Touch Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight

[haydnfan]

Originally Posted by ApK

Ah. Shopping Math. I get ya now.

Yeah since the kindle lover is bashing the contrast on the new nook as compared to the kindle I thought meet this head on... but I don't have a kindle anymore so I have to settle for old nook vs new nook.

[tablettweet]

Actually Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight is a very interesting concept, since I have try so many reading lights with my Kindle DX, Kindle 4 and I have to say none of them work as advertised (I haven not yet tried lighted cover, I think it is too expensive), but with Nook with a built-in reading light, perhaps this is the first time that I can find the IPad replacement for my in-bed eReader !

[Bobby Steel]

I had a Nook GL reserved and went to pick it up yesterday. Before I went back to the service desk I noticed they had both the ST and the GL on display so I decided to do some comparisons.

I had read all of the reviews and seen peoples comments that the new one has less contrast and thought people were just nitpicking. Seeing it in person though I have to agree it is an issue. One of the things I love about the ST is how crisp and clear the "ink" is, the new Nook has more of a washed out look and the text is sort of gray in comparison to the old Nook's black.

It's probably true that when using the GL by itself you will get used to it and there really isn't a problem reading the text on it. Still it was hard for me to justify spending $90 more dollars for the GL (ST on sale for $55 at Staples this week) for a reader with an inferior screen.

If they can get the GL text to look closer to the ST and add the ability to find text in books by highlighting (the NT has this) I'll be all over it and will likely sell my NT.

[Fanchee]

I think the buttons are considerably easier to push on the new Nook with GlowLight. Even the 'n' button at the bottom seems less rigid.

[MovieBird]

Originally Posted by Bobby Steel

(ST on sale for $55 at Staples this week)

Do you have a link for this? I see it for $79 at staples.com, same as BN.

[haydnfan]

Originally Posted by Fanchee

I think the buttons are considerably easier to push on the new Nook with GlowLight. Even the 'n' button at the bottom seems less rigid.

Hey you're right! I just tried it: awesome. I really like using the buttons to turn the page. I like this new nook. And Nate was right, contrast is not an issue.

[soondai]

Originally Posted by MovieBird

Do you have a link for this? I see it for $79 at staples.com, same as BN.

pretty sure he's factoring in the 25 off 75 Staples coupons you can find on eBay for a buck or two

[MovieBird]

Originally Posted by soondai

pretty sure he's factoring in the 25 off 75 Staples coupons you can find on eBay for a buck or two

You mean the one that specifically mentions that it's not valid for eReaders?

[yoho]

Originally Posted by janjanjan

Sure it will be different than reading a tablet--it has regular e-ink and can be backlit, still with a white background and black ink, when required. It does sound like the perfect solution.

the battery does not perform well when you use the back light

[haydnfan]

Originally Posted by yoho

the battery does not perform well when you use the back light

How would anybody know that? There have been no real world tests of the new nook.

At one page a minute the old nook lasts for 150 hours if read continuously. If the advertising is correct than with the glow light on the new nook should last for 75 hours. A typical tablet lasts for at most 10 hours. Sounds like good performance to me.

[NookPerson]

I received the Nook Glowlight one week ago and have used it many hours since then. It is wonderful! The light is the best light I've encountered. Having it always available is a huge plus. Also, I've noticed that there are times I use the light in dimly lit rooms during the daytime. I've had no trouble with the difference in contrast versus the basic Nook Touch. After one week of constant use, much of it with the light on, I finally recharged .. and I still showed over 40% charge left -- I was just being cautious!

Folks, this new Nook is just great! If you try one, like I have, for a week you'll never go back !!

[azazel1024]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

How would anybody know that? There have been no real world tests of the new nook.

At one page a minute the old nook lasts for 150 hours if read continuously. If the advertising is correct than with the glow light on the new nook should last for 75 hours. A typical tablet lasts for at most 10 hours. Sounds like good performance to me.

Probably not. The metric of # of page turns at 1 turn per minute until battery exhausted doesn't hold over to the glow light. The only metric that the glow light is used in is half an hour of reading for 1 month (call it 30 days) versus half an hour of reading for "over" 2 months for the glow light off (call it 60 days, round down to be pessimistic).

The difference is that 1/2hr a day for 60 days with wifi off is assuming that the ebook reader is sleeping the rest of the time, which uses up a lot more power than off. I burn about 1% charge per hour of reading or a little less (maybe every 75 minutes) at the rate I read, but mine burns about 1.5% per day sleeping. That says that for maybe 75 minutes of reading you get about 1%, but each day uses 1.5% charge or a little less. Granted the numbers don't add up perfectly to 100%, but by the math on the use I get out of my nook ST I have about 30 hours of reading and 60 days, using about 30% of the battery charge for reading and 90% of the battery charge for being in sleep mode, at any rate, take it as a 3:1 ratio at any rate and lets call it 120 units of power.

If you go down to 30 days of sleep time and 15hrs of reading with the glow light on, or half of before, you get 45 units of power used by sleeping because you have half the sleep time. At the same time you also only use 15 units from general reading because you have half the sleep time. That is 60 units used by reading and sleeping and 60 units used for 15hrs of glow light use. Or 1 unit per hour for reading and 4 units per hour for the glow light.

Horribly unscientific and probably not entirely accurate. However, if you use B&N's stated usage numbers, that to me says that most likely with the glow light on (they don't specify and intensity, but I would assume 50% brightness) the glow light is going to drain the battery about 3-4x faster while reading at night than reading with the glow light off. Or in other words, you'll probably burn through about 3-4% per hour of reading with the glow light on compared to maybe 1% per hour with it off.

Still not bad, but I'd expect a cram session taking only breaks for quick naps, bathroom and eating you litterally go 3 or 4 days of straight reading before the battery would die. With the glow light on you might get 24hrs of straight reading.

Still way better than a tablet, but at the same time, we are talking the area of 20-30hrs with glow light use absolutely best case scenario.

In my situation I tend to get around 30-35 days before I hit 20% charge reading about 75-90 minutes per day. If I used the glow light at 50% brightness for all of my reading I could probably expect to hit 20% charge in maybe 10 days, possibly 2 weeks if I was lucky. That said, if I used it at lower brightness and especially if I only used it at night reading in bed (which is about 20% of my reading), probably I'd only see a hit of a few days to battery life.

A post longer than really necessary, and I think owner's use will bare out just how much of a hit on battery life it will really have, but I think owners who use the light all the time, especially turn up high for better readability indoors in moderate lighting are going to see a massive hit to battery life. Those who use it near minimum brightness and only occasionally at night in bed or in dim rooms probably are going to see a very modest impact on battery life.

[NNolan]

I've tried head lamps and various clip-on lights on my eInk readers and haven't found anything that lights an eInk reader to my satisfaction. I got into ebooks long after the Sony 700 had come and gone. I've also tried the iPad and some of the small Android tablets; I don't have a problem with the backlighting but they're all a lot heavier than eInk readers and their battery life draws thirty inches of vacuum.

I'm trying out the Nook GlowLight now, and so far it scratches all my itches. I may never use a tablet as an eReader again.

[Joe Minton]

Good and thoughtful post azazel1024. I suspect that your analysis shall more accurately reflect what we experience in real-life use. I do not fault B&N for their battery charge life predictions; they are likely honest and accurate, given the parameters B&N used.

I'm continuing to compare my new "GL" to my other Nooks, especially the "ST" (see post #77, p. 6).

In anything other than direct sunlight, the GL is slightly inferior to the ST -- unless the light is on (25% is enough). Then the GL is clearly (LOL) the better reader. Bottom line here is that the GL must run the light to be the, generally, better of the two.

In the dark, dim light or even bright shade the lighted GL is, by far, the/my best choice. In direct sun, the ST is sharper, clearer, more contrasty.

Yesterday, I chose to read outside in direct sunlight. I first used the GL and found that the light made no difference in readability. The words were bright, clear and contrast was excellent either way; all was good. Then I turned on the ST -- Wow, what a difference!

In direct sunlight, the slight contrast advantage of the ST I noted in the B&N store seemed much greater, much greater indeed. I turned the GL off and read for an hour or so on the ST. However, had I not had the ST for comparison, I would not have been critical of the GL's screen in any way; it was clear, sharp and entirely legible.

As you can see by my info list to the left, I own all the current Nooks (don't ask). The Color and Tablet are superior indoors and at night. The ST is the best in direct sunlight. The GL is the only one that can do well, very well, in both. If I could only have one reader -- it would have to be the GL.

I'm am beginning to believe that the GL is the most versatile reader on the market and recommend it for that reason. Its compromises are few and small -- I'm keeping mine.

Joe

[Joe Minton]

"draws thirty inches of vacuum" LOL -- great line, Galileo would approve.

Joe