Root or Return

[Eduardito]

As you might know from a previous post I have been having a really hard time returning the Nook, I have tried 3 times already but that hold music kills me. I realize that most of my issues with the device would be resolved if I root it. The only reason I haven't done so is beacuse 1. I don't have a memory card for it, I didn't want to further invest in it if I am pondering returning it and 2. I am not technologically inclined and while I have read a lot about rooting there are some steps that are not 5 year old explicit (which I need) and I'm not brave enough to do it. Returning would mean having to go shopping for another reader which might present similar or bigger challenges, a whole devil you know scenario. So I am looking for advice here.

[SCION]

I don't know what timezone you're in. Have you tried calling during "off" hours, when most folks are asleep. I realize there may be fewer reps answering the phone, but the call queue will not be as full.

[The Joker]

Not sure what you dont like about it.......but.......If you dont like it.........return it......with all the recent threads about warranty...,it would be silly to root it.......and then try and return it......

Unless you're signing up to test the warranty theories

[Eduardito]

I don't like the fact that I can't put books on my home screen. It really bugs me. Enough to avoid using it. That's the biggest one.

[bigbrothad]

If you intend to have a ereader mainly to read ebooks, you would be better off getting a e-ink Nook or Kindle. I have the Nook classic and just received a NC. IMO, the e-ink screen is so much better for text reading. It also has better battery life than the NC.

I don't think rooting your new NC is going to make it any better at doing what you would like it to do, which seems to be reading books and organizing your book content. If you're still within your the holiday return period (1/31/11), I think they'll take it back at the B&N store even if you purchased it from their online site.

From link:

NOOK Refunds

Any NOOK purchased from November 15 to December 31, opened or unopened, will be honored for exchange or refund through January 31, 2011.

For NOOK refunds, either call 1-800-THE-BOOK (843-2665) for a return authorization, or return it to a Barnes & Noble store.

Please note: If you do not call for a return authorization number and send the NOOK to the wrong return center, no refund will be provided and your NOOK will not be returned to you.

[ProfCrash]

If you are not happy with the device you should return it.

[Eduardito]

After 2 hours and 20 minutes on hold I finally got thru to someone on B&N, the person flat out told me that I couldn't return the Nook because the 14 days had passed. I let him know about the holiday policy and he just ignored me. Then I got angry, I have to admit I lost it which is something I'm not proud of. As my voice tone got louder he decided to put me on hold, which infuriated me, this happened 4 times during our conversation. Every time I got loud he put me on hold. I felt like he was putting me on time out. At one point he suggested just sending the nook without any ID to see if they would refund me or send it right back at my expense. Anger ensued. Got put on time out again. Finally he caved and gave me a return number and address. Why he couldn't have done this from the begining is beyond me.

[jedifarfy]

I'm here to help and will do what I can. First, do you have your packing slip from your online purchase? Always keep it. They will return your item in store with that. It has the last 4 digits of your CC and returns are always until the end of January after Christmas. The stores can also search for your transaction using your CC (not sure if that does for sure work for online purchases, but at least it would be a start). Just sending it back wouldn't have accomplished anything. They would have either refused the package, or taken forever with a refund because they COULD look up the transaction with the serial number but that depends on if they WANT to.

On a side note, everyone working in the stores strongly dislikes the online people. They're robots who's only goal is to drive you into madness and make you rip your hair out.

[Eduardito]

Unfortunately we don't have brick and mortar B&N Stores on the island, that would've been my first choice when buying the device. I got it online and everything was peaches and cream until I the holiday rush when I wanted to return it. I got two different addresses to send the device to, one over the phone and the other one on the email, I had to call and wait 50 minutes on hold for them to confirm the address that was sent by email as the correct one. I'm glad to be done with it, maybe for NookColor 2 they'll have their act together.

[kblair210]

Originally Posted by bigbrothad

If you intend to have a ereader mainly to read ebooks, you would be better off getting a e-ink Nook or Kindle.

I respectfully disagree. I did a lot of research (both online and in hand) with both readers while trying to decide which to purchase. I went so far as to investigate medical reports on the claims of eye strain on LCD screens.

I don't disagree there are people out there who may not enjoy reading from an LCD screen or prefer an eInk screen, but anyone can google and find out LCD screens cause no more eye strain than eInk screens. When comparing the two, I personally was more annoyed looking at the Kindle's screen because it was not bright enough unless you were in daylight or bright lights. I find it MUCH preferable to have the ability to lower the brightness on the NC's screen while reading in bed than mess around with an attached light. (It's funny how some people will spend hours reading message boards and browsing the web and then complain there's no way they could spend more than 15 minutes reading an LCD eBook reader without getting a migraine..)

Page turns on the NC are instant and don't need to invert and revert back to the correct display. The Kindle mentions their page turns are quieter now, the NC's page turns are 100% silent.. Color books can not be discounted. Magazines, newspapers, news web pages, etc. Don't forget about the full color kids books on the NC (which my children LOVE).

The only places an eInk reader surpasses the NC (in my opinion) is weight, battery life and in the case of the Kindle, their Whispersync technology.

If all you want to do is read books, I would argue the NC is a better solution because it allows a wider variety of book formats and from a wider variety of sources (libraries, Google Books, etc).

I agree with the annoyance of B&N's limitations on the home screen, but the device is so technically superior to other readers it's an annoyance I can live with by using the library versus the home screen.

Note, none of this takes into consideration the rooting possibilities or even what's coming up with the app store and the 2.2 update.. If you take rooting into consideration, there's seriously no comparison - even as 'just an eBook reader'.

[orb9220]

"(It's funny how some people will spend hours reading message boards and browsing the web and then complain there's no way they could spend more than 15 minutes reading an LCD eBook reader without getting a migraine..)"

I agree and if you point that out. They get all gangsta on you! :-)
.

[bigbrothad]

Originally Posted by kblair210

I don't disagree there are people out there who may not enjoy reading from an LCD screen or prefer an eInk screen, but anyone can google and find out LCD screens cause no more eye strain than eInk screens. [/I]

The only places an eInk reader surpasses the NC (in my opinion) is weight, battery life and in the case of the Kindle, their Whispersync technology.

If all you want to do is read books, I would argue the NC is a better solution because it allows a wider variety of book formats and from a wider variety of sources (libraries, Google Books, etc).

I agree with the annoyance of B&N's limitations on the home screen, but the device is so technically superior to other readers it's an annoyance I can live with by using the library versus the home screen.

Actually, I have both the Nook classic and the Nook Color. When I'm reading text and epub books, I find reading on the e-ink screen to be superior than on the NC. Staring at a computer LCD all day long at work, when I actually want to sit down and read a book, the e-ink screen is more relaxing to my eyes. I find that even with the NC brightness dialed way down, it's still too bright. The Nook classic also does epubs from the library and google books.

Doesn't matter much anways, as OP is returning his NC. If he's unhappy with it for whatever reason, I don't think rooting the device would gain him that much more of a reader out of it. He stated that if he returned the Nook Color, he'd still be shopping for another "ereader", not multi-purpose tablet device, to replace it. Hence, I recommended for an e-ink reader. I never mentioned "Kindle".

[ColdSun]

How many times do we have to cover this, especially with the same people over and over? eink is no better than LCD. LCD is no better than eink. There are no conclusive medical studies about either, and reading anything, even paper, can give you eye strain. It is a matter of preference on which type of device works best for each user.

To the original poster, sorry you received such horrible customer service. Online service these days is almost always terrible. On the other hand, I couldn't disagree with you more about the NC. You don't even need to root the thing for it to be one of the best readers on the market. It really just comes down to what type of reader you prefer.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Eduardito

As you might know from a previous post I have been having a really hard time returning the Nook, I have tried 3 times already but that hold music kills me. I realize that most of my issues with the device would be resolved if I root it. The only reason I haven't done so is beacuse 1. I don't have a memory card for it, I didn't want to further invest in it if I am pondering returning it and 2. I am not technologically inclined and while I have read a lot about rooting there are some steps that are not 5 year old explicit (which I need) and I'm not brave enough to do it. Returning would mean having to go shopping for another reader which might present similar or bigger challenges, a whole devil you know scenario. So I am looking for advice here.

Hi,

I always suggest buying ereaders that satisfy you, as the user, out of the box; they are not PCs that you can install and uninstall the operating system easily, so hacking the device to get more of it is adding more complexity to a decision that should be easy and hassle free.

I do have the skills to root a Nook Color but I returned instead, simply because did not fulfill what I am expecting from an e-reader.

Now, If you don't like it "out of the box" and you strongly feel that you must root it to get all the "juice" from it, maybe you should return it. There are a lot of other options out there where you can enjoy a similar device without having to hack it, some of those are Pandigital and Pocketbook IQ (the Pocketbook for a really competitive price)

Rooting a device implies that you must keep doing the same thing several times and for the life of the device in order to keep your NC working or up to date.

So if you are not technologically inclined do yourself a favor and get something that works for you out of the box.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by ColdSun

How many times do we have to cover this, especially with the same people over and over? eink is no better than LCD. LCD is no better than eink.

I would say the opposite, I don't understand why NC fans keep insisting on the same topic again and again. If you use LCD for short period of times, probably won't be a problem, but the glare makes the eye to focus the object (letters) much more than with an eink screen, creating eye strain and eye problems over the time.

With sunlight or proper indoor light, eink is better than LCD, at least with current LCD technology. Read a 1000 pages book on both, you will confirm by yourself.

I'm not going to post you links and keep debating (I've done that before here in mobileread) but Google it, you will find tons of information about it. My own doctor confirmed this to me and he is an eye specialist.