One of my late Christmas presents from Chris this year as the Barnes & Noble nook, a rival reader to Amazon’s Kindle. I must say that I love my nook, and it keeps getting better! Each new software update, particularly the latest, has brought fun goodies.
So why did Chris end up choosing the nook? After he compared it to the Amazon and the Sony Reader, he ultimately choose the nook for several reasons:
- A space to add a memory card if you want to hold even more books. This may or may not be a moot point as your entire library is stored online as well.
- The nook also has wifi capabilities, with instant access and more features when you inside a BN store.
- Over a 1,000,000 books. At the time, more books were available at BN than at Amazon. I am unsure if that is still true but I think it is. I believe Sony’s books can be read on the nook as well.
- I can read e-books checked at my local library on the nook, not on the Kindle.
- Chris liked that the nook used Android software. This means nothing to me, but it was pretty cool to Chris, my software engineer hubby.
- Navigation is handled via a touchscreen (personal preference).
My nook finally arrived the first week of February and I am thrilled with it! I was one of the original scoffers of e-reader technology. I thought I would miss the feel of a book in my hand and turning the pages, but no, I can’t say that I do. I reads like a book, feels like the weight of a book, and you can swipe the touchscreen with your finger with the same motion as turning a page – and your page turns. It’s pretty great picking up one book knowing you have just about your entire library with you at one time!
I am able to upload my own docs and pdf files to read as I wish. Formatting may not be perfect, but it works for me. I can also upload .jpgs to use as screensavers – I have thoroughly enjoyed this. Opening the cover I purchased for my nook and seeing rotating pics of my family. (I honestly had no idea if this is a feature on the Kindle or Sony products). I can also adjust the font size to any size I’d like – nice!
The latest software update included two games: Sudoku (yes!) and Chess. It also included (get this!) a web browser! Sweet, huh? You have enable a wifi connection and be connected wirelessly, and it does work, albeit a little slow. This latest update also made page turns a little faster as well as some other nice minor details.
Sure, sure…every rare now and then it freezes and I have to power it down and back up and then, but that happens to any tech product I own. I don’t see it as a major issue.
Cons. Yes, there a couple of downsides. Any book with charts, I am not able to increase the size of the charts to a readable size (one book had this issue that I know of). Hopefully this gets improved upon. Also, there is a notes, highlights, and bookmarks feature. I love marking up non-fiction books with notes and highlights, however, doing this on the nook is a bit cumbersome. I can go much, much faster with a paper version so I don’t usually make the effort to highlight unless it’s really, really worth it. Hopefully this improves as well.
A pro or a con, depending upon your budget and perspective: it was way too easy to buy books! You can download free samples to preview if you’d like, but either way all you tap is “buy” then “ok” and you have your book in seconds! Seconds! Truly amazing. Just stay within reach of a cellular tower and you have a gazillion books at your fingertips. Amazing.
A book lovers dream.
And I highly recommend a handy-dandy cover no matter which reader you choose. It’s just cuteness! I chose one with a picture frame on the front so I could put in a nice pic of my gorgeous family for me to look at everyday.
Going Nowhere