My almost 12 year old son is interested in...

[NHdisneylover]

Three more random thought:

The PP who thinks Nook is loads better lists one advantage of the Nook is that you can downlaod samples--you can do that on Kindle too I honestly think both are good and it is a personal preference thing. DD and I have Kindles and love them.

I like with Kindle (and it is VERY possibly the case with the Nook too--I have not looked into it) that since DD and I both have our Kindles registered to my email BOTH of us can download and read any book either of us buys for no additional fees. We can even be reading the same book at the same time--which we could not do if we simply owned it in paper form. We have added DHs Blackberry on now to so all three of us can be reading from our "library" of kindle editions.

As far as tracking, since the Kindle is registered to MY email, I get an email notification about every purchase DD makes for her Kindle (including free books). Those come pretty much instantly-so if you do it that way it would make it easy for you to keep tabs on what your DS is reading. I am not sure if you could do that with the Nook or not since those books can come from various sources.

 

[browneyes106]

I purchased Kindles for my parents recently and they love them. My parents have a big interest in classic literature and they have downloaded several books for free. My parents will usally buy 2 books a month so they aren't spending too much money on books. They are some pros to the Nook as other posters have stated such as lending system with libraries.

I think it comes down to various reading and spending habits. I know some people that will only buy certain books if they have mostly good reviews. I'm one of those people. I often do book shopping based on "best of" lists and I am usually satisfied.

OP what kinds of books is your son interested in? I have seen that a lot of kids or young adults book in the Kindle store are often sold at low prices.

I don't have a Kindle but I have the free app for iPod Touch and I have a bought a few books and download about five free bookithe past month. I have only read one book so far. I will probably do a lot of reading when I go on a road trip with my boyfriend in a couple of months.

OP also look at the Sony e-reader as another option and maybe check out the forums on MobileRead.

 

[kristilew]

OP, one other thing to consider - does your DS have an iPod touch already? Or iPhone? The Kindle app for these devices is free. Yes, it's a much smaller screen for reading, but if he has or is planning to get either of these in the near future, you could save some redundancy.

My DD12 has the iTouch and uses the Kindle app all the time. As PPs have said, it is super easy to monitor what she is downloading, since I get an email every time she makes a purchase- even if the "book" is free. And of course. I like that many classics are free, which has encouraged her to read them. Also, as a PP said, we can share downloads, and thus read the same book at the same time & discuss.

Finally, ITA w/DVCLiz - a book budget is a must!

 

[KadysMom]

I have a Nook, and DD8 uses it all the time! My only issue is that I cant read all these books in a timely manner!! I have to work and stuff like that. :0)

I have a friend with a Kindle and she wants to sell her for the nook. I have borrowed tons of books from the library. I currently have 4 books lent to me from other people, and I have 70 books on my nook, and have spent only $1.05 total. Barnes and Noble does do Free Fridays where you get a free book of their choice. I love this because I get to try different authors and genres and if I dont like it, no big deal.

I like getting a free coffee when I go into Barnes and Noble with my nook, and when DD8 is at a friends house I like to go into B&N and read for an hour for free. The next time I go in, I can start where I left off. For me, I prefer the Nook, and would love to answer any questions you might have.

 

[DrCavin]

The iPad is a FANTASTIC way to read magazines, though! I'm using the Zinio app and have replaced two of my paper subscriptions with the digital versions and subscribed to two more. I'm also getting Vanity Fair from its own app monthly - and paying more for it than the paper format just because it's so much more useful to me to have the magazine in a digital format. It's exactly like flipping a page in a magazine - and it is in full color. The magazines are page by page duplicates of the paper versions. Love it!

Have you tried using it outside? I think the sun glare would be an issue...

 

[DVCLiz]

Have you tried using it outside? I think the sun glare would be an issue...

Yes, when you are outside sun glare is an issue. And I can't read magazines in the bathtub, either - but I will gladly trade those two minor inconveniences for the joy of getting an email that says "Your July 2010 issue of O Magazine is ready to download" and having instant access to it - and having it stay permanently (until I delete it) on my iPad instead of being in a stack on the kitchen table cluttering.

I suppose if ALL of the magazines I like to read were in digital format only, I might miss taking one on the beach or the patio, or in the bathtub. But not all of the magazines I like are available on the iPad Zinio app yet, so I don't have to give up outside reading - I just choose one of my paper magaiznes instead of the digital ones. Best of both worlds....

 

[SaraJayne]

Three more random thought:

The PP who thinks Nook is loads better lists one advantage of the Nook is that you can downlaod samples--you can do that on Kindle too I honestly think both are good and it is a personal preference thing. DD and I have Kindles and love them.

I like with Kindle (and it is VERY possibly the case with the Nook too--I have not looked into it) that since DD and I both have our Kindles registered to my email BOTH of us can download and read any book either of us buys for no additional fees. We can even be reading the same book at the same time--which we could not do if we simply owned it in paper form. We have added DHs Blackberry on now to so all three of us can be reading from our "library" of kindle editions.

As far as tracking, since the Kindle is registered to MY email, I get an email notification about every purchase DD makes for her Kindle (including free books). Those come pretty much instantly-so if you do it that way it would make it easy for you to keep tabs on what your DS is reading. I am not sure if you could do that with the Nook or not since those books can come from various sources.

Everything I've downloaded to my nook so far has come in an instant email. But, I've only downloaded books from the B&N site, so I'm not sure if that stays true when you dowload from somewhere else.

 

[cteddiesgirl]

nook is clearly better and listed why, just like you asked. You can't ignore the huge free e-books that you can get via local libraries, the touch screen, the expandable memory etc.

Put it this way, what 3 things can the Kindle to better then the Nook?

Hmmm....Kindle...
Over 620,000 books and the largest selection of the most popular books people want to read, including 109 of 112 New York Times® Best Sellers, plus U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, and blogs.

Over 1.8 million free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books are available to read on Kindle, including titles such as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Pride and Prejudice, and Treasure Island.

Free Book Samples: Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy

Back up books bought through Amazon on Amazon. No need for expandable storage. What is not bought through Amazon can be backed up on your own computer or an external drive.

Nook does not support file types of: txt, doc or html. Kindle does with doc & html requiring conversion.



Personally, I don't care much for touch screens.
The library lending I would love, but it does depend on your local library and if they do ebooks.


For the record, I don't have either. But am trying to decide between the Kindle and Nook. I tend to lean more in the direction of Kindle because of the file types.