How do books get into the Nook?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by barryem

In either England or Europe, I forget which, maybe both, B&N pulled out a couple of years ago and left their customers with Nooks either with no access to books or limited access. I don't recall the details now.

In the UK, B&N shipped their customers off to Sainsbury who closed their digital division around 9 months later shipping the Nook and Sainsbury customers off to Kobo. I've only chatted with one person who was affected and from what she says, she lost some books going from B&N to Sainsbury so she now downloads, removes DRM and saves her books locally.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by LDB

I'm considering the new Nook for the much larger screen. A photo of the same page of the same book on it and an Oasis 2 shows the new Nook with about twice as much text. So about half as many page turns for the same amount of reading. That's a big appeal to me.

The Nook has a 7.8” screen; the Oasis has a 7” screen. That means the Nook has 25% more screen area than the Oasis. The only way you’d get twice as much text on it would be to use a very much smaller font size than on the Oasis.

[LDB]

It's possible the font is 1 point smaller. It's difficult to tell in the photo I saw. I'm just going by the last sentence shown on the O2 screen and where it falls on the Nook screen. That is just a little over half way down the Nook page. Here's the photo, maybe, if I did it correctly.

[Deskisamess]

Back when I had the Kindle DXG, I quickly found that bigger isn't always better. It was too big for long term reading sessions. I've also found I do better with a more narrow column of text, especially when I read in bed with my glasses off. I need the device 6-7" from my eyes, and if the column of text is too wide, it's too far to easily track, and my eye muscles get fatigued sooner.

The Oasis 2 pretty much hits the sweet spot for me as far as its basic size. My perfect e-reader would not have page turn buttons at all, and would be a bit more narrow, with one side bezel twice as wide as the other three. (As long as it had auto-rotate like the Oasis)

That Kobo is too clunky for my tastes, the top and bottom bezel are just too wide. It's as big as a half-sheet of paper, about the same size as my iPad mini.

Wish I'd thought to bring math into the question...Harry is spot on with the percentage.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by LDB

It's possible the font is 1 point smaller. It's difficult to tell in the photo I saw. I'm just going by the last sentence shown on the O2 screen and where it falls on the Nook screen. That is just a little over half way down the Nook page. Here's the photo, maybe, if I did it correctly.

You’re not comparing like with like there. The Nook is using narrower margins, a smaller font, and a much smaller space between lines. Personally I’d find the layout of the Kindle’s screen far easier on the eye!

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You’re not comparing like with like there. The Nook is using narrower margins, a smaller font, and a much smaller space between lines. Personally I’d find the layout of the Kindle’s screen far easier on the eye!

But you're definitely going to get more words per page (which seems to be LDB's main concern) with the Nook Glowlight Plus. I know it's a matter of taste, but it does bother me sometimes that Kindle's page margins seem arbitrarily too wide (even at the narrowest setting), where other readers let you use the whole page if you want to. (There's even been hacks to change that in the Kindle Keyboard and the similar 4/5 (no touch) models.)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by rcentros

But you're definitely going to get more words per page (which seems to be LDB's main concern) with the Nook Glowlight Plus.

You are indeed, but in the illustration, the differences in page layout are responsible for far more of the extra words than the modest increase in screen size.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Personally I’d find the layout of the Kindle’s screen far easier on the eye!

Me too. I find the smallest Kindle margins and line-spacing just about perfect (unless the publisher has increased them in the css, but in that case I edit them out). Of course I'm probably just used to them, having read on the Kindles for more than 7 years.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You are indeed, but in the illustration, the differences in page layout are responsible for far more of the extra words than the modest increase in screen size.

25% is not all that modest. (If my math is right, 25% turns a 40" TV into a 50" TV, for example.) Coupling that with narrower margins available on the Glowlight and it can make a significant difference in the number of words per page (even if the font and line spacing were the same). Multiply that by 400 pages in a novel and you've got a pretty big overall difference.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by rcentros

25% is not all that modest. (If my math is right, 25% turns a 40" TV into a 50" TV, for example.)

No. A 50” TV has 56% more screen area than a 40” TV. A TV with 25% more screen area would have a 44.7” screen.

[barryem]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Yeah, but "they've" been saying that for three or four years now. They could shut down tomorrow, but releasing new eReaders and tablets seems to indicate that they're not planning on giving up (at least not soon).

I agree and I hope they don't shut down.

I do think this is something to consider when deciding whether to buy a Nook. It was one of the cons I considered when I decided to buy mine. I first did some checking to make sure there are likely to be ways to use it with sideloaded books if B&N went under. I bought it for sideloaded books, found that there were workarounds if I had to reset it and I bought it.

I think B&N's survival as a bookstore is important. Even though I'm kind of a fan of Amazon I think the more competition they have the more they're likely to behave. They don't have much competition these days but at least they have some and I want to see them have more competition, not less.

Barry

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by rcentros

25% is not all that modest. (If my math is right, 25% turns a 40" TV into a 50" TV, for example.) Coupling that with narrower margins available on the Glowlight and it can make a significant difference in the number of words per page (even if the font and line spacing were the same). Multiply that by 400 pages in a novel and you've got a pretty big overall difference.

Maybe not that modest, but far less than the "twice as much text" comment.
At small font size, say 40 lines on an Oasis, that would make it 50 lines on the Kobo.

For me, and how I like to read, lines on the page are not the most important thing. The device I'm reading on has to be fairly easy to hold and "disappear" as I'm reading. A large clumsy device won't disappear.

The Oasis weighs 194 grams, the Kobo weighs in at 279 grams. An iPad mini weighs 299 grams, and it's a backlit tablet with a glass screen.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Me too. I find the smallest Kindle margins and line-spacing just about perfect (unless the publisher has increased them in the css, but in that case I edit them out). Of course I'm probably just used to them, having read on the Kindles for more than 7 years.

I find myself wanting to narrow the margins a bit more on Kindles and realize I can't. This is a bigger issue after I've been reading on my Tolino or Sony for a while. But even before the Sonys and Tolinos I applied the hack to narrow the margins on my Kindle non-touch (4/5?). So I guess it's always bugged me a little.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

Maybe not that modest, but far less than the "twice as much text" comment.
At small font size, say 40 lines on an Oasis, that would make it 50 lines on the Kobo.

For me, and how I like to read, lines on the page are not the most important thing. The device I'm reading on has to be fairly easy to hold and "disappear" as I'm reading. A large clumsy device won't disappear.

I know, my priorities aren't the same as LDB's either, but they are his/her priorities. And the Nook Glowlight Plus 7.8" does a better of meeting those priorities for LDB.

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

The Oasis weighs 194 grams, the Kobo weighs in at 279 grams. An iPad mini weighs 299 grams, and it's a backlit tablet with a glass screen.

Yep. Nothing gets around the weight of the glass substrate. Most 7.8" eInk eReaders with glass substrate weigh about what the Glowlight weighs, it's the nature of the beast. I don't look at it as that big of a deal, though, as I always considered the Kindle Keyboard comfortable to hold and it weighed almost as much as this new Glowlight Plus.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I know, my priorities aren't the same as LDB's either, but they are his/her priorities. And the Nook Glowlight Plus 7.8" does a better of meeting those priorities for LDB.

Exactly. And it's cheaper!

Yep. Nothing gets around the weight of the glass substrate. Most 7.8" eInk eReaders with glass substrate weigh about what the Glowlight weighs, it's the nature of the beast. I don't look at it as that big of a deal, though, as I always considered the Kindle Keyboard comfortable to hold and it weighed almost as much as this new Glowlight Plus.

I think the new Glowlight is a lot more comfortable to hold than the Oasis, even though it's heavier (and again, it's bigger). The Oasis has that sharp edge that digs into my palm while the Nook bezels make for a comfortable hold. I also like having buttons on both sides, as opposed to having to do that awkward flip when changing hands.

I think this Nook is a terrific value myself.