Touch Nook Simple Touch: First Impressions

[negris123]

The ghosting might be more noticeable in very bright or in direct sunlight conditions. Those were the conditions under which I was using the device when I wrote that. It was curious that at night, when I had to use a light, I didn't notice it and the text looked much sharper

I think I will keep the device since I was able to read a 100-page book last night without getting distracted. I haven't been able to do that with the NC since there are too many distractions

Edit: I looked up a word in the dictionary and the screen did not refresh so you could still see the text from the page I was reading (see picture). I am not saying this happens all the time, not even for dictionary look-ups, but it definitely happens and while it does not bother me personally, I feel I want to mention it and be objective about it, just so that people know about it.

[SCION]

Originally Posted by negris123

...
I think I will keep the device since I was able to read a 100-page book last night without getting distracted. I haven't been able to do that with the NC since there are too many distractions

Yeah, that's what I'm craving. Just to be able to read without going off and doing other things. I don't think I've read more than 20 pages straight using my NOOKcolor.

[Scarpad]

Originally Posted by negris123

I mentioned the ghosting in my initial post. As far as I know, the frequency of refreshes (meaning refreshing every 6 page turns, not on every page turn) is not optional, so there is no setting that can change that. Maybe there should had been, because I can see this as annoying to a lot of people.

Price they paid to try to hide the screen refresh to have it as a selling feature over other e readers.

Originally Posted by negris123

Edit: I looked up a word in the dictionary and the screen did not refresh so you could still see the text from the page I was reading (see picture). I am not saying this happens all the time, not even for dictionary look-ups, but it definitely happens and while it does not bother me personally, I feel I want to mention it and be objective about it, just so that people know about it.

That is definitely some serious ghosting. Once again though, if B&N wanted to fix that with a firmware update they could. But that is a big IF. I wonder if there is a way to force a page refresh. The Kindles have that with a keypad combination of ALT + G, but probably no way to easily do it without a keypad.

Also, all the photos I'm seeing of the screens look like a light gray to me, and about on par with Kindle and Sony Pearl screens. In bright store lights they might look whiter than in lighting situations typical of a home.

[TimW]

Originally Posted by Scarpad

Price they paid to try to hide the screen refresh to have it as a selling feature over other e readers.

Very sad. A better selling feature would have been a price closer to the $99 mark. I would suggest having a landscape feature but that's just crazy talk.

Being able to use a manual refresh, (like "alt G" on the K) would be good.

Edit: You're fast jswinden.

[SCION]

Originally Posted by jswinden

...
Also, all the photos I'm seeing of the screens look like a light gray to me, and about on par with Kindle and Sony Pearl screens. In bright store lights they might look whiter than in lighting situations typical of a home.

Perhaps it was an optical illusion. I've played with Kindles and Sonys in bright lighted conditions and they didn't look light gray. In fact I looked at a Kindle earlier in the day in such conditions just to give me a recent point of reference for the demo. No where near what this Touch looks like. A reviewer mentioned it is darker than the Kindle. I'm baffled by this statement. Maybe it was just the demo. I don't know.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by SCION

Perhaps it was an optical illusion. I've played with Kindles and Sonys in bright lighted conditions and they didn't look light gray. In fact I looked at a Kindle earlier in the day in such conditions just to give me a recent point of reference for the demo. No where near what this Touch looks like. A reviewer mentioned it is darker than the Kindle. I'm baffled by this statement. Maybe it was just the demo. I don't know.

The appearance of the background of an eInk screen varies drastically with the lighting conditions. In sunlight, it will appear almost white; in artificial light it's light grey. The difference between the older Vizplex and the newer Pearl eInk screens isn't in the background, but in the darkness of the text; "black" is much "blacker" with a Pearl screen.

[Care]

Hmmmm, I don't know if I like that the books from the sd card go into my files instead of library. Did I read that right? Are the shelves the same as the previous Nooks, where you can't do it via calibre or the computer?

It seems like the ghosting might be better or worse on different ones since some don't notice it. I will go check them out when I go down to the US next. I like the look of the Kobo more, but it seems to take forever to load a book in the vids. I also have two other Nooks, so I would like to stay with Nook. I don't think I will get one until some firmware updates are released though. I am happy with my Classic nook, and really hardly use it anyway (just outside which is only for a few months of the year). I actually just lent it out. :O Good thing it is raining, I would miss it if it were sunny.

[Bookworm_Girl]

The manuals are posted on the B&N website Nook support page now, and some additional tutorials are there as well. The firmware seems very similar to the NOOKcolor.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/support/

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I hope that's a PDF on screen. Way too much margin left & right.

It has 3 options for margins: narrow, medium & wide. It also has 3 options for line-spacing: single, 1.5, double. Or, you can use publisher defaults.

[jtdolphins]

Originally Posted by negris123

The ghosting might be more noticeable in very bright or in direct sunlight conditions. Those were the conditions under which I was using the device when I wrote that.

Now that you mention it, I was looking at the nook in sunlight yesterday when I noticed the ghosting. The sun comes right in through the store window. I am wondering if that is why it seemed to come and go with no reason, maybe as the clouds came and went.

I am going out this weekend again to look at it. I will let you know what happens.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by negris123

I don't want to misinform with my review, it does show images, it just reflows everything, so it's not like reading a pdf on a computer or the NC, where you see the entire page of the pdf and you can zoom in and pan, etc. In the case of the Touch, you don't get that. Not that I expected the Touch to handle pdfs like a computer or even the NC, but I know most people complain about that, so that is why I pointed that out

Disappointed! ...

I guess that they are trying to focus on classics, novels, just regular books.

Now I wonder how new Kobo really handles PDFs, including speed and stability of the Os (no crashes, zomming, etc)

[zwarbles]

I was just outside reading and I noticed blurry type. (almost like it's hollowed out)
I also noticed type in the white part that seems like it needs to be refreshed.
No good.
Up until 15 minutes ago, I LOVED it. Now it will go back if this can't be rectified. I need crisp, clear lettering.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by negris123

I think I will keep the device since I was able to read a 100-page book last night without getting distracted. I haven't been able to do that with the NC since there are too many distractions.

I agree on that. Besides weight and battery life, it helps a lot having a dedicated eink reader for just that: read!

Originally Posted by zwarbles

I was just outside reading and I noticed blurry type. (almost like it's hollowed out)
I also noticed type in the white part that seems like it needs to be refreshed.
No good.
Up until 15 minutes ago, I LOVED it. Now it will go back if this can't be rectified. I need crisp, clear lettering.

Some other eInk readers experienced screen problems after a few minutes in direct sunlight, but I cannot remember if this was the older eInk or newer Pearl screens. Some of the Sonys had a problem with the screens fading in sunlight after a few minutes, but they corrected themselves after being taken out of the sunlight. I think a firmware update solved the problem, but it was a while ago and my memory is not to be trusted beyond 15 minutes!