Nook Color is Here!

[DuncanWatson]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

There are almost no books available in ePub that aren't also available in the Kindles native format.

Unless Amazon is in another fight with a publisher and wants to administer a "lesson".

I am tired of Amazon engaging in customer unfriendly actions and their proprietary approach to content formats is just part of the package. When I bought my nook I went from buying nearly 90% of my pbooks from Amazon to 90% from B&N's ebook storefront.

The whispernet incidents are another reason why I won't be ever looking at a kindle. Both the nook and the color nook will be fine hacked and separated from the mother-ship B&N if it comes to that. The kindle is highly dependent on Amazon's infrastructure. If I were buying Amazon books I would have to be proactively stripping drm from each purchase to protect myself in case of issues with Amazon. It is too much work but I am not going to lose access to my books, so I choose instead to go to more open, more exciting platforms such as the nook and nook color.

[supermighty]

Originally Posted by Traecer Prime

In general, it's a cost issue, and often also a design issue. It's almost always cheaper to put in a non-removable battery, as you don't have to worry about the engineering issues associated with the battery cradle/contacts (hard-wiring it in is easier and thus cheaper). ...

There is no doubt in my mind that Apple, more so than the rest, see their devices in a holistic user experience way. Having non-removable batteries makes it emotionally simpler for people to grasp. They don't have to think about the battery. It just is.

Also I think they will sell more devices when the battery dies.

[Rebo]

Based on some pictures of the iPad and Kindle tear down, it seems the battery can be removed and replaced. Assuming manufacturers are buying off the shelf batteries for cost savings, the standard interface will be via metal contact, instead of using wire soldering. If this is the case, the user should be able to replace these batteries once they remove the back cover. Technically speaking, unless the plastic back cover is permanently sonic welded or glued in, it could be removed. The most common design to secure the cover is either screwed in or clipped in via a couple of anchor points. A percentage of the units will be returned and the manufacturers will want to replace the defective components so as to resell them as refurnished units. In order to do that, they will need access to the internal components so permanently securing the back cover is unlikely. Therefore, non-user replacement battery doesn’t mean that it cannot be replaced, but it is just not convenient and you can’t do it on the fly without any tools.

[joey301]

Originally Posted by luvmy4brats

That 8 hour battery life is with the wireless off. Once you turn the wireless on and/or decide to listen to Pandora, that battery is going to take a serious hit. If you plan on reading for awhile, you better stay close to an outlet or bring an extension cord. There's no user replaceable battery, so when it dies, you're out of luck.

hmm, this is what I was wondering about..no replaceable battery. This was one of the top selling features for the original Nook.

[bthoven]

Archos 70 would be better at around same price range, IMO.

[DuncanWatson]

Originally Posted by bthoven

Archos 70 would be better at around same price range, IMO.

The Archos 70 screen is inferior and it costs more than the nook. The screen is the big feature here and the Color Nook is roughly 25% higher resolution (169 pixels per inch (nook) vs 132 pixels per inch (archos))

It too is very interesting but I believe the ereader apps will be much better on the color nook. Having a major app focus with a proven history is an excellent hook vs a general list of good but overall unimpressive features. The reader is still a major hook for me and I don't believe the generic andriod app version will compete in the near term with the color nook version.

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by DuncanWatson

The Archos 70 screen is inferior and it costs more than the nook. The screen is the big feature here and the Color Nook is roughly 25% higher resolution (169 pixels per inch (nook) vs 132 pixels per inch (archos))

It too is very interesting but I believe the ereader apps will be much better on the color nook. Having a major app focus with a proven history is an excellent hook vs a general list of good but overall unimpressive features. The reader is still a major hook for me and I don't believe the generic andriod app version will compete in the near term with the color nook version.

Also, Archos, while a good company in the past, hasn't been so great about producing good products lately. As well as a fiasco recently where they charged existing owners for an update that provided extra video codec support. I'm not too confident about purchasing an Archos product these days.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by GreenMonkey

Also, Archos, while a good company in the past, hasn't been so great about producing good products lately. As well as a fiasco recently where they charged existing owners for an update that provided extra video codec support. I'm not too confident about purchasing an Archos product these days.

I hear ya, Archos back in the day was a great hidden jewel in the MP3 department for audiophiles. Seems things are slipping a bit there.

[speedygonz]

Archos 70 would probably be more suited for general purpose tablet usage with HDMI out, USB host so you can stick in a flash drive or keyboard/mouse, Bluetooth for A2DP audio and GPS mouse, etc. On the other hand, NOOKcolor would appeal more towards hardcore readers who wish to have just a few more features, i.e. decent web browsing, Pandora, etc.

[eAnagnostis]

First hands-on reviews out at Engadget (the most comprehensive IMO), Cnet, Gizmodo, Crunch Gear

Nothing really new. Everything seems to work fine, with very few problems. That's good news considering Nook the e-reader at lauch date. RAM is at 512MB and pinch-to-zoom is only for home-screens and magazines, not the browser or e-books.

[DuncanWatson]

Pinch zooming also works in PDF and the PDF support is apparently much better than it has been in the past.

[soondai]

they may have a sale if it can handle scanned PDFs in the 10MB range. (wish the Engadget review had been a little more specific.)

look forward to trying one in store

[boswd]

Originally Posted by DuncanWatson

Pinch zooming also works in PDF and the PDF support is apparently much better than it has been in the past.

yeah I noticed how both Cnet and Engadget highly touted the nook color's ability to dispaly PDF's

[ypocaramel]

hmm... well I get the impression that there's enough horsepower under the hood (A8+512MB), software implementation would be the deciding factor (and whether you get satisfactory PDF battery life). I'm glad about the 512MB of ram, one of the main reasons why I'm holding off on the iPad is waiting for more RAM to handle 4.2 and any future expansions of multi-tasking abilities (more background tasks maybe).

I do hope for more detailed reviews soon. I wonder what kind of PDF viewing options we'll get.

Engadget complains about the software's responsiveness, but it didn't make them hate the device, which makes me think it's not really that bad. From the video they posted (which showed a lot of device functionality, much appreciated) it doesn't look so bad, some rough edges that shouldn't be there, that's all.

[WT Sharpe]

It would be nice if you could edit MS word docs or even text documents, but apparently all you can do is view the files on the device.