The Best of Both Phone, and Tablet-
"Exelent product (after firmware upgrade 12-21-09)" on by puppypower2000
Pros: 1.Android based 2.Memory expansion,removable battery 3.wifi 4.Touch screen 5.Freindlier interface 6.Epub capabale 7.mp3 player, pdf support (+zoom), wallpapers 8.In store promotions 9.Ebook lending 10.Automatically shuts wireless on & off for battery
Cons: Slightly shorter battery life, in actuality the kindle gets roughly 7 days of battery vs. 5 days of the nook.
Summary: As of December 21st, nook has been upgraded to firmware 1.1.1 (wirelessly delivered to your nook), this firmware has dealt with most of the glitches and minor bugs that were present in the original version of the firmware (1.0.0). My major concerns prior to the update were loading time, page turning time, and general speed while cruising through all your nooks features, B&N did a great job with correcting all of these issues (way ahead of schedule too). While torn between a kindle and a nook (most people don?t go to Sony with good reason...) here are some facts that might make your decision easier: 1. The nook is the first and so far only ereader running on android operating system (look up the benefits of android including future apps to the nook and great variety of firmware updates). 2. Offers an expansion micro sd slot. 3. Removable battery. 4. Wifi capability (much faster than 3G and works on any wifi, not just B&N).
5. As the touch screen is really a nice visual add on in terms of seeing the covers, the greatest benefit of that would be the greater variety of menu options vs. the kindle, and an easier and smoother navigation interface. 6. Since the launch of nook, B&N's pricing for ebooks went way down and now is pretty much identical to amazons kindle. 7. One of the most important things to consider is the launch of the epub universal file format. As the entire industry is moving towards a universal file format allowing consumers to be able to take their ebooks to which ever device they want, and purchase ebooks from whom ever they want for the device, Kindle is refusing to do so (in my opinion one of the greatest setbacks to the Amazon kindle). 8. Some additional nice features are a built in: mp3 player, built in pdf (with zoom options!), personalizes wallpapers, a friendlier user interface than the kindle, and the back of the nook is made of softer material than the kindle (high quality silicone based) which feels much better than the kindle as you hold your nook in your hands for a while. 9. Another Great feature is although it doesn?t support international wireless like the amazons kindle, you can download anything by connecting to wifi (and also avoiding any kind of international fees that Amazon collects from it's costumers, also i'd like to note that Amazon charges fee's for sending your pdf files to your kindle, -although not much still kind of irritating, this is not the case with the nook).
10. The nook offers a in store unlimited reading option of ebooks through their wifi, many promotional free download of ebooks and subscriptions (in store), and a cute ebook lending option to friends, however you are limited in reading each ebook in store for one hour per ebook for each 24 hours (unless you purchase it), and the lending option is only for participating titles and is limited for 14 days and only one time capable.
11. And finally the only set back to the nook vs. the kindle is the battery life (14 days of kindle vs. 10 days of nook, please note that both estimates are given by the manufactures and are not all that true, in actuality the kindle gets roughly 7 days of battery vs. 5 days of the nook). Another bonus to the nook is that it automatically shuts wireless on and off for battery life purposes, so it uses wireless only when needed and saves you the hassle of turning it on and off all the time.
I've heard a lot of silly compressions on the nook judging it on non- important factors (such as the nook is more grayish white as the kindle is more white white, nook is almost an ounce heavier, kindle is 0.1 inch thinner, I find those facts useless). I was worried prior to getting the nook and prior to the update of firmware, but I do think kindles current ereader (kindle 2) is no match for the nook and it's growing ability (as I said the fact that it's android based renders it's potential immense), Amazon is going to have to improve their kindle 3 by much to stay in the competition, with a dominant key factor of adopting epub (and dropping the kindle version file, and dropping their fees, free 3G just doesn?t cut it anymore). Hope this review was helpful for you. -
"Wow... Way to go B&N..." on by Teddie101
Pros: Touch screen, wifi & 3g, now that the updated firmware is here very fast, super amazing interface, love the size, the feel, it is fast on wifi, so much more enjoyable than kindle in so many ways, love to listen to music as reading.
Cons: Battery life a little bit shorter than kindle but hardly buy much (so worth it).
Summary: Iused to own a kindle 2 before my nook, and although I loved my kindle 2 (and still do), my new nook is so much better!
The kindle is great and let's not forget that it was the kindle that started it all (on this grand scale that is), however the nook takes the reading experience to a whole new level! I was worried before I preordered the nook (since I couldn?t handle it before, or test it for myself), I was also a little enjoyed with the initial bugs and glitches (that were all solved in the last version update, it's running fast and efficient now, I can't see a true book lover not being happy with a nook purchase, way to go B&N... -
"A pleasure to read with from someone who loves books!" on by Januss331
Pros: Easy to read
Easy to read
Easy to readCons: Page turn delay? Not really...just look below, sorry.
Summary: I'm not going to talk about ordering, preordering, waiting, lack of information or any of that as it's been beaten to death elsewhere already. I've had my nook now for 2 days and this is what I have to say about it as an eReader.
I have updated my review of the nook. I still love the machine! The full text of it is on the BN forum. Please don't jump to conclusions, I am not a fanboy. I am registered there because it makes sense-I bought a nook, not a Kindle!
I really do enjoy it! I was worried at first when I opened it up, I thought it was a tad small, but now I realize it's not that bad at all. In other words, I just got engrossed in the book I was reading. Let me repeat myself. I got lost in what I read.
I emphasize that because it was the biggest concern I had. I am an avid reader. I started reading a lot in the 7th grade and haven't stopped since then. I was worried that my eyes would start to hurt, or that I couldn't get into an eBook the same way I can into an actual book. Well, to my pleasant surprise, I found myself completely into what I was reading. Again, in my eyes at least, the whole point of an eReader is to replace a book. As someone who loves the feel of a book and bookstores themselves, this was key for me.
At first, the page turn delay (while the screen refreshes itself) was irritating, but I soon forgot about it. It usually takes me a second to turn a page and start again anyways, what's another .5 seconds? (gross numbers, I'm just generalizing here) Like I said, I eventually got into the story and forgot about it. I'm sure future editions, or even a firmware upgrade, will take care of it. And as far as I know, all other eReaders have the same "problem".
As far as the screen goes, I like it. While my fiancé feels it's a little dark, I think it's just right. I DO NOT want a color screen-when was the last time you read a book that was in color? I also am pleased that BN didn't bother with a web browser, I just want to read my books, that's it. Is it a niche device that way? You bet your dollar it is. I want something to replace the 6-7 books I take with me on a vacation. I don't want to take a laptop-that's why I have a smartphone!
I haven't noticed any problems yet with it-getting a book from my library was easily done, and very fast on my home wireless network. I loaded up some PDFs from Harrison's (medical book, the online version-thank god) and ran into a hitch. If you're going to be doing something similar, try to just stick with a text only version. Obviously graphics are no good, but I found the tables really screwed up the formatting. After I tried a text only version of the same chapter, it worked like a charm.
I do find it a bit odd that the nook constantly has to reformat a book/pdf that you have already read. The first time I can understand, but repeatedly? What I mean by this is that when you load a book up, it says "Formatting" for roughly 5-7 seconds, maybe less. I haven't really timed it. Like I said, makes sense the first time, but repeatedly? I can only imagine there isn't any flash memory on the processor to store it...or something like that. Oh, and when loading the PDFs, I just plugged it into my Mac and looked in the drive, there were already folders there all nice and neat waiting for me.
I haven't tried buying a book via the nook yet, but will sometime soon. I haven't had a problem with the battery, but I've only used it for 2 days now obviously. If anyone has any questions, reply and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
On a side note, the "user guide/welcome to the nook" parody on the nook is absolutely hysterical!! Nice touch BN!
The color screen is cool, I could do without it. I went with the nook for BN and PDF support, and I love physical stores. So the color is an added bonus I suppose. I have it set to turn off after the shortest time of sitting there idle (10 sec I believe it is) so it doesn't work the battery. And also, I really don't have a problem with charging my nook every few days-it's not catastrophic for me that it doesn't last the gazillion days that the Kindle does.
Oh, and the screen is pretty responsive to me. Again, I'm not expecting it to be lightening fast on an eReader like I would on a phone or laptop, but I'm sure that firmware/version2 will improve on it.
I got the Alice cover for it, and it fits and looks great in it. I'm almost thinking of just using it without the cover, but I'd rather not destroy it. Anyways, that's my review for now. For those of you who are waiting, I hope you get yours soon! Happy Holidays!
Updated on Dec 15, 2009
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/eBooks-Help-Board/I-m-sure-there-will-be-more-but-here-are-my-impressions/m-p/424681#U424681 -
"Love it, Love it, Love it!!!" on by jess2000wh
Pros: Great interface, color touch screen, expandable memory, mp3, pdf, wi fi, 3g, after update fast!!! So fun to use, more options, new generation of e-readers! Epub (yay!).
Cons: Battery last slighter less than kindle (but almost the same...)
Summary: I can't put my nook down, I love it, it looks great, feels great, love the wifi, and touch screen, listen to mp3's when I read- so much fun, no pdf charges or international like with my previous kindle 2 (can use wifi), expandable memory to up to 16gb more, replicable battery, feels better than kindle cause of it's soft backing. The last update was amazing, so fast!
I still love my kindle 2, But I won't miss it, Nook, hello my new best friend! -
"Frozen Lemons" on by MEShields
Pros: Convenience, ease of use
Cons: Freezes freezes freezes freezes
Couldn't figure out how to remove content
Freezes freezes freezes freezesSummary: I waited for 5 months for the Nook and was excited with the updates - too bad they stink... Been through 2 in the last month - were they both lemons? Don't think so. The first Nook froze completely (nothing, not even the power button on top, would work) when the battery was low, but I wouldn't have considered it "dead" - the store popped off the back, took out the battery to reset it. This same Nook froze again when I was switching from or to "airplane mode" - still had at least 15% left on the battery - is this a "dead battery"? Don't think so! B&N gave me a new Nook. This second Nook froze again, this time with PLENTY of battery life! Again, it was when I was switching TO "Airplane" mode in order to conserve the battery. I began peeling off the back panel and it reset itself. A week went by and I wanted new content so I needed to turn off "Airplane" Mode and you don't have to guess what happened. Froze solid with 39% battery life. At least the folks at the B&N store were helpful - they replaced the first one with no hassle, and with this second one, refunded my cost and, since they had no way to refund what I paid for on-line content, they gave me a hard copy of the one book I had not yet read.
I do NOT recommend a Nook - you just may be left frozen out of it.
Barnes & Noble Nook user reviews (3G/Wi-Fi)
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