Nook, Kindle or iPad?
Stuck on what to give that special someone this year? Consider a tablet. Almost one in
five people are planning on giving an iPad, according to a Consumer Reports' holiday
survey. But two new tablets from Amazon and Barnes and Noble are giving the iPad
serious competition.
Barnes and Noble is known for its e-book readers, but the latest offering, the Nook
Tablet, is its first foray into the world of tablet computers. And Amazon, which also has a
successful line of e-book readers, announced its first tablet with much fanfare. It's called
Kindle Fire.
The iPad is still the tablet to beat, dominating sales with more than two thirds of the
market. Consumer Reports tested the Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet along with more
than 20 others.
The Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet are much lower priced than the iPad but they're
also more limited in what they can do. And the screens are about 3 inches smaller.
Consumer Reports tests show both tablets do have very good screen quality and they
make it easy to get to a web browser, e-mail and other content.
So what are the differences? The $250 Nook Tablet offers access to the Barnes and
Noble store. It also has 16 gigs of capacity and a memory card slot. The $200 Kindle
Fire only has 8 gigs of storage, but you can upload your content to the Amazon cloud
for streaming to the device, so storage is less of an issue. And a real plus is the Fire
gives you access to all your Amazon content.
Up until now, lower-priced tablet computers have been pretty unimpressive in
Consumer Reports tests. These are the first models to give the iPad some serious
competition. But the iPad is still the best option for those looking for the full tablet
experience. It's pricey, starting at $500, but the big screen is great for movies and
games. It also has a camera. And the 32-gig iPad 2 with WiFi and 3G is Consumer
Reports top-rated tablet.
When it comes to content for the Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet, both have a
proprietary app store. While these stores have fewer apps than you'll find on iTunes or
in the Android market, there are still several thousand apps available in both, including
a wide variety of magazines and newspapers as well as popular games such as Angry
Birds.
Complete Ratings and recommendations on all kinds of products, including appliances,
cars & trucks, and electronic gear, are available on Consumer Reports’ website.
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