The Barnes & Noble NOOK HD and HD+ tablet might not be one of the most popular portable computers, and certainly something Apple fans are unlikely to purchase, but it has finally arrived in the UK and we’ve heard from a few of our readers that are pretty excited about this. The iPad mini and iPad 4 will not be for everyone, even if they are extremely popular, so it’s nice to see alternatives arriving in the UK and US.

We’ve just received the press statement from Barnes & Noble, which explains that the NOOK HD+ is the lowest price 9-inch HD tablet to release in the UK, and the 7-inch NOOK HD is extremely light and apparently offers the “highest resolution” at 243 pixels per inch. The smaller option retails in the UK from £159, but you can also pick up a NOOK HD+ with no ads for just under £230.

One of the reasons we see the Nexus 7 meeting such popularity is price, and while some users prefer Android to iOS, it comes down to price and the specs you get for your money at the end of the day. This is why the Barnes & Noble NOOK HD and HD+ tablet are a perfect alternative to the iPad mini and iPad 4, aka 4th generation, which is due to prices that are much cheaper but specs that offer something impressive for the cost.

Barnes & Noble like to explain that their offering has “superior” entertainment and reading, which is thanks to the “must-see displays“, so at the very least it might be worth getting hands-on with both the Apple and Barnes & Noble tablet options at a local store. If you can’t notice much difference between the displays, then the price will surly do the talking for you, although we know some people don’t want a tablet unless it has iOS installed, so in this instance they have to pay the price for an iPad.

Why do you think the iPad mini and iPad 4 cost more, and would you consider a Barnes & Noble NOOK HD and HD+ tablet? You can see a hands-on review with both the Barnes & Noble Nook HD and HD+ in the video below, so take a look at let us know what you think? If you want to see how the Nexus 7 stacks up to the iPad mini, then see our earlier article.

Firstly we will look at design, both tablets feature a 7-inch display, therefore there are many similarities, however it is the fine details which separate a good device from a great one, so let’s take a closer look. The Nook Tablet measures in at 8.1 x 5.0 x 0.48 inches and will apparently weigh just 14.1 ounces, this makes it 0.5 ounces lighter than the Kindle Fire, however Amazon’s tablet is smaller in every dimension (7.5 x 4.7 x 0.45 inches).

There is not much to separate the two tablets if you compare the displays against one another, both feature a 7-inch diagonal, a 1024 x 600 resolution, 169 PPI and 16 million colors, Barnes & Noble’s IPS2 display utilizes VividView technology to keep the display clear in bright conditions, whilst the Kindle Fire’s IPS display has had an anti-reflective treatment applied. Sadly we have not seen the devices alongside eachother, therefore we can’t really tell which display looks better, but things look close.

In terms of grunt there is not a lot a great deal of difference. The Kindle Fire runs Android and features a Texas Instruments OMAP 4 dual-core processor along with 512MB of RAM. The Nook Tablet also runs a 1GHz TI OMAP4 dual-core processor, but it has 1GB of RAM. In terms of storage the Kindle Fire boasts 8GB internal (6GB available yo the user) and free cloud storage, it would be fair to say that the Nook Tablet’s 16GB of storage and microSD memory card slot (which supports cards of up to 32GB) has the edge, especially as they also throw in free Nook cloud storage.

Neither of these tablets feature 3G connectivity, however they both offer WiFi b/g/n. Once again you could argue that Barnes & Noble has the edge in this regard as they throw in free Wi-Fi in all Barnes & Noble stores, but this is not important to everyone.

Lots of people pay a lot of attention to battery life, once again the Nook Tablet outdoes the Kindle Fire, but not by a great deal. From the mains the Kindle Fire will fully charge in approximately 4 hours, with the wireless switched off it will then deliver either 8 hours of continuous reading, or 7.5 hours of video playback. The Barnes & Noble offering is said to fully charge in roughly 3 hours and with the WiFi off you can expect 11.5 hours of reading or 9 hours of video playback – that’s pretty impressive.

From a consumer point of view these are the things which are most important when comparing these devices side-by-side, however if you want to take a deeper look into technical specifications you can see full Nook Tablet specs here and full Kindle Fire tech specs here.

In terms of pricing the Kindle Fire costs $199, whilst the Nook Tablet costs $249 -a ll in all there isn’t a lot in it, but it has to be said that technically the Nook Tablet should be slightly better, that said it is very slight and perhaps not enough to justify spending an extra $50 for.

Which tablet will you opt for?

The guys over at Engadget have got hold of some documents that show a Nook Tablet will be unveiled on Monday 7th of November. It will be a 7-inch touchscreen device that will retail for $249 and beats the Kindle Fire with 16GB on on-board memory.

It is believed the new tablet will go on sale from the 16th of November with the $249 price being $50 more than Amazon’s Kindle Fire. The new device is supposed to look similar to the Nook Color, and with a VividView IPS color touch panel with a 1024 x 600 screen resolution.

Powering the new tablet will be a 1.2GHz dual-core OMAP4 processor with 1GB of RAM, and internal memory can be boosted thanks to the micro SD port. The new Nook is claimed to be 0.48 inches thick and weighing 14.1 ounces. If you have the Wi-Fi switched off battery life is claimed to be eight hours, but if you are watching videos this drops by half.

It is not known what version of Android the tablet will come running, and although the device is $50 more expensive than the Kindle Fire you get more RAM and internal storage with the option of increasing it further.

Do you think the Nook Tablet will be worth a look?