you can download MP3’s and screensavers to it, you cannot do this wirelessly; you will have to connect the USB cable that comes with it to a computer to download them onto the device. It also includes a built in dictionary which is a major plus while you are reading if you were ever to get tripped up on a word. There are more options on the nook as far as font selection. You are able to change fonts, and font sizes as well as styles. Another plus about the nook is you can browse and buy books from the Barnes and Noble website. The nook is also equipped with the program ePub. ePub allows PDF’s to be readable on your device without any hiccups. Nook owners can even venture into a Barnes and Noble store to read popular titles free for an hour. The good thing about Barnes and Noble is they allow you to “lend” e-books to friends so they don’t have to pay for it, of course there is one stipulation on this; you can lend that one specific title once to one friend per fourteen days . Google books will also allow you read books from their website, and you can even download e-books from your local library and it would be as if you checked that title out from the library for no cost at all. Overall I believe the nook may have a slight advantage over the Kindle because of the firmware upgrades, and the extra goodies it packs.
