Sweet Greggo wrote:
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 :/
I played with the $250 Nook and $200 Fire and they're both pretty nice. I was gonna buy the Nook but no one has them which was kind of a good thing since it gave me to time to research. I like the touch-screen vs the buttons on the side that the less expensive e-readers have and the ability to read magazines in kick-ass color (I can get my Golf Digest on them) is pretty cool. With the e-reader wars begun they have, I too think Amazon will win out. I think the Nook is a better piece of hardware but investment wise the Fire will last a lot longer. And yeah I have a touch pad but it's already gathering dust somewhere. I have a computer and an iphone. I don't need something in between. Craig is right. The ipad will pass.