The Barnes & Noble Nook ebook reader did NOT live up to its hype. The portable white device is neatly packaged and looks sleek with its “colored” dashboard but that’s pretty much all there is to it.
Since last November, I have been reading about the Nook and comparing it with Amazon’s Kindle. Everything I read about the Nook from Barnes & Noble’s site to CNET reviews made it seem like the Nook was the perfect electronic reader. The Nook came with a slot for expandable memory (unlike the Kindle), the Nook had a touch screen (unlike the Kindle-some of you might like this & some might not), the Nook had a color display dashboard (unlike the Kindle), and you could even share your ebooks with other ebook readers (oh, but you’ll be surprised…)! Who wouldn’t want a Nook after reading all of that???
Here are THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE PURCHASING THE NOOK:
- For you tech savvy people, the Nook is SLOW. When flipping pages through the Nook, there is a lag — you can see the words becoming “grainy” before they become clear for you to read again.
- If you’re expecting to share your Nook with multiple readers… then you are WRONG. The Nook only allows you to share your book ONCE. You can share it for up to 14 days and during those 14 days you will not be able to access the ebook. After the book has been shared, it can no longer be shared again. B&N did a good job with not mentioning this in their marketing strategy.
- For those of you who like to take notes and highlight, the Nook is SUPER SLOW. Highlighting has never been so frustrating before until I tried it on the Nook. Try counting two seconds for the Nook to move between each line. Try counting another two seconds for the Nook to move between EACH WORD! By that time, with a real highlighter and a physical book, you could have highlighted about four lines already.
- For you anal people who like to have everything organized, the Nook WILL NOT BE FRIENDLY TO YOU. If you download a book or a sample book, there is no way for you to delete directly off of the Nook. Why didn’t they install a “delete” feature?
- For people who like to read at night, YOU CAN’T. You will have to purchase an extra accessory. How come B&N didn’t build in a back light feature? The e-ink display is awesome but the Nook would have been so much more versatile for different settings if it had a back light feature for night reading. Perhaps, this is where B&N will make more money by selling accessories for the Nook — and that might be the reason why they didn’t have this feature built in.
- For people with big hands/fingers, good luck navigating on the Nook!
To summarize, the Nook is not worth your $259 investment. The average price on an e-book is $10. The average price on a physical book that you will read will probably be around $25. So if you purchase an electronic book, then you will save about $15. Now do the math. $259/$15 (difference of $25 and $10) = ~$17.27. $17.27 * $25 = $431.67. You will have to spend about $431.67 before you start saving on additional books with the Nook… or read about 17 books. That number is above what an average person in America would read each year.
So if you’re above average, this might be worth the investment.
Try it before you buy it… otherwise, you will have to pay a 10% restocking fee once the item has been opened.
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THANK YOU !!!! I almost bought a Nook or Kindle. No one will tell me if I can read either at night WITHOUT lights. So cool I’m not the new owner of a “Backlit Reader” that only allows mw to look at the books cover in the dark.
Thanx for this review
This review was done awhile ago — I’m now an owner of the Amazon Kindle — you can’t read it in the dark, you would have to use a book light in order to do so. If money isn’t an issue to you, you might want to consider getting an iPad instead :)
I’ve actually purchased (and returned) the nook and must agree with you here. I think barnes and nobles could have done a better job putting this together. Technology is much more advanced than what they’ve invested into the ereader.
The competition is tough, they can’t be slacking like this, especially with the iPad now out.
Also, the 10% restocking fee sucked, but it was a small sacrifice compared to keeping the already outdated technology before it was even launched.