Each year competition seems to get a bit thicker. Correction, it seems like every month maybe? It’s difficult to keep track of what products are out there because it seems like every month there’s a new product on the market that claims to be better than Apple’s iPad Tablet. But are they better? Better priced maybe but who can beat Apple’s popularity and dedicated (crazed) followers?
From the very beginning Apple has been on top of the ebook handheld reader game. In sales and popularity, it’s undeniable just how popular the iPad has become, but is it possible to surpass it’s success? The world’s two biggest booksellers think so.. or at least they haven’t given up yet.
Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet and Amazon’s new Kindle Fire are great contenders as low-cost alternatives to the ever-popular, and expensive, Apple iPad tablet. Both competitors have a 7″ display and perform the same tasks as the iPad, but will it be enough to persuade Apple fans to switch to the dark side?
The Kindle Fire is $199 and sold directly from Amazon. The Nook Tablet is slightly higher in price at $249 and sold on the Barnes & Noble website (soon to be sold in stores as well). These two heavy contenders are priced well against Apple’s hefty $499 price tag.
Specs
Size
Kindle Fire: 7.5″ x 4.7″ x .45″, weighing 14.6 oz
Nook Tablet: 8.1″ x 5″ x .48″, weighing 14.1 oz
Data
Both are wifi-only devices
Processors
Kindle Fire: 1GHz OMAP4 processor with 512MB of RAM
Nook Tablet: 1.2GHz OMAP4 processor with 1GB of RAM
Battery Life
Kindle Fire: 7.5 hours of video playback on a single charge
Nook Tablet: 9 hours of video playback, 11 hours of reading time on a single charge
Memory
Kindle Fire: 8GB
Nook Tablet: 16GB plus an SD memory card slot
Who will win?
A close look at the specs of each model shows that the Nook is slight advantaged over the Fire because of it’s larger size and faster speeds.. but will it succeed as the iPad alternative? Only time will tell.
Back to eBook Handheld Reader.
