Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet ships early

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Handhelds

If you pre-ordered a Nook Tablet, you can get your hands on it a bit early. Though Barnes & Noble said the device would arrive on doorsteps and in stores on or around Nov. 17, the company confirmed that it will actually be available as of yesterday.

The device was delivered and available for in-store pickup yesterday. Those who didn't pre-order can start buying the tablet in stores today.

The Nook Tablet includes a 7-inch touch screen with 1024-by-600 display and runs a TI OMAP 4 dual-core processor. The $249 Nook Tablet boasts 16GB of internal storage, expandable up to 32GB via a microSD card and includes access to Barnes & Noble in-store support.

Rival Amazon also shipped its Kindle Fire tablet a day early for shoppers who pre-ordered the device; it was originally scheduled to ship on Nov. 15. During an earnings call last month, Amazon said pre-orders for the Fire exceeded expectations, prompting the company to ramp up production on the tablets. Dave Limp, vice president of Amazon Kindle, also said this week that the $199 Kindle Fire is already the best-selling item across all of Amazon.com.

Are you choosing between a Nook Tablet and a Kindle Fire? In a recent poll, about 29 percent of readers picked the Nook Tablet and 39.5 percent selected the Kindle Fire. However, about 12.5 percent said they prefer the iPad.

Until then, also see Amazon Kindle Fire vs. B&N Nook Tablet vs. Nook Color: Spec Showdown, as well as our Kindle Fire review.

This article, written by Leslie Horn, originally appeared on PCMag.com and is republished on Gear Live with the permission of Ziff Davis, Inc.