The Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet is available for in-store pickup now, which means the battle for dominance in the sub-$250 tablet category is on. Now, customers will need to decide if they want to buy the $199 Kindle Fire from Amazon or drop an extra $50 to get their hands on the Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet. Or, if they’re willing to spend enough money to buy a full-featured tablet, they might choose to buy Apple’s iPad 2, which starts at $499.
That said, each tablet, regardless of its price, comes with a set of unique features that will appeal to one group of customers or another. The Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet is a fine option for those who think an iPad 2 is too pricey or that the Kindle Fire doesn’t offer the features they need.
Those features will likely prompt tablet shoppers sitting on the fence to choose the Nook. Here’s why.
1. It’s cheap
Although the iPad 2 is the dominant tablet in the market, the device is too expensive for some. Spending $250 on a nice, 7-inch tablet might appeal to those customers who aren’t so willing to drop at least $500 for Apple’s option. Granted, they’ll lose many features, like dual cameras and a bigger display, but for those who want to get their hands on a tablet but not pay the higher price, the $250 savings might be worth it.
2. Readers, rejoice!
Barnes & Noble started in the hardware space with e-readers. As a result the company is already maintaining a huge library of e-books for Nook Tablet owners. So, if users want to buy new releases or an older title, they can get a digital copy and download it directly to their tablet. The Nook Tablet is a great option for heavy readers.
3. Twice the storage of the Kindle Fire
Amazon’s Kindle Fire has been criticized for only offering 8GB of data storage. The Nook Tablet, on the other hand, comes with 16GB of storage, making it a better choice for customers who want to store video and music. But beware: Unlike the Kindle Fire, the Nook Tablet does not have a cloud storage feature.
4. All the apps customers want
Apple’s App Store is still the king of mobile application markets, but some of the most popular applications, like Angry Birds and Netflix, are available for the Nook Tablet. The best part is, because the Nook Tablet is Android-based, many more apps will be coming to the device as the growing number of Android developers keep releasing new.
Nooks Long Battery Life a Decisive Selling Point
5. A nice option for kids
Looking around the tablet space, there aren’t many devices on store shelves that appeal to kids. In too many cases, expensive tablets are simply too sophisticated for children. But like the Kindle Fire, the Nook Tablet seems like a great option for kids, since it’s cheap, allows access to boatloads of children’s book, and supports movie and music playback. Keep the Nook Tablet in mind for your kids this holiday season.
6. Extra-long battery life
One of the Nook Tablet’s key selling points is its battery life. In fact, Barnes & Noble claims the device can deliver 11.5 hours of battery life when reading and 9 hours when watching a movie. The Kindle Fire, on the other hand, offers only 8 hours of reading time and 7.5 hours of video playback.
7. Solid performance
For customers looking for a cheap tablet with solid performance, the Nook Tablet is a good option. When Barnes & Noble announced the tablet, the company surprised the market when it said that it would come with a 1GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. In other words, this tablet is built for solid, highly reactive performance.
8. You already have a Nook
Customers who already have a Nook shouldn’t even consider buying a device other than the Nook Tablet. After all, the experience of reading books will be familiar and all the titles that customers have already bought will be available for free on their new tablet. If those folks decided to go with a Kindle Fire or iPad 2, they’d need to start anew.
9. You won’t connect to the Web on it while away from home
The Nook Tablet’s biggest flaw is its lack of mobile connectivity options. Customers who want to connect to the Web while on the road with a 3G connection won’t be able to do so. However, if there are consumers who have no plans to do that, why not save the cash on a device that does connect to 3G or 4G networks and buy the cheaper Nook Tablet?
10. You’re an Android fan
Google’s Android platform isn’t for everyone, which means there are some consumers who wouldn’t even consider buying the Nook Tablet. But for Android users, the Nook Tablet seems like a winner. The device exemplifies what makes Android a reliable mobile operating system that’s easy to use and includes some iOS-like features-with a twist. Simply put, Android users might just like what they find in the Nook Tablet.