Nook vs. Nook Color vs. Sony 650

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by jocampo

What you don't get? :-) ... the Nook Color's battery life is bad.

For a normal ereader user, 5 to 6 hours is a big inconvenient. Imagine yourself in a airplane travel from LA to Paris, without including airport wait. Or ... you are in a nice beach in Puerto Rico or Mexico, you got there after a 2 hrs trip in a car. It is certainly and inconvenient.

You can be happy with 30 min, but it is not a lot of time.

Hm, I was not talking about 30 minutes battery life, I was thinking about 30 minutes reading time... I'm a working woman, I work 8 hours a day, 2 hours of commute (car), 8 hours of sleep. That leaves 6 hours of eating, socializing and other things that need to be done in a house. So, if I can read 30 minutes each day (though, during weekends I do read for longer stretches, if I can) I'm happy. Those 30 minutes usually are in bed, before going to sleep. So, a battery life of 5 hours is more than enough.

And the last time I flew, I probably read about 10 minutes... I'm too distracted with other things to read (besides, I prefer listening to audiobooks when taking long trips anyway).

[ProfCrash]

That is why the variety of e-readers is great. Normally battery life is not important to me, I can charge at home, but when I travel I need a lot of time. I do some international travel and a lot of cross country travel. Knowing that my battery will allow me to read for 18 hours (yes, I have read for 18 hours on some trips) makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I have difficulty sleeping on planes and find most of the in flight entertainment to be crap so I read.

[polly]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

That is why the variety of e-readers is great. Normally battery life is not important to me, I can charge at home, but when I travel I need a lot of time. I do some international travel and a lot of cross country travel. Knowing that my battery will allow me to read for 18 hours (yes, I have read for 18 hours on some trips) makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I have difficulty sleeping on planes and find most of the in flight entertainment to be crap so I read.

Me too. Never underestimate the security that comes with knowing you have something to read. I've spent five hours in the passenger terminal before getting on the airplane, never mind the long flight and drive across country at the other end. And then there were the six unexpected hours in the hospital emergency room...

[Grimm]

Originally Posted by jocampo

The battery life is horrible, about 4 or 5 hrs with average usage, which makes it a "no no" if you are reading a novel.

Ummm... no. I've read for longer than that numerous times.

Originally Posted by jocampo

The glare is a big issue too. Using a Nook color on the beach or sun light it's problematic.

Again, no. Anti-glare film works just fine to reduce glare.

Originally Posted by jocampo

For a full and only ereader experience, please stay away from LCD screens.

That is opinion, nothing more.

[Grimm]

Originally Posted by mnfe

Thanks, everyone. I didn't list battery life, but I think that I will want more than 10 hours, so that takes the nook Color out of the running. Otherwise
I can just load the reader software on my netbook and get the same thing, although slightly bulkier. It also does better at websurfing, etc.

The Sony 950 during the sale is tempting, though. So now it is between the nook and that, the main differential being if I want to pay the higher price. I guess I will go to Best Buy this week and try them out.

January's Nook Color update is supposed to address battery life and web browsing amongst quite a few other things.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Grimm

Ummm... no. I've read for longer than that numerous times.

Again, no. Anti-glare film works just fine to reduce glare.

That is opinion, nothing more.

No way! No matter what you say you won't be able to convince me or prove that an LCD screen is easier for eyes than e-ink. Even with anti glare and all that stuff. The reason is that still, is LCD screen and a very reflective surface. Anti glare reduces that but you will get light reflection anyway which will cause the eye's muscle to relax and refocus several times and much more frequently than normal, creating fatigue and eye strain. You don't have that with e-ink.

And I am sorry, I would like to challenge your battery life numbers. I do have several coworkers who own a Nook color and they get 5 to 6 hrs average until next charge. Even at B&N website you will find 10 hrs under perfect conditions. I am assuming that you barely use it and zero wifi.

[SCION]

Originally Posted by jocampo

...
And I am sorry, I would like to challenge your battery life numbers. I do have several coworkers who own a Nook color and they get 5 to 6 hrs average until next charge. Even at B&N website you will find 10 hrs under perfect conditions. I am assuming that you barely use it and zero wifi.

Perhaps I'm not the norm. I keep my wifi on, downloading and installing apps, automatically checking mail, automatically updating facebook, twitter, periodicals and podcasts feeds throughout the day. I also read for about 3 - 4 hours. When I retire for the night and plug up to charge I'm at 25% remaining.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by SCION

Perhaps I'm not the norm. I keep my wifi on, downloading and installing apps, automatically checking mail, automatically updating facebook, twitter, periodicals and podcasts feeds throughout the day. I also read for about 3 - 4 hours. When I retire for the night and plug up to charge I'm at 25% remaining.

SCION,

I don't know what to say about your comment, especially when you confirm wifi is on. But I can certainly validate they are disappointed with the battery life which as per my friends, last about 5 to 6 hrs.

So, are you saying you use your NC for about 8 hrs daily and still 25% remaining?

[SCION]

Originally Posted by jocampo

SCION,

I don't know what to say about your comment, especially when you confirm wifi is on. But I can certainly validate they are disappointed with the battery life which as per my friends, last about 5 to 6 hrs.

So, are you saying you use your NC for about 8 hrs daily and still 25% remaining?

Yes, I do have my brightness set at the 1/3 level throughout the day as well. For lights out reading at night I drop it down all the way. That's the only tweaking that I do.

Of course it's not comparable to e-ink, but I haven't been disappointed. I knew what to expect. I'm actually shocked that the B&N claim of battery life is not overestimated, as is usually the case with such things.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by SCION

Yes, I do have my brightness set at the 1/3 level throughout the day as well. For lights out reading at night I drop it down all the way. That's the only tweaking that I do.

Of course it's not comparable to e-ink, but I haven't been disappointed. I knew what to expect. I'm actually shocked that the B&N claim of battery life is not overestimated, as is usually the case with such things.

I see ...

Well, my old Nook was giving me about the same B&N estimates: 5 to 6 days and barely using wifi. When I upgraded to 1.5 it certainly improved to about a week.

[SCION]

Originally Posted by jocampo

I see ...

Well, my old Nook was giving me about the same B&N estimates: 5 to 6 days and barely using wifi. When I upgraded to 1.5 it certainly improved to about a week.

I see lots of praise for the latest update. That's great.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by SCION

I see lots of praise for the latest update. That's great.

Well, is gone now! lol ... it traveled from TX to FL, ironically thanks to Amazon store, ha. Now I have the Kindle 3 wifi (besides the DX) and no regrets.

I'll see if there is some way for me to "steal" that NC for about a week. I do also have the option of buying and then bring it back after a few days, but kind of risky with wife at home ... ;-) ... I could end buying it for her anyway ... I do have a full tablet like a Galaxy on my mind, instead ...

[SCION]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Well, is gone now! lol ... it traveled from TX to FL, ironically thanks to Amazon store, ha. Now I have the Kindle 3 wifi (besides the DX) and no regrets.

I'll see if there is some way for me to "steal" that NC for about a week. I do also have the option of buying and then bring it back after a few days, but kind of risky with wife at home ... ;-) ... I could end buying it for her anyway ... I do have a full tablet like a Galaxy on my mind, instead ...

Ahh, the Galaxy Tab. Nice. The reviews have been positive.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by SCION

Yes, I do have my brightness set at the 1/3 level throughout the day as well. For lights out reading at night I drop it down all the way. That's the only tweaking that I do.

Of course it's not comparable to e-ink, but I haven't been disappointed. I knew what to expect. I'm actually shocked that the B&N claim of battery life is not overestimated, as is usually the case with such things.

yeah I'm not getting this whole battery life debate our friend mr campo is taking on. It's not like it's breaking news that LCD based products don't have weeks of battery life in them

We're not exactly just coming out of caves and discovering this. I own a smartphone, a laptop and now a nook color. I was fully aware of the the life cycle of these batteries. I'm not sure where he's going.

the one thing I do find really surprising is the little to no battery usage when it's in sleep mode. I took my nook color off the charger before I went to bed at 11:00 PM one night, left it in sleep mode, checked it at 6:30 am and it was at 98%. My Droid X doesn't save that much power. In fact my Droid X has worse battery life, though it is pushed harder.

I read on average 1 hr to work 1 hr back home 1 hr before bed. wild cards lunch sometimes 20 mins or some internet use/using the shoppin app as well.

Actually for this type of device it's battery life is excellent.

Now if I was doing heavy internet surfing and watching videos I would expect less. For example I watch about 30 mins worth of youtube videos on my droid X my battery level sank like a rock.

it all depends on what's pushing it.

but again why is this topic being discussed, we are approaching 2011, I think by know we all know the battery life of LCD's, this was no shock to us who bought the nook color.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Well, is gone now! lol ... it traveled from TX to FL, ironically thanks to Amazon store, ha. Now I have the Kindle 3 wifi (besides the DX) and no regrets.

I'll see if there is some way for me to "steal" that NC for about a week. I do also have the option of buying and then bring it back after a few days, but kind of risky with wife at home ... ;-) ... I could end buying it for her anyway ... I do have a full tablet like a Galaxy on my mind, instead ...

I've played around with the Galaxy Tab, I like it alot, I can't for the life of me understand the pricing it has. Too much. It doesn't make alot of sense.
but great device none the less.