The wife wants an e-reader for Christmas and doesn't want an ipad. She wants a Nook or a Kindle. I went to Best Buy and looked at both of them and they both look solid. They're both essentially a mini-tablet with each having a web browser and ability to play movies and what not. All she wants to do is read books. She doesn't want to store pictures on it, buy music for it, or anything that would require large storage capacity. Just read books and occasionally facebook.

Has anyone had any experience with either e-reader?

If she is anything like her sister, and I believe she is considering they have periods at the same time, she will read 2 books and it will sit on the dresser until you decide to dust it off and read Bob Sturm's Mavericks book.

I have a Nook Color (the older one) and love it. However there are several things to consider:

1. What ecosystem do you want to be in? There is Amazon and there is Barns and Noble. Both have an app for Android, so you don't necessarily have to have a Fire or Nook Color, just a generic Android tablet will do. There are also apps for Android phones and the iPhone, plus you can read on your laptop. Everything syncs together. It should be noted that as of right now there are a lot more books available through Amazon. Your wife should check and make sure with store has the books she likes.

2. Price. The Fire is $200 while the (new) Nook Color is $250. If you're going to spend the extra $50 then you'll really want to make sure the form factor and user experience is worth it. Check some online reviews and video reviews to see both in action.

3. If all she wants to do is read books, NOTHING ELSE, then get her an actual e-reader. They are a LOT lighter and they last for weeks in between charges. Plus they're super portable. Most likely she can slip one in her purse with plenty of room left over. The new Nook is absolutely fantastic. It's got a beveled no slip back that makes it super comfy to hold and the "flashing" during screen refresh is kept to a minimum. It's pretty compact as well. The Kindle is nice, too, and right now you can get one for $80 <-- CHEAP.

As I said, I have the original Nook Color and love it. However if I were to buy either the new Nook Color or the Kindle Fire today I'd lean toward the Fire. Not only do they have more books but they're app selection is larger and to top it off it's $50 cheaper! Plus I think Amazon is going to outlast Barnes and Noble.

BTW, you mentioned you have a TouchPad... dust that sucker off, there is a Kindle app for it. Although it's so heavy it's hard to hold it long enough to read on it :/

The wife wants an e-reader for Christmas and doesn't want an ipad. She wants a Nook or a Kindle. I went to Best Buy and looked at both of them and they both look solid. They're both essentially a mini-tablet with each having a web browser and ability to play movies and what not. All she wants to do is read books. She doesn't want to store pictures on it, buy music for it, or anything that would require large storage capacity. Just read books and occasionally facebook.

Has anyone had any experience with either e-reader?

colored kindle

If she is anything like her sister, and I believe she is considering they have periods at the same time, she will read 2 books and it will sit on the dresser until you decide to dust it off and read Bob Sturm's Mavericks book.

Every year I tell the parents not to get anything for me for Christmas but every year they do. Got a Kindle this year. Well, really a Nook but I exchanged it and just finished Sturm's littly Mavvy book. Not a bad read. Look out Mike Lupica.

Eff Apple.

I'm not phone nerd but I dig my droid. I've seen what the iphone can do and I just plain like the droid better. So there.