[Mirtika]

I had reserved one and got sick, so didn't go the first day. Went Saturday to check it out. Beautiful color. Beautiful display. Even went to a manga online site to see if I could read my beloved mangas on it: Yes. The images were large enough to read the dialogue bubbles and see the art clearly (unlike the Kindle 3 I normally use, where manga is nigh impossible to read).

I didn't like that there's no 3g. I didn't like how to turn the pages (would prove tiring to constantly flick the screen,a s opposed to a nice little press set-up like the Kindle which is minimal action to change page, go back).

The wifi was spotty. That was likely cause of the limited ability my local B&N has to handle users (so said the sales assistant). They can accomodate only about a dozen persons using their wifi at a time. I have no idea what that means or why or whatever.

It was a lovely little device. Just totally love how the children's book art looks on it--crisp and bright. The web browsing was faster and, of course, prettier than Kindle. The contrast (white background, not grey) is more like a book and I like that.

Battery life. Eh.

The cases they had available to protect it: crap. Why is it so hard for them to find a nice case that actually looks and feels protective?

I decided to reject it and take time to consider it, since I expect the 2nd gen iPad and the Playbook to come out 1st quarter 2011, and I wanna see how those make books look. Hubby wants an iPad anyhow, so if I can read magazines and books fine on that, I may just skip the Nook Color. But it sure is a purdy and desirable gadget. I was mighty tempted.

My Kindle3 looks positively muddy and old by comparison.

But I like the keyboard not requiring a screen change and it seemed easier to try and get books on my Kindle than on the Nook.

B&N needs to tweak that baby and make it more user friendly, but it's lovely.

Will be interesting to see what the similarly sized Playbook by Blackberry will be able to do/how it will compare.

Amazon needs to come out with a beautiful and bigger (not DX big, but 7 in+ big) display in color and keep it's handier aspects, and I'd get THAT. I don't need an iPad size one, but seeing the size of the Nook Color made me realize how much easier that is on the eyes and how for those of us who like art books, illustrated books, graphic novels, comics, magazines, and manga--well, no brainer. Nook Color wins there.