Barnes & Noble Nook to Be Hot Christmas Buy of the Season?

Barnes & Noble has a new e-reader, Nook, which is slated to give Amazon's Kindle a run for the money, perhaps becoming the popular Christmas gift this year. As an owner of Amazon's Kindle, I wanted to buy and check out a Nook. So I called the local Barnes and Noble stores in Indianapolis to get my name on the list to purchase one.

As it turns out, even though many sites, including the book section of Christian Science Monitor has the e-reader slated for purchase next Tuesday (with an ad rumored to run in Sunday's New York Times soon), it was impossible to confirm of sales date for the Nook in Indianapolis.

I was told that more information might be available after 9 a.m tomorrow and I'll definitely be checking it out. But information about potential features has been leaked.

Obviously, consumers have to decide which appeal to them. I'm definitely eager to try the Nook but when I went to the coming website at nook.com it redirected me back to Barnes & Noble. Guess nook.com is a work in progress!

But here's the latest (at this point) on the Nook and how it compares to Kindle e-readers:

Nook versus Kindle for Christmas - Name

The clear winner here is obviously Kindle. The word Nook has too many similar connotations and doesn't appeal to me as much as the Kindle name. But how important is the name of an e-reader if the features are cool?

And when it comes to features, those listed below might give the Nook an edge over Kindle, so much so that Christmas shoppers may want to purchase a Nook early. When I got my Kindle, long before Christmas season, it turns out that prices had doubled by the time Christmas came around. I could sell mine and have enough money left over to get a second Kindle because Amazon ran out of the e-readers.

Barnes & Noble Nook versus Kindle for Christmas - Features

If rumors turn out to be true, Barnes & Noble will have some advantages over the Kindle. Not only will they be offering books at a hefty discount but will have at least 500,000 free titles from The Google Book Project. This allows book lovers access to a vast library of books, simply by owning a Nook e-reader.

Also, how cool is this? Users of the Nook should be able to lend, resell and even borrow e-books. Kindle currently doesn't allow this (or, if it does, I haven't found that feature on my Kindle). Also, it will have color touch screen controls, unlike not Kindle. Think of the price savings of sharing digital books with friends!

Kindle versus Barnes & Noble Nook for Christmas - look and feel

Okay, confession time. It took me awhile to get used to my Kindle, although I loved the convenience of having information at my fingertips. I could sit in a doctor's office or wait for a child after a tutoring session and glance over the day's newspaper headlines or download a current bestseller. I could even access magazine articles, although graphics were limited or not there. Although I still like the smell and feel of actual pages better than e-readers' hard surfaces, the advantages of instant information won me over. I'm expecting to enjoy Nook e-readers much quickly, having gone through another e-reader experience already.

If you'd like to check out pictures of the Nook, simply go here at Gadget Lab. I think it looks extremely appealing.

Kindle versus Nook for holiday gift giving - price

Both Kindle and Nook are in the $259 price range. If this sounds high now, consider what happened to Kindle prices when the e-readers were first introduced. By Christmas, holiday shoppers may be regretting the fact that they didn't get a Nook as soon as possible.

Sources:

Calls to local Barnes & Noble stores in Indianapolis and Carmel
The New York Times: Oct 20, Barnes & Noble to Introduce its Own Electronic Reader here
Barnes & Noble's Kindle-Killing, Dual-Screen 'Nook' E-Reader Leaked here