# E-Books: Kindle my desire or Nanook of the North



## TheEndIsNigh (Apr 20, 2013)

Hi Folks,

So Mrs Tein is fed up of carting books around on holiday and has 'suggested' we purchase a 'e-reader' to save her from bad backs and arthritic fingers.

The question is:-

A Nook HD (7")

Kindle Fire (7")

(Or even a Lenovo)

Bearing in mind the morass of considerations available titles, ease of reading, availability of apps and reliability.

Our current preference is for a bit of Nooky, but have we any experienced e-readers people.

(I must admit I never thought I would be asking this question)


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## Lenny (Apr 20, 2013)

Is there a reason you're considering a tablet e-reader, rather than a simple e-reader that only lets you read things?

If it _must_ be a tablet, then why not the Nexus 7? For £159, the same price as a Nook HD, you get a 16gb WiFi tablet (the Nook HD is 8gb WiFi) that has a far greater selection of apps (as it is part of the Android ecosystem), including Amazon's Kindle app, and Nook for Android (so you can buy things in either store and view them on the same tablet).

Alternatively, for £69 you can get the standard Kindle (two for less than a Nook HD! You can both read at once), or the Kindle Paperwhite for £109.

If it has to be a tablet, have a look at this: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/...-fire-hd-vs-nook-hd-tablet-comparison-review/

EDIT: Also this: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105...k-vs-ipad-which-e-book-reader-should-you-buy/


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## Brian G Turner (Apr 20, 2013)

The Kindle Fire is great if you want a tablet focused on books - but if you don't care for the tablet part, then the basic Kindle or Kindle Paperwhite are worth a look.

There are some good tablets out there, not least the Samsung Galaxy 7", which are cheaper (and IMO more functional) than the Google Nexus 7, but I would rate the Kindle Fire better on the reading experience.


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## Teresa Edgerton (Apr 20, 2013)

After years of declaring I would never, ever get an e-reader of any sort, I gave in and bought a Kindle Fire (yes, I know, I know, technically it's tablet).  And I love it with a passion.  Not for reading books, although I will do that occasionally, when there is something I really, really can't afford -- or flat out can't find -- on paper.  But because it lets me sample new books before I go on to buy them in hardback or paperback.  And because I use it to watch movies --  much, much cheaper if you buy the amazon video than a DVD.  And, alas, to waste hours playing solitaire.

I have also used it to visit Chronicles or look up things on the web when I suddenly wanted to know something after I went to bed at night and was too lazy to get up.

My husband loves his because he can make the print as big as he needs it to be for his failing old eyes.  I suppose I will be glad of mine, too, when my eyes are older and failing.

All this would, no doubt, apply to other devices as well, but the Kindle Fire is apparently cheaper.


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## Vertigo (Apr 20, 2013)

I don't know the Nook but I gather from the other comments that it is a tablet rather than pure e-reader which is fine if that's what you are after. In fact in this case it maybe be beneficial. Assuming you are not a techie type, if you get a basic Kindle you can only easily buy books from Amazon and if you buy a basic Nook (if they still do one) then you can't easily buy books from Amazon. However I would imagine that on a tablet you could install both a Kindle AZW reader and an ePub reader which then allows you to buy from anywhere.


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## TheEndIsNigh (Apr 20, 2013)

This is all going terribly wrong.

It was supposed to be a simple 

Oh go for the Kindle.

Now I have to research even more - It's just not fair I tell you, not fair.

Our initial thoughts (well mine actually) were that we would buy a basic Kindle/Nook and then after the initial 'head against wall' sessions we would grow to love and cherish the thing and then, in the fullness of time, the seven hour itch would take hold and we would start to lust after more features.

There would be secret googling and talk in pubs with mates and we would realise that we should have gone for something with a bit 'more'.

Then there would be the embarrassing silences and the Kindle would be left out, switched on so it's batteries ran flat and eventually we would be 'unfaithful'. Downloading books to the family PC to see what 'extras' a bigger functionally could bring to the relationship. Then, as always, the relationship would break down. The Kindle would start forgetting things, paragraphs would go missing and ultimately we would buy another super dooper tablet and it would all end in tears.

So basically - More research to be done.

Thanks for the advice so far people - No doubt there will be more on this in the short time we all have left.


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## TheEndIsNigh (Apr 21, 2013)

OK update:

We are born of a Galaxy 7.

Had a good play with all the options. 

The Nook HD was good but there was the nagging doubt about it and it wasn't intuitive in our opinion. Plus when we felt the weight of the protective case it weighed in a lot heavier than the basic spec (and the size seemed to get bigger too.)

The Kindle was very similar to the Galaxy but I couldn't bring myself to support an organisation that prefers not to pay UK tax. Especially given the demise of some of the high street stores recently.

Nexus was similar although we had trouble getting it to perform in the shop. Plus Google and tax again.

The Kindle and the nexus had no external memory add ins so for future proofing (never knowing just how big the 'downloads' will get) we would have had to buy the 16G versions at more expense whereas the Samsung will take a memory dohicky.

Most of the traditional readers (basic Kindle) seemed almost 1950s style technology in comparison, although of course, the battery life was their best feature.

So we settled on the Galaxy. Having said all that, I've just had to wrestle with the joys of getting the damn thing to download a book.

The really annoying thing is that given all my caveats above I ended up having to sign up to a Google account to get the Amazon site to download the books. Something that we spent some time in the shop grilling the salesman about, who said all we had to do was download an app. Yeah well there is an app - We had to use the Amazon Kindle Android tool, which then directed us to the Google store.

Yes I know they are all linked, but it is a bit annoying. No doubt there is another way but by the time I gave in I was loosing the will to live - Those that know me also know I value the little time we all have left and have no wish to spend it prating about downloading app after app. After all I do have my principles

Thanks for all the input


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## Ursa major (Apr 22, 2013)

TheEndIsNigh said:


> The Kindle and the nexus had no external memory add ins so for future proofing (never knowing just how big the 'downloads' will get) we would have had to buy the 16G versions at more expense whereas the Samsung will take a memory dohicky


I have a Kindle (fourth generation, I believe, without a keyboard). It's charged by using the USB cable; as well as providing power, this allows the Kindle to be treated as an external drive (allowing one to move/copy files between the Kindle and a PC/laptop/whatever). This will, I suppose, permit me to have more books than the (only 1.35G**) memory will contain, although those not on the Kindle won't be accessible.

My three dictionaries (one English, one American and one German) are between 20M and 30M, but the novels range from 382K (_The Sky Road_) to 1200K (_Reamde_) with most just over 500K.


** - As seen by the PC. (I've no idea what the actual memory size is, although Wiki suggests 2G.)


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## anivid (Apr 22, 2013)

Ursa major said:


> I have a Kindle (fourth generation, I believe, without a keyboard). It's charged by using the USB cable; as well as providing power, this allows the Kindle to be treated as an external drive (allowing one to move/copy files between the Kindle and a PC/laptop/whatever). This will, I suppose, permit me to have more books than the (only 1.35G**) memory will contain, although those not on the Kindle won't be accessible.
> 
> My three dictionaries (one English, one American and one German) are between 20M and 30M, but the novels range from 382K (_The Sky Road_) to 1200K (_Reamde_) with most just over 500K.
> 
> ...


 
My choice too - the Kindle 4 - and then came the Kindle program for PC, which is a real good one, enabling you to read at the PC screen.
There are so many free book samples to read - and old books as George MacDonald, so I haven't really come around to buying a lot.
As for storage capacity there of course is the customer's Amazon Kindle space whereto everything I buy is stored, after that the Kindle on PC program which is doing the same as soon as I decide to have it down, then the little reader itself - and as an organizer and converter many have the Calibre program downloaded, where I've set up my own system on the PC.
*Summa summarum* three places for 'endless storage' - apart from the reader itself.
_Hint: the problems always lies other places than you expect them too _ 
(Kindle paperwhite would imo be a good choice too)


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