Kindle vs Nook
From WikiVS, the open comparison website
| Kindle | Nook | |
|---|---|---|
| VS
| 
|
| http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Wireless-Reading-Display-Generation/dp/B0015T963C | http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/ |
Kindle and Nook are portable devices meant for reading ebooks. These devices can also read PDF files and playback audio files. The Kindle Nook are the first ebook readers that are being sold directly by book merchants, coupling the devices to the merchants.
Contents |
[edit] Provider
Kindle is by Amazon and Nook is by Barnes and Noble. Not only do the providers sell the actual device, they provide the eBooks that the devices are meant to read.
[edit] Pricing
The devices are selling at the same price of $259 as of December, 2009. Books on Amazon are cheaper than Barnes and Noble. Amazon provided free featured eBooks, which Barnes and Noble has begun to offer as well. Bestsellers are sold for $9.99 by both providers.
[edit] Features
The basic functionality of the Kindle and Nook are the same. However, there are certain features that improve non-ebook-reader functionality, and some features are just improvements to book accessibility.
[edit] Downloading
Both the Kindle and the Nook allow downloading ebooks directly from the internet.
[edit] Sharing
The Nook gives users the ability to share ebooks with other Nook users. An e-book may be "loaned" to any device with the Barnes & Noble e-book Reader installed (available for Windows, OS X, iPhone, iPod, etc.) by emailing a "loan offer". The recipient will be able to access the e-book for 14 days, and the original owner will be unable to access it for that same period.
[edit] Text-to-Speech
The Kindle can read books aloud in audio through a feature called "Read To Me". However, users have commented that its quality is poor, lamenting that Kindle's text-to-speech "is at best a gimmick rather than a feature." The Nook does not provide any text-to-speech capabilities.
[edit] Internet browsing
The Kindle has free internet browsing and provides custom Wikipedia access for easy reading. The internet browser does a poor job at rendering pages, but the Wikipedia content remains usable. The Nook does not have basic internet/Wikipedia access.
[edit] Book browsing
Nooks can read any book for an hour when inside a Barnes and Noble store. This is done via a WIFI connection inside the store. While Amazon does not have a physical store, it does offer reasonably sized samples of books which can be downloaded for free, anywhere.
[edit] Screensavers
Both Kindle and Nook have screensavers, but only Nook's can be customized by users.
[edit] PDF
Both Kindle and Nook can read PDFs.
[edit] Hardware
The Nook is slightly smaller in size than Kindle, mostly due to the keyboard that Kindle has. Where Kindle has a physical keyboard, Nook has an additional 3.5" color LCD that provides a touch interface similar to that of an iPhone. The color LCD allows browsing book covers and screen navigation.
[edit] Screen
The original Kindle supports only 4-level grayscale. Kindle 2 and Nook use the exact same eInk 6" screen, supporting 16-level grayscale. Kindle DX also support 16-level grayscale, but uses a 9.7" screen.
[edit] Memory slot
Nook has a microSD memory card slot. The original Kindle used to have a memory expansion slot, but the newer Kindle 2 does not.
[edit] Battery
Nook has a replaceable battery, but Kindle does not. However, Kindle's battery life is longer, even with wireless on.
del.icio.us
digg
Furl
reddit
Slashdot