Nook Tablet or Kindle Fire

[David Cramer]

On their site it is $499 and they don't have one in my state.

Yes their site says $499 Brent, but as I said, it's a sale, not their regular price (hence the percentage off) and that they are not in all states. Everything in the store is 15% off when they have a "15% off everything sale", not specifically just Ipod2's so they don't list them separately.

In addition, there is 10% more for opening a credit card on the spot. From my knowledge, the Apple Store doesn't sell them that low and never has.

My post was intended for anyone who has a Meijer's in their state Brent, not for those who don't as it will do them no good (unless they know someone who can mail it as they would still be well ahead of the game financially with the savings).

I was simply "trying" to share some good news with my fellow creekers who "have" a Meijer Store nearby but had no knowledge that they could save so much, even on Apple products. Our child, her friends, and their parents live here and they had no clue that Apple products were also included with the Meijer occasional 15% off sale....until we told them.

David

[Jim Becker]

B&H Photo also sells Apple products at "very attractive" prices...sometimes less than corporate and educational discounts from Apple.

[Jim N Burke]

My wife has a nook color and loves it for reading. She used it occasionally for browsing and email but it is not very good at that. The Tablet has a better ability to do more web related things but it is still only a 7" screen (as is the Fire). She also has am ASUS Transformer with the keyboard dock. This is a nice combination because you get a 10" tablet plus a keyboard with touchpad AND extra battery. I have three of these at work that our member relations people take instead of laptops for working with our members. Combined with Dropbox they can carry their presentations and have an instant-on system.

I have a Motorola Xoom (10") that I use for general internet use (mail/browsing). I use the Nook app for ebooks and probably do about 1/2 of my reading on it. The Xoom is not the best for this because it is fairly heavy. The Transformer is better but still heavier (as is the iPad) than any of Kindles or Nooks. If you want mainly reading, with some internet use, go with either of them.

The keyboard dock gives you a hybrid that works like a netbook. If you want to do any kind of writing on it, this is a big plus. I have a bluetooth keyboard for my Xoom but it is not a slick as the ASUS system.

Neither the Kindle Fire nor the Nook Color is going to give the real estate on the screen that a 10" Android or an iPad will have. Although both talk about watching movies on, I'm not certain that anyone will do this after the initial novelty of it wears off - but that may just be my 56 year old eyes speaking.

My ambivalence about both the Kindle and iPad is that, while the hardware and interface is good (or superior for Apple) you are locked into their "walled gardens" for all apps and media.

On my Xoom I have both the Kindle app and the Nook app. I buy MP3s from both Amazon and Google. I can buy DRM-Free (no copy-protection) epub format ebooks from O'Reilly (computer related) or Baen (science fiction) and read them with the Nook app. I buy MP3s from Amazon and Google and have ripped my vinyl and CDs and play them on it. This will hold for most Android devices.

Just my couple of pennies.

Jim