Amazon Kindle 2 versus Barnes & Noble's Nook
Are you torn between Amazon Kindle 2 and the latest Nook e-book reader from Barnes & Noble? Well, find out which e-book reader is the right one for you by comparing the features on both this gadgets. Both devices delivers great satisfaction when it comes to portability and digital book reading. But before you decide to buy, make sure you finish reading this hub.
Amazon Kindle 2
Amazon Kindle is like the incumbent when it comes to e-book reader device because they own the space and might be for a couple of years. Although Sony was one of the first to introduce digital reader back in 2006, Amazon Kindle became the best seller due to its many cool features. Aside from that, Amazon has the largest collection of e-books online with 350,000 electronic versions available. However, the technology could still use some improvements to make it more robust. One of the best feature unique to Kindle is the Text to Speech conversion which I find very helpful not only to those who can read without problem.
Barnes & Noble is stepping in to share the e-reader market with Amazon and Sony with its recent release of the most advanced e-book reader, the Nook. With the emergence of electronic version of books, paper book sale has been affected and its sales is continue to fall. The nook will hopefully boost sales especially with the opening of new e-book store from Barnes & Noble. The nook is called the Kindle-killer because it can do what Kindle can do plus more. The Wi-Fi feature could be one of the biggest advantage of nook over Amazon Kindle which really gives a little more flexibility for readers. Nook also allows user to customize the screen saver by uploading favorite photos. It also allows the user to lend copies of the e-book to friends who has installed Barnes & Noble e-reader application on their mobile device or personal computer up to 14 days.
Check out the head to head comparison between Amazon Kindle 2 and Barnes & Noble's Nook.
Feature
| Amazon Kindle 2
| Barnes & Noble's Nook
|
|---|---|---|
Display
| 6 inch E-Ink Electronic paper (no eye strain, no glare); 600x800 pixel at 167ppi; 16-levels gray scale
| 6 inch E-Ink Electronic paper Vizplex (no eye strain, no glare); 600x800 pixel; gray scale; dual screen with 3.5inch touchscreen at the bottom
|
Dimension (Approx.)
| 8.0 x 5.3 x 0.36 inches
| 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.50 inches
|
Weight
| 10.2oz
| 11.2oz
|
Built-in Dictionary
| Yes
| Yes
|
Memory
| 2GB Flash (1500 ebooks)
| 2GB(1500 ebooks) expandable to 16GB(17,500) with microSD card
|
Battery Life
| 4 days (wireless ON); 2 weeks (wireless OFF)
| 10 days (wireless OFF)
|
Internet
| Yes
| Yes
|
Wi-Fi
| No
| Yes
|
Color
| White
| White
|
Compatibility with other e-Book stores
| No - Purchase from Amazon only
| Yes
|
Connectivity
| Wireless via Sprint 3G Hi-Speed Data Network; Headphone Jack; USB 2.0 port for charging and connecting to PC or MAC
| Wireless via AT&T 3G Network; Headphone Jack; micro USB 2.0 port for charging and connecting to computer
|
Picture Viewer
| Yes
| Yes
|
Text to Speech conversion
| Yes (converts text to audio)
| No
|
Buit-in Speaker
| Yes
| Yes
|
File Compatibility
| Kindle (AZW), TXT, AAX, MP3, PDF, Unprotected MOBI, PRC, HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP thru conversion
| ePub, PDF, BBeB, TXT, RTF, MS Word thru conversion, MP3, AAC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP
|
Note taking function
| Bookmark (Whispersync technology allows user to switch back & forth between several kindle devices and continue reading right where user left off), Highlight, Keyboard entry text
| Bookmarking, making notes, highlighting passages
|
Access to 1 million free public domain titles from Google Books
| No
| Yes
|
Price
| $259
| $259
|
Comparison between Amazon Kindle 2 versus Barnes & Noble's Nook
The market for e-reader is still relatively small with sales less than 10 percent in the U.S.. However, this niche has a huge potential to grow significantly in the coming years as people become aware of its portability and convenience. Although the rookie "Nook" has some great features, it is expected that Amazon will continue to lead the market and continue to develop this technology to better provide the fanatic readers with great gadgets.
