Just what IS a Kindle or Nook?

[Disneyliscious]

I'm getting old I guess, and Im definitely my technologically savvy. My youngest son loves to read books. I *believe* either the Kindle or Nook is a touchpad type thing that has tons of books stored in it? I would love to get him one for Christmas. Does it require high speed internet? We live in a remote area where there is only dial up internet. Can more books be added to it?

Im not looking for another "computer". Just something portable for him to read stuff on. Any explanation would be appreciated.

 

[DisGirl819]

I have a Nook. I have the basic Nook which is wireless, connects to your wifi in your house to download books (or wifi anywhere). I can get books from the library as an epub file and read those too, which saves me a bundle. There is a Nook that is a touchscreen and in color, NookColor, but it is more expensive. I think the basic Nook or basic Kindle (which I saw was $79 now) are the best bets for a child as they are the roughest on electronics anyway. You'd also want to make sure to get a hard cover for it to protect it from anything.

Basically, (I'll answer pertaining to the Nook that I own) it is an electronic reader with special eInk and not a computer screen so that it doesn't get glare in the sun and is as easy to read as a book. If you read in the dark you do need a light as its not backlit like a computer. I think my Nook can store about 1500 books on it, I'm nowhere near filling it up and I love to read. Getting books from the library is pretty easy and you don't need wireless for that because you connect the Nook to the computer to download the books. You can also go in to any Barnes and Noble and use their wireless to download/buy books if you don't want to have that kind of internet at home. They also let you sit in the store for an hour and read any book for free, so that is a good deal too. I think they're great for people who love to read and if your son is responsible enough to handle an electronic device he should be fine with it, even if you don't have wifi at home, there are so many places to access it that he could get the books loaded onto it pretty easily. You may want to prepay gift cards for him to buy books with though unless he's also good with handling money, since you have to have a debit/credit ccard linked to your account for purchasing books.

If you go with the basic version of either the Kindle or Nook it will be just a device to read books on. The more advanced and touch screen versions have all kinds of additional things taht you are probably not looking for.

 

[Disneyliscious]

Thanks so much for that explanation. It was exactly what I was looking for.

 

[ksloane]

Since DisGirl did a "nook" explanation, I thought I'd throw in a Kindle one.

As with the plain nook, the plain kindles also use e-ink which means there is no glare outside (I LOVE THIS!). But there is also no lighting so you still need a booklight in the dark.

I think my Kindle will hold 3,000ish books they say.

There are 2 models of Kindles, 3G and Wifi. The Wifi ones require you to be somewhere there is a wifi connection. The 3G works off of cellular towers so if you can get Internet on a cellphone, you can download books off of the 3G. I also live in the woods and we have crappy Internet so I didn't want to have to rely on my Internet connection to download books so I opted for the 3G. I was even able to download a new release when I vacationed in Panama this summer with it. The 3G model's cost a little more, but there is no monthly charge for the 3G coverage. I'm buying my 11 year old daughter oen of the new Kindles that were just released this week (the Kindle Touch) for Christmas, and I'm opting to go with the 3G model for her as well. I just think in the long run it is worth those extra dollars.

The Kindles also have 2 options now where one has advertising and one does not. The ones with ads are cheaper than the ones without. Mine does not have ads, but it wasn't an option when I bought mine. If I was buying now, I'd buy with ads (my daughter's will be) . The ads do not appear on the screen when you are reading the book, but are on the screensavers. So they do not interfere with your reading at all! And some of the ads are really good deals (from what I've read) like a $100 amazon gift card for $50! I would have LOVED to have had that offer!

As a general rule, both the nook and Kindle require you to buy the books from their retailer (i.e. Barnes and Noble for Nook, Amazon for Kindle) but both have library checkout options if you have a library near you that participates. Mine doesn't so I do not have much experience with that. The digital forms of the books tend to be somewhat cheaper than the "real" books which I like.

Both of the devices offer LOTS of free books. I actually have bought very few books for my Kindle and I have a ton.

I'm not sure about the nook, but the kindle has a browser that you can surf the Internet with. It is limited and not so pretty, but it works (at least the 3G version has one, I'm not sure about the wifi). I took the battery out of my phone last summer when in Panama to be sure that I did not have any overseas charges, but used my Kindle to check email, facebook, and twitter daily. So it is functional.

You can probably tell that I LOVE my Kindle. I was actually very excited when my daughter asked for one for Christmas (so it's already preordered).

If you have any other questions, there are TONS of Kindle and Nook users here on the boards.

 

[puffkin]

The Kindle just started library lending last week. The Nook has had it for awhile. The nice thing about the Kindle is that you can just download the library book over a wifi connection. With the Nook, you have to hook it up to a computer and sideload it through a cable.

Don't let people confuse you with the Nook Color and new Kindle Fire. Those are more than just eReaders. You may or may not want those functions depending on what you are looking for.

 

[justbishop]

The Kindle just started library lending last week. The Nook has had it for awhile. The nice thing about the Kindle is that you can just download the library book over a wifi connection. With the Nook, you have to hook it up to a computer and sideload it through a cable.

Just found out that my 2nd gen, 3g (Whispernet) only Kindle has to be hooked up to a computer via USB in order to download library books from Overdrive. Wireless library book loading for Kindle only works on models with true wifi.

And re: Nook Color and Kindle Fire...if you are wanting a good device for really READING BOOKS, I would not buy these (or any reader boasting color capable screens). All color capable screens at this point are backlit, like that of a computer monitor or iPad, and will be stressful to the eye for long periods of reading. I have an iPad, and would never want to try to read a novel on it. Now, if you're looking for an iPad like device that would also be useful for light reading, then the Nook Color and Kindle Fire might be options for you.

 

[Promomx2]

What stores carry the kindle and the nook where I can actually hold one and play with it to see which one suits me the best?

 

[cats mom]

The Kindles also have 2 options now where one has advertising and one does not. The ones with ads are cheaper than the ones without. Mine does not have ads, but it wasn't an option when I bought mine. If I was buying now, I'd buy with ads (my daughter's will be) . The ads do not appear on the screen when you are reading the book, but are on the screensavers. So they do not interfere with your reading at all! And some of the ads are really good deals (from what I've read) like a $100 amazon gift card for $50! I would have LOVED to have had that offer!

Just a quick correction on the offers... I've never seen get a $100 gift card for $50 and I bought my special offers kindle just a couple of weeks after they were first released. Get a $20 gift card for $10 has come up a couple of times though, and one of todays offers is get $5 off a $10 purchase on Amazon, so similar but not quite as good.

Amazon seems to be tweaking the program a bit and the most recent offers have not been nearly as good as some of the early offers though, at least IMO. I'm still pleased with my special offers kindle, but it's something to be aware of, especially if the quality of the offers is a major consideration in the decision of which kindle to buy.

 

[ksloane]

What stores carry the kindle and the nook where I can actually hold one and play with it to see which one suits me the best?

I know I've seen the nooks in stores but couldn't tell you for sure which ones. Target and Staples both have Kindles.

 

[ksloane]

Just a quick correction on the offers... I've never seen get a $100 gift card for $50 and I bought my special offers kindle just a couple of weeks after they were first released. Get a $20 gift card for $10 has come up a couple of times though, and one of todays offers is get $5 off a $10 purchase on Amazon, so similar but not quite as good.

Amazon seems to be tweaking the program a bit and the most recent offers have not been nearly as good as some of the early offers though, at least IMO. I'm still pleased with my special offers kindle, but it's something to be aware of, especially if the quality of the offers is a major consideration in the decision of which kindle to buy.

That's good to know. I guess for me I don't mind what the offers are even if we never take advantage of any of them ... if they don't show up during reading, I'd take the cheaper model.

 

[AnjieNet]

What stores carry the kindle and the nook where I can actually hold one and play with it to see which one suits me the best?

The Nook is a Barnes & Noble product. I've only seen them there. Kindles you can find at Walmart and Target. Probably Best Buy too but I don't go in there often enough to know.

 

[cats mom]

What stores carry the kindle and the nook where I can actually hold one and play with it to see which one suits me the best?

Both Best Buy and Staples carry nook and kindle, so you should be able to compare them side by side, or at least an aisle or so over.
Other stores carry one or the other, but I don't know of any other B&M stores that carry both. Anyone know?

The new kindle touch that was just announced won't be in stores until November though. So if you're interested in that version, you'll have to wait awhile to check it out in person.

That's good to know. I guess for me I don't mind what the offers are even if we never take advantage of any of them ... if they don't show up during reading, I'd take the cheaper model.

You're correct that you will never see ads when you're reading. I don't find the ads obtrusive at all, and they couldn't be much worse than some of the creepy dead author screensavers.

 

[RitaE]

Best Buy (or other retailers) will not have the newest models of Kindles that were announced this week. The base model ($79) is available for immediate delivery via amazon.com. The touch models are taking pre-orders with shipping in mid-November. You can see the newest models as well as plenty of comparison charts on Amazon.com

Every Kindle bought via Amazon comes with a 30 day no questions asked return policy. Traditionally Amazon expands this during holiday shopping time to any model bought in late Oct/November/December is returnable until Jan. 31st. I expect them to do that again this year.

The previous generation Kindle (Kindle Keyboard) is available at Best Buy etc.
It is the best place to device compare since they also carry Sony and nook etc. Don't expect much help from Best Buy employees as they are not really trained on these devices.

Yes, to download without a USB connection you must have a most recent Kindle, Kindle Touch, or Kindle Keyboard. The older Kindles (1st and 2nd Generations) only have 3G connections and you must use a USB cable to put library books on them. It sounds much more complicated than it actually is, it is very easy to do.