Which is better, the Nook or the Kindle?
I spent much time researching the available e-readers because I knew that once I committed to one that I would be spending a lot of money over time to build a substantial library. Therefore I wanted to be certain that I was investing in the right platform so I wouldn't have to repurchase books for a new reader if I became unhappy with my current one. I am submitting this review because I want to help those who were in my position not too long ago.
I have owned both the Kindle 1 and Nook, and borrowed a Kindle 2 prior to purchasing my Nook. I started off with the Kindle 1 when it was new, then became a little disenchanted when the Kindle 2 came out. It was then that the Nook had been out for about 6 months, and I decided to purchase it for reasons I will list later in this review.
I have been a long-time Amazon customer, an affiliate, and even a publisher of my own work through CreateSpace. I also admire the CEO's ambition of converting every book ever printed into electronic format. Amazon is a great company with great vision, so it is disappointing (and a little ironic) for me to conclude that at this time, the Nook is far superior to the Kindle in almost every way except one (which I will also explain). I would have much preferred to stick with the Kindle since I had started building a library through Amazon, but my honest assessment is that the Nook is a better reader.
A lot of reviews have already addressed the advantages and disadvantages of both readers, so I will try to only contribute new information here, or reiterate what I think is most important in anyone's consideration when comparing the two.
I defected from the Kindle for several reasons:
1. I did not like the awkward user interface and hardware. Though the Kindle 2 was an improvement in several ways, it still didn't feel as comfortable as the Nook. On both the 1 and 2 I had to be careful not to accidentally press the page turn buttons. On the Nook, because of the "hard set" buttons, I have never had this problem. It is much easier and comfortable to hold the Nook. On a less important note, the Nook's minimalist design simply looks better.
2. I was growing tired of being tied to the Amazon proprietary platform. I believe the Nook, especially over time, will provide more opportunities for book buying and developing open platform applications.
3. The Nook has a changeable battery and SD slot for additional memory. The Kindle 2 dropped both features. These two factors alone were enough to drive me away from the Kindle 2. Who wants to ship off their reader to have a battery changed? This is a hassle and also considerably more expensive. As for the memory slot, I prefer to be able to organize my content without having to go online. Unit Director for the Kindle, Charlie Tritschler, was quoted in COMPUTERWORLD as stating: "That's room for 1,500 books," Tritschler said, noting that any book a Kindle user buys is backed up on Amazon's servers -- and is available to the reader at any time. "There's no need for additional storage."
What? No need for additional storage? That is an opinion and not a fact. I found this comment to be quite condescending and narrow-minded. Mr. Tritschler made the common mistake of considering only his viewpoint and totally ignored the desire of many consumers, including myself. For example, [...] (which is owned by Amazon) sells audio books online. Should a person have a penchant for buying audio books, that built-in 2GB is going to fill up quickly. As someone who travels frequently, I don't always have the time or resources to go back online and redesign my library. Also, as many travelers know, you do not always know what you will be in the mood for, so it would be nice if you could simply take your memory cards with you. And yes, Mr. Tritschler, even without audio books, there will be those of us who will actually own more than 1500 books eventually.
When I purchased the Nook, it had been out for about 6 months already, so I started with firmware version 1.3 and did not have to suffer all of the issues the early purchasers experienced. One thing I do not understand is that you can walk into a physical B&N store and purchase the Nook for [...], so why is it being sold on Amazon by a third party for [...]? Caveat Emptor.
My experience with the Nook has been far superior to that of the Kindle. I have not had any of the problems expressed by others in their reviews, mainly due to the updated firmware, no doubt. The Nook is comfortable to hold, easy to navigate, turns pages quickly and easily, has a clear display, and the battery life has not been an issue (about 5-7 days without recharging but also without going online, which I only do with my computer).
I agree with the reviewer who complained there was no way to really organize the content, but that will probably be addressed in time. I think it is important to keep in mind that Nook has only been out for a few months, so patience will be a virtue. However, one feature on the Nook that I did not notice on the Kindle was the ability to "archive" books. So if you have a few dozen or hundreds of books, you could actually archive all of them except the one or more you are reading so that your library screen is not cluttered with books. This alone is a big advantage over the Kindle.
The one advantage that the Kindle has at this time (and this will likely change over time) is its selection of books, especially through Mobile Reference (which I believe is owned by Amazon in addition to [...]. All ebook manufacturers are throwing around some big numbers when it comes to book availability. What exactly does it mean to have over a million books available? I find these numbers misleading because most of these books are not, in my opinion, feasible to download. For example, when I tried to download a free "classic" from Google books, it had a very poor presentation, as the books was simply scanned with defects and all (including the book owner's scribbled margin notes!) The links of course were not functional (and probably were not meant to be), and several pages were corrupted so that there were many strange and illegible characters in the text. You get what you pay for. Personally, I would rather spend 99 cents or two dollars for a version of a classic that has been formatted for the Nook, or epub format, that has working links and clean text, especially considering that theoretically, thanks to the digital age, I will only have to purchase these books once in my lifetime.
What I miss on the Nook are the complete collections of classic authors (and again, this may change over time). For example, I would love to have the complete works of Jack London, Henry James, etc which are easily purchased on Amazon but not on the Nook (yet). This was the only issue causing me concern about switching to the Nook. I strongly believe that if the Kindle was just like the Nook in design and firmware, Amazon would be unbeatable. The Nook's aesthetic and practical structure combined with Amazon's vision and content would make it a no-brainer for me personally. Unfortunately, I believe Amazon underestimated the important of memory cards and changeable batteries, in addition to having probably the worst physical design on the market. And its closed format does not help either.
Overall, I would have to recommend the Nook far and above the Kindle. Up until now I have been a die-hard Amazon acolyte, but the Nook was good enough to convert me.
6/25/2010 UPDATE
It has been about 4 weeks since I initially posted this review. I hope that it has been helpful to those trying to make a decision. Since the initial posting, firmware version 1.4 was released, which added another font size, faster page turns, and the conspicuously absent GO TO PAGE option. Also, I have noticed that more and more books are being converted to the nook, especially from Mobile Reference where I have historically purchased my classic collections. My one prior concern about the nook over the Kindle has now been removed. I have been able to purchase the complete works of such authors as Jack London, James Joyce, O. Henry, Sinclair Lewis, and E.R. Burroughs. Still waiting on Dickens and a few others, but I am sure it is just a matter of time as I see the trend of an increasing selection for the nook.
With the recent firmware update and the dramatic price drop (probably in anticipation of the nook 2 supposedly to be released this year), the nook is even more preferable now than before. I understand that reviews are by nature subjective, but I am perplexed by the recent negative reviews. I can certainly understand the complaints of the owners who purchased the nook with the initial bugs and issues before the firmware updates, but the nook is certainly not worthless or junk at this point. I have been through many e-readers over the past twenty years and the nook is the best I have seen. Some of the reviews are critical of the nook's operating system, for example, claiming it to be clunky or inefficient, yet offering no alternatives or detailing how it could be improved.
In further response to these "negative" reviews, I would also like to point out that at this time, based on my admittedly limited technical understanding, that e-ink technology cannot be integrated with back-lighting, which is why it is not offered on e-readers with e-ink technology. I believe it has to do with the opacity of the screen itself, which does not allow light to penetrate. I wouldn't be surprised to see this change in the future, but I don't think it should be considered a valid criticism at this time due to the limits of currently available technology.
I hope the nook hardware remains unchanged with the newer version to be released. I would prefer that the reading window not be a touch screen since I prefer not to see my fingerprints while I read, or have to constantly wipe off the screen. Touch screens tend to interfere with the clarity of the reading screen, and may not be helpful to the e-ink technology as well. I am referring specifically to the larger screen here which is where most of the viewing is done.
Also, after having used the nook daily now for several more weeks, I have not had any mechanical or software problems. I have also had no issues with the B&N website. And due to some billing questions I had, I have even called the toll-free customer service line twice and each time the phone was answered quickly and my issues were resolved courteously.
One of the great advantages not frequently commented upon to date is the ability to go into a B&N store and read e-books for free. This was not initially a selling point for me since I never stopped to fully appreciate the advantages of this benefit. But since my initial post, I have had several opportunities to go to a B&N store, use a nook coupon to obtain a discounted beverage, and browse the e-books through their wi-fi network. This one benefit has saved me money already since I was able to preview books that looked good online, but upon closer inspection turned out to be not so great. This perk allows you access to the entire book, not just selections. You are allowed to read a book for up to one hour per day before the nook "times out." But that limitation is per book per day, not simply one hour per day in total. Thanks to this feature I have read a few books that were mildly interesting, but ones that I am glad I didn't spend money on since I knew I would never read them again or use them as a reference, unlike many of the classics which of course have a high re-use value.
My experiences so far with the store staff have been positive. Though not officially advertised, the staff will not only answer questions about the nook, but help you with installing the memory card or changing out the battery without charging for the service itself. I don't think that kind of personalized, informal service exists for the Kindle.
It looks like the nook is continually improving. It is my wish to see more people appreciate and use the nook so that more support will be given to producing compatible e-books for its growing library.
7/30/2010 Update
Although I realize this post is running long, I felt compelled to update it due to the most recent reviews posted here, some of which I find grossly misleading. My understanding is that the purpose of reviews is to help others determine if the product in question is worth purchasing. Reviews, both critical and positive, that provide erroneous or incomplete information only add to the confusion of a potential buyer, especially when there are widely conflicting conclusions. It appears that some reviewers cannot differentiate between facts and opinions. And when it comes to technical issues, it is sometimes difficult to tell if the actual problem is with the product or the tech-challenged user.
There was a helpful post on 7/12/10 that encouraged owners to read the manual and charge the battery. This may explain some of the technical issues of some nook owners.
One reviewer described the nook as having "no frills." There was no elaboration, so it is difficult to know what her definition of "frill" was. However, I would consider a frill for an e-reader to be anything in addition to the very basics of reading a book, such as a screen and page turning. The nook has an open Android platform subject to future app development, a web browser, two games (Sudoku and Chess), a lending feature, downloadable coupons for the books and the coffee shop, the ability to download books from certain libraries, daily information blogs from B&N, customizable screensavers and wallpaper, MP3 capability for audio books and music, improved sorting and archiving options, a dictionary, highlighting options, and the ability to read entire e-books while in the B&N store. These certainly seem like quite a few "frills" to me. I point this out to those who are still trying to decide on an e-reader because I find such posts cavalier in their brevity and factually misleading.
There was another post that claimed only 135 B&N e-books are lendable, and that customers are getting "ripped off" because you cannot tell if a book is lendable until after its purchase. I have about 450 books on my nook now, and most of them are lendable, so I am not sure where this number was obtained since the poster did not cite a source or did not claim to have actually examined all one million books available. Also, if you go to the B&N website and look at the e-books, you can tell if it is lendable before purchasing because there will be a large button right under the book graphic that is labeled "LEND ME."
There are some shortcomings that were accurately reported in some of the posts, however. The PDF features are limited to the point of being useless. Amazon has addressed this issue with their latest Kindle by adding zoom features, highlighting, etc. Hopefully B&N will do the same. Also, the web browser is still "experimental" and does not usually function well (at least in my experience). Again, this is a relatively new device so things should improve as long as the demand for the nook remains strong.
There was another post that claimed most of the e-readers available are all practically the same and had no major differences. First, this reviewer apparently never owned other readers and therefore did not become intimately aware of each one's shortcomings or virtues. Second, there are SIGNIFICANT differences between the nook and Kindle, many of which have already been discussed in this post. For example, just the choice of supported formats alone shows the rift between the nook and Kindle. The Kindle's platform is restricted and proprietary, while the nook's Android platform is open to allow for third party applications and development, and the epub format allows for far more buying, lending and borrowing (from libraries) options. The nook's epub format and operating system should not be considered minor differences from the Kindle's format.
In summary, I wanted to clarify some of the errors and misconceptions that were being posted so that those still researching their options did not become more confused or misled. Regardless of which e-reader you choose, it is always nice to be able to separate fact from opinion, and truth from falsehood.
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