ktmrfs
Portland, Oregon
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Joined: 06/22/2005
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I have a kindle fire, got it for xmas from DW. For what I want I'm extremely satisfied. It's NOT a tablet. But what it does do it does well. The only complaint I have is the location of the on/off switch is such that occasionally I hit the power button when reading. At least it asks if I want to power down.
things I like
1) color display with user selectable fonts and text/background color. For me this is extremely important. I've had 3 eye surgeries for detached retina in my right eye, and the resulting vision in that eye has distortion. It can make reading certain fonts/colors etc difficult. I was able to find a text/backgrond color that is easy to read.
2) I wanted to be able to get email, search web, have app's like WSJ, CNN, BBC, weather, mapquest etc and found many I wanted
3) I have a phone with hotspot and wireless at home so the WIFI only isn't a drawback.
4) Battery life is more than adequate for my use. Have yet to have the battery go dead in less than a day, which is fine for me
5) Nice educational games available for granddaughter to play
6) So far it is readable in bright sunlight, something I was worried about.
7) our local library now has downloadable books avaiable for the kindle, Kindle was late to the game for this feature, but now it's available.
8) On suprise was the kindle daily deal on books. Really didn't expect much, but in reality have found several books at good prices that I wanted.
9) Amazon does have a good assortment of videos available for download.
10) We did go for the Prime service, is nice for the free book loans and free 2 day shipping on other stuff we buy.
11) DW, Daughter and I are all on the same account so it makes it a really nice way to share books and saves money on books.
Kindle fire does weigh more than a regular kindle, but for me the weight isn't an issue at all.
2011 Keystone Outback 295RE
2004 14' bikehauler with full living quarters
2004.5 Silverado 4x4 CC/SB Duramax/Allison
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travel4family
Ohio
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Joined: 01/24/2012
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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, which means if it gets stolen, or let your three-year-old nephew play on it, they can buy whatever they want on your credit card at Amazon. Has happened to some of the ones listed to the tune of a few thousand dollars - because you can order anything, not just books like the old style Kindles.
- The Kindle has cloud storage - which is great if you always have internet access. But if I'm on a plane or campground and don't want to pay for access I don't have access to my cloud. that won't matter unless you want to add movies or music (both hold a ton of book files) but the Nook has room for an SD card, and I like the option if I want to take movies on a long trip in the car for example for the kids (don't tell them I might let them use it :-)
-I really wanted to go with Kindle because I have Amazon Prime and it seems like I should "match that up" to have access to all the streaming content (movies, tv, etc) But in the end I decided maybe I'd drop Amazon Prime and go to Netflix. THEN I got the Nook and realized I can still stream all the Amazon Prime stuff, so I was quite happy about that!
-One downside I've hit - if you have a subscription to Audible for audio books and want to put them on your Nook - it's s real pain. You have to convert everything in several steps. Turns out Audible is owned by - you guess it - Amazon. so they'll never make that easy! (I don't have Audible, except someone gave me three months free and I realized the incompatibility).
-computer geeks in reviews said that Nook's platform is better, more expandable etc, in the long run than Kindle's
-I played with both in store and didn't find either one to be 'better' in feel. They're different but you get used to whichever. Best Buy carries both so you can go there and get a feel for them, although it's pretty limited with sample books they have. I know many friends who got the Fire for Cmas and seem happy.
-The Kindle is cheaper!
-when I compared book prices, it was hit and miss on both sides. Kindle offers some borrowing program (I didnt' read much on it) for certain best sellers for two weeks. Both have a lot of the classics for free all the time. Last I looked there were about 7000 free books for the Nook - no idea what Amazon offers but I'm sure they have a lot too. Nook has a free book every Friday, and has "deals" every day. Usually something "newer" that's only $1.99-3.99 for what is normally a $15-20 book.
I should note that I'm comparing the Kindle Fire ($200) to the Nook Tablet ($250).
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levendoski
the villages, florida
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Joined: 12/10/2001
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Nook has free support at Barnes/Noble stores plus classes twice a week on how to operate it...a month ago, they updated the software in my Nook Color at no charge, a big improvement...their customer relations are excellent.
THE HAPPY VILLAGERS
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5thwheeleroldman
Texas
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Joined: 06/26/2007
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Suggest you go on Amazon and see if the books you like to read are available on Kindle, or Nook. I was about to buy a Kindle and backed out after I found that most of the old science fiction, adventure and westerns I read were not available. You can get all the new books, but I don't usually read them.
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magicbus
LBI, NJ or Nantucket, MA
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Joined: 06/16/2002
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5thwheeleroldman wrote:Suggest you go on Amazon and see if the books you like to read are available on Kindle, or Nook. I was about to buy a Kindle and backed out after I found that most of the old science fiction, adventure and westerns I read were not available. You can get all the new books, but I don't usually read them. You must have not checked Gutenberg.com or the library. I'm just about to start Zane Grey Westerns from Gutenberg.
Dave
Our new RV... the adventure continues.
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Gonecamping444
MI
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Joined: 04/03/2005
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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
* This post was
edited 02/05/12 07:00am by Gonecamping444 *
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ReadyToGo
Minnesota
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Joined: 11/17/2002
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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.
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brobox
Sunny SW. Florida
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Joined: 11/18/2003
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ReadyToGo,
"I go to two sources for my Kindle books which have over 400 free books available NEW each day"
Where might the rest of us find those sites? Thanks
Chuck
02 Travel Supreme, 2 street side slides
09 Toyota Tacoma 2WD
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Pawz4me
North Carolina
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Joined: 06/05/2007
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Two sources that list free Kindle books:
Clicky
Clicky
And the Kindle daily deal from Amazon (reduced price, not free) -- Clicky
Me and the DH 
Two boys and two dogs (and two cats who prefer to stay home)
2008 Forest River Georgetown 350DS (bunkhouse model)
2001 Honda CR-V
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MNtundraRet
Bloomington, MN
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Joined: 12/06/2007
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Quote:"You must have not checked Gutenberg.com or the library. I'm just about to start Zane Grey Westerns from Gutenberg."
Dave
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You missed out Dave. My mother died in October 2010. She had the complete set of the Zane Grey novels. I donated them to the Hennepin Co. library in Minnesota.
Mark
Mark & Jan "Old age & treachery win over youth & enthusiasm"
2003 Fleetwood Jamboree 29
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