Kindle Versus Nook

[Lucy]

Went and checked them all out at Best Buy. Going with the Wifi Nook ($149). Don't need the 3G, phone can do all that, and while I adored the touch screen of the the color, didn't care for it in book format, great in mags though. Found 6 of my textbooks available for next term, which already saves me a good $30 bucks or so.

Sony was cool but not a fan since no wifi and such a small screen.
Not big on Amazon and didn't care for the keyboard/screen of the kindle.

 

[SH-60OB]

I'll check....yes they are in the Kindle.

I uploaded a few MerCruiser maintenance manuals for my boat and the search function worked on them. They are in native pdf format, not an image pdf file.

Thanks for clarifying. That makes it more viable as a pub library in my opinion. -OB

 

[nugget61]

Considering getting either a Nook or a Kindle to carry around NATOPS but I have two questions: 1) Do either have trouble with single, large files (80mb PDF) in regards to lag etc? 2)Is the resolution too low/difficult to navigate for NATOPS? For about $100 more I'm considering the Nexus 7 ( http://www.google.com/nexus/#/7/features ) which is about 1.5x the resolution and adds 1" to the screen. Thoughts?

 

[SynixMan]

Would totally reccomend the tablet over an E-Reader for pubs. Kindle is good to read a book start to finish. Kinda clunky to navigate around in, which you'll need to do often referencing different pages of NATOPS, 3710, etc.

Nexus 7 is the choice du jour for smaller tablets, but rumors say Apple has an 8" iPad on tap for October. I'd wait for that, as it might be priced in line with the Nexus, but have a more robust software ecosystem.

 

[Brett327]

FWIW, the iPad App "Good Reader" is pretty kick ass for viewing PDFs. You can write notes, highlight and otherwise mark up a document and save that to the original, so you could conceivably highlight up a NATOPS PDF like you would a hard copy and save it. You can also email/export a summary of your notes, markups, etc. Fully searchable and dropbox integrated. Dunno if it's available on other platforms, but I highly recommend it.

 

[Aquonox]

I own a Kindle (regular Kindle, not Kindle Fire) and I completely agree with SynixMan. The Kindle is awesome for fun reading, but I would never put a textbook or any sort of reference material on it. It is a little difficult to quickly "flip" to where you need to go.

 

[lowflier03]

I would recommend a full tablet, especially if Apple comes out with the new rumored model go with that. I had a Kindle Fire and even that wasn't very good for reading pubs. Half the time search wouldn't work, sizing gets annoying and it has numerous wifi connectivity issues. (Without wifi it's almost useless)

 

[nugget61]

Thanks all, I was thinking the ereaders wouldn't hack it but wanted some justification for spending the extra cash.
And thank you crowbar for the pic - that is surprisingly legible, am I correct in assuming that is the DX and not the smaller brother?
As for which tablet, I really don't like apple so that's not an option, however I am going to wait until at least next week to see what Amazon is bringing to the table - the fire 2 could be a good alternative to the nexus. The 7" screen might be a tad smaller than I'd prefer for this usage, but as easy as zooming/flipping should be I don't think this will be a deal breaker.

 

[lowflier03]

Based on current issues "ignored by Amazon" with the Fire, I would wait a while before jumping on the Fire 2 and see what others experience.

 

[nugget61]

Based on current issues "ignored by Amazon" with the Fire, I would wait a while before jumping on the Fire 2 and see what others experience.

Whats that? I've not heard of any service/hardware issues with the fire. As it stands though, the 2 would have to be pretty amazing for me to take my eye off of the 7.

And in regards to the previous kindle picture, I now believe that to be the smaller 6" screen http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004HZYA6E/ref=famstripe_kk3g Pretty good resolution for that size

 

[SynixMan]

The Fire had pretty lackluster reviews and didn't do much after that. These days, the software matters almost as much as the hardware, much more so than building a PC and slapping a Windows copy on it ten years ago. The company's core competence matters. Amazon is great at getting me shit next day and server infrastructure software. Apple and the Google are software companies, so iOS and Google branded Nexus devices get software updates often, including major feature improvements, for free. Just my .02

 

[lowflier03]

Kindle Fire has numerous issues with WiFi refusing the connect to networks, refusing to connect to the internet, browser not working or being slow as shit. Poor battery life, updates not installing correctly, etc. The forums have been pretty loud about these issues since November last year and Amazon made a couple of excuses and said to wait until the next update, which was pushed in December and didn't fix anything. Oh by the way, that update in December was the last update pushed for Kindle. Thats a long time to go with known issues and no fixes or patches.

Personally I prefer a company that actually cares a bit about customer service.