PentecostalMom Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) I am trying to choose between a Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet. Dh is leaning towards a Nook for vaious reasons. A homeschooling mother told me yesterday that you can only load books you buy from Amazon onto the Kindle, not books from other places such as Google books. She said you can get books from where ever with the Nook. Is this true? If there is anything else you think would help tip me either way, please share. I am mostly wanting it to get books online that are out of print. I am not super interested in the movie watching features, though it may come in handy for a car trip. Please advise. TIA! I have looked at online comparisons from CNET and the like, but there is nothing like "real" users to dish the details! Edited January 12, 2012 by PentecostalMom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I *think* it is the other way around. You can only get books from amazon if you have a kindle. I don't think you can download amazon books onto a kindle. You can download other formats to a kindle as well. My main reason that I went for a kindle (not a fire, last years model) is that it is not back lit and is more like reading off of paper than a computer screen. To much screen time and I get a migraine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forty-two Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 A homeschooling mother told me yesterday that you can only load books you buy from Amazon onto the Kindle, not books from other places such as Google books. She said you can get books from where ever with the Nook. Is this true? I actually have read the opposite, that you can only use 20% of the space on the Nook for non-B&N-purchased material, but there are no such restrictions on the Kindle. Haven't fact-checked it, though. I have a Kindle 3, and I'm very pleased with it. I've put tons of free ebooks on it, including some pdfs, with no problems. (I only have 2 paid books, actually, of some 200 on there.) While dh's iPad is really better for pdfs (as pretty much every review I read said) - the bigger screen *is* nice - I can read them just fine on my Kindle, and I prefer the e-ink for reading anyway. And converting pdfs to the Kindle format works pretty well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyagain Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I don't know about the tablet, but I have tons of free e-books and pdf's on my nook color. I have the Kindle app on my computer and have lots of free ebooks there also. I don't think that is an issue with either one. However, the tablets may be different so I could be completely wrong!;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureMoms Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I've definitely put ebooks from other sources on my kindle. They give you instructions for how to do this in the users manual. You can even email documents directly to your kindle, which I find very cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 The Kindle fire is backlit. I was actually looking at someone's nook just a few days ago and comparing it side by side with my kindle fire...and truly, there is not a lot of difference in look, feel, screen size, etc. I have downloaded lots of free books from both Amazon and E-reader onto my Kindle. I was also able to get lots of audible books from an audible.com app. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beetkvass Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I have hundreds of ebooks from various sources on my Kindle Fire. I have only a handful of books on it from Amazon. It's been no problem at all. This friend of yours is definitely wrong about that. I also had a Kindle with e-ink and I never really liked that format. Hard to explain why. But I love the backlit Kindle Fire and prefer to read off that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) Found my own answer on the Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites respectively. This is for the Nook tablet: -16 GB (up to 10,000 books) built-in memory (13 GB for content; 12 GB reserved for B&N content) -Add up to 32GB with microSD™7 memory card This is for the Kindle Fire: -8GB internal (approximately 6GB available for user content) I was having trouble finding it while nursing, lol! Thanks for advice and input lades. It is not a cheap item and I want to choose wisely! Edited January 12, 2012 by PentecostalMom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I *think* it is the other way around. You can only get books from amazon if you have a kindle. I don't think you can download amazon books onto a kindle. You can download other formats to a kindle as well. My main reason that I went for a kindle (not a fire, last years model) is that it is not back lit and is more like reading off of paper than a computer screen. To much screen time and I get a migraine. I have a Nook, not a tablet, not a Nook Color, and its screen is not backlit. Reading it is like reading a book. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I actually have read the opposite, that you can only use 20% of the space on the Nook for non-B&N-purchased material, but there are no such restrictions on the Kindle. Haven't fact-checked it, though. I have a boatload of books on my Nook that I downloaded from free sites, only a few books that I bought from B&N. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimtaxi234 Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I read just last week that B&N lost money for a few quarters in a row so there is no telling how long B&N can stay in business, even with the trend toward e-books. Amazon.com is a company that will be in business long after B&N closes their doors like Borders, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 The Kindle fire is backlit. I was actually looking at someone's nook just a few days ago and comparing it side by side with my kindle fire...and truly, there is not a lot of difference in look, feel, screen size, etc. I have downloaded lots of free books from both Amazon and E-reader onto my Kindle. I was also able to get lots of audible books from an audible.com app. I have hundreds of ebooks from various sources on my Kindle Fire. I have only a handful of books on it from Amazon. It's been no problem at all. This friend of yours is definitely wrong about that. I also had a Kindle with e-ink and I never really liked that format. Hard to explain why. But I love the backlit Kindle Fire and prefer to read off that. What is backlit? Is the Nook not backlit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 What about the ads. Nook doesn't have any. We got a kindle for christmas and I returned it because couldn't stand having screensaver ads nor the ads in the kindle store. I don't do ads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) You can put books from other sources on a Kindle depending on the format, especially if you use Calibre. I honestly haven't needed to--I have so many Amazon books on my Kindle (most free or under $3) I don't know how I would ever read them all. Pixel of Ink reported recently that they're no longer listing Nook freebies and deals as they do daily for Kindle, as many are no longer available for Nook. Edited January 12, 2012 by WordGirl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NittanyJen Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Quote: Originally Posted by Tree House Academy The Kindle fire is backlit. I was actually looking at someone's nook just a few days ago and comparing it side by side with my kindle fire...and truly, there is not a lot of difference in look, feel, screen size, etc. I have downloaded lots of free books from both Amazon and E-reader onto my Kindle. I was also able to get lots of audible books from an audible.com app. Quote: Originally Posted by Beetkvass I have hundreds of ebooks from various sources on my Kindle Fire. I have only a handful of books on it from Amazon. It's been no problem at all. This friend of yours is definitely wrong about that. I also had a Kindle with e-ink and I never really liked that format. Hard to explain why. But I love the backlit Kindle Fire and prefer to read off that. What is backlit? Is the Nook not backlit? Nook has both e-ink (just like paper, not back-lit, all touch-screen) and backlit (either the color or tablet versions) to choose from. My husband and I and both boys (8 and 11) are happy Nook owners. B&N let DH and I upgrade our old Nooks to the new ones (e-ink, touch-screen) for $50. Currently, if you want a sub to People or NYT you can get one for free (or $50 off of one of the more expensive ones). I don't read those periodicals, but if they are something you are interested in, OP, it's not a bad deal. B&N's customer service has Ben rock solid on the Nook for us, and unlike the Kindle, the replacement battery, should you ever need one is user replaceable and cheap. To get a new Kindle battery, you have to ship your unit back to Amazon, be without it who knows how long, and they don't send yours back; they send you back someone else's refurbished unit, to which you must re-download all your books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHowell Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Nook has both e-ink (just like paper, not back-lit, all touch-screen) and backlit (either the color or tablet versions) to choose from. My husband and I and both boys (8 and 11) are happy Nook owners. B&N let DH and I upgrade our old Nooks to the new ones (e-ink, touch-screen) for $50. Currently, if you want a sub to People or NYT you can get one for free (or $50 off of one of the more expensive ones). I don't read those periodicals, but if they are something you are interested in, OP, it's not a bad deal. B&N's customer service has Ben rock solid on the Nook for us, and unlike the Kindle, the replacement battery, should you ever need one is user replaceable and cheap. To get a new Kindle battery, you have to ship your unit back to Amazon, be without it who knows how long, and they don't send yours back; they send you back someone else's refurbished unit, to which you must re-download all your books. I've had my Kindle over a year and never had any battery issues? Also I have always found Amazon to be VERY reliable when I had any problems. When you purchase or download to your kindle you can back it up so even if you did lose books by sending it in, it would take no time at all to sync it. The fact that free books on Nook's seem to be on the decline I would go with a Kindle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 Nook has both e-ink (just like paper, not back-lit, all touch-screen) and backlit (either the color or tablet versions) to choose from. Do you mean different Nooks, or Nook Color & Tablet has all options? Is the Nook Tablet backlit? Dh is pretty set on the Nook Tablet as opposed to the other Nook options. My husband and I and both boys (8 and 11) are happy Nook owners. B&N let DH and I upgrade our old Nooks to the new ones (e-ink, touch-screen) for $50. Currently, if you want a sub to People or NYT you can get one for free (or $50 off of one of the more expensive ones). I don't read those periodicals, but if they are something you are interested in, OP, it's not a bad deal. B&N's customer service has been rock solid on the Nook for us, and unlike the Kindle, the replacement battery, should you ever need one is user replaceable and cheap. To get a new Kindle battery, you have to ship your unit back to Amazon, be without it who knows how long, and they don't send yours back; they send you back someone else's refurbished unit, to which you must re-download all your books. Do your boys have their own Nooks? Which one do they have? I have a 20% off coupon for a Nook Color (not good on the Tablet) and I was thinking of getting it for the dc (mostly the 5yo, she will be six in March) to read on while we are out and about or on road trips. I love the record feature and interactive kids books features on the Nook! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 The fact that free books on Nook's seem to be on the decline I would go with a Kindle. There are almost 2 million free books on the B&N website alone... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHowell Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 There are almost 2 million free books on the B&N website alone... this link was posted above and I have seen it on another site as well but I don't have access to the page on my phone. Kind of fighting dirty IMO, but it seems a part of business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) There are almost 2 million free books on the B&N website alone... That stat is total ebooks, not just free ones. Edited January 12, 2012 by WordGirl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 That stat is total books, not free ones. It's not a stat, I went to the B&N site, typed in "free ebooks", and got a result of one million, eight hundred and some odd thousand books. Plus there are books on Google books that I really, really want! The ad thing that someone else posted about is concerning as well. I don't want to drop 2 bills on something AND have to watch ads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 It's not a stat, I went to the B&N site, typed in "free ebooks", and got a result of one million, eight hundred and some odd thousand books. Plus there are books on Google books that I really, really want! The ad thing that someone else posted about is concerning as well. I don't want to drop 2 bills on something AND have to watch ads. It sounds like you've made your decision! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHowell Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 It's not a stat, I went to the B&N site, typed in "free ebooks", and got a result of one million, eight hundred and some odd thousand books. Plus there are books on Google books that I really, really want! The ad thing that someone else posted about is concerning as well. I don't want to drop 2 bills on something AND have to watch ads. The ads only apply to one Kindle. But I agree with the last poster, you seem to know what you want already. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzq Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 One thing to also remember is that on the Nook Color or the Nook Tablet a person can have the option to root it which turns the device into an Android tablet and then you can have both Kindle books and Nook books using the apps for Kindle and Nook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In2why Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Only the very cheapest Kindle comes with ads. I went with a Kindle because I also worry that Barnes and Noble might go out of business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 The ads only apply to one Kindle. But I agree with the last poster, you seem to know what you want already. :) It sounds like you've made your decision! :001_smile: I was actually leaning toward the Fire, and dh is trying to convince me to get the Nook. I guess he is doing a good job, lol. So the Fire doesn't have ads? I am definitely getting the Nook Tablet or the Kindle Fire, not any other version of either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I have a Nook Color and love it. I read a LOT. I have downloaded lots of free books directly from the B&N store and from other sources. The SD card slot will basically allow for a theoretical infinite number of books *or* let you turn it into an android tablet. It is awesome. I can't think of B&N going out of business. No more bookstores? Seriously, it is unthinkable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuzor Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I did not read all replies but here are my 2 cents. I decided to get the Nook last year after hoping for a Kindle for years. I went and looked at both Nook (non color it was not out at the time I purchased mine) and the Kindle and they had many of the same features but I choose Nook because at the time you could not check out library books with Kindle and you can with Nook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 That stat is total ebooks, not just free ones. Nope, those are all FREE. I typed in free ebooks, then clicked see all. The toal number was 1,836,296. I then sorted them by price, low to high, and then high to low. They are all FREE. I also looked at ebooks (without the free tag) and nook books. There are so many there is not a "see all" option. I really have to go to bed....this decision can wait. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureMoms Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 What about the ads. Nook doesn't have any. We got a kindle for christmas and I returned it because couldn't stand having screensaver ads nor the ads in the kindle store. I don't do ads. You can pay a bit more for the Kindle to get one without "special offers". That said, mine has the ads and I don't mind it. It's just the screensaver and a small banner when you are on the home page. There's no ads while I'm reading, so I'm happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 You can put books from other sources on a Kindle depending on the format, especially if you use Calibre. I honestly haven't needed to--I have so many Amazon books on my Kindle (most free or under $3) I don't know how I would ever read them all. Pixel of Ink reported recently that they're no longer listing Nook freebies and deals as they do daily for Kindle, as many are no longer available for Nook. What is CALIBRE? I can't download anything from project gutenberg (or anything anywhere but amazon) on my kindle fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) What is CALIBRE? I can't download anything from project gutenberg (or anything anywhere but amazon) on my kindle fire. http://calibre-ebook.com/ I have a Kindle 2 and a Kindle Touch (not the Fire), and I can load PDFs, and MOBI files on with no modifications. Calibre will allow you to convert other formats (like EPUBs) into the MOBI format that Kindle can read. I found the MobileRead Forums helpful when I was trying to figure out how to convert different file types. Here is some information on Amazon's website about files that you can transfer to a Kindle Fire. ETA: Kindle's also now support library lending if your library has Overdrive. My library just started using Overdrive, but their selection of Kindle books is pretty disappointing (lots of romance and mystery novels, but not much else). Edited January 12, 2012 by bonniebeth4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I have a Nook Color and and 3rd Gen Kindle, so I can't help with your original question (fyi: love the Kindle for reading, the NC for everything else :001_smile:), but I thought this article from the Washington Post was interesting: Barnes & Noble shares plummet as co. slashes outlook, considering splitting off Nook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 A homeschooling mother told me yesterday that you can only load books you buy from Amazon onto the Kindle, not books from other places such as Google books. Depends on the type of file. You can't read ePub books on a Kindle, that's true, but most Google books are also available as PDFs, which work just fine on my Kindle. I also have a free program called Calibre that will convert any file to any other type of file, so it's super easy to convert from ePub to PDF if necessary. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I read just last week that B&N lost money for a few quarters in a row so there is no telling how long B&N can stay in business, even with the trend toward e-books. Amazon.com is a company that will be in business long after B&N closes their doors like Borders, etc. This is exactly what my dh said when I was deciding between a Nook and a Kindle. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I don't want to drop 2 bills on something AND have to watch ads. I have the Kindle Keyboard with ads. I got it for $99. The only time the ads are there are when you are not using it. As soon as you turn the screen on, they are gone. My dd asked me, "Oh, are you reading that book?" and I said, "What book?" She said, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the one on your Kindle." I hadn't even noticed that it was the "ad" on the screensaver, but she claimed it had been there for several days. Truly, the ads are not a problem (and I hate ads). Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarreymere Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I don't like the Nook or the Kindle Fire. I have the Kindle with the e-ink and it is a lot easier to curl up and read from for extended periods of time. If you want to read magazine or look at picture books or play with apps, then you need a Kindle Fire. I have tons of content on my Kindle from Google Ebookstore. Nearly all of the stuff on my Kindle is free. You can put pdf files on the kindle, and nearly all of the free content out there available on the internet is in pdf format. You can even have your own files converted to pdf format or kindle format by kindle. I have a free pdf converter program and I have converted even some photos to a pdf format to put on my kindle (well, I like my kids, what can I say?). Amazon also has great customer service. My four year old son dropped my kindle while picking it up to hand it to me and the screen froze. I contacted kindle and had a free replacement in a couple days without fuss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 nearly all of the free content out there available on the internet is in pdf format. I even copy and paste website pages into Open Office, save them as a text file, and load them on my Kindle. I can read webpages whenever/wherever I want. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarreymere Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 What is CALIBRE? I can't download anything from project gutenberg (or anything anywhere but amazon) on my kindle fire. Are you downloading in pdf format or a format that kindle can read? If you are and still can't open the book I have some troubleshooting tips for you. Connect your kindle to your pc. Open up your computer icon. You should see your kindle listed as a device. Click on your kindle device. This should open a screen that has several files. One file will be labelled 'documents'. You will probably see the books you tried to open listed below and not in a file. Do a 'cut and paste' on the book files to your documents file. You won't be able to see or read the books until you put them in the 'documents' file. This happens also if you right click on a book and do a 'send to' command. The books are there, but you can't see them or read them until you cut and paste them into the documents file. Hope this can help someone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in Appalachia Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 We have the Fire. The big advantage of the Nook is with an SD card you can Root it, then you can treat it just like any other tablet and you will have more storage space. If you don't Root it you don't really get more storage, since the Nook only allows 1G of "free" storage (the rest must come from B&N). We like the Fire, because we did not want to mess with Rooting it, just use it as is. But if your Dh is computer savvy you could get more use out of the Nook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Nope, those are all FREE. I typed in free ebooks, then clicked see all. The toal number was 1,836,296. I then sorted them by price, low to high, and then high to low. They are all FREE. I also looked at ebooks (without the free tag) and nook books. There are so many there is not a "see all" option. I really have to go to bed....this decision can wait. :D I was referring to B&N's claims about having over 2 million ebooks available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I love Love LOVE my Nook Tablet.....but only because I rooted it. Downloading the Kindle app opens the Kindle store, and I can also load from other sources. BN is *trying* to keep Tablet owners locked into their app store, buying only their products, but once rooted the device becomes a real tablet and the options are unlimited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sun Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Nope, those are all FREE. I typed in free ebooks, then clicked see all. The toal number was 1,836,296. I then sorted them by price, low to high, and then high to low. They are all FREE. I also looked at ebooks (without the free tag) and nook books. There are so many there is not a "see all" option. I really have to go to bed....this decision can wait. :D Have you looked through those books? I did what you did, but I went through several pages, and I was shocked at some of the titles. B is for Bl**j*b was one of them, and that was just the start. I saw other, more shocking ones. A surprising large number of the free ebooks look to be p*rn. The more pages I went back in the listings, the more p*rn-type listings I found. I don't know if those same titles are free on the Kindle. I do know that when I've browsed free books on the Amazon site, I've never come across such large numbers of p*rnographic books. I'm definitely not going to check Amazon's site for specific titles, though, because I don't want those showing up in my browsing history! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 I love Love LOVE my Nook Tablet.....but only because I rooted it. Downloading the Kindle app opens the Kindle store, and I can also load from other sources. BN is *trying* to keep Tablet owners locked into their app store, buying only their products, but once rooted the device becomes a real tablet and the options are unlimited. Is it difficut to root it? Dh is an engineer so I suppose he could handle it, lol! I have read about cards to root it and such, are those reliable and reasonably priced? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzq Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Is it difficut to root it? Dh is an engineer so I suppose he could handle it, lol! I have read about cards to root it and such, are those reliable and reasonably priced? I don't know too much about rooting but if you do a google search for Nook Tablet and rooting, you will find some information from the xda developers on how to do it. They do not have a card yet for the Tablet but for the Nook Color you can check http://www.n2acards.com/ or find the SD cards on amazon. Also for the Nook Color you can check http//:http://www.rootmynook.com for more information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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