Ipad vs. Nook/Kindle

[chasineyes]

In laymans terms, what is the basic difference between these two? My wife wants an Ipad but I don't seem to understand what I'm paying an extra 250$ for. It would be used to just "goof around" on the internet. Which is why I"m not in favor of buying one...

[delcecchi]

In laymans terms, what is the basic difference between these two? My wife wants an Ipad but I don't seem to understand what I'm paying an extra 250$ for. It would be used to just "goof around" on the internet. Which is why I"m not in favor of buying one...

There are tablets and there are e-readers. Some kindles and nooks are tablets like the ipad. Others are e-readers.

Here is my take.

e-readers are good for reading books and magazines. The screen is easy to see, but monochrome. The battery lasts a long time on a charge (months). They cost less.

Tablets are good for more things. Surfing the internet, read books, watch video, email, etc. Battery life much less than e-reader. Display is color.

Tablets come in bigger sizes than e-readers.

Typically neither has a keyboard, although you can attach one to a tablet.

It mostly depends on what the planned usage is. I love my kindle e-reader but a tablet would be a nice addition.

[brian6715]

With an iPad (or any Apple product) you are paying for the name. If you really want a tablet, look at the Android powered devices... they are a fraction of the price, and in 3 years you won't feel like you have to spend another $499.00 to get the newest thing that your old generation iPad didn't come with (because Androids are upgradeable and already come with everything you would need, like 4g, bluetooth, etc)

Apple is an incredible marketing machine, and if you want to stay in the Apple family you better be ready to spend.

[PierBridge]

plus 1

You can get a Android Tablet for like half the cost..... ASUS has some nice affordable units I just noticed.

[Whoaru99]

I bought my GF one of the Nook tablets for Christmas last year because her primary interest at the time was e-book reading, with playing a few games here and there. She really likes it, but now I think she uses it more as a tablet than as an e-book reader.

[delcecchi]

With an iPad (or any Apple product) you are paying for the name. If you really want a tablet, look at the Android powered devices... they are a fraction of the price, and in 3 years you won't feel like you have to spend another $499.00 to get the newest thing that your old generation iPad didn't come with (because Androids are upgradeable and already come with everything you would need, like 4g, bluetooth, etc)

Apple is an incredible marketing machine, and if you want to stay in the Apple family you better be ready to spend.

The notion that android devices are upgradable is open to some dispute, since many such devices have a whole bunch of cruft from the mfg. so you can't just go download the latest android and put it on but have to wait for the mfg.

Looks like the galaxy tab 10 16GB wifi is 349 from large online source.

Ipad 16 GB wifi second gen is 399 and third gen(retina display) is 499.

[Whoaru99]

The upgrade part is true, officially, but there is plenty of modded/unoffical stuff available for Android devices. Not sure about for Apple. Yes, I understand that most people won't pursue unoffical OS installations for their device but they're there for those that do...at least for Android which is all I can directly speak to.

[meerkat]

Take a look at Nexus 7 from Google $199 - 16GB. I bought this for my wife 4 months ago and she loves it. The smaller tablet is a perfect size for use as a reader-playing games. It does everything an Ipad will do at a fraction of the price. And since the device is from Google, the Android OS is not rooted, so the updates are automatic.

Also there are thousands of apps/games for the device at Google Play. Google voice feature makes it where typing anything on a simulated keyboard is unnecessary.

[delcecchi]

If all you want to do is read books, the basic kindle with offers, which are not annoying at all, is 69 bucks.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

If she wants a full size tablet there are many more tablet apps with an iPad. Not an issue with a 7" tablet IMO. Hard to beat the iPad 2. Check out micro center for the best deal on one.

[Whoaru99]

Arguably, but what nature of app is available for IPad that isn't for Android?

Since I bought my Galaxy Tab I haven't looked back but at the time IPad wasn't allowed to run Flash apps. Maybe it's different now?

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Good article in the tech section of USA Today online about tablets

[Dylan33]

We recently bought a Nook Color. It's a 7 inch tablet that can be used to read books/magazines, play games, surf the web, check email etc. $99. The internet is a little slower than an ipad or android tablet...The other thing to consider, is if you want to buy the data plan or not?

They all have WiFi- so you can connect to the internet at home, libraries, coffee shops etc...no internet in the car or the boat etc...Ipad and android tablets let you buy data(just like a smartphone) so you can access the internet anywhere there is a cell signal.

For what we use it for...I love the Nook.

[brian6715]

The droid app store is incredible, even the free store is good. Anyone who isn't sure about droid should just play around with one. The interface is as good as Apple's and it is just as capable, if not more.

I don't get the argument that Droids can't upgrade operating systems? My phone automatically just upgraded it's operating system just the other day, without me asking or anything. It didn't take more than a few moments and everything works just as perfect as before.

[deerminator]

Two thumbs up for the Kindle Fire HD with the 7 inch screen. I had stepped on my old kindle while it was out of the case, which is why I upgraded. Left it by the side of the bed that way.

It is what it is, though, a media consuming device. It is not an iPad and is nowhere near as functional as that or another android-based tablet.

I read and listen to books on it. It also allows me to surf the web and use Facebook and Twitter - and view and post on the forums here. You can subscribe to magazines and newspapers too. I did a trial of F&S, Bowhunting, Deer and Deer Hunting, etc., and that's really cool. You can page through the magazine and double point to a page and it pops-up with just the article text in a very readable format.

I signed up for Amazon Prime and for $70+ a year it gives you the ability to watch TV and movies as you can with the online version of nextflix and with an hmdi cable, watch them on the big screen. On the device itself, the screen image and audio is much better than watching the same thing on our iPad. That's great for business travel and sitting on the plane - or in the fish house when things are slow! You also get one free book a month to borrow and free two day shipping on Prime merchandise. So if you use Amazon and read a lot, it works out well.

Bottom line, I like my Kindle Fire HD as a media consuming device. It was only $200 and we didn't need to spend $300 more on another iPad.

[bobbymalone]

both apple and android update their OS and new versions can be installed on your device.... Not sure what you guys are talking about. Neither one of those things is upgradeable as far as hardware goes.

As far the OP goes... Buy your wife what she wants and thank me later.

[Whoaru99]

both apple and android update their OS and new versions can be installed on your device.... Not sure what you guys are talking about.

What we're talking about is you get it on the MFGs schedule of when they release it, if they release it for your device, and when they or your service provider push it.

Meaning, it's not like you can just go buy a generic copy of OS and just intall it on (more or less) whatever you happen to have around (unless you are going to root the device and run hacked/modded OS and likely lose some functionality)...like you can pretty much do with your regular computer OSes.

[bobbymalone]

What we're talking about is you get it on the MFGs schedule of when they release it, if they release it for your device, and when they or your service provider push it.

Meh. it's more or less the same thing, except apple likes a tighter grip on your balls.

[Whoaru99]

I disagree. I got one OS update on my Android device from Honeycomb(?) to Ice Cream Sandwich, about the time Jelly Bean was going out. I don't expect I'll ever see Jelly Bean as an official update. If I want that almost certainly I'll have to root the device, use special boot loader, and put in some hacked version that will work but not be fully compatible with everything. Big difference vs. a typical computer OS situation.

[upnorth]

Often the Droid OS(a tweaked Linux Kernel) is pretty customized to a device and wireless vendor.

[bobbymalone]

I disagree. I got one OS update on my Android device from Honeycomb(?) to Ice Cream Sandwich, about the time Jelly Bean was going out. I don't expect I'll ever see Jelly Bean as an official update. If I want that almost certainly I'll have to root the device, use special boot loader, and put in some hacked version that will work but not be fully compatible with everything. Big difference vs. a typical computer OS situation.

my phone is rooted, runs a custom OS rom, everything works (better), and I don't have t-mobile's garbage all over my phone. individual results may vary.

[aanderud]

Before I'd buy any kindle fire I'd buy a google nexus 7. Not trying to rip on amazon -- they're my favorite internet vendor by far. I have a black-and-white kindle that I use almost daily. I have amazon prime and shop there all the time. I just think that having a stripped down android, with their stripped down app store (with very limited app selection compared to the normal google app store that every other android tablet has), is silly. They aren't giving enough of a "discount" on the device to have it crippled and tied so strictly to amazon like that. If I got a kindle fire (or fire hd), the first thing I'd do is strip off the OS and put on stock android. At that point I might as well have just gotten the google nexus 7. You can install the kindle e-reader app on any android device. You can watch amazon prime videos on stock android. There's really not much you can't do with stock android.

[fishingstar]

My wife is looking into getting a google t03 by android. It new but older how out of date is the tecknology on this. Will she have the same problem with it as she has wiyh a older ipad touch

[delcecchi]

My wife is looking into getting a google t03 by android. It new but older how out of date is the tecknology on this. Will she have the same problem with it as she has wiyh a older ipad touch

What problem is she having with the ipod touch? You did mean ipod, not ipad touch, right?

[fishingstar]

Yes it is a ipod not a ipad.

Dan