First ereader: Nook?

[JSWolf]

What B&N needs to do is fix the firmware. It's letting down the hardware.

[darryl]

Originally Posted by issybird

Well, a Nook wouldn't make sense for an Australian anyway. Kind of undermines the moral high ground.

I think the current Nook is a terrific device and a great value. I've only ever had good customer service from B&N, better than from Amazon or Kobo. Certainly I'd rather deal with B&N than Kobo if a device were faulty; Kobo is a horror show in that case.

I have a hard time seeing B&N as the big evil; there's plenty to go around.

Morality has nothing whatsoever to do with it. Nooks were certainly sold in Australia and probably still are for all I know. I actually considered purchasing a Nook at one stage. Nor do I see B&N as the "big evil". Unfortunately I suspect that James Daunt really has his work cut out for him. My concerns are practical ones. To me it does not make sense to buy into what may well prove to be a dying "ecosystem". If B&N does fail, or even drops the Nook, there is no certainty about continued access to e-books. Particularly so in the absence of local drm free backups. Why take that risk?

I actually wish B&N well and would love to see the Nook flourish. But personally I would not spend my money on one right now.

[LCIII]

Originally Posted by issybird

I think the current Nook is a terrific device and a great value. I've only ever had good customer service from B&N, better than from Amazon or Kobo. Certainly I'd rather deal with B&N than Kobo if a device were faulty; Kobo is a horror show in that case.

It's good to hear some positive feedback about the Nook and B&N's customer service. Of course, I'm equally concerned about Kobo's support being a "horror show."

Originally Posted by darryl

To me it does not make sense to buy into what may well prove to be a dying "ecosystem". If B&N does fail, or even drops the Nook, there is no certainty about continued access to e-books. Particularly so in the absence of local drm free backups. Why take that risk?

I actually wish B&N well and would love to see the Nook flourish. But personally I would not spend my money on one right now.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. B&N is off the list, at least for this purchase. I too wish B&N well and would be happy to consider their ereader if they no longer look like a sinking ship.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by darryl

Morality has nothing whatsoever to do with it. Nooks were certainly sold in Australia and probably still are for all I know.

Where were the sold? I don't remember ever seeing them.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by LCIII

It's good to hear some positive feedback about the Nook and B&N's customer service. Of course, I'm equally concerned about Kobo's support being a "horror show."

Yeah, I'd disagree that Kobo's CS is a horror show - people generally CHOOSE horror shows and do so because they find pleasure in the experience. None of which applies to Kobo's CS

[darryl]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Where were the sold? I don't remember ever seeing them.

JB Hi Fi used to sell them. I almost bought one from their Miranda store years ago. I'm not sure if anyone in Australia is still selling them.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by darryl

JB Hi Fi used to sell them. I almost bought one from their Miranda store years ago. I'm not sure if anyone in Australia is still selling them.

I remember JB HiFi had several different ereaders when I first started looking at them in 2011. I remember they had Sony, iRiver and some horrible LCD based devices, but, I don't remember Nook. And I can't remember if theyy had Kobo at that time. I bought my Touch from OfficeWorks which also had Kindles, and I think something else.

After typing this, I'm going to resist searching the forum. I'd probably find a post where I stated why I didn't buy the Nook

[darryl]

JB sold just about all of them at one time or another. I think the LCD device was a Yellowstone, but don't quote me on it.

[JSWolf]

I remember when Borders sold Kobo.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by LCIII

It's good to hear some positive feedback about the Nook and B&N's customer service. Of course, I'm equally concerned about Kobo's support being a "horror show."

I did qualify it for the case of a faulty device. Returns/exchanges with Kobo can be fraught, involving back-and-forth communications and pictures of the device and frequently the customer’s picking up the freight. It’s why it’s probably a good idea in the US to order from Walmart when possible; if the device is problematic out of the package, it’s an easy return/start over.

But as with B&N, I’m not condemning Kobo out of hand as a look under my avatar should show.

[ZodWallop]

People on here are conflating purchasing a Nook and purchasing ebooks from B&N. The two do not have to go together. Currently I wouldn't suggest buying ebooks from B&N. They willl work fine on your Nook. But later if you decide to move on to Kobo or Kindle, you will likely have trouble removing the DRM so your Nook books can be moved to another reader.

I have Nooks and Kobos and buy books from Amazon. And you mentioned you are digitizing things you already have.If you want to buy a reader and mainlly buy books directly available on it, I'd say buy a Kindle.

I quite like my Nook Glowlight Plus and Glowlight 3. Hardware is nicer than the competitors. The Glowlight 3 has a better screen than any other 6" reader I've seen, it has page turn buttons and the amber light for night reading is much nicer than a simillar feature on my Clara.

The reading experience on the Nook is great.

The software (everything that is not reading) lacks features a Kindle or Kobo has. They are behind there. But I've found a lot of those features, though they look good on paper, do not impact me. Missing features or no, I spend about as much time reading on my Nook as I do my Kobo.

I wouldn't buy a Nook on the assumption that every Barnes and Noble store will act something like the Genius Bar. The people there are there to sell books and likely have little to no training on Nooks. Sideloaded books, forget it buddy. They will not know.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What B&N needs to do is fix the firmware. It's letting down the hardware.

I agree and also don't agree

There's a lot of things about Nook's firmware that I like a lot. Some things better than Kobo. Sideloading fonts and maybe more font control are all that is missing.

What really puts Kobo over the top is that Calibre can access Kobo's database to manually control collections and series. If Nook's database were equally accessible, I wouldn't use Kobo any longer.

But then if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I agree and also don't agree

There's a lot of things about Nook's firmware that I like a lot. Some things better than Kobo. Sideloading fonts and maybe more font control are all that is missing.

What really puts Kobo over the top is that Calibre can access Kobo's database to manually control collections and series. If Nook's database were equally accessible, I wouldn't use Kobo any longer.

But then if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

But to be honest, Kobo does update their Readers and add new useful features. Plus as you said, access to the database can be had with Calibre so things can be done such as collections and series.

[darryl]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

People on here are conflating purchasing a Nook and purchasing ebooks from B&N. The two do not have to go together.

True. But I think this focus is because of the original post, which was envisaging buying e-books from B&N, at least initially. For those using Calibre and removing DRM the e-book store on the device you use is not particularly relevant unless you make it so.

[LCIII]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

If you want to buy a reader and mainlly buy books directly available on it, I'd say buy a Kindle.

The Kindle devices look great. My reservations about Kindle/Amazon more generally are:
- If I move overseas, buying books through Amazon might be more limited.
- Amazon seems pretty aggressive about the walled garden. I'm more of an open-source guy, and Kobo seems more compatible that philosophy (although I know Kobo isn't actually open source).
- I've heard that Amazon puts a lot of pressure on publishers to lower their prices, and the publishers and authors are feeling squeezed by it. I don't know what the various players' financials look like (maybe Amazon is talking more about cleaning up publishers' inefficiencies), but overall it doesn't look good.