Nook Is Priced Well But Are You Waiting Like Me?

[robertc88]

Lurking for some time now and I have been enjoying browsing the forum and getting info on the Nook.

I have never "modded" any piece of electronics equipment I ever bought. That isn't to say I don't undersatnd why folks do but my thinking if a stock unit isn't what you exactly want in the first place and it also nullifies the warranty of a product, ......

One of the bigger strikes against regardless for me personally is no 3G for the NC which I'd rather have amongst some other things. Trust I've been having some conversations with myself and I probably can do with a stock unit but I still haven't pulled the trigger so I guess that speaks volumes.

CES is upon us with a wealth of info available on forums throughout the net. Maybe some folks are looking towards what may become available sooner rather than later or what the upcoming software upgrade will feature for the NC.

I will continue to browse the forum and here's my congrats to folks enjoying what they have purchased. I do personally feel at this point that the Nook is a great bang for buck product amongst what is available currently.

All the best,
Robertc88

[pl001]

I think it comes down to what you are looking for. Over the next year there will be lots of tablet choices and many will probably be at similar prices.

So if you are looking for a tablet I would wait because Android 3.0 will become the tablet standard and I'm not sure the Nook Color could update to that. If you are looking for a good reader that can do a lot of tablet things then the Nook Color is an excellent choice. I expect to get several years of use out of ours before feeling the need for something more.

[jlmwrite]

Funny, I've never had anything I didn't mod!

I can't help it; medicine is a career, but dinking around with my smartphones, computers, routers, and now my e-readers is an all-compelling obsession. I generally hold out for anywhere for a few minutes to a day or so before hacking/modding/etc something. The missus rolls her eyes, and my teenagers are alternately fascinated and horrified at the amount of free time I spend lurking on forums and darker places on the 'net looking for info that the engineers and programmers wish wasn't posted.

For robertc88, why do people mod? My peers in the late 60s and early 70s spent hours and hours installing aftermarket carbs and headers and exhaust systems on their Challengers and Mustangs. Hell, I remember spending all day on Saturday balancing the dual carbs on one of my MGBs. It's the same reason people have custom ringtones on their phones, and wallpaper on their PCs.

It's because we can!

So far, the CES seems to have the usual assortment of not-ready-for-prime-time crapware (anybody see the $400 window cleaning robot?) hawked by either the geeks that managed to talk their marketing folks into letting them represent their company, or else hired female models in revealing outfits.

Yes, there's going to be more goodies coming. Yes, there will be the inevitable price drops, and the v2.0 of existing products, and so on. There will always be something better and faster and cheaper out there but I'm glad I bought a NC.

[ShadowDragon]

Originally Posted by jlmwrite

Yes, there's going to be more goodies coming. Yes, there will be the inevitable price drops, and the v2.0 of existing products, and so on. There will always be something better and faster and cheaper out there but I'm glad I bought a NC.

Here here! I can't tell how many times I've sat around the table with the budies to have one of them say that in six months this 'such and such' gizmo will be out, and that we should all wait. The only problem is, is that in six months you will hear the exact same thing over again. Vicious circle that is.

Jump in and buy, and then in six months .... upgrade!

[debteb]

A year back I had two choices: the Kindle DX and Nook 3G. I waited almost 9 months before NC came out and what ended that wait was NC's touch screen and color display with web browsing features. I don't think any new devices will show up in the next 6 months or so. If you can wait till then, you might get more choices.

Happy with NC so far!

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by jlmwrite

Yes, there's going to be more goodies coming. Yes, there will be the inevitable price drops, and the v2.0 of existing products, and so on. There will always be something better and faster and cheaper out there but I'm glad I bought a NC.

I bought my NookClassic in June of last year. Two weeks later there was a price drop, and a few months later was all the buzz about the NookColor. But I tell my partner EVERY DAY how the NClassic is the best toy she's ever gotten me. Sure, I was a little miffed at the $50 price drop, but then I look at my collection and the exponentially higher number of books my Nook allowed me to read and I forget all about it.

The NC just isnt for me. If i wanted a backlit LCD, i'd just get a tablet that had more functionality. So I'm not waiting on one of those, but i thought my answer was still relatively applicable anyway.

[gtriever]

There are two questions here: (1) Does the NC (stock or rooted) fit your needs, and (2) Is there something on the horizon that would better fit your needs? The answers should determine your choice.

[waffleman]

I have been on sideline for past 2 years...finally got hooked by the NC which I am using to type this while waiting at doctor office. This thing is much more than I expected. Price will eventually drop but I get to use it now instead of my old paper Book!

[graphicsgirl]

Since I just got the original nook, I will be holding out on the nook color, when refurbished units hit the market, hopefully under $200.

[cutterjohn42]

Originally Posted by robertc88

Lurking for some time now and I have been enjoying browsing the forum and getting info on the Nook.

I have never "modded" any piece of electronics equipment I ever bought. That isn't to say I don't undersatnd why folks do but my thinking if a stock unit isn't what you exactly want in the first place and it also nullifies the warranty of a product, ......

One of the bigger strikes against regardless for me personally is no 3G for the NC which I'd rather have amongst some other things. Trust I've been having some conversations with myself and I probably can do with a stock unit but I still haven't pulled the trigger so I guess that speaks volumes.

CES is upon us with a wealth of info available on forums throughout the net. Maybe some folks are looking towards what may become available sooner rather than later or what the upcoming software upgrade will feature for the NC.

I will continue to browse the forum and here's my congrats to folks enjoying what they have purchased. I do personally feel at this point that the Nook is a great bang for buck product amongst what is available currently.

All the best,
Robertc88

I had been, but last week I decided to give in an purchase a NC. I'm on #2 right as #1 had a defective USB port OOB.

Like you I also had been waiting for CES, but figured that it'd be like every other CES, a ton of products but with only a small handful that actually make it to market. I'm not even mildly impressed with the tablet offerings so far as most of them have 3/4G -> tied to a carrier -> grossly overpriced unless you pay extra and sign up for a data plan contract -> placebo affect of apparently lower device cost until you add up the plan cost total. (3/4G is just too overpriced in the US to interest me for data ATM, esp. since most places that I go contain a plethora of WiFi hotspots...)

The only other tablet that I briefly considered was the Elocity A7 (Tegra 2, basically another gTablet in 7" w/800x480 screen) when Amazon had it on sale, but it turned out to be not very hackable -> no sale for me.

NC: fairly hackable, source released(kernel), and a fair likelihood of extended support from B&N which is what drove my decision to buy.

[MsCG1]

It depends on your needs and what you're looking for in a reader/tablet.

I already have a Nook Classic which I love and use almost daily, but it didn't do everything I wanted it to do. Reading newspapers, comic books, magazines, and light web browsing was at root canal levels of pain and annoyance. And since I consider myself appreciative of ALL media, the Nook Classic just wasn't enough.

I'd already decided that I didn't want to pay for a tablet any more than I would pay for a subsidized phone on contract. I wanted it to be a companion to my laptop, ereader, and phone, I wasn't looking for it to replace ANY of them. So phone capabilities and a 3g chip was unneeded. As was bluetooth, gps, cameras or anything like that.
I paid $50 more than I wanted to, but I think it's worth it.

And I'm sure that the NC will come down in price, but I dont care, because I'm enjoying it NOW.

There's nothing that a Galaxy Tab, an iPad, or any of the upcoming tablets at CES can do for me that the NC can't.

[RAH]

I agree with much of what MsCG1 said. I also am a Nook Classic user and am very happy with it. In my case, I am very tempted to get a Nook Color for the very reasons MsCG1 states, but to answer the question posed by the OP, I am waiting to see what comes out. I think a pure Android device (but not a phone, and no contract!!) might suit me better than a non-rooted CN, but it will depend on price, reviews, etc. Whatever I do get, I doubt if it will replace my e-ink Nook for book reading.

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by cutterjohn42

Like you I also had been waiting for CES, but figured that it'd be like every other CES, a ton of products but with only a small handful that actually make it to market. I'm not even mildly impressed with the tablet offerings so far as most of them have 3/4G -> tied to a carrier -> grossly overpriced unless you pay extra and sign up for a data plan contract -> placebo affect of apparently lower device cost until you add up the plan cost total. (3/4G is just too overpriced in the US to interest me for data ATM, esp. since most places that I go contain a plethora of WiFi hotspots...)

Up until CES, the Android tablet market was pretty slim pickings if you wanted a good one (say, capacitive with a good LCD). The Galaxy Tab has been the only quality tablet out there with a decent capacitive screen. But it's way too expensive due to the above cell phone market overpricing. I'd have loved the Tab, but it was too expensive at $500-$600 (although the price went down a little this week).

At $250 the Nook color is unmatched. I don't need cameras or a 3G chip (I'm not paying $10-$30 a month for data). GPS would be sorta nice. Bluetooth is the one thing I'd like to see, but signs are that xda or B&N will get us BT eventually since the NC has it.

I like the idea of a tablet, but it's not worth $400+ to me. So far, even most of the CES tablets are that much...unless we're talking cheap, bad viewing angle LCDs, resistive screens, etc. So far the NC is still the best bang/buck as far as I can tell.

[KryptoNyte]

I honestly wouldn't mind paying for data service, if it was only 10 to 30 bucks a month. The thing that gets my goat is that any phone data plan is going to run you $70/month mininum just to have Internet data connectivity.

I'm kind of hoping at some point that B&N will release this device with 3/4G, or better yet, that some sharp developer starts a little business soldering a 3G chip into this thing.

[robertc88]

I like to thank all for sharing their opinions and insights on the Nook, especially the color model. I found it interesting that in a recent post that it won CES People's Choice Award for 2011 which speaks volumes rather than for "2010" so I guess waiting for something comparative at the same cost or a bit higher isn't going to be worth it.

If I buy the NC, I wasn't planning to root it but since many are taking that route I may give it some consideration (but not yntil after the planned software upgrade to see what that will include).

I rather have not gone off topic but since some folks are concerned with plans to get data access, I'll just mention I get unlimited web, email, and text for $25 a month with my smartphone. What it cannot do for a higher cost I don't need. If that can be done for a phone, I'm sure low cost plans for tablets for 3D/4D data access will follow suit.