Nook Color 2 = Beast mode Kindle Fire + $50

[Munky]

I was looking at it from the perspective of someone who hasn't invested in either one beforehand. But even with your example, there are epub readers in the Amazon market, but no Kindle readers in B&N's market (I'm assuming). That means a B&N customer can take all of their books to the Kindle Fire, but not vice versa.

I haven't checked, but then my rooted NC reads books from both.

 

[Zargon]

Wat? Why would you need an IPS E-ink display to begin with? They already look fantastic.

Yeah I loved my Kindle's E-Ink display. I don't see what improvements it needs.

e-ink for ya know READING TEXT, which is what it is good at, and doing it outside which pretty much is fail on any non e-ink reader, and IPS for doing tablet-y stuff

 

[Red Storm]

e-ink for ya know READING TEXT, which is what it is good at, and doing it outside which pretty much is fail on any non e-ink reader, and IPS for doing tablet-y stuff

I thought we were at least several years away from having a display that could "switch" between e-ink and normal LCD? Actually I'm not even sure if I read that or not. How would it be done?

 

[ElFenix]

I thought we were at least several years away from having a display that could "switch" between e-ink and normal LCD? Actually I'm not even sure if I read that or not. How would it be done?

they're working on color and higher refreshes for eink. if they can get the refresh up to 30 fps then there may be no need for layering both.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Kindle can read other non-DRM book formats either directly or via conversion programs. I buy mobi format SF & fantasy from baen.com (and use their free library) all the time, no conversion needed to read those.

 

[KDOG]

Excellent. Glad I saw about this. Looks like my new toy!

 

[randomlinh]

looks like it's supposed to hit stores late next week. They are really pulling every dig they can at Amazon.

If the screen is indeed better than the Fire, I would get it just for that.

 

[bonkers325]

gonna check out the Nook Kiosk at the Union Square store after work!

 

[Ravynmagi]

I'm kinda disappointed with both the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet.

Kindle Fire only has 512MB of RAM and 6GB of storage and no micro SD. And I'm pretty sure no Netflix without some hacking. But I love the look of it, full glass front, smaller physical size.

Nook Tablet, has 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and micro SD. Hopefully they do something about the glass, as I hated the glass on the Nook Color, it felt rough to the touch. I had to add my own RainX to give it the slick feel most tablets already come with. But the main gripe I have about the Nook Color/Tablet is how it looks. It's unique, but not in a good way in my opinion. It looks cheap, it's got a massive plastic bezel that often creaks when gripped, and what is the point of that empty loop? It seems to be needlessly chunky and while lighter, is physically bigger than most 7 inch tablets.

Despite inferior and disappointing specs, I may end up getting the Fire because I already bought all my ebooks on Kindle. And I like the physical appearance and dimensions much more. Though I'm not certain I'll even get that.

I currently have a Nook Color rooted with CM 7.1 and run the Kindle app off that and might just skip both Fire and Nook Tablet and stick with this a while longer.

 

[Deeko]

It looks nice, but I will be sticking with the Kindle Fire. I've had my fill of rooting Android devices, and it appears that the Fire will have the superior stock experience, not to mention its cheaper.

 

[Pliablemoose]

It looks nice, but I will be sticking with the Kindle Fire. I've had my fill of rooting Android devices, and it appears that the Fire will have the superior stock experience, not to mention its cheaper.

I think for Amazon Prime customers, the Fire is the clear winner.

And yeah, tired of rooting & custom roms here too...

 

[bonkers325]

It looks nice, but I will be sticking with the Kindle Fire. I've had my fill of rooting Android devices, and it appears that the Fire will have the superior stock experience, not to mention its cheaper.

makes sense if you have Prime subscription. otherwise it's a toss-up between what's better, since Prime subscription will cost $79/yr (although you can argue something like Netflix is $96/yr)

 

[Red Storm]

makes sense if you have Prime subscription. otherwise it's a toss-up between what's better, since Prime subscription will cost $79/yr (although you can argue something like Netflix is $96/yr)

Thankfully Prime is free if you have a .edu email account.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Thankfully Prime is free if you have a .edu email account.

Only for one year, and it's limited. However, you can extend your free Prime trial for less than a normal Prime membership.

 

[bonkers325]

Thankfully Prime is free if you have a .edu email account.

you dont get Prime Video or e-book lending. you only get free 2 day shipping.

 

[jpeyton]

Too bad they didn't redesign the Nook Tablet. It looks like a kid's toy with the silver plastic and keyring corner.

But the specs are solid, and it might be more hackable than the Kindle Fire.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Once you pick up a nook color, that impression goes away, it feels nice & solid.

 

[poofyhairguy]

The Nook Color is a tank. I have dropped mine on the ground MANY times without a case.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Looks great for the price. As to which will be more popular, obviously the Kindle Fire will win there. No contest.

The Nook Tablet does look better from a price/performance/features perspective. Given that Android isn't as good as iOS when it comes to resource usage the bump to 1GB of RAM should be noticeable, and having 16GB of onboard flash storage plus the ability to extend that to 48GB (actual usable space would be around 45GB, I'd reckon) is a huge plus. If the screen is better, that's another plus. Something I haven't seen being mentioned here is battery life, but the specs I read quoted ~11.5 hour battery life; Amazon quotes 8 hours. If those are true then that's a significant difference.

As to content and what not, there's significantly more people that are in the Amazon music/video ecosystem than those that are into B&N's e-books ecosystem, and I'm sure you could get the format B&N uses to work on the Kindle. More noteworthy is that while these are content consumption devices, they're mainly aimed at media like videos, photos, and web browsing, so most people would still go for the Fire. Other people have also mentioned the $50 cheaper price tag. Which one is the best choice will depend on the person, but however stupid it may sound I'm really put off by the Nook Tablet's silver/grey exterior and bezel/wasted space. It looks cheap, even if it feels good. They should release a graphite or black version at least.

 

[rbk123]

My only 2 questions:
- how much will refurb deals of the new Nook tablet cost?
- how low will the current Nook Color go before they are all sold?

 

[Ravynmagi]

Once you pick up a nook color, that impression goes away, it feels nice & solid.

I kinda disagree. This paragraph from geek.com pretty much sums up my exact feelings with my own Nook Color.

http://www.geek.com/articles/gadgets/nook-tablet-vs-kindle-fire-how-the-specs-compare-2011117/

"Assuming it’s the same material as the original Nook Color (it appears so), the bezel of the Nook Tablet will have a somewhat flimsy feel to it, and could actually bend back and forth a little. The Kindle Fire will handle more like a Blackberry Playbook or a first generation Galaxy Tab, meaning it will have a more unified, solid feel."

I have had several Nook Colors. They have all had plastic that does flex a little, and this usually results in creaking. Though the creaking seems to become less noticeable over time. For $250, it is still pretty nicely built and it's not a POS like an Archos tablet. But I don't think it's quality is going to be quite on the same level as the Playbook/Kindle Fire's either.

 

[Ravynmagi]

My only 2 questions:
- how much will refurb deals of the new Nook tablet cost?
- how low will the current Nook Color go before they are all sold?

Don't think either can really be answered. I would guess you could see refurbs going for $200 eventually.

I hadn't seen any info on the end of life of the Nook Color. They could very well continue selling it at $200, just to cover more price points. Guess it depends on if it's still profitable at that price.

 

[bonkers325]

"This isn’t likely to be a huge category for most people, but it is worth noting that the Nook Tablet has a built-in microphone, while the Kindle Fire doesn’t."

whoa, it has a mic? you can definitely use this for VoIP once CM gets ported to the Nook Tablet. too bad it doesnt have a FFC so you can video chat

 

[HumblePie]

Already have the nook color and use it every day. Will get the nook 2 and give the color to a family member. Why the nook 2? Same reasons for picking the nook over the kindle. 1) better hardware 2) ability to root and customize it all without losing the base OS and 3) book support format. The kindle STILL forces you to use only their kindle format so you have to convert shit over all the time. Screw that. It also doesn't support free ePub stuff from libraries and the like. You can't loan books you've purchased to other people with another kindle either unlike the nook.

Also the ability to swap out storage SD cards for more things is a huge bonus. All that and more is worth the $50 price over the fire.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Already have the nook color and use it every day. Will get the nook 2 and give the color to a family member. Why the nook 2? Same reasons for picking the nook over the kindle. 1) better hardware 2) ability to root and customize it all without losing the base OS and 3) book support format. The kindle STILL forces you to use only their kindle format so you have to convert shit over all the time. Screw that. It also doesn't support free ePub stuff from libraries and the like. You can't loan books you've purchased to other people with another kindle either unlike the nook.

Also the ability to swap out storage SD cards for more things is a huge bonus. All that and more is worth the $50 price over the fire.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custom...00549320&#loan
Seems to be the exact same formula the nook uses. Not all books can be loaned and they can only be loaned once. So far every book I've bought can be loaned.

My library supports several formats including the kindle one so no problem there for me.