Should I buy the Kindle Fire, iPad or Nook Tablet
By SimeyC
The Tablet market is getting hotter!
The Tablet market recently got hotter with the introduction of the Kindle Fire. With a link to the Amazon book store it is being billed as a worthy opponent to the Apple iPad, and the biggest question this Christmas will be ‘Should I get a Kindle Fire or Apple iPad’.
Barnes and Noble will of course want to get in the picture as their Nook Tablet is also a neat little gadget that will compete well in the tablet arena. Both the Kindle Fire and Nook Tabletare designed for the multimedia market – this incorporates music, streaming movies and the iPad’s biggest advantage Apps and Games – of course all three are pretty decent eReaders too!
**Update: Microsoft have just announced a multi-million dollar investment in the Nook - with Windows 8 aimed at the Tablet market this could change the face of the Tablet market and potentially setup the Tablet world for a competition between Microsoft and Apple.
Which Tablet will you buy? (or do you own?)
See results without voting | if you're looking for a decent Tablet with access to a huge bookstore and the ability to play other media, then the Nook Color is a very good gadget. Amazon Price: $159.99 List Price: $249.00 |
 | Similar to the Nook Color, the advantage that the Kindle Fire has is that Amazon Prime users can stream thousands of movies and TV shows for free. Amazon Price: $199.00 |
So should I buy a Nook Tablet, a Kindle Fire or an Apple iPad?
That really depends on what you are looking for.
- If you are looking for music, movies and books then all of the tablets are about the same, providing a similar experience, and a wide range of multimedia products.
- If you are looking for the most powerful machine then the iPad wins hands down.
- If you are looking for the most Apps then again the iPad wins hands down – although both the Kindle Fire and Nook will catch up eventually – the iPad simply has a 500,000 App lead at the moment!
- If you are looking for value, then you’ll probably choose between the Kindle Fire and the Nook, and this basically comes down to preference of company – both tablets offer similar experiences, use a customized version of Android and essentially are not that much different. Perhaps the biggest pull for Amazon, making it the best value is the inclusion of the streaming movies in Amazon Prime – if you already use Amazon a lot, then Amazon Prime will not only reduce your mailing fees (for an $80 annual fee) but it will also allow you to stream thousands of movies for free.
The market seems to be boiling down to these three tablets as no other company seems to have gained any traction – HP and Dell have failed with their attempts, and it seems that retail stores seem better qualified to design a consumer tablet.
I expect that there is room in the market for all three, but feel that the market will be mostly shared between Apple and Amazon – for me I’m going for the Kindle Fire as it does everything I need it to do – I simply don’t need the power of the iPad and 500,000 Apps.
The table below highlights the key technical specs of each tablet:
Kindle Fire
| iPad 2
| Nook Color
| Nook Tablet
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Price
| $199
| $499+
| $199
| $249
|
Number of Apps
| 17,000
| 500,000
| 800
| 'Thousands'
|
Screen Size (inches)
| 7
| 9.7
| 7
| 7
|
Resolution
| 1024x600
| 1024x768
| 1024x600
| 1024x600
|
Size
| 7.5x4.7x0.45
| 9.5x7.31x0.34
| 8.1x5.0x.48
| 8.10 x 5.00 x 0.48
|
Weight
| 14.6oz
| 1.33 lbs
| 15.8oz
| 14.10 oz
|
OS
| Android
| iOS
| Android
| Android
|
Memory
| 8GB
| 16+GB
| 8GB
| 16GB
|
Expandable?
| no
| no
| SD Cards
| micro SD
|
3G
| No
| Optional
| No
| no
|
Wi-Fi
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
|
Processor
| Dual Core TI OMAP 4
| Dual Core A5
| Cortex A8
| Dual core, 1000 MHz, TI OMAP4
|
Bluetooth
| No
| Yes
| No
| No
|
Camera
| No
| Back and front
| No
| No
|
GPS
| No
| 3G only
| No
| No
|
Browser
| Amazon Silk
| Safari
| Android
| Android
|
Battery life
| 8 hrs
| 7.3 hrs
| 8.0 hrs
| 9-11 hrs
|
Comments
I read an article on Wednesday about Amazon profits being below expectation last quarter. In that article they talked about the Fire and market expectations. They are selling the Fire at a $10 loss! Apple would never do that! The strategy is volume in order to make up for the loss they expect to sell more digital content which has huge margins. We'll see how that works out for them. I expect the Fire to sell well, but it certainly won't be an iPad killer. Amazon is a distribution company not really a technical innovator, but the Fire and Nook seem to have carved out a very niche niche. Nice article, definetly worth the read.
Kindle fire is the best I have ever seen. Although it does not have many features like the iPad, it is the best. Nice hub! Keep up the effort!
Xenonlit 6 months ago
Great hub! I hate to have to compare features that I will never use and will probably go for a Kindle Fire. I wish I could get 4G without having to sell a kidney, though.
Thanks for clear and helpful info!