BUFFALO, NY - It's my most commonly-asked question this holiday season: "Should I buy the Kindle Fire or the Nook Tablet."
The last time I wrote an overly technical review, I received hate email. So today I'd like to outline the pros and cons of each device.
As usual, I'll be sending out deals after today's show via Twitter. CLICK HERE
If this is too over-simplified for you, there are plenty of other reviews online that can certainly assist. For a lot of you more savvy viewers, you probably already know all about the technical aspects of these devices already.
This review will be far more practical, describing the end user's experience.
I'd like to start off by saying that both the Amazon Kindle Fire (released earlier this week) and the Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet (releasing tomorrow) are the first two tablets to seriously challenge the iPad.
Unlike the iPad, they don't have cameras, are Wi-Fi only devices, have a smaller display, but also cost a lot less.
At the end of the day, as a tech geek, my pick is the Nook Tablet, but obviously this is a personal preference and there are great reasons to buy either device.
First, here are the similarities:
Both the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet are virtually identical when it comes to performance specs. They both run on Google's Android operating system (the same stuff runs on a lot of new smartphones), but have their own app stores rather than sending you to the Android Marketplace like other tablets do.
Both have very few buttons and sport high resolution screens, which translate to sharper images and fairly straight-forward operation.
Other reviewers have found the Fire's screen to be harder to see outside because of how reflective the screen is. I myself have not noticed a difference.
Now for the differences:
At $199, the Kindle Fire operates on the premise that many of us will store our music and files in the cloud. I love Amazon's cloud-based storage.
For those who only know clouds as something you want Andy to keep out of the forecast, the computer cloud simply means you store your files online instead of keeping them on your device. This has it's own set of pros and cons, but that's for another day...
For those of us that don't have constant access to wireless Internet, there is some picking and choosing required on your part -- specifically, what to store on the Kindle Fire's 8 gigabytes of built-in storage.
For those who have emailed me asking not to be so technical, CLICK HERE for better idea of how much a gigabyte is in real-world applications.
At $50 more, the Nook Tablet has double the storage capacity, which is also expandable. It also has at least a thousand more apps than the Kindle Fire at the moment.
I should also mention that for Barnes & Noble members, the Nook's pre-order availability of $224 made the price easier to stomach.
You also get free service and support at Barnes & Noble local retail locations and the battery is better on the Nook Tablet.
Although the Nook Tablet weighs less, its dimensions make the Kindle Fire slightly more pocket-friendly (width-wise) I'd say that both devices, however, are optimized for portability.
It came down to the following for me, and of course, there are plenty of reasons to get either device. I just find the Nook Tablet has more benefits, despite the slightly higher price.
KINDLE FIRE BENEFITS
• $50 cheaper
• Access to Amazon cloud drive
• Fits a bit better into pocket
• Has built-in music store
NOOK TABLET BENEFITS
• Double the storage (compared to the Kindle Fire), also expandable via SD slot
• Has a built-in microphone, something parents can use to record their voices for children's book reading
• 1000+ more apps than the Kindle
• Longer battery life (by almost 3 hours)
• Slightly lighter
• Free in-store support
Again, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Do you plan on buying one? Do you already own the Kindle Fire?
On a side note, we're just 4 days away from kicking off the most comprehensive Black Friday coverage in the country. I can't wait to share that with you.
We receive absolutely no financial compensation for mentioning any company, product, or deal. The purpose of this segment is to find great deals -- that's it.
WGRZ