Amazon Kindle or Barnes and Nobles?

Kindle also has a new reader out that is more like the Nook. It is called Kindle Fire. Look it up if you are considering the Nook as those two are competitors now and the early reports lean towards the Fire as being fantastic. It starts, I think, at $199.

As far as you not wanting her to have internet access on the device, that pretty much eliminates the ipod touch, the Nook AND the Kindle Fire. A "plain" kindle (what I have) CAN access the internet, but it is too much of a bother to bother. And you don't have full capabilities--no gaming on the net.

As a simple reader device (not internet browsing, game playing, etc) it is WONDERFUL. I LOVE mine. We are big readers too, and I am always looking online for new books. There is actually a site devoted to providing links to free kindle books (not the old, out of copyright books either)... new books and authors. I get at least one link for a FREE book every day, and often suggestions for the .99 or 1.99 books also. I also keep a copy of the Bible on mine. And a Dictionary. And ..............
As far as text books for college, a Kindle (regular anyway) is so NOT what she'll need. Honestly, I wouldn't think much of anything (tech wise) you could buy her today would be of a lot of value to her by the time she reaches college. That is still 4 years away... technology changes SO FAST. That just wouldn't be where I was directing my criteria for choosing her Christmas gift(s). Not yet.

The original Kindle is not backlit. It is JUST LIKE reading from a book. The Nook IS backlit, and can make your eyes tired... just like my computer does when I sit here too long. Also, if she is going to be reading in the car at night, for example, a backlit device creates a LOT of brightness inside the car... A Kindle has no light, so you just use a regular old booklight and then you can direct where the light goes. :)

hth

2 moms found this helpful

Definitely a Nook! I have one, so does my grandma, and one of my SILs. None of us have had any issues with them... But my other SIL has a kindle and has had nothing but problems. First the thing would freeze on one page, needing to be rebooted every couple of times she wanted to read. THEN the darn thing wouldn't turn on at all, so she had to exchange it for a different one. Then the new one would have issues downloading and charging. She finally got fed up and got a nook, and hasn't had any issues with it.

2 moms found this helpful

I LOOOOOOVE my Nook Color. I can read both books and magazines on it, which is exactly why I got it. I can also borrow ebooks from my local library and download them onto my Nook. I've heard that the screen on the Kindle is kinder on the eyes for reading books, but I really wanted to be able to read magazines in color also. I actually have heard of people having both a Nook Color AND a Kindle! But my vote is for Nook.

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Kindle.
Oh I see this is going to be a very divided forum. haha My daughter loves her Kindle.
It syncs with Amazon.
It goes where she goes, and keeps her out of our hair.

Oh and when she goes to college there will be something better out.

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I LOVE my nookcolor.
It goes EVERYWHERE with me.
and there are free books every friday.

1 mom found this helpful

Kindle, Kindle, Kindle!

I bought a refurbished Pandigital Multi-Media Reader (for $60 from 1saleaday), which uses B&N and was disappointed in the B&N selections/prices (only 2 books under $9). I now have an Android phone, which has Kindle on it, and I'm reading tons of books for free or priced under $3. I only know one person with a Nook Color and she loves it. Good luck!

My sister and mom both have the kindle and like it. I know they have gotten books for free to put on it.

I have an iPhone and the kindle app and I LOVE it! My dad has a regular Kindle and he uses it all the time! It is extremely easy to download books and they are a lot more reasonable than buying paper books in the store. I don't know much about the Nook, but Kindle is awesome!

I have a sony touch e-reader and LOVE that baby. The reason I liked it better after all the research I did on e-readers is it reads more formats without haveing to convert the files (I think amazon charges to convert files to their format, not sure about b&n on that aspect). The other thing I liked about the sony over the other two was the ability to add more memory with an SD card (memory card) which opens up how many books I can store on the reader, as well as always having access to my books. The sony won't of course read the amazon or b&n format books, however I prefer to have the option of looking around at more e-book stores without having to worry about having to convert the files.

the only thing I would change about my e-reader ... I would have gotten the wifi version. Otherwise I LOVE my sony.

Oh and the final perk of the sony over ALL other e-readers ... author's can SIGN your e-books on it. something that can't be done on any of the others.

Love my Kindle, only 1 problem in going on 3 years now. My original Kindle had to be replaced and Amazon did it for no charge and had the replacement in my hands in less than 48 hours!
There are thousands of free books to download. Thousands more for less than $5. The library has just arrived!
I prefer the book style reading. I find the back lighting of my computer so tiring on my eyes.
Last year I bought kindles for our adult children for Christmas. It has been smooth reading for all! We are a family of book-o-holics and our kindles get used extensively!

Kindle!

I have had the WORST customer service experience with the Nook tech support (phone and email) when I tried it. I would not ever recommend another B&N product to anyone!

I have been an Amazon customer for years and years and never had a bad experience with them.

Good luck!

If you want it to last long enough for college, get the Nook Color so that you can use their textbooks. Their textbooks are AWESOME.

id get the sony e reader personally thats what i have and with this you can get books from their store OR from your local library online with their digital downloads that most of them have and i dont think either one of those have the library option

I have a kindle and love it. When I bought it, I googled reviews and recommendations, and all the articles that compared e-readers said to go with the Kindle, so I did.

The new Kindle price is terrific, and I might get one for my son.

I really like my Nook and have never had customer service problems with BN. My mom likes her Kindle and has also had good luck with Amazon customer service. To clarify a few things other posters have said--Nook does have library access and that's why my husband chose it for me instead of the Kindle. The Kindle is just starting to have library access also. The Nook is NOT backlit, at least not the "regular" one. Maybe the Nook Color is, I don't know. Whichever you choose, I would spend a little extra to get the version that allows you to download books wherever there is cell phone service. The cheaper versions require you to be online to download, which I would find very inconvenient. I've read that neither Kindle or Nook is currently popular with college students for textbook use, but that could change in the 4 years or so before your daughter goes to college. I'm sure technology will have advanced so much by then that she would need a new device for textbooks at that point anyhow.

Oh, based on personal experience, the Nook seems a little sturdier than the Kindle. Amazon has replaced my mom's Kindle twice because she dropped it and it broke. She is very lucky they did that for her, but they did. She says she didn't drop it very hard or far and that it had a protective cover, but both times it broke. My Nook is also in a protective leather cover, I have also dropped it accidentally a few times and haven't had any problems with it, knock on wood.

I know people who have the Kindle, or the Nook.
All of them like, what they bought and are loyal to it.

It is an expensive gift... so make sure, you know your daughter will like it and not lose it and that it will not get stolen?

I used to rec the Nook, only because you could do library books as well. Now the Kindle can too! If I had to do it again, I'd get a Kindle, now that you can do library books, only because they have more of a selection. (I've only bought 3 books for my Nook, and they were Doctor Who, and I had to buy them from the Kobo site and "sideload" them to my Nook, because B&N doesn't sell them for some reason, but Amazon has them). The newer Nooks look pretty cool, though.

I have a Kindle and I LOVE it. Amazon also has a huge list of books that are FREE to download to your Kindle.

I agree I love my Nook Color! And now you can put games on it. And it's way better for magazines because it's color. They are more then the kindle at 249$ but well worth it. As far as one poster said it can make eyes tired I don't have that problem and I have read for hrs on end!