Nook Review

Packaging: The Nook comes encased in crystal clear plastic and is suspended, almost floating, over a cardstock rectangle containing it's simple manual, USB cable and charger. The directions to open the nook are printed opaquely on the back and you *do* need them. Opening the packaging was like disassembling a puzzle and not unamusing.

Appearance: The Nook is the eReader that most appeals to my aesthetic. I love it's compact size (especially compared to the too-long Alex Reader). It has a great handfeel, not too heavy not too light and is curved on the sides, which helps it rest in my hands as I read. The buttons do not stand out and are part of the solid casing. It's white outline is in turn matte over the page turning buttons and glossy around the edges. I like it's simplistic understatement. Also, when it powers down there is a "screen saver" of sorts. The ink arranges itself into random author portraits in the Barnes and Noble style. It's just an added bonus that makes it feel all academic and bookworm-ie.

Ease of use: After asking a clerk to show me the basics I was able to use the Nook without referring to the manual. One button on the touchscreen calls up the menu from which you can change settings, download books, etc. The menu is very, very simple to use. Anyone used to an iPod touch or iPhone will have no problem with it.

Downloading books: I have purchased books directly from the Nook as well as from the Barnes and Noble website. When using the latter method, there is an option on the touchscreen labeled "Check for new B&N content." If clicked, the Nook automatically syncs and downloads any new content purchased on from your Barnes and Noble account. It only takes a few seconds to download books.

Borrowing books: I have already borrowed a few eBooks using my Nook. My library uses a system called Overdrive to manage MP3 audiobooks and ePub eBooks (I live in NJ and the website is www.listennj.com if anyone else is interested in viewing what is offered). You will need to install Adobe Digital Editions from your library's website, have a library card and PIN number handy. You download the eBook into Adobe Digital Editions and from that program you simply transfer the eBook onto your Nook using the USB cable that came with it. You can only read an eBook for the duration of it's lending period, in my case 7-10 days depending on my preference, which I can change.

Cons: The one thing I am not 100% satisfied with is the length of the USB cable that comes with the Nook. It is not long enough to be of any use if you wanted to read with it plugged in. I manage (barely) by plugging it in behind my bed and laying facedown with the Nook close to the wall. The cable is very, very short.

Note: As a librarian I do not buy many books and needed an eReader that was compatible with ePub books. As this feature is not available on the Kindle I of course purchased the Nook. I am very, very pleased with it so far.

Note 2: Remember to fully charge your Nook before using it. I did not and the battery died while I was reading (the Nook stops responding) and had to charge it fully again.

Thanks for the review and a great big thanks for the listennj website which I didn't know existed (I'm in NJ as well).

Thanks for posting about the Overdrive thing. I found out my public library participates as well and now I have another place I can go to snag reads!

I love my Nook too for all the reasons stated above. Its less restricted than the kindle in the types of eBooks you can plcae on it. The latest update with the web browser was a little disappointing but hopefully it will get better in the future.

Battery life can be extended by turning on "Airplane Mode" Ive gotten up to a week of reading out of it by doing so.

There is a small group of people swapping titles on Librarything if you are interested.

http://www.librarything.com/groups/nookebookexchange

i love my nook! i thought i would miss the feel and smell of real books but it took me no time to get used to and i love it so much that i am disappointed when i have to read a regular book now! i recommend it to anyone who wants an ereader for actually reading books on.

Amber26, I know exactly what you mean about being disappointed when reading paper books.

I'm actually a librarian in a school and this leads to all sorts of interesting conflicting emotions at work!

I never really thought of the packaging to be included in the review. But that seems like a con to me that the company felt it was necessary for them to do it that way. Amazon on the other hand does "frustration-free" packaging, which makes me love them more.
I also love how they have a user-replaceable battery and card slot. I just hoped the card slot would be a bit more accessible. When I saw Best Buy selling the battery, I thought "why did they feel the need to do so so soon?" As if they're admitting that their batteries suck?
One thing that made me not like the Nook was the touchscreen/dual screen thing. It seemed odd to me to use a d-pad or type on a touchscreen but the responses go on a different screen. Seems unnatural to me and would personally take some time for me to get used to.
I think it's great that it supports epub, sharing, and full in-store reading.

Packaging: I found the packaging on the Nook I got a few weeks ago to be easy to get into. No frustration involved. Packaging might have changed since April.

Recharge cable: I found the cable to recharge the Nook to be adequate in length. The battery length is so long, especially when the airplane mode is selected, that I haven't had to read at the same time as charging.

battery: An extra battery is for when you go traveling for longer than two weeks where you cannot recharge. Like if you head off to Europe where they have different volts. Otherwise the battery seems to last two weeks in airplane mode, and recharges easily.

I do not understand the "why did they feel the need to do so so soon?" Do you normally find a product to be sold and then long afterwards a part for the product, ie battery, to then be sold? Weeks, months later? Instead of at the same time the product is released?

The touchscreen/dual screen is a plus in my opinion. It keeps your fingers off the screen you read, the book text area. Therefore it keeps the screen less fingerprinted, cleaner. The top screen, book reader screen, is clean still a month later. Bottom touch screen section becomes fuzzy from fingerprints and needs cleaning much more ofton than the top section.

That's it, I'm hooked on my Nook; it showed up in today's mail. It's a cinch to work, I uploaded 650 free books (all EPUB) to it from Calibre easy as pie, and am already reading.

I just got mine two days ago, and I am hooked already! I downloaded Anna Karenina and I am making way more progess with it than if I had to lug it around. B&N also has some great prices on classics right now which is great.

I'm still going to read the paper books as well, but I am hoping as time goes on that the clutter I've made with my TBR will decrease some. Dowloading doesn't count haha!

I've had my Nook since the beginning of May - my husband bought it for me for a birthday/Mother's Day present. I ended up loving it so much, I bought my son one for his birthday.

Honestly, when I first saw e-readers, I didn't want one. I'm a total book lover and I really get into the whole physical experience of holding a book - smell, touch, etc.... After the Nook came and I found out that I had a whole new world opened up to me!! Free books as well as being able to "visit" the library again.

I stopped going to the library since a trip for me costs about $10 round trip. If I make a trip every 3 weeks, cost in gas and wear & tear on my vehicle would pay for my Nook in a year!

Then there's all the free book available from places like B&N, Smashwords and Project Gutenburg. B&N has been really generous with their free books! In fact, right now, they are having a wonderful promotion that gives away free B&N classics each week from now until September. Here's the link:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/free-classic-novel-ebooks/379002285/?cds2Pid=301...

Yes, I love my Nook!!

It's good to know I am not the only one eating my words, but, I am happy to. I had recently just bought a Gone With the Wind Hardback a few months ago and I have not seen a "free" ebook version available anywhere but one place.

Project Gutenberg Australia
http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-a-m.html#mitchellm

Needless to say, voila, it's now on my Nook as an EPUB. Yes I'm loving Calibre.

I suspect the reason you hadn't seen a free version is because the length of copyright varies from country to country. It's probably out of copyright in Australia but not the US.

Gone With the Wind is a 1936 book.

US copyright is (copyright was extended in '98 and applied to everything published 1923 plus)
1) Author: life of author plus 70 years,
2) Corporate Author: 120 years after creation, or 95 years after publication, which ever is earlier (creation or publication)

Margaret Mitchell (author of Gone with the Wind) died in 1949.

Copyright life of author:
1936-1949 plus 70 years = 2019

Australia:
"Any work that was published in the lifetime of the author who died in 1956 or earlier, is out of copyright."

Yes I am aware of all this.

heh, it was just an excuse to see if I still knew how to do stuff other than the mundane no thought needed tasks for which it has become my life's work to fulfill.

Digital copyright is a fascinating thing at the moment, if a bit of a minefield (a fascinating minefield?). Publishers claiming they have digital rights for books contracted before the internet existed, let alone ebooks. The Google book settlement. Amazon realising that the version of 1984 they sold wasn't legal in the US and yanking it from people's Kindles, apparently blind to the irony (and putting me off buy any cloud-based tech for a while to come!). Print rights still make sense to be sold by country, but digitial rights have to be worldwide or people like me can only look at the nice ebooks, but not buy them. And, as above, books that are out of copyright in some countries but not others; just because it's legal for Australians to upload the books does not mean, alas, it's legal for us to download them.

I got the Nook WiFi on Saturday ( a birthday present from my wife).

The packaging was great, took me less than a minute to open it up. The Nook recognized my WiFi at home and connected without any issues, I started downloading books a few moments later without reading the instructions on how to do so (the Nook comes with a quick start guide, which I did read).

I made backups of the books using the USB cable to my computer without any issues at all either. As abinersmoothie mentioned, the USB cable is very short.

The touchscreen is great, it takes a bit to get used to it but that's because it's not as sensitive, which is a good think. Also, you don't get fingerprints on the main screen.

The whole "page flipping" complaints when it first came out seem to be fixed. It takes about a second to flip a page.

Web Browsing: Even though it's in beta mode I was still able to get my web mail, go on a few sites, etc.

I spent the $50 I "saved" by not buying the 3G Nook on an extended warranty and a cover cost me another $30 (the green leather one - everyone was surprised I picked the lime green instead of the black or brown, but my logic is that the green is easier to spot if someone decided to walk away with it).

The B&N gift cards (gift from sisters) worked great with the eBooks. You have to associate in the GC number with your account and that gets charged first when you make a purchase.

Book Reviews: http://www.ManOfLaBook.com