Back to the drawing board

[boswd]

you're issue isn't with Barnes and noble it's with UPS, once a product leaves a company it's all on the delivery service, whether its UPS, US Mail or Fed Ex, it is out of the company's hand.

think of it this way, you sent a package to a relative via Fed EX they don't receive it, even though you sent it out a week ago and your relative starts yelling and screaming at you and saying it's your fault.

Also you do realize there was blizzard that hit the mid west and the north east that crippled airports don't you, this affects transportation across the country no matter where you are. It becomes a huge domino affect.

[mcooke66]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The Kindle has a significantly better screen than the nook; it's using a 3rd generation "Pearl" eInk screen compared to the nook's 2nd generation screen; Pearl screens have around 50% better contrast, which makes a big difference. The only other devices currently on the market with Pearl screens are the Sony Readers, so it might be worth taking a look at those too.

I know that not everyone can go to Best Buy and compare both devices but if you did, comments like this would disappear. The OP already said she preferred the Nook screen to Kindle so you can continue to state that Pear is 50% better but the truth is the latest upgraded to Nook erased 90% of that difference.

I would also say that IMO one shipping delay after using B&N without issue before is hardly a reason to give up on the device. I have had no issues with B&N (fingers crossed). Of course once you had the Nook in your hands shipping would become nothing but downloads, so far no problems with the ebook store either.

Having said that, I love the Sony’s I just could not justify the large price difference.

Good Luck

[WillysJeepMan]

Originally Posted by hike_gc

Thanks for the inkmesh mention. I hadn't found that site before.

The reason I am so willing to walk away from Barnes and Noble is that if you can't wow me on the first transaction, chances are any future transactions won't go any better. I simply don't want the hassle. I ordered the Nook with the intention of also buying ebooks from them. The reality is Amazon and Barnes and Noble have the best prices (as well as availability) for the books I intend to read with the Nook (business, computer, reference).

Many online stores have chosen to use cheaper shipping methods as well as third parties to ship their products in order to cut costs. I've noticed many of my online orders take a lot longer to reach me in recent months. If a company puts the bottom line ahead of excellent customer service, that's their choice. Mine is to not shop with them. It's not worth the hassle.

How do you know that B&N chose to use cheaper shipping methods? Have you contacted B&N customer support to find out what happened to your order?

[boswd]

Originally Posted by WillysJeepMan

How do you know that B&N chose to use cheaper shipping methods? Have you contacted B&N customer support to find out what happened to your order?

B&N uses UPS don't they? I'm almost positive.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mcooke66

The OP already said she preferred the Nook screen to Kindle so you can continue to state that Pear is 50% better but the truth is the latest upgraded to Nook erased 90% of that difference.

It's not me that says it; it's the screen manufacturer, and they really should know - they are the ones who make the screens. It's a HARDWARE difference between VizPlex and Pearl screens. No firmware update can change that.

Don't take my word it. Here's the Press Release from eInk:

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--E Ink® Corporation, the leading developer and marketer of electronic paper display technology, today announced the Q2 release of its next generation display technology, Pearl. With Pearl, E Ink expands the capabilities of reflective displays, bringing electronic paper performance to the next level. With the whitest reflective displays in the industry, and a contrast ratio now approximately 50 percent greater than today's products, text on Pearl "pops" from the page, enabling a reading experience most similar to reading text on printed paper.
...

http://www.eink.com/press_releases/e...orm_070110.pdf

(PDF document)

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by hike_gc

When I saw the Nook and Kindle side by side, the Kindle screen looked more gray...

Did you check the "new" Kindles with PEARL display?
nook really does have very good contrast and is a great reader.
But the PEARL displays are benchmark now and should be slightly better in any area.
But nook (in my opinion) clearly did beat the former Kindles re. contrast or whiteness of the background.

[speedlever]

Originally Posted by hike_gc

snip
Here are my requirements. The ability to add notes, highlighting, bookmarking. Wi-Fi/3G not a deal breaker. Prefer e-ink over LCD but will consider LCD for the right reader. The ability to purchase IT and other reference books (mostly business) is a deal breaker.

snip

I know the more obvious choices is the Kindle, but if I had my druthers, would rather not enter that world.

Thanks in advance for your input.

I suggest you reconsider the Kindle in light of your requirements. Especially the ability to add notes and highlight.

Take a look at this video comparison for more info about several of your requirements. At around the 7:00 mark, he starts comparing the Nook and the K2 for dictionary, highlighting, and bookmarking, etc.

Here's a YouTube comparison of Sony PRS-950, Kindle 3, and Nook.

Sony PRS-650 vs K3

In addition, I've read that Amazon.com has THE most complete and available IT and reference books of any of the stores.

Good luck in your quest.

[ProfCrash]

And the IT books probably moves you into Amazon's playground. I would do a search in the EPub book stores and Amazon's bookstore for the IT books you are looking for.

I have seen many posts here where people have ended up with Kindles because the technical books were available through Amazon and no other store. Now, you can still get a different e-reader and buy books from Amazon but that means stripping DRM and converting the ebooks.

I am curious why you don't want to move into Amazon's world. We might be able to address some of your concerns.

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's not me that says it; it's the screen manufacturer, and they really should know - they are the ones who make the screens. It's a HARDWARE difference between VizPlex and Pearl screens. No firmware update can change that.

Don't take my word it. Here's the Press Release from eInk:

My eyeballs have seen both my wife's Kindle 3 and my Nook on 1.5. The difference is very minor since the excellent 1.5 update. Both on page turn speed and on contrast they are VERY close to the same now. The Kindle screen is only a smidgen better IMO.

It's weird to get angry at a company because the shipping company sucks and is taking too long. USPS and UPS can both suck. IMO the only decent, reliable shipping for me has been FedEx. If you wanted it faster and can't wait, pay for the faster shipping *shrug*. I expect if I'm a cheapskate on the shipping (which I almost always am) that it will take a bit longer to arrive. Amazon Prime being the exception.

Don't forget that Monday was MLK day...a USPS holiday (if it is coming via USPS and not UPS).

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by hike_gc

I am totally steamed at Barnes and Noble and feel the need to re-start my search for a reader. The re-furbished Nook I ordered on 1/8 (that shipped a day later than B&N said it would on 1/12) has now spent 2 days in Denver and shows no indication of ever reaching my door. I've always had 3 day service from B&N and am just appalled at this lack of service.

So now I don't want to do business with Barnes and Noble and need to find a reliable company to purchase an e-reader from.

Here are my requirements. The ability to add notes, highlighting, bookmarking. Wi-Fi/3G not a deal breaker. Prefer e-ink over LCD but will consider LCD for the right reader. The ability to purchase IT and other reference books (mostly business) is a deal breaker. The Sony store has a limited (and pricey) selection. I know O'Reilly has their own e-bookstore but they are not the only publisher in the IT/reference book world and I need access to more books than that. While I know some will strip DRMs in order to get access to the books they need, I do not have the time or inclination to do so. I'm sort of hoping there are other e-book stores out there that cater to the business/IT crowd that I haven't found yet which would aid in my search for the right reader.

I know the more obvious choices is the Kindle, but if I had my druthers, would rather not enter that world.

Thanks in advance for your input.

IT guy here (MS-SQL / MySQL dba and programmer)

Please do not make the same mistake I made when I bought the Nook 1st gen. Buy the Kindle DXG or Kindle 3.

90% of most recent IT books are sold by Amazon and O'reilly. The other stores do not have any material or is years old. You buy a Kindle you are covered!

Even if you buy the Kindle 3 and not the DX version, you will have landscape mode which is a must for poetry and technical books. Nook 1st generation was cutting the lines and paragraphs of the few books I bought and understanding was difficult and sometimes impossible.

Kindle 3 also allows you to expand embedded images, like database graphics or tables. You cannot do that with a Nook which makes it impossible read the embedded table or graphic.

If you see a nice book in Amazon...you download the excerpt...you like it...then select "buy" and you will be reading your book in 60 seconds, simple as that.

[hike_gc]

For the record, Barnes and Noble now uses Argix Direct for their shipping and at some point in their process they hand the package over to the USPS. It's been quite a while since I ordered from them, but I know they had been using UPS. The m-edge cover I ordered within minutes of the Nook was shipped (also from the east coast) FedEx and arrived days ago. After spending 2 days in New Jersey and 5 days in Denver (perhaps it decided to do some skiing), my Nook has found it's way to Phoenix today which is about 2.5 hours from me. USPS doesn't update their tracking information with the same diligence as UPS so it's hard to know whether USPS simply didn't update the tracking information or threw the package in a corner and forgot about it.

[snipenekkid]

No fair picking on the carriers for delivery. I ship all the time and am amazed at the service and how consistently great it is. Now some localities are worse than other but as a rule all the carriers provide superb service.

FYI, the USPS service is NOT TRACKING it is delivery confirmation. Nowhere in their description is the service called tracking only "delivery confirmation". So you are comparing apples to oranges.

The DC process is a simple one. For shippers who print their own labels the parcels are scanned at the receiving end of the line not when the parcel is handed off to the USPS counter or even processing center. There are supposed to be two scans one when the parcel arrives at the destination PO and once upon delivery where if needed a signature is also collected on Signature Confirmation labels.

I have been exclusively shipping via USPS for well over a decade now and have had ZERO parcels unreasonably delayed, lost or damaged. And I ship quite expensive items on almost a daily basis.

For your parcels and their obvious delays and delivery exceptions, ya gotta remember right now many delivery services are affected by weather issues. Planes are being grounded, delivery suspended due to road conditions. And often it's part of the Union & Carrier's labor agreement as to what conditions are considered safe or unsafe to deliver parcels so it is not always the fault of the service itself only due to predetermined conditions. In fact it's not unusual for UPS to suspend delivery in regions due to heat as here on the west coast the trucks have no AC. I am sure in other regions they have AC since delivery in Phoenix in the summer has to be horrid for extended periods no matter how acclimated one is to the heat.

So, while I know there are exceptions and have had my shared of received parcels go astray (but I track them in case there is a package routed to Fla. rather than here the the west coast, I really had that happen an overnight parcel went from somewhere on the east coast to Fla. the day it shipped and was out for delivery at 4AM our time...I contacted the shipping, in this case Amazon, and they got the box flagged and out to me as it was supposed to be delivered on time. But had I not been closely watching the delivery there would have been an unfortunate delay. And I refuse to ship via UPS because of the sheer number of billing errors, phantom billings, lost or misrouted parcels and so on. Never once had an issue with the USPS but I only use Priority and Express services so that could be helpful as well.

Anyway, hope all the goodies get to you as soon as possible!! We NEEEEED our toys after all, right?

[mcooke66]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's not me that says it; it's the screen manufacturer, and they really should know - they are the ones who make the screens. It's a HARDWARE difference between VizPlex and Pearl screens. No firmware update can change that.

Don't take my word it. Here's the Press Release from eInk:



http://www.eink.com/press_releases/e...orm_070110.pdf

(PDF document)

You are correct that the 50% better contrast comes from the manufacturer, not from you. The problem is that a technical spec does not always translate into a functional difference.

I was speaking about how the devices looked side by side. I compared the Nook to the K3 when I bought my Nook. I absolutely could see a difference. It was one of the harder things to overcome in my decision. However the dif-ference was not 50% of anything. The Nook compared to the K2 had the opposite result, same screen tech but the Nook was clearer, obviously the firmware is involved here.

After I received the 1.5 update for the Nook the readability/clarity of the text improved significantly. That was a firmware upgrade. Now when viewed side by side the difference is very minimal.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by mcooke66

You are correct that the 50% better contrast comes from the manufacturer, not from you. The problem is that a technical spec does not always translate into a functional difference.

Hmmm....

I think that I am not following you. And I am going to speak as an Engineer now. Regarding the screen contrast: if the science and the facts are telling you specific numbers about it, thing that you can measure and those are unquestionable, anything else is just a user's perception to me. Moreover, remember that in some of those firmware upgrades there is a psychological factor that can "creates" or "removes" some user's perceptions; even in terms of hardware, something as simple as a case color for the device can give you an illusion of a worse or better contrast without being a scientific fact.

[speedlever]

I looked hard at the Nook before deciding on the K3. Nook/1.5 screen was not significantly different from K3 in my opinion. It certainly wasn't a deal maker/breaker. The K3 was slightly better. Page turns seemed quick. I did not have them side-by-side, so you know how the memory thing goes.