I have a Kindle keyboard, the last version with text-to-speech, and if there is even a chance she might want to continue listening to the book she is reading during her commute it is a feature you want to look for.
The best reason to get a 3g one is for whisper sync. I can be reading a book on my Kindle and if the battery dies I can pick right up on my phone, tablet, or computer while I charge it back up.
I resisted going to an e-reader, as I like having a book in my hands. But, the things take up way too much space and the cost is often a concern. So I relented, and let my wife buy me a Kindle Paperwhite.
Love it.
She has a Nook, which I haven't used. The thing that turned me away from the Nook when I was shopping was it's exclusive to B&N, and they are on some really shaky ground financially. If they go the way of BestBuy, the Nooks will be useless. Also, most reviews generally gave the nod to the Kindle being a little bit better. Bonus: you get to download/read all the self-published stuff on Amazon, much of which is free or under $5. I've found a couple of gems from new authors this way.
I have a 3G PaperWhite, no ads, it's awesome. I also have an Kindle Fire, which was good, but not as awesome.
The reasons for an e-ink Kindle over a Fire are: 1) cheaper 2) easier to read in direct sunlight 3) MUCH better battery life 4) Lighter
The reasons for a Fire: 1) does a lot of other stuff (duh) 2) prettier
I like the 3G because I can take it with me places and not worry about having to figure out how to get it onto a wifi network in order to download a new book. It's not necessary, but it is convenient. It's a one-time additional expense, no plan or minutes or data limit or anything else to worry about. It is only useful for downloading books, while there is an experimental web browser in the PW, they won't let you run it over the 3G radio (and it's pretty useless -- crashes on almost any moderately-complicated site).
One of the best things about reading books on the Kindle that isn't always immediately obvious is that it syncs your place between devices. This means you can be reading a book on your Kindle at home and then if you're standing in line at the grocery store and didn't bring your Kindle with you, you can pull out your smartphone, run the Kindle app on it, and it will synchronize to the place you left off.
As far as the Nook in concerned, you can run their software on any Android-based device as well. I had the Nook software running on my Kindle Fire at one point -- that felt vaguely dirty. :)
I have the nook HD+ (tablet) and use it for reading some kindle stuff sometimes haha
for the text-to-speech it is a neat feature, I used it mostly for some VERY boring school books... it helped me read along with some difficult reading... but its not something that I'd want to use in car to listen to a book, I'd splurge for http://www.audible.com/ (or some other book on tape option) if that's what I was looking for
ddavidv wrote: The thing that turned me away from the Nook when I was shopping was it's exclusive to B&N, and they are on some really shaky ground financially. If they go the way of BestBuy, the Nooks will be useless.
Not necessarily. Nook's can handle epub files that are typically offered by libraries and sold by Google.
Have a basic Nook I bought cheap on a whim 18 mos ago. Have yet to buy anything from B&N.
Were I to actually buy more ebooks, I'd probably have bought a Kindle instead. For $45 or whatever it was, the Nook is fine for my usage.
Update: I got the Kindle Paperwhite (non-3G, non-ad) and she loved it. Thanks!
Cool, glad to hear that.
I have and love my kindle touch. Since this is GRM though, I thought I would mention that you can get a Nook, root it and run the kindle app. Thats getting a kinda nerdy though!
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