Archive for the ‘Consumer Electronics’ Category:
eBooks: Barnes and Noble Nook
After my last post regarding the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader, one of my Facebook friends asked:
“Isnt there a thing called the Nook or something that downloads books from the library?”
The answer is a big “Yes” and a little “No”.
Yes, there is a thing called the Nook, and its the ebook reader from Barnes and Noble, but the only library it downloads from is from Barnes and Noble’s catalog of books. Though if you think “free” when you think “library” then you could say “yes” because the Nook has over 500,000 free ebooks available to it, while the Amazon Kindle doesn’t. The nook retails at Barnes and Noble for $259.
Lending
One interesting feature of the Nook is its ability to allow you to lend select ebooks to friends for free for 14 days. They don’t even need a Nook themselves. All they need is an app they can install on their PC or Mac or their iPhone. Soon they’ll also be able to loan their books to Blackberry, Android, and Windows Mobile smartphones, too.
(I do find it strange that there is no Android app yet because the Nook runs on the Android operating system. Is it possible Barnes and Noble will forge some sort of alliance with Google, the provider of the Android OS?)
Expandable Memory
Another plus for the Nook is its expandable memory using MicroSD or MicroSD HC cards. The Kindle only has internal memory, and you can’t swap memory chips with books on them as you can with the Nook.
Color Nav Screen and WiFi
The Nook also has a separate color touchscreen for navigation, unlike the Kindle with its pure grayscale screen. It also has WiFi and 3G wireless, while the Kindle only has 3G. The plus here is you can access WiFi in the Barnes and Noble stores, and elsewhere, and browse and download content in your local bookstore. I suppose if you can access WiFi elsewhere, the you can probably download content there as well.
Subscribe to the comments for this postebooks: Amazon’s Kindle or Sony Reader
Today, I am starting a series on ebooks and the digital readers. Maybe you didn’t notice, but there was a big jump in the e-book market last month.
Though e-book “readers” have been around for over 5 years already, they didn’t start to click with the public until the Sony Reader and the Amazon Kindle entered the scene.
Sony Pocket
Kindle (6 inch)
There’s no doubt the Kindle is well known, but the Sony Reader is far and away my favorite. The latest and least expensive reader from Amazon is the Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6″ Display and Global Wireless)
Amazon only has one other Kindle to choose, and that’s the Kindle DX (with a 9.4 inch display)
Sony has two other models to choose from: The Sony Reader Touch Edition (PRS600RC)
The Sony Daily Edition is the only Sony model that has wireless capability like either Amazon Kindle device.
While wireless capability in either device is convenient for the sake of downloading books on the go, and there is no need to worry about the added expense of paying for 3G wireless service from AT&T since Amazon foots the bill for you. The device comes preconfigured.
Both the Sony and Amazon devices allow you to download ebooks from a PC or Mac with a USB cable.
The pros and cons come in with your choice of sources for getting books for your reader. The Amazon Kindle only works with Amazon, while the Sony Readers can get books from any of a dozen or more ebook sites such as www.ebooks.com, www.kobobooks.com (partnered with Borders Books), www.gutenberg.org, Sony’s Ebookstore, and the Google Library, to name a few, not to mention several free ebook sources, too.
I’ll have more information on the ebook readers and ebooks in the days ahead.
Black Friday at TigerDirect
The day has come. Black Friday. The biggest retail sale day of the year and the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Here at Skylarking I’ll be keeping my eyes open for some great deals, and hopefully some coupon codes I can pass on to you. Remember, I only comment on products that I consider to be worthwhile bargains or valuable items and services considering my own perceptions of trends in home and office computers and entertainment. You can read more about my decision making process in Skylarking’s Disclaimer and Privacy page. I am not being wined, dined, or entertained by any of the companies and services I review here.
TigerDirect: “Pink Friday”
Usually the retail industry refers to the day after Thanksgiving as “Black Friday”. It’s usually the biggest sale day of the year and they typically make a profit which puts them “in the black” as opposed to a loss which puts them “in the red”.
TigerDirect is calling it “Pink Friday” because they will be contributing a portion of their sales to Susan G. Komen for the Cure for Breast Cancer. They’ll also have a Live Webcast all day long where they’ll be offering prizes, giveaways, and more (also known as “fun”). I’ll be checking it out once I get my shopping done for the day. Woo hoo!
Follow the Links! They have too much going on for me to talk about it all here, so click on the banners at left and above to check it all out. If I had to single out some items they would be:
Sony Laptop: They have a one day only offer on a Sony laptop with a 15.5 inch screen, 3 GB or RAM (memory), an incredible large $320 GB hard drive (storage) running with a Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor, and Windows 7 Home premium (64-bit). You’ll get it for $580 which is about $70 off their usual price. plus you get that free shipping offer, and you could potentially save another $5 if you use Google Checkout. Click the banner at left (The webcast one over there <<<) and then scroll down to find this one … fast!
Acer Aspire One Netbook: Netbooks! Netbooks! Netbooks! I want one and this is the one I would get. This model has received great reviews. If you need a small portable computer for web access, then check this one out. It has an Intel Atom Processor, 1 GB of memory, and a sizeable 160GB hard drive for storing files. It also runs on Windows XP, has a memory card reader, built-in speakers, WiFi, Ethernet, and webcam. It comes in pink, but you can easily cover that up with a slip case cover. It’s only $229 with free shipping. If you don’t get it for yourself, then get one for me …please.
Tom Tom XL 340 Auto GPS. Know someone — other than me — who won’t stop for direction but really should? Get ‘em a Tom Tom. This is a new model for only $99. It comes with North American maps, spoken instructions, 7 million points of interest to check out in their travels, plus a portion of the sale goes to breast cancer research. Give the gift of “knowing where you’re going”.
Much much more to see! They also have gift guides for any price range, age group, or gender.
TigerDirect and Google Checkout
TigerDirect is providing a $5 discount on orders over $30 before shipping and taxes when you use Google Checkout to make your purchase. This offer is usable only once per customer.
Free Shipping on Orders over $100 and Under 35 lbs.
This offer is only valid for orders that qualify for and ship via UPS Ground within the contiguous lower 48 states (Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and international orders are excluded as such).
