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Prince Hal · 01-25-2010, 10:35 AM

Firstly, it is great that B&N like Sony actually have demonstration models in stores. It really is worth taking the opportunity to go test one out. Reviews online are really helpful, but as a finishing touch, go touch the machine and see. I think wherever possible the two need to go together.

Now of course you are likely to get only a shorter time in the store with a machine - I had 20 minutes - so you are unlikely to get a complete feel of the machine looking at all aspects of it. Sony's for example do not have all of their functions enabled in Target.

Anyway to Nook. The e-ink screen was great. Clear, crisp and every bit as good as the Kindle 2 and less reflective than the Sony PRS 600.

Page turns were crisp. No lag here. The hard buttons are nicely placed for finger turning. Nicely weighted and comfortable in the hand. Plastic, but felt good quality.

But, the colour screen was a distraction. I believe that it turns off or can be turned off. But you need to use it to highlight. Even though it is a bluey grey colour for navigating, highlighting, etc, it is obviously backlit and for me took my eyes away from the e-ink screen. You might get used to it after a while - not after 20 minutes.

But here was my biggest disappointment. The lag between the colour navigation screen and the e-ink screen. I have never been one who liked the mousepad on a laptop, so maybe there's some inbuilt bias here. But I tap, tap, tapped on the colour screen and wasn't really sure when the e-ink would follow. It was all two divorced.

Anyway that was it for me. I wanted an ereader to view articles and shorter documents rather than books mainly, so highlighting and clipping would be really important. The lag between the two screens was too much to bear. Perhaps I would have got used to it after a while, but not in 20 minutes.

Kudos to B&N for attempting to improve navigation from the joystick approach of Kindle (and forget that awful Kindle 2 keyboard), and to avoid the glare from a touchscreen, but this doesn't work... for me.

Also Kudos to B&N for there apparent speed in firmware updates. It gives you confidence that improvements will be made quickly and you will not need to buy Nook 2 to get sensible functionality.

Hope tha this helps someone in a small way.

Hal.

01-25-2010, 10:35 AM	#1
Prince Hal Zealot Posts: 149 Karma: 1856 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: California Device: Galaxy Player 4.2; Nexus 3 (wifi only); Nook HD+ (possibly)	My brief impressions of Nook Firstly, it is great that B&N like Sony actually have demonstration models in stores. It really is worth taking the opportunity to go test one out. Reviews online are really helpful, but as a finishing touch, go touch the machine and see. I think wherever possible the two need to go together. Now of course you are likely to get only a shorter time in the store with a machine - I had 20 minutes - so you are unlikely to get a complete feel of the machine looking at all aspects of it. Sony's for example do not have all of their functions enabled in Target. Anyway to Nook. The e-ink screen was great. Clear, crisp and every bit as good as the Kindle 2 and less reflective than the Sony PRS 600. Page turns were crisp. No lag here. The hard buttons are nicely placed for finger turning. Nicely weighted and comfortable in the hand. Plastic, but felt good quality. But, the colour screen was a distraction. I believe that it turns off or can be turned off. But you need to use it to highlight. Even though it is a bluey grey colour for navigating, highlighting, etc, it is obviously backlit and for me took my eyes away from the e-ink screen. You might get used to it after a while - not after 20 minutes. But here was my biggest disappointment. The lag between the colour navigation screen and the e-ink screen. I have never been one who liked the mousepad on a laptop, so maybe there's some inbuilt bias here. But I tap, tap, tapped on the colour screen and wasn't really sure when the e-ink would follow. It was all two divorced. Anyway that was it for me. I wanted an ereader to view articles and shorter documents rather than books mainly, so highlighting and clipping would be really important. The lag between the two screens was too much to bear. Perhaps I would have got used to it after a while, but not in 20 minutes. Kudos to B&N for attempting to improve navigation from the joystick approach of Kindle (and forget that awful Kindle 2 keyboard), and to avoid the glare from a touchscreen, but this doesn't work... for me. Also Kudos to B&N for there apparent speed in firmware updates. It gives you confidence that improvements will be made quickly and you will not need to buy Nook 2 to get sensible functionality. Hope tha this helps someone in a small way. Hal.