Touch A Couple of Questions about the Nook STR (DRM and Backup)

[iJn]

Hello all.

I've been doing some reading about the Nook STR and have a few questions:

1. As I understand it, it seems as if about 750 MB of HD space is reserved for B&N purchased ebooks, with the rest available for side-loaded content. Does that mean that when the (admittedly large) amount of reserved space is used up, the user can no longer put first party purchased ebooks on the device?

2. Some have said that the 750 MB is hidden when connected to a computer. If that's so, how does one back up ebooks bought directly through the Nook?

3. The DRM makes me nervous, because apparently it's tied to the user's CC number (and billing address?). Couldn't that mean that a lost/stolen Nook be used by a hacker to reverse engineer the ebooks to find out this information?

4. What's the process for backing up B&N purchased content using a PC/Mac? I'm guessing the DRM makes it so one can't just throw the files on an external drive and be done with it?

5. Is it possible to buy a number of books from B&N, but only keep a select few on the device for reading and redownload others later? Is there a limit to the number of times something can be downloaded?

Thanks

[sjkevin]

When you buy an ebook, it exists in your B&N account. You can download it, delete it, and re-download it as many times as you want. But B&N does not use the word "delete" when talking about deleting the book from your device; they call it archiving the book (deleting it from your device) or un-archiving the book (re-downloading it).

1. Yes, if you use up all that space, you'll need to archive (i.e. delete) some old books to make room for new ones. But don't worry, they're still in your account.

2. You don't need to back them up; B&N does it for you. If you lose them, just re-download them.

3. I doubt it, but I don't know for sure.

4. There's no need to, but I think you'd probably have to root your device to get those files.

5. Yes, that's possible. No, there's no limit.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by iJn

3. The DRM makes me nervous, because apparently it's tied to the user's CC number (and billing address?). Couldn't that mean that a lost/stolen Nook be used by a hacker to reverse engineer the ebooks to find out this information?

The CC number is not stored on the device, some unique data is used to identify you with the servers.

Originally Posted by iJn

4. What's the process for backing up B&N purchased content using a PC/Mac? I'm guessing the DRM makes it so one can't just throw the files on an external drive and be done with it?

The simplest way is to download the books from B&N's website and then make your own backup (I would recommend Dropbox or something similar, so if you hard drive dies, you can recover your files.

[John F]

Originally Posted by sjkevin

...

2. You don't need to back them up; B&N does it for you. If you lose them, just re-download them.

...

Always back up. B&N may go out of business, contracts could change and they may lose access to the book, maybe they'll go to a different format, ...

YMMV.

[user_none]

3. It is not possible to get the cc number from the Nook or a DRMed file. It is used to create a unique "key" to unlock the content which is a one way operation. You cannot go backwards from the key to the cc number.

[detayls]

Originally Posted by iJn

Hello all.
...
1. As I understand it, it seems as if about 750 MB of HD space is reserved for B&N purchased ebooks, with the rest available for side-loaded content. Does that mean that when the (admittedly large) amount of reserved space is used up, the user can no longer put first party purchased ebooks on the device?
...

Not 750 - only 250 mbs are available to the user. That's still a lot though, because .epub files are usually small.

Don't forget that you can also load your own microSD card and fill it with books.

[iJn]

Thanks very much for your responses, everyone. The only thing holding me back now is the prospect of continued samples forced on the user. I'll just wait and see for now.

[Ron.]

Originally Posted by iJn

Thanks very much for your responses, everyone. The only thing holding me back now is the prospect of continued samples forced on the user. I'll just wait and see for now.

It's rare that they send samples, in 2 months of owning my nook simple touch they sent samples only once (I think it was three books)

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Ron.

It's rare that they send samples, in 2 months of owning my nook simple touch they sent samples only once (I think it was three books)

Perhaps we should create a 'sample watch' thread, so we can monitor how it is used, what samples people are getting, etc. I hardly ever turn wireless myself, so it is hard to evaluate the extent of this practice.

What bugs me more is the lack of 'file management' in general in the Library interface. Why do I need to open a book in order to Archive it? Why can't I delete content that I side loaded?

[Ron.]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Perhaps we should create a 'sample watch' thread, so we can monitor how it is used, what samples people are getting, etc. I hardly ever turn wireless myself, so it is hard to evaluate the extent of this practice.

What bugs me more is the lack of 'file management' in general in the Library interface. Why do I need to open a book in order to Archive it? Why can't I delete content that I side loaded?

Yes I wish I could delete sideloaded content, I think any sample books they send wind up in your nook library online so you can check without having your wireless on. I have only got samples sent to me once so I can't really be sure about that.

[Hoyt Clagwell]

I have never gotten a sample book sent to me. I kind of feel left out.

[rdfry]

Originally Posted by iJn

Hello all.

I've been doing some reading about the Nook STR and have a few questions:

1. As I understand it, it seems as if about 750 MB of HD space is reserved for B&N purchased ebooks, with the rest available for side-loaded content. Does that mean that when the (admittedly large) amount of reserved space is used up, the user can no longer put first party purchased ebooks on the device?

2. Some have said that the 750 MB is hidden when connected to a computer. If that's so, how does one back up ebooks bought directly through the Nook?

3. The DRM makes me nervous, because apparently it's tied to the user's CC number (and billing address?). Couldn't that mean that a lost/stolen Nook be used by a hacker to reverse engineer the ebooks to find out this information?

4. What's the process for backing up B&N purchased content using a PC/Mac? I'm guessing the DRM makes it so one can't just throw the files on an external drive and be done with it?

5. Is it possible to buy a number of books from B&N, but only keep a select few on the device for reading and redownload others later? Iyes you can buy as many books as you like and put as few as you want on the device.s there a limit to the number of times something can be downloaded?

yes you can buy as many books as you like and put as few as you want on the device.

Thanks

#2 The best way is to install Nook for PC and download the books to your computer this provides the proper naming of the file for side loading as well as saving the files to your computer for backup.

#5 yes you can buy as many books as you like and put as few as you want on the device.

[dbeman]

Originally Posted by Hoyt Clagwell

I have never gotten a sample book sent to me. I kind of feel left out.

I'll forward all of mine to you from now on.

[Grimm]

Originally Posted by Ron.

Yes I wish I could delete sideloaded content, I think any sample books they send wind up in your nook library online so you can check without having your wireless on. I have only got samples sent to me once so I can't really be sure about that.

All my sideloaded content is on an SD card and I can delete that stuff at will though not directly through the device; not sure what you meant by not being able to delete sideloaded content. Am I missing what you meant?

[Kymmmm]

Yes, that is what I did too. Put it all on the sd card and move, delete or rename as I please.

Kym