Tablet or E-Reader? iPad or Kindle Fire vs. Kindle or Nook?

Dec. 4, 2011 — -- Folks haven't made this much fuss about tablets since Biblical times.

These slate-style computers and dedicated electronic readers top many wish lists this holiday season. Yet, the landscape for the popular devices is changing. Despite the iPad's dominance, multimedia-capable tablets are no longer the exclusive province of Apple, what with Amazon breathing Kindle Fire down the iPad's throat. Most other comers have barely dented Apple's lead.

Amazon is feeling its own heat in the dedicated e-reader market that it continues to rule. Barnes & Noble's Nooks and other rival e-readers are providing spirited competition.

While two out of three future tablet buyers plan to purchase an iPad, there is now for the first time a real contender for the No. 2 spot, according to a survey by ChangeWave Research in Bethesda, Md. Some 22% say they'll buy a Kindle Fire. That's a "devastating blow to a range of second-tier tablet manufacturers, including Motorola, RIM, Dell, HTC, (Hewlett-Packard) and Toshiba," ChangeWave says.

In a recent PriceGrabber survey, 79% of consumers indicated they would rather receive a tablet than a laptop computer. And 72% of shoppers said they believed tablets would replace e-readers as gifts.

Which is it for you? Dedicated reader or tablet? Or both? What are the key considerations ? If your passions spread beyond books —which can be read on either type of device — to music, games, Web browsing and watching movies, a full-fledged tablet along the lines of the iPad 2 or one of its rivals makes sense, if your budget can handle it.

Still, a strong case can be made for single-purpose readers.

The Case for E-Readers

For starters, the E Ink devices represented by the Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader and other devices keep improving. Page turns are faster. Text is crisp. Reading electronically no longer strikes people as unnatural. The displays are easy on the eyes and don't drain the battery as do the LCD screens on tablets. Barnes & Noble claims you can read an hour a day for two months on its fast-turn Nook Simple Touch device. By contrast, battery life on the iPad and other tablets is measured in hours and minutes.

E-Reader hardware is light and pocket-size. You can buy and download e-books in a minute or less if you have Wi-Fi or (as is the case with a single Kindle model) cellular connectivity. Nowadays, you can borrow e-books from the library and, in the case of the Nook, lend books to a friend — albeit under tight restrictions.

Prices. Boy, have prices fallen since the Kindle made its debut four years ago at what now seems like an exorbitant $399. Today, you can buy a Kindle that displays "Special Offers" for just $79 or pay $109 for a version without the "offers" screensaver and home screen ads. The model weighs less than 6 ounces, relies on physical controls and connects to the Kindle Store, where you can download e-books in a minute or less via Wi-Fi. Meantime, Amazon added touch-screen controls on the aptly named Wi-Fi-only $99 (with ads) or $139 (without ads) Kindle Touch. You have to pay $149 ($189 without ads) for a touch model that adds no-fee 3G cellular for those times when connecting to Wi-Fi is out of the question. Amazon also sells models with a keyboard for $139.