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fishhawk101 · 12-10-2009, 02:38 AM

Just got the Nook today and of course I have been playing with it all night. As of about 5 months ago, I have become an ebook nut. I was currently using the Sony 505 PRS. I have purchased books from Sony, B&N and Fictionwise that I am testing for compatability.

What made me want a Nook?
• wireless
• touchscreen
• being able to scroll through cover art like I do for itunes and see the picture when I am reading
• the color screen just looked cool
• supports both epub and ereader/pdb formats
• Droid software…expectations that it can be upgraded and new bells and whistles can continually be added
• Love that the battery can be replaced without sending it in

How I feel about the nook after a using it a bit:
Pros:
• The wireless works great. I had one book I had previously purchased through Barnes and Noble and it was fast and intuitive to load it on the nook
• Easy to register with Barnes and Noble-done directly from the nook (if you already have an account set up with B&N)
• The covers look great
• I opened Adobe Digital editions and it instantly recognized and authorized my nook so I could transfer my old epub titles over (works exactly the same as the Sony...and I am on a Mac)
• I transferred my ereader/pdb formatted books I had purchased from Fictionwise.com and they also came up great.
• I found the touchscreen at the bottom pretty easy to use. It takes a little while to learn the navigating (just like any new system) but the keypad seems just as responsive as most touchscreen phones (the apple touchscreen is better though, so just have normal expectations since apple is the gold standard).
• I like that it has the page buttons on both sides, left and right.
• They give you a USB cord that also works as a normal plug in...similiar to how some of the the apple cords are with a removeable end (I hated that my Sony only came with a USB).
• Fictionwise books work (a B&N affiliate, but the deals are MUCH better. Ex. This week they have 40-60% off of every book).

Cons/items that are not ideal:
• You can only scroll through the book cover art for the books you buy from B&N. The non B&N books are kept in a separate folder called “my documents”, which does not offer the opportunity to scroll.
• I love using Calibre for my book library since I can add covers if they don’t come with the book, add a book summary and even convert formats. I was extremely sad that Calibre didn’t recognize my Nook. This meant I have to manually move my ereader/pdb formatted books (like you would with any file, you go any copy the file in the directory and then paste it in the nook directory when the device is plugged in. For my epub, I can manage my books through ADE, however, then I am managing them in two places. Not the end of the world, but not as slick as only using Calibre to export and manage books.
• Doesn’t come with a cover (so add another $20 to $50 to get one)
• For non B&N books, the cover art did show up in the bottom touchscreen once I selected that book to read…for my ereader/pdb books. It was not showing it for my epub books. All of the books read fine, but it is kind of a bummer that the feature doesn’t work on all of them…maybe a software upgrade later will fix it.
• Due to the touchscreen only being on the bottom, you have to use it to arrow down several times to get to your books when you are selecting from the list (vs the Sony that had one button next to each row so it was slightly quicker to pick the next book you want to read). Not a big deal though since normally you are only picking the book once a day max.
• It seems a little heavier then my sony.
• It would be neat if we could connect to other sites like Fictionwise to download libraries (like the iphone lets you do).

I know some people are worried that their old Sony titles won’t work (even once they are converted to epub). Once Sony has converted my titles, I will load my books I purchased from Sony to make sure that the DRM is the same and post my results. I am assuming it is, but I am not a techie and I am just guessing.

I hope this helps any of you that are on the fence as to whether to buy this or not.

12-10-2009, 02:38 AM	#14
fishhawk101 Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Santa Rosa, Ca Device: sony 505/nook	Just got the nook...my first thoughts..Pros and Cons... Just got the Nook today and of course I have been playing with it all night. As of about 5 months ago, I have become an ebook nut. I was currently using the Sony 505 PRS. I have purchased books from Sony, B&N and Fictionwise that I am testing for compatability. What made me want a Nook? • wireless • touchscreen • being able to scroll through cover art like I do for itunes and see the picture when I am reading • the color screen just looked cool • supports both epub and ereader/pdb formats • Droid software…expectations that it can be upgraded and new bells and whistles can continually be added • Love that the battery can be replaced without sending it in How I feel about the nook after a using it a bit: Pros: • The wireless works great. I had one book I had previously purchased through Barnes and Noble and it was fast and intuitive to load it on the nook • Easy to register with Barnes and Noble-done directly from the nook (if you already have an account set up with B&N) • The covers look great • I opened Adobe Digital editions and it instantly recognized and authorized my nook so I could transfer my old epub titles over (works exactly the same as the Sony...and I am on a Mac) • I transferred my ereader/pdb formatted books I had purchased from Fictionwise.com and they also came up great. • I found the touchscreen at the bottom pretty easy to use. It takes a little while to learn the navigating (just like any new system) but the keypad seems just as responsive as most touchscreen phones (the apple touchscreen is better though, so just have normal expectations since apple is the gold standard). • I like that it has the page buttons on both sides, left and right. • They give you a USB cord that also works as a normal plug in...similiar to how some of the the apple cords are with a removeable end (I hated that my Sony only came with a USB). • Fictionwise books work (a B&N affiliate, but the deals are MUCH better. Ex. This week they have 40-60% off of every book). Cons/items that are not ideal: • You can only scroll through the book cover art for the books you buy from B&N. The non B&N books are kept in a separate folder called “my documents”, which does not offer the opportunity to scroll. • I love using Calibre for my book library since I can add covers if they don’t come with the book, add a book summary and even convert formats. I was extremely sad that Calibre didn’t recognize my Nook. This meant I have to manually move my ereader/pdb formatted books (like you would with any file, you go any copy the file in the directory and then paste it in the nook directory when the device is plugged in. For my epub, I can manage my books through ADE, however, then I am managing them in two places. Not the end of the world, but not as slick as only using Calibre to export and manage books. • Doesn’t come with a cover (so add another $20 to $50 to get one) • For non B&N books, the cover art did show up in the bottom touchscreen once I selected that book to read…for my ereader/pdb books. It was not showing it for my epub books. All of the books read fine, but it is kind of a bummer that the feature doesn’t work on all of them…maybe a software upgrade later will fix it. • Due to the touchscreen only being on the bottom, you have to use it to arrow down several times to get to your books when you are selecting from the list (vs the Sony that had one button next to each row so it was slightly quicker to pick the next book you want to read). Not a big deal though since normally you are only picking the book once a day max. • It seems a little heavier then my sony. • It would be neat if we could connect to other sites like Fictionwise to download libraries (like the iphone lets you do). I know some people are worried that their old Sony titles won’t work (even once they are converted to epub). Once Sony has converted my titles, I will load my books I purchased from Sony to make sure that the DRM is the same and post my results. I am assuming it is, but I am not a techie and I am just guessing. I hope this helps any of you that are on the fence as to whether to buy this or not.