http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/ Engadget Comments for Barnes & Noble Nook review http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 12:03AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 8th 2009 6:23AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 10th 2009 12:21AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 10th 2009 2:46AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 12th 2009 4:24AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/
So what was the point of your comment? To show your fanboy side or just be irritating to anyone else reading the comment stream?]]>Dec 12th 2009 8:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/
Bear in mind, I'm coming in much later, too. As of this writing, the 1.4 firmware is on the Nook, making for a different UI experience than Engadget had. I should also note that I have owned the Kindle2 and used it extensively, and that I came into the Nook much later.

First of all, it should be noted that a *significant* difference between the Nook and Kindle2 is that the Nook has native support for ePub and eReader formats, both DRM and non-DRM. This means that, as a reader, you have the choice to go to B&N, or to Borders, or to Sony's bookstore, or to any of the free options online (Project Gutenberg, Google Books, other less-than-ethical sources, etc.) -- Between the support for ePub, which is quickly becoming the de facto standard for eBooks, and PDF, which is already a standard for documents, the Nook provides a more open experience to end-users.

With the Kindle2, you need to convert all those non-DRM ePubs to AZW or MOBI format. This means loss of formatting, and sometimes totally breaks the books you convert. Programs like Calibre do a handy enough job, but there's always a little loss when going from one eBook format to another. Amazon's choice of formats is a bit more closed-off.

Sure, Amazon supports PDF, but I can honestly say that the PDF support on the Nook is a *much* better experience. The font resizing is better, the display formatting is better, and the documents turn out looking like they were meant to. This would no doubt be because the Nook was designed with Adobe's input, while the Kindle added PDF support as a firmware update.

The eBook-buying experience is about the same, as far as I'm concerned. The Kindle and Nook both have the same basic concept when it comes to buying directly from the device. Where Nook improves on this (and only slightly) is in the retail store experience. While Amazon doesn't have physical stores you can wander into with your Kindle, B&N can be found in most cities and towns in America. You can walk into a B&N with your Nook, sample books, read any book for an hour, and even get limited-time promotions like free coffee for showing your Nook, or free books for those who shop on a particular day. This sort of retail experience can't be ignored, and because of their physical presence, B&N can enhance the Nook experience in ways Amazon won't be able to match.

Amazon's Kindle has one major advantage over the Nook, and that is where the 3G is concerned. The Nook and Kindle are around the same price for the 3G units, but on the Nook you get far less 3G for your extra fifty bucks than the Kindle offers at a similar price point. This is because the Nook will not let you use 3G with the newly-added web browser. It's strictly WiFi only. While I understand the cost-cutting effort they're making, it makes them seem petty when compared to Amazon, who allow you to use your Kindle to surf the web over the 3G network.

It's especially disappointing when you realize that the Nook's web browser is so much better than the Kindle's. The Android OS allows for a more robust experience, and the web pages actually show up on the color touch screen, allowing you to navigate them in a way that's not dissimilar from an Android phone's browsing experience, with the added bonus of seeing the entire web page on the e-ink panel. If they allowed 3G browsing, the Nook would be the hands-down winner of the eReader web browser Olympics. As it stands, you have to find a hotspot to use Nook's browser, so this nice bonus feature is a little less handy than it would be with 3G support.

However, in B&N's defense, they do include free WiFi at any AT&T hotspot. If you're a city-dweller, this means you're pretty much covered at all times, as most businesses that provide WiFi either have their own free hotspot, or use AT&T's paid network. The Nook is ideal for urban folks. It just falls a little short for rural readers who might want to do some web browsing on their Nook.

The reading experience on the Nook is slightly better than the Kindle2, in my opinion. The page-turning (now sped up greatly, due to firmware upgrades) is easier on the Nook, as they've been kind enough to include both Next Page and Previous Page buttons on both sides of the screen, as opposed to the Kindle 2, which only has Previous Page on the left-hand side. Another nice feature of the Nook is the ability to turn pages by swiping the darkened touch screen, much like you turn pages on other touch screen devices. It's a nice change from the constant clicking of buttons.

The buttons on the Nook aren't so much "buttons" as they are parts of the bezel that depress a bit. They aren't separate from the bezel. They merely depress a membrane under the bezel, giving a tactile clicky feedback that lets you know the action has completed. This lack of separate, physical buttons makes the Nook feel more "smooth" than the Kindle. This feeling of sleekness is only helped by the lack of a physical keyboard. The touch screen keyboard works just as well as-- if not better than-- the Kindle keyboard, and it takes up less space, to boot.

In summary, I loved the Kindle, but the ePub format and better support for PDF, along with the WiFi and smoother lines and build of the Nook have made me re-evaluate my Kindle-love. I do much less book-converting, and get to do a lot more reading on the Nook. I can put up a couple more ounces of weight (the Nook is smaller, but fatter) to get an eReader that lets me turn pages without changing my grip, and I appreciate the in-store efforts from B&N to make the Nook experience a good one. It's also nice to be able to change my own battery instead of paying Amazon to do it for me (requiring shipping and waiting, too) and I like being able to expand my storage space. These are things Amazon should have allowed on Kindle 1, and they have yet to remedy the situation on the newest Kindle.

In summary, B&N took the Kindle and improved it where it counts. The experience is marred only by the lack of 3G web browsing, but all that means is that if you're a city-dweller, you can get the Nook WiFi for fifty bucks less and never miss the 3G functions. The only reason to get the 3G+WiFi Nook is if you live somewhere without WiFi. ]]>Jul 26th 2010 1:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 10:23AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 11:32AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Maybe Ill ask for one for Christmas, or ask for a gift card for one at least, haha]]>Dec 7th 2009 12:10AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/
I'm going to wait until the refresh rate for e-ink is less than 100 ms. =/]]>Dec 7th 2009 1:13AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 1:37AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 12:11AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/I agree, i thought for about the past month that i was eagerly waiting to start reading again because of the nook lol. I guess i kidded myself, if it doesn't have the power and precision of an iphone which we're all used to by now, quick access to everything and ease of use, than why bother. Anything less is just uncivilized...isn't that an old slogan hah!]]>Dec 7th 2009 1:31AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 12:11AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 12:16AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/
This is the extent of an in-depth review? Come on guys I wanted to actually get some details on how nook handles different PDF files and ebook formats. This is like reviewing a game system by just browsing the menus and not playing any games. ]]>Dec 7th 2009 12:29AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 12:43AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/
Does it support reflow?
How does it handle color images in PDFs?
Does it load JPEG2000 compressed images in PDFs?
Does it lag more with PDFs than shown in the video?
Does it behave nicely with PDFs that are entirely text versus PDFs that are created from images?
Does zooming into PDFs work as expected, or is it also extremely laggy?

I have so many questions and concerns with how well it works with PDF before I can even know whether using one is feasible. Currently, all of my textbooks and reading are PDFs that are images or scans.]]>Dec 7th 2009 2:04AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/
Engadget should stick to news, and leave reviews of any sort up to people that know what they're doing (like dpreview, for example).]]>Dec 7th 2009 2:53AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/
I detail this above in *my* review, but here's the answer in a nutshell:

The Nook STOMPS the Kindle in terms of PDF display.

Adobe had a hand in the Nook's initial software, and so they handle the PDF format by design. The Kindle added PDF as an afterthought, and you're right: It does kind of suck.

On the Nook, PDFs display properly. The formatting is right. The fonts are big enough to read (and can be resized without losing formatting). The whole experience is better. On top of that, the Nook handles DRM'd PDFs by design, too.

Of course, there are caveats: If you're trying to read giant-paged tech manuals on a little Nook screen, you'll be disappointed by the formatting. It's great for novel-sized pages, but not so good for big textbooks that have lots of illustrations. Those still work (and better than the Kindle), but they're not perfect on the Nook's small e-ink display.

My suggestion, as a Nook fan and former Kindle owner, is to get a Kindle DX if you want to display large tech manuals or textbooks with lots of illustrations. The PDF support on the Nook is ideal for "Tom Sawyer" or your manga of choice, but not ideal for IT tech manuals in PDF format. ]]>Jul 26th 2010 1:35PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 12:31AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 10:47AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 12:37AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 10:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 9th 2009 7:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 12:40AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/
Bigger and full colour version of the nook?? Or did I miss read the initial reports?]]>Dec 7th 2009 12:42AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/
I think I'll wait to draw my own conclusions when mime arrives sometime next week.

We'll See...
]]>Dec 7th 2009 12:41AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 12:43AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 12:44AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 12:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/
I would almost guarantee you that even a majority of Amazon's own customers have never heard of the Kindle, despite it being pegged on their homepage for like the last 2 years and taking up all the space above the fold. That fact in itself has made their homepage almost useless to the point that I think most people probably just ignore it and go straight to the section that they're interested in, forgetting about whatever they saw on the front page. (Most people do not remember things they're not actually looking for.)

Barnes & Noble, though, has stores all over the country, including malls in rural areas. They're going to have Nooks set up like iPod stations at Apple stores - you're going to be able to pick one of these up and play with it as soon as you walk into one of their stores. They'll have that *combined* with all the same sorts of web marketing that Amazon's doing. They have a huge leg up on reaching average Americans; their stores are a big advantage.

Which is not to excuse shoddy design, but just to explain the mindset that I'll bet took hold at B&N, which is that it matters more to just get the thing in stores and start stealing market share away, then fix any problems the device itself has later. This is going to be most peoples' first experience with any ebook reader, so as long as it doesn't crash and is basically usable, they'll be happy enough with it because they won't know any better. Amazon is going to have a hard time competing with this without their own stores.

Even Apple had to open their own stores to sell their stuff; it's very hard to compete against a big brick and mortar chain only online. The reason Amazon's been successful in general to this point has been that they're selling other peoples' stuff - but trying to sell your own stuff that people can't really try out in advance, while a competitor has stores all over the nation that lets people do just that - that's going to be difficult for Amazon to deal with.]]>Dec 7th 2009 1:49AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 2:18AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/
That's a great comment, and I agree with you that a huge part of Barnes & Noble's marketing strategy for the nook is probably just about getting some immediate exposure for the device and building the market saturation early on with store customers. One of B&N's advantages over Amazon is having such a huge amount of retail stores as they do, and there are nook kiosks in the entrances of every one of them now. Of course Amazon is building some brick-and-mortar businesses of their own, too -- and I'm sure battling B&N for market dominance has alot to do with that -- but they have some catching up to do on that side of things.

]]>Dec 7th 2009 2:22AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 12:46AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 12:52AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 1:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/
Like the Nook, the Sony eReaders support ePUB, so there's many sources to get books (including free ones from Google Books). Plus, if you buy a book, it's always yours (even if the publisher/eBook maker get into a dispute). :)]]>Dec 7th 2009 4:16AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/
" I want a snappy intuitive UI, the rest is just details"


* but i'm no einstein.]]>Dec 7th 2009 12:46AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/
DaVinci would agree.]]>Dec 12th 2009 3:32AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 12:50AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Dec 7th 2009 2:49AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/
Besides, I'm seeing a lot of "it's laggy" complaints here, which seem like a bunch of bullshit seeing how this thing is an ebook for god's sake. I know you've tried to purchase and navigate directly from the Kindle, so you know just how big of a pain in the ass that is *without* the color touch screen to speed things up, so bitching about said color screen not being as responsive as that of the iPhone is, again, pretty much a bullshit complaint. Personally, I'm happy just to have the damn thing to begin with, seeing how the competition has yet offer anything similar. I also have a problem with your comment that that the screen refresh took too long. Uh, that refresh was about the same time required to flip a page on a real book, so I'm not seeing what your bone of contention is here, exactly.

As for the thing not being super simple to navigate, seeing how it's going to be sold at Barnes and Noble, not Walmart, I'm pretty sure it's intended market won't have a problem figuring it out. I'm not sure what burr you all have up your butt when it comes to the nook, but to say your review felt a bit slanted would not be an exaggeration. ]]>Dec 7th 2009 12:57AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/
Actually after you pay tax......$249 is looking like $300.]]>Dec 7th 2009 1:03AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/Let's review your statement. You don't seem to disagree that the nook is laggy, you just have a problem with them saying that it is laggy since it is an ebook reader. The navigation isn't simple but the target market will figure it out. And the refresh took the same time as turning a page in a real book.

I understand your "happy just to have the damn thing to begin with", but it's Engadget's job to report their observations of these products both positive and negative. This review didn't seem slanted at all imo.]]>Dec 7th 2009 1:25AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/
This is one of the reasons pocket paperbacks are not nearly as popular as they once were. Page turning *is* annoying to heavy readers, and it has *always* been really annoying, but people put up with it because what are you gonna do? It's a book, not a scroll. But there's no reason to have to actually put up with the same thing but *worse* on an electronic device that's supposed to make reading easier and more convenient.]]>Dec 7th 2009 1:33AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/
Nitpicking about $249 being closed to $200 than $250 is irrelevant and pedantic, especially considering shipping or tax, Furthermore, the fact that it is an ebook reader in no way excuses its noticeably laggy behavior when there are more responsive alternatives. And how has the competition not offered anything similar? Does the color capacitive display really differentiate this device enough to place it in a different category from other ebooks readers?

Also, people who go to Barnes and Noble are not necessarily all that technically inclined when it comes to how to navigate a user interface. An ideal GUI should be easy to navigate regardless of how tech-savvy the user is anyway, so that's a perfectly valid complaint.

It sounds to me like you pre-ordered the Nook and are now trying to justify the purchase to yourself by refuting any valid criticisms that are arising,]]>Dec 7th 2009 2:04AM