The Nook Tablet eReader doesn’t look much different from its predecessor, the Nook Color. Making it even more confusing, the two Barnes and Noble products share a similar design with the Kindle Fire. The sleek design that comfortably rests in a single hand has been repeated so often in recent years for the simple fact that it works. It’s light, attractive, and easier to hold than a paperback book.

The problem is that at first glance, this similar design can make it difficult to tell all of these ereading devices apart. Luckily, there’s far more to them than meets the eye.

The Good:

The screen is absolutely beautiful, which should be expected of any ereader or tablet these days. A great bonus for the Nook Tablet is that because Barnes and Noble has been a fierce advocate of children’s books in e-formats, Nook users now have access to many stunning picture books that have been specifically made for their devices. There are even cookbooks with videos included and many other enhanced ebooks now available for Nook devices.

The Nook Tablet is available either in the 8GB version or the 16GB version. In either case, users can also purchase extra memory in a removable microSD card, allowing a whopping 32GB for their own content.

One of the greatest assets the Nook Tablet has going for it is the battery life. While the Kindle Fire can’t last through a night after being fully charged, the Nook Tablet can continue for nearly twice that long.

The Nook Tablet also allows video streaming through Netflix or Hulu, with more services to come. The streamed video is much higher quality than anything currently available through the Kindle Fire and on par with video on the iPad.

The user-friendliness of the Nook Tablet is high, particularly in comparison to other tablets and ereaders on the market right now. The use of physical buttons for volume control and returning to the home screen greatly reduce fumbling with the screen and eliminate the hassle of attempting to get just the right volume with the edge of a pinky or stylus.

The Bad:

Unlike the Kindle Fire, the Nook Tablet doesn’t have cloud capabilities right now. What does that mean? With the Kindle Fire, users can upload their MP3s and other content to the Amazon cloud servers and then have their content streamed to their Kindle Fire. This greatly increases how much content they can have access to at a time, though it does require a constant Internet connection to maintain access.

Additionally, the number of apps available for the Nook Tablet is somewhat limited when compared to those available on the Kindle Fire or iPad.

Verdict:

As far as ereading capabilities go, currently the Nook Tablet is at the top of the game. The extras and tablet oriented capabilities of other ereaders may eventually eclipse it, but if the primary goal is to read beautiful books and occasionally watch a movie, the Nook Tablet is the current choice.