Hrm...can't decide...shocker :D

[ManosHandsOfFate]

Heh, heh. I feel like I'm being drawn into the Nook vs K3 Holy Wars.

Originally Posted by boswd

yeah the LCD screen is the reason the battery life is shorter on the Nook than the others. I for one think it's a tradeoff I'm willing to live with. For one charging my nook every 5 to 8 days just is not an inconvience. it just isn't. by any stretch of the imagination. Unlike you I adore the color touchscreen and navigating with it. I could not go from a Nook to a Kindle, no way, way to antiquated for naviagtion.

I totally agree that if you like the Nook's LCD then the Nook's battery life is a perfectly acceptable trade-off. Charging once a week isn't at all unreasonable.


yeah the K3 is faster but is it really advantageous. The nook's page turning speen after v1.2 was on par with the Kindle 2's page turning speed. The page turning speed was just fine. To me it was a solution to a problem that didn't exisit. It wasn't like the K2 and the Nook took 5 seconds for the page to turn. They both do it in under 2 seconds which is still alot faster than physically turning a page. So while the K3 page turning is faster, the difference is basically pointless since both the K2 and Nook's page turning is quite fast. I would like to see someone work on some page turning animation instead of the "negative flash".

I didn't find the Nook's page turning speed bad at all. However I think this is a case where faster is always better. I particularly notice the difference when I'm reading and want to quickly page ahead to find the next chapter to see how much longer I'll be reading. Maybe this is just a unique quirk of how I read?


Yes the Nook is heavier than the K3 but that doesn't make the Nook heavy. My pen is heavier than my pencil but that doesn't make my pen heavy. Let's put this in perspective and a little dose of reality. The Nook weighs 11oz's The Nook weighs right about the same as a 400 page Trade Paperback book. Now if a trade paperback book was oooooohhh sooo heavy for you than I don't know what to tell you. Egads people what did you guy do before e-readers came out? Whined and complain about hardcovers? Geeesh those things weigh about 2 to 3lbs and people complain about an 11 oz Nook? Sorry just cant wrap my head around it. So yes the nook is heavier than the K3 it is by no means in any way shape or form heavy. If you truely find the Nook too heavy well maybe some milk should be added to your diet because you may have some brittle bones

Yes, you're 100% right, the Nook is not heavy. It's heavier than the K3. When choosing pbooks I tend to avoid trade paperbacks and hard cover books because of their weight. For me lighter is better. Maybe I'm the only one? I dunno.


Being able to mail docs to the K3 is a nice feature.
Huh? IOW's "We don't except other formats besides Mobi, send it to us and wait for it to be returned" as opposed Ok epub straight to my Nook device. that I just don't get.

Definitely not a killer app but I've found it useful for loading PDFs when I didn't have a cable handy.


to each his own I guess, I don't notice the reflectivity at all. Its really not an issue but I guess if some people are over the top senstive then as I said to each his own.

There's one other person here on MR that is annoyed by this so likely I'm a freak in this regard.

To anyone trying to decide between the two, definitely pay attention to what boswd has written about the Nook. It's a great reader!

[boswd]

Originally Posted by ManosHandsOfFate

Heh, heh. I feel like I'm being drawn into the Nook vs K3 Holy Wars.



To anyone trying to decide between the two, definitely pay attention to what boswd has written about the Nook. It's a great reader!

thanks MansHFate. LCD vs Plasma, Mac vs Windows, iPhone vs Android, hey us e-readers need a dog in this ring too Kindle vs. Nook

[Quake1028]

Originally Posted by ManosHandsOfFate

I have both and like the K3 better.

I'm not that impressed by the Nook's touchscreen. It looks nice but it's slow and is probably largely responsible for the Nook's bad battery life.

Nook page turns are slower than the K3's.

The Nook is heavier - definitely something to take into account if you read on your back holding the device above your face.

Being able to mail docs to the K3 is a nice feature.

I don't like how shiny the touchscreen and bezel of the Nook are. I found the reflectivity to be pretty annoying.

The K3 dictionary is easier to use (i.e. short definitions that stay on the page you're reading)

I think the best thing about the Nook is that it supports epub.

I have both and agree with this post practically word for word.

[Quake1028]

Originally Posted by boswd

thanks MansHFate. LCD vs Plasma, Mac vs Windows, iPhone vs Android, hey us e-readers need a dog in this ring too Kindle vs. Nook

LCD
Windows
Android
Kindle

[boswd]

Originally Posted by Quake1028

LCD
Windows
Android
Kindle

You were almost perfect

[Quake1028]

To be fair, after being put off by the differences in the Kindle and nook the first few days I owned it, I have really grown to love the nook. It's just that the K3 is nearly perfect for me, but I have decided to keep both, something I wasn't going to do after a few days of owning both.

[ski_power]

LET THE HOLY CRUSADES BEGIN!!!

Ok, in all seriousness I have written a quasi-review(more like my thoughts actually) of the kindle 3 from a usability standpoint. Maybe it would help the OP. Here's the link.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99059

[aaaces]

Obviously, it comes down to what you value vs what others value.

I have both and and just sold the NOOK.

The weight is an important factor to me as I read sometimes for 3 to four hours and reading with an E Reader is different than with a book as I hold it differently....I find the K3 weight super preferable.

The contrast on the K3 is better than the NOOK so it makes for a more enjoyable reading experiencefor for me.

Same for page turning...no noise and faster.....to me the K3 is just more refined....sure, NOOK owners may not see a reason to change but if you can have a better eexperience for the same price, why not?

[ProfCrash]

And we are back to the EPub and oh my god Amazon uses Mobi....

I have had a Kindle for two years now. I have been unable to buy the book I wanted once and that was due to the agency battle.

I have well over 400 books that I have purchased from Amazon. I have not needed to buy an EPub book because Amazon's prices are competitive and Amazon carries more books then any other e-book store.

Toss in the ability to use a Kindle internationally, ease of taking notes, ease of highlighting, ease of using the dictionary, and collections and I fail to see why someone would buy a Nook.

OK, I don't really fail to see why anyone would buy a nook, but the pro-Nook arguments are normally things I am not interested in. I don't like touchscreens. I don't need to borrow books from the library. I have not needed to use a bookstore other then Amazons. If I did need to use a bookstore other then Amazon I know where to go and how to convert if needed. I don't need a replaceable battery. I had one in my K1 and didn't need it so I don't care that the Nook has one. I don't need a memory card slot. I had one on my K1 and never used it. With collections and the space to store 3,500 books on the K3 and DX I can have all of my books loaded on my device, sorted in a way that makes sense to me. No need for memory cards to hold different genre.

I know folks with the Nook. They like it. It is not for me. I prefer my Kindle.

[mike_bike_kite]

If you just want the best ereader then buy a kindle 3 3G. If you want a non amazon product and like the LCD display then go for the Nook. Both are great products and no matter which one you get you're going to love it.

[ski_power]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

* If I did need to use a bookstore other then Amazon I know where to go and how to convert if needed.
* I don't need a replaceable battery. I had one in my K1 and didn't need it so I don't care that the Nook has one.
* I don't need a memory card slot. I had one on my K1 and never used it. With collections and the space to store 3,500 books on the K3 and DX I can have all of my books loaded on my device, sorted in a way that makes sense to me.

This.

With such super long battery life devices it doesn't make sense truthfully. For the fear of getting flamed by the battery brigade, I've not replaced the battery in my 5 year old phone(HTC Wizard btw). (I'm NOT an Apple dude, otoh I dislike apple in general.) But Apple do have a point sometimes, when the battery-life is greater than the device life, you probably don't need user-replaceable battery.
Heck, on my camera I've just stuck an 8 gig and it's never come out except for transferring pictures to the computer, since it's far more convenient to stick the SD as the door opens with one thumb; on the laptop rather than keep the camera cable hanging around.
That convenience is essentially negated in the Kindle 1 since you need to open the unwieldy back cover. I watched a video for the nook and you need to do the same. And the added inconvenience of needing to use an adapter with the uSD card.
Remember I'm not talking as a tech user, but rather as probably some middle aged Average Joe/Jane like to use it. They just want to get things done.
In that respect I'd say you have a winner with amazon.

[jlmwrite]

Really -- I didn't mean to, but those darn shopping accidents that happen to me from time to time happened again.

I was in Target last week, and saw a shiny new Kindle 3 with 3G. I'd been lurking here for a few weeks trying to decide on what to buy and it just... ummm.... followed me home.

After living with it for a few days, I had some gripes which I shared in the Kindle forum: lack of folders, lack of a bookshelf view (ie, thumbnail cover art), and no app for Windows Mobile. Other than that, it's amazing. I've been using MobiPocket on my Windows smartphone for over a year so I was able to transfer my not-inconsiderable collection to the Kindle in just a few minutes. The pearl e-ink screen is AMAZING, the new software update took care of a few usability issues that I never experienced, and my battery seems to still be almost full after a week of moderate use. I also jailbroke it just so install custom screensavers.

Now came an even worse shopping accident today. I had to run into B&N to pick up a coffee table book as a gift (which was marked down to $7.99 from the $19.99 it was marked down to last week!) and the Nook display was calling to me. Why do they have to put such temptation in your immediate line of vision? Anyway, the very knowledgeable clerk (Seamus, I think) answered every single question I had about the Nook, and stood by patiently while I played with all the features. He also knew quite a bit about the competition and even encouraged by to pull out my Kindle and do a side by side comparison. (By the way, B&N in Denver West -- you've got an outstanding employee. You and he both should know it.)

So.. Thinking I just might return my Kindle, I came home with a Nook and the matching lighted cover! The missus doesn't know what I've done yet and I've had to bribe a teenager with a big mouth to keep mum about the Nook.

Mind you, I've wasted the best part of a day off playing with them both so here are my Kindle 3 vs Nook impressions:

Both are almost identical in size, although the Nook is somewhat heavier. The 6" e-ink screens are almost identical but the Kindle's is closer to a printed page. My Nook has the latest software upgrade(s), and page turn time seems identical to me regardless of what I've read in the forums. If anything, the Nook page turn is less obtrusive as the screen doesn't seem to go as black when refreshing. Both were equally easy to read in the direct Colorado sunshine today, and I didn't see any slowdowns in page turning from the heat that I see has been problematic in the past. Winner: The Kindle, by a very small margin.

The shiny white "i-plastic" bezel of the Nook is less refined than the textured graphite bezel of the Kindle. I also prefer the easier-to-press page buttons on sides of the Kindle vs those of the Nook. Both have tactile feedback but out of the box the Nook's buttons are much stiffer and I had to repeat some key presses with the Nook. Winner: The Kindle, but this is more personal preference. I know lots of folks like the shiny white plastic.

Ooh, I love that sexy LCD screen at the bottom of the Nook, especially with the cover flow! Like a lot of users, I spent a lot of time with calibre updating my book collection's cover art. This showcases it beautifully, and in color! Winner: The Nook. The Kindle doesn't have any option to show cover art thumbnails. Once more, did I mention how cool the LCD screen is?

Since I've only been using my Nook for a couple of hours, I can't comment on the battery life, but from all reports the Kindle is the clear winner on battery life. Even from my limited tests I see the Nook's battery is already draining. I know it's the LCD screen gulping down the battery's juice but I sure love that screen! Winner: The Kindle clearly outdistances the Nook here, no matter your justification on how easy it is to plug either of them in.

How about the optional covers? I almost choked at the cost of Amazon's lighted cover but it is very classy. Black pebbled leather in a book-style format with small hinges that fit into the side of the Kindle. They also provide power for a clever pull-out LCD light. Looks like a very expensive journal of days past. I bought B&Ns lighted cover but it looks and feels flimsy. The idea of having the Nook snap in and not having a back cover to cut down on bulk is laudable but it just doesn't have any style or panache of the Amazon cover. I do like B&Ns elastic spine that allows you to fold the front cover; the Kindle's cover must be held like an open book. Winner: For me it's the Amazon, but again this is mostly personal preference.

And finally, the reason we bought an e-reader in the first place: the experience of reading a book. The Kindle loads books somewhat faster as evidenced by loading the same book on each and pushing the appropriate button. To be fair, it's only a few seconds difference but it is what it is. As I noted earlier, page turns are equally as smooth and fast. Winner: It's a tie! The reading experience is essentially identical. Both Amazon and B&N have done a beautiful job at the core function of the e-readers.

SO... What is going back to the store and what is going to continue to live at my house? The speculation of a Nook 2 has me VERY intrigued, and the thought of better collection management excites me terribly (yeh, I know I should get out with the family a little more often). Jeff Bezos seems to have almost as many control issues as Steve Jobs and I don't like the way the Kindle is so locked down. (For instance, having to hack it just to install custom screensavers vs the Nook's app to install your own screensavers.) B&N seems to listen and come out with updates that better reflect its customer's concerns and wants.

I love the fact that I can pop into a B&N and read for free up to an hour each day, but Amazon is the clear winner on titles not available anywhere else. I believe Amazon is the current 800-pound gorilla in the e-book jungle but that doesn't always affect the outcome (anyone remember that IBM was once the leader in PCs?). I have a little voice in the back of my head telling me that epub will eventually emerge as the winning format. Not that much of a problem for me to have calibre convert all my MOBI books, but I hate having to strip the DRM off everything I've purchased thru Amazon if/when the time comes. After all, Amazon essentially abandoned MobiPocket when they bought them.

So again, which is the winner and which is the loser? I still don't know yet. I've got about 3 weeks left before I'd have to return the Kindle to Target, and I have a full 2 weeks before I'd have to decide to return the Nook to B&N. We'll see, but I think that in view of an newer Nook coming within a few months I may end up keeping the Kindle.

Or not. I just don't know...

[Quake1028]

You can fold the K3 cover back as well, unless the lighted cover is somehow different than the non lighted version.

[Dominion]

lol thanks for all the replies but after driving around to several stores and calling the ones within a 100 mile radius I bought the nook. The kindle was sold out EVERYWHERE and I refuse to order from amazon.com. Really my feelings about Amazon were what put me over the edge in favor of the nook. That and availablility :P

I did however become very disappointed to learn that I could not softroot my nook (yet). I then tried to find an earlier version I could softroot and just couldn't find anything.

After having had it for a few days and already powering through one book I thought I'd come in here and update my thoughts on it.

Pros:

• I like the LCD, it's not that slow and it isn't that bothersome. I'm concerned about heavy use as sometimes LCD's lose their touchability.
• B&N warranty, 40$ for accidental damage warranty. Not bad, I'm a paramedic so this is something that I wanted. Sometimes stuff gets thrown around on an ambulance :P
• In-Store support, currently. If I have an issue I can take it to a brick and motar store, I don't have to mail it off.
• Navigation, I really like the navigation of the Nook. Feels more fluid that what I saw of the Kindle. I REALLY REALLY hate that stupid keyboard on the kindle.

Cons:

• Sorting. The sorting options for the Nook are just plain retarded. B&N has locked the good features (cover flow, search, etc) to only books purchased from the B&N store. My own books which I've uploaded are limited to Author, Title, and Recent. I countered this by adding [Series X] before the author. Series being the name of the series and X being the number of book. It's worked out pretty well but is still annoying.
• No search feature for the My Documents library. As above, I know if I want to read something by anyone with a K or higher in their last name it takes awhile to get to those books.
• No softmod yet, damn you B&N.
• The LCD sometimes dims and goes away at the weirdest times, there is a bit of lag when turning it on so I don't think it registered and it will flash on and off a couple times.

This is only a couple days with it. I look forward to the ability to softmod it and gaining access to better search options. Once that happens this will become the ultimate ereader for me.

[boswd]

Hey com congrats on the purchase. Couple of things that may help you out
Yeah the sorting is rather bare bones. But caliber is fantatic for those. Iwould be shocked if in the next r update this isn't addresses with more advance sorting.
also you set the timer on when you want the lcd screen to go dark 10, 30, or 60secsI hope this helps