Barnes & Noble Nook HD and Nook HD+ tablets out now in UK

Barnes & Noble has released its 7-inch and 9-inch tablets in the UK - the Nook HD and Nook HD+ respectively. Available from both Nook.co.uk and a number of high street retailers, the tablet devices go head-to-head against similar efforts from Amazon, Google and, of course, Apple.

What the Nook HD devices have as an advantage, however, is price. While the Nook HD is comparatively priced when compared to some peers - starting at £159 - it comes with higher spec list than most, including a dual-core 1.3GHz processor, and a 1440 x 900 HD LCD touchscreen (243ppi). The Kindle Fire HD, for example, has a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution.

Read: Barnes & Noble Nook HD 7-inch tablet pictures and hands-on

The Nook HD+ on the other hand doesn't have many peers in its price range - starting at £229 - that can match its 1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution (256ppi). There's the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 in the States, but that's not coming to the UK any time soon.

Both tablets have access to the Barnes & Noble content portals, including Nook Newsstand for magazine and newspaper subscriptions, Nook Apps, Nook Books (naturally) and Nook Channels, which Barnes & Noble describes as "a new shopping experience".

Read: Barnes & Noble Nook HD+ 9-inch tablet pictures and hands-on

Each of them also features Nook Profiles, allowing you to set up completely different profiles and log-ins for each member of the family, so that they can see only the content they are interested in. It's especially useful when policing what children have access to.

The 7-inch Nook HD is available both online and from John Lewis, Argos, Asda, Dixons, Sainsbury, Waitrose, Blackwell’s and Foyles. It comes in two colours, Snow (white) and Smoke (grey) and costs £159 for an 8GB model, £189 for the 16GB version.

The 9-inch Nook HD+ is available in just the one colour, Slate (also grey), and from the same vendors. It costs £229 for the 16GB tablet, £269 for the 32GB edition.