RE: Ipad or ANDroid Tablet?
this may be more than you want, but I wrote this up in the past for someone who was considering a Toshiba Thrive..
First is from the aspect of why I bought an Ipad, but secondly how I would base the decision if I had not had some of the reasons below...
When I was considering an Ipad, I had already :
Owned several ipods and had purchased/licensed content from iTunes, or had a significant library of audio and video files that were in format to support apple products... For instance, my first couple MP3 players were Rio products and could play either MP3 or WMA files. I had ripped most everything in WMA for them, but when I got an iPod free from work, I converted it all to MP3. At this point just about anything will play MP3 files, but when you consider video you have formatting concerns as well.
So onto video, when the iPod touch came out I began a project to convert all of our DVDs into files that could play on the iPod. At this point that is like 2200 files totaling almost 750GB, so it's a large investment in time... the iPad could play all of this stuff with no re-work, whereas not all tablets would... sames as why we bought an apple tv, and before we bought our roku box, I shipped some of our video files to a buddy to ensure compatibility first...
purchased /licensed content.. Took me a while to finally break down and do it, but I started buying a lot more and now pretty much exclusively buy music through iTunes... With that comes licensing for some content and also format... You have this with any storefront for content (think kindle/nook) so since we were already into apple, we stayed that way..
lastly experience... we have had great experience with our apple products... The user experience is amazing... they are very intuitive devices.. so it was easy to consider more of the same... I do not care for iTunes, but it keeps getting better and better for managing content...
So now onto what if I had nothing, how would I decide...
so price is certainly important, but unless it was like a 2x difference the other stuff in this list would matter more...
what do I intend to use it for? if it is just for a web browser, then it seems just about any tablet has that... If I wanted certain apps/functionality, then I would see if it was available on the platform...
What media do I want to put on it (pictures/video/music) and how is that done? For instance apple/itunes model works very well and relatively easy to use. Compare to my Blackberry experience.... The media manager product for it could not handle the size of our library of files, and the interface was terrible...
For a android based tablet, what interface do they provide and how well does it work?? I have seen the PC interface for putting content on some of the droid phone models and they are not all real pretty. The demos on TV are slick, but you need to ask/think, what did it take to put all that content on that device...
App store: what might you want apps wise and is it available on the platform?? need to consider what you might use it for as to what you would need for apps...
market share and alignment with core business... I realize market share depends upon what site you look at and I am not suggesting that it is most important to use the most popular platform, but consider what business a company is in... Think about Dell and the smartphone market... they have been in, but got right back out... For those that bought it, they soon had a orphan product... So the toshiba tablet looks slick, but will they stay in the tablet business long term?? To me this is important as it drives the apps that ill be developed and the accessories that will be developed by third parties... MS Zune music player is a good example of this. They came out late to market as an also ran to apple... Neat device, but required different format, different store, etc.... Since they couldn't make money in the market they got out relatively quickly. I think they were in the market for about 3 years in total. If you went into a best buy and looked at accessories for ipod vs. zune it was 99% ipod, 1% zune...
BTW they ended up buying two thrives and really do like them, but they are not folks that have much of any music/video content. Mostly use it for web , email and some apps.
Although they now have an iPad 3 as well..
BTW, we now have two iPad 2's and four iPhones in our family (just traded in the last two droid phones)... so i guess I am a bit prejudiced...
Bryan
RE: Internet on Fire or Nook color
I had been looking at the Kindle Fire when I read a thread about tablets. A couple of people said some good things about the Samsung Galexy 7". I looked on the Best Buy web site and it was on sale for $299. I bought it and found that it had a Kindle app and a Nook app already installed, as well as some other e-reader for some free book sites. It also does a good job with e-mail, has a pre installed GPS and of course all sorts of apps to download. It has a USB cable and an micro sd slot. I downloaded a few hundred pictures to it so I could show off my grandkids and my travels. I put some mp3 music on it. It's a great toy.
RE: Internet on Fire or Nook color
If you want a good reader a e ink kindle / for 70 bucks is the way to go! But no useabe internet a fire / nook can do both but it's not ideal for either .....reading is ok but some complain of eye strain looking at the LCD screen as far as a web surfer its fair. I have a fire and use it for limited reading and some surfing. If your comfortable with playing with and fixing computer " problems " then hacking can offer a "fun way " to play with the device. And make "improvements". If you can afford a double the price solution the iPad is far away the better choice. A great reader ( not in sunlight .. No LCD is) and fast Internet. With tons of interesting aps ... What's your computer frustration level ?
I gave up fixing computer problems .. I use the fire as is . And my apple products just work and I don't ask them to do more than they can.
RE: Internet on Fire or Nook color
I use a Nook Color (since discontinued) hacked to android 2.3 with duel boot to stock, with a 16G sd card I carry about all I need. Works with my bluetooth keyboard as well.
Wife uses a nook touch hacked to 2.2 so it would load a good pdf reader, the small screen 6" ereaders in stock form have fits with pdf.
Hacking most of the ereaders is a simple deal with by-the-numbers instructions easily available on the net. BTW both nooks also run kindle for android.
RE: Internet on Fire or Nook color
Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet are about the same when it comes to the browsing experience. The stock Android browser is just OK. Add one of the third party browsers from the app store and you'll get a much better experience. I like the Dolphin Browser myself...
RE: Samsung tablet owners
You can't go wrong with the Android OS. My 2 cents.
yep, I just bought an ACER 100 7 " tablet for about $250. wouldn't want a larger one if I had to hand hold it all the time. considered a nook but didn't want to be tied to a business that might go under and Kindle was tied into buying everything from amazon.
bumpy
RE: How to connect Nook to Tengo wi-fi?
The Nook should connect, but you'll have to do it as though you had a separate computer. You should set up a new Tengo account. When you try to access the internet with the Nook, you should have the option of selecting Tengo from the list of wireless access points that show up on the Nook. Once you select Tengo and try to access any website, you'll get the Tengo sign on/register page. I just handled the same thing today, but with a Kindle and Tengo. I doubt if the Nook is much different.
Nook-Kindle
Just curious is there a certain month then they come out with the latest model or are you just able to download any new thing that comes along?It seems i never buy anything because i thing something new will come out when i do buy something,I think i may just be cheap,LOL,Thanks
RE: Question for people who own BOTH a Kindle AND Kindle Fire
Kirbybear: if you are not going to buy a Kindle or a Nook, you can read both of these on your PC. You can also just download the Epub book instead of the Kindle book from your library.
The Adobe Digital reader program that the Libraries use, will read any Kindle or Nook book whether you got it from the library or some other place.
Remember that these books are DRM and you can't move them from PC to PC just in case you didn't know that. I have a Kindle but this information isn't usually stated by others.
RE: Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire
Nook...Kindle...back and forth. Simple solution. Apple iPad and read from both along with every other source of books available. With the Nook Color and the Kindle Fire it seems to me you've lost the only advantage to dedicated e-book readers in the e-Ink for basically small crippled, cheap tablets locked to their respective stores.
For DW and I, a tablet is to big and don't need the functions. want something small enough to easily carry, and cheap enough that if we loose it or it breaks it's a throwaway. fire (or Nook) does everything I want in a reader, If I want to use a PC I have a very nice small netbook that I prefer over a tablet.
RE: Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire
Kindle vs Nook is another Chevy vs. Ford discussion. Both are very good and it is unlikely you'll go wrong with either choice.
RE: Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire
Nook...Kindle...back and forth. Simple solution. Apple iPad and read from both along with every other source of books available. ...
There is no doubt that the iPad is more capable than either but personally, I would have trouble justifying owning even the Kindle Fire if I hadn't received it as a gift. There's no way I would spend $400-$600 for a tablet.
RE: Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire
Nook...Kindle...back and forth. Simple solution. Apple iPad.. I guess... if you want something bigger, bulkier, 2.5 times the price, and almost twice the weight, that sounds like a good idea. :W And as far as flexibility you can just root the Fire or side-load and have access to all the Droid apps you want - including Nook and Kindle readers!
Dave
RE: Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire
Nook...Kindle...back and forth. Simple solution. Apple iPad and read from both along with every other source of books available. With the Nook Color and the Kindle Fire it seems to me you've lost the only advantage to dedicated e-book readers in the e-Ink for basically small crippled, cheap tablets locked to their respective stores.
RE: Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire
I received a Kindle Fire as an xmas gift. The info about not being able to pw protect it is outdated, Amazon issued an OS update a few days before xmas that fixed that and a couple of other issues. When I first turned mine on, the first thing it did was download the update.
The Nook tablet does have expandable storage but Kingston makes a neat little device called a Wi-Drive which is a wifi enabled flash drive and an app for the KF to be able to access it which gives the KF the ability to expand its storage. It comes in 3 sizes 16, 32 & 64G. I bought a 16G one for $50. I can stream movies and video from it with no pauses or stuttering. Up to 3 devices can connect and access the drive at the same time. There's an app for generic Android (my Android phone can use the Wi-Drive too) and also app for iPad, iTouch and iPhone.
I use my Fire more as a tablet than a reader. You can "sideload" many Android apps that aren't available in the Amazon Store.
RE: Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire
This is long... but a straight copy from what I sent my sister when she asked a few weeks ago...
I wobbled for a month, for me it was not a clear cut decision. :-)
I went with the Nook because:
- you can put a password on it - if you read the low starred reviews on Amazon, you find that you can't password protect the Kindle, I should note that I'm comparing the Kindle Fire ($200) to the Nook Tablet ($250).
I have the Kindle Fire and YES you CAN password protect the Kindle fire. The password is a numeric keycode you can choose. Don't know how long the keycode can be, but at least a 10 digit number.
Both the Nook and Kindle Fire are excellent additions to the "readers". Both have strengths and weaknesses. IMHO the best thing is to really look at both and decide which is Best for you.
And, in reality, if you make the wrong choice, it isn't like you've invested a fortune and have to stick with the decision. I love my Kindle Fire, but if I would have decided it wasn't for me, I'd just hang on to it for another 6 months or so, and see what the next version of Fire or Nook does and change at that time.
In fact, I won't be suprised if when the next Fire comes out that I buy it, DW gets the old Fire, and her Kindle keyboard version goes off to one of the kids or grandkids. For good or bad, the readers are almost in the disposable category given the current pricing.
RE: Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire
B&N has more free books than anyone would ever live long enough to read.
Go to BarnesandNoble.com
In the search box type in 0.00
I just got back a listing of 1,836,627 free books.
Other websites list a ton of additional free books if you can't find anything to read from the 1.8+ million listed at B&N.
I've played with both the Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet. Both are the same in most regards but also different. Not bad different, just different. Depends on what one gets use to using.
The deal maker for us was the Nook Tablet uses SDmicro storage where the Kindle Fire uses their cloud. The cloud is OK as long as you can hit the internet. With the Nook Tablet that's not an issue as you can save to the onboard card.
RE: Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire
First of all, everyone loves whichever device they bought.
Second of all, most of the time when someone says my device does something your device wont, they are misinformed, misleading you, or it is a mute point.
Both have great customer support. I got my replacement Kindle 24 hours (actually 18 hours) after my call to support which was answer in less than 1 minute.
Both have many free books.
Both have books of every category or genre. Probably more than you will ever read.
Both will hold more books than you will ever read in your lifetime. Most books are less than 1 MB in size.
If you have a computer, you can also keep books there until you need them. thus you will have more books than you could read in two lifetimes.
Books from the library might, just might have more books in Epub mode, but you will still find more than you can read.
I go to two sources for my Kindle books which have over 400 free books available NEW each day. I usually find at least one each to download to my Kindle. I am sure there are Nook books available from sources also.
RE: Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire
Thing i like about the nook is the 16 gig memory card,Anybody have a issue with the kindle as far as being able to store what you want?Also how is the voice sound when you listen to audio books?You don't need ear phones do you?Thanks
