Technology Nook, the new color ereader by Barnes and Nobles

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omniatlas

omniatlas

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What do you guys think of the new color ereader by B&N? http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/?cds2Pid=30919

nook-in-the-flesh-topnew.jpg


Its priced pretty competitively, it has wifi, 3g and SD-card features, and ****PDF**** support. I'm almost sold because I have hundreds of medical PDF books.
 
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Meh. When color e-ink comes out, that's when **** will hit the fan. But that's not for another few years at the earliest. Until then, I'll sit this one out.
 
I don't see the big thrill. It's just a little, essentially useless, color screen attached to the bottom of a typical grayscale e-ink ebook reader.
 
I like the fact that you can lend books to friends. That was a big complaint about the Kindle, so I'm interested to see how people respond.

Though I think you could do similar things with the Zune, et al, but those never really blew iPods out of the water...
 
For all those people who are attracted to the Nook by its color display, keep in mind that the text of your book will be in B&W using e-Ink technology (the same used by the Kindle). Only the lower 3.5" of the display is a color LCD and is used for the menu options of the Nook. The text display is only 6".
 
southerndoc said:
For all those people who are attracted to the Nook by its color display, keep in mind that the text of your book will be in B&W using e-Ink technology (the same used by the Kindle). Only the lower 3.5" of the display is a color LCD and is used for the menu options of the Nook. The text display is only 6".
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Oh I know that, if you by one thinking the entire display is in color you are going to be sorely mistaken. A full color screen e-reader would burn through it's charge pretty fast anyway.
 
DrJosephKim said:
After you use something like this for about 6 months, you'll really want a fully functional tablet PC.
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Uh why?

I mean look at a tablet PC, larger, weighs more, has a backlight which isn't good for long term reading, requires more energy so you need to carry a power cord because after 3-4 hours you'll need to plug in the tablet PC.
 
Slevin said:
Uh why?

I mean look at a tablet PC, larger, weighs more, has a backlight which isn't good for long term reading, requires more energy so you need to carry a power cord because after 3-4 hours you'll need to plug in the tablet PC.
Click to expand...

There are much smaller tablet PCs that are out there. Soon, these e-readers will converge with MIDs, UMPCs, and others. In a few years, they will function like a slimmed-down version of a tablet PC.
 
I pre-ordered a nook, then cancelled it. There's still no textbooks available in my field for BN ebooks, and the price of BN ebooks is higher than buying regular paper books through the BN website via member's discount (as well as regular price). Also, BN membership does not get you discounts on ebooks. Right now, BN as the highest-priced books on the market. It's not worth the sleek design to pay out the wazoo for books. I'm going to see what the new Sony daily reader's like when it comes out. At least on that one you have the possibility of writing notes in the margins with its stylus. Sony estore also has more textbooks in my field available, although not much.
 
After weighing the pros and cons I think I'm going to wait for Kindle 3.

The prices on B&N website are outrageous -- some of e-title prices are more expensive then the paper version!

When Amazon comes to their senses and adds PDF support (so we don't have to convert it) then I'll be sold. They have a strong international presence as well, which is a good thing.
 
So I own a nook (and owned a sony ereader 500 series before that). In my opinion, these devices are not adequte for textbooks, casual reading maybe. They are just too slow.

Btw: the nook has a long way to go - software issues (it has crashed 2x in 2 days), and its quite laggy. (probably on par with 500 series ereader I had), the fastest ereader I have used is the e-505 from Sony, which is now discontinued.
 
Airway said:
So I own a nook (and owned a sony ereader 500 series before that). In my opinion, these devices are not adequte for textbooks, casual reading maybe. They are just too slow.

Btw: the nook has a long way to go - software issues (it has crashed 2x in 2 days), and its quite laggy. (probably on par with 500 series ereader I had), the fastest ereader I have used is the e-505 from Sony, which is now discontinued.
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I've heard the software is kind of buggy. Although a software update over the air should improve that. I wait to see if it gets better when it's updated if it's worth the cost
 
Airway said:
So I own a nook (and owned a sony ereader 500 series before that). In my opinion, these devices are not adequte for textbooks, casual reading maybe. They are just too slow.

Btw: the nook has a long way to go - software issues (it has crashed 2x in 2 days), and its quite laggy. (probably on par with 500 series ereader I had), the fastest ereader I have used is the e-505 from Sony, which is now discontinued.
Click to expand...



You own a Nook? That is interesting. The Nook doesn't come out for at least another month, maybe longer. The official ship date keeps getting pushed back. Barnes & Noble is taking pre-orders with a revised ship date of Feb 1 according to their website.
 
BlondeCookie said:
You own a Nook? That is interesting. The Nook doesn't come out for at least another month, maybe longer. The official ship date keeps getting pushed back. Barnes & Noble is taking pre-orders with a revised ship date of Feb 1 according to their website.
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I believe those that pre-ordered early received theirs after Nov 30th.

For pre-orders that have recently come in they won't be able to fulfill them until Feb 1st.

Gizmodo already has their review up:

http://gizmodo.com/5420216/barnes--noble-nook-review-pretty-damn-good
 
Well that apple keynote was disappointing. So much for expecting an ereader from Apple.

I think I might have to take a leap of faith and order the nook.
 
TMP-SMX said:
Are you out of your mind? It is an ereader, just better.
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ereader = eink technology.

The ipad is using a backlit screen. Its no different then reading from a computer.

The purpose of an ereader is to read books, and the nook/kindle does that exceptionally well without eye strain.
 
I considered the nook for a while, but after the hardware issue complaints and the overall higher price of Barnes and Nobles compared to other sellers, I have purchased an Amazon Kindle. We'll see how it goes.
 
I'm not considering any kind of e-reader until I can download from my library. Why pay for books when I can get them for free from the library?
 
1UP said:
I'm not considering any kind of e-reader until I can download from my library. Why pay for books when I can get them for free from the library?
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There are other ways to get books online, if you know what I mean.

Theres a new nook firmware out, 1.2 and it speeds it up tremendously:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGitnmGddjw

I think I'll order one when I get back to Australia; unless Amazon can counter by March (hello, SD card, open formats would be good).
 
I got a nook for christmas and love it. Now that classes are going I have about 20 issues of the washington post sitting there, but it is great. I am able to read endlessly on the thing without the eye strain from a computer.

I didn't pay for it, so I don't care. If I had a choice I'd probably go with that kindle with the extra large screen, but I'm very happy with the nook. The GSM downloading is fun too. It is kind of like itunes where it is very easy to find yourself with 5 or 6 books when you just wanted 1.
 
MossPoh said:
I got a nook for christmas and love it. Now that classes are going I have about 20 issues of the washington post sitting there, but it is great. I am able to read endlessly on the thing without the eye strain from a computer.
Click to expand...

Hey MossPoh, any idea how reading PDF files are on the nook? I wouldn't mind the larger screen estate either, but then that means you'll have to give up the pocketability in the lab coat :laugh:
 
omniatlas said:
There are other ways to get books online, if you know what I mean...
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I tried that a few years ago and I was woefully underwhelmed at the quantity and quality of material out there. Of course, this was the pre-Kindle when e-books were a very tiny niche market. Have things changed? If so I might just consider getting one.
 
1UP said:
I tried that a few years ago and I was woefully underwhelmed at the quantity and quality of material out there. Of course, this was the pre-Kindle when e-books were a very tiny niche market. Have things changed? If so I might just consider getting one.
Click to expand...

I have med books in pdf format with full color and diagrams -- they are no different from the printed media.
 
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Finally got my nook, I'm impressed:

24897_631726757377_2606602_36381837_8245377_n.jpg

24897_631726752387_2606602_36381836_7304222_n.jpg
 
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