Nook Buyers Remorse

[MangaEbooker]

Originally Posted by Noah98

The swiping is implemented properly. It's fine that you don't like it, but it works as intended. The touch screen was not put in just for page swipes, it offers other features. Many nook owners love the page swipe feature. So, please don't deal in absolutes. Barnes and Noble did not make a design mistake because you don't like it.

Look, we all get it that you didn't like the nook. But, because it doesn't fit your personal needs, it does not make it a bad or poorly designed device. For example, I don't go on the message boards for all of the other devices and say things like:

1. Sony PRS- 300: What a terrible device! How can you read with only 5 inches! And, what's with those weird side buttons!

2. Kobo: Why is the dpad only on the right side! I want it on the left too! How terrible.

3. The Kindle: Who's bright idea was it to make little tiny keyboard buttons! My laptop has full keyboard buttons! Why can't the Kindle! Who uses those anyway? I just want to read, not type!

If I buy a device, I can't fault the design when the design is not hidden. I know where the dpad on the Kobo is. I can see that the Kindle has a keyboard. I am aware that the nook uses a touchscreen. These are not surprises after I bring the device home.

The point is, we can all find things that we don't like about every device out there. We all have personal nitpicks too that do not represent the majority of users. Your shadow/glare issues with the nook are, quite frankly, your personal nitpicks. They do not represent legitimate design flaws. That's not to say that your opinion doesn't matter, but you should not post as if your issues are global issues. A true design flaw is something that is a problem for everyone. But, even those can sometimes be overlooked. For example, the touchscreen layer on the Sony PRS-600 causes a true issue with glare for the majority of users. But, some can overlook it based on other features that they like. And, I would never criticize those users for their preferences.

At times, I find your criticisms to be quite disrespectful of those that enjoy the nook and find that it fills their needs quite nicely. You say things like "how could anybody..." "What idiot designed..." "What a stupid decision..." "Who wants to do that..." and it implys that those that like the device are naive, fanboys, stupid, in denial, or uneducated.

You shouldn't post on message boards if you can't keep an open mind and accept that other people's opinions might differ from your own. You almost try to bait people by saying "I can't wait for the fanboys to show up." You say that you don't want to be labelled a troll, but then you express your opinion in a combative manner. You can get your point across without insulting others. If you want to "save" other potential nook owners with your cautionary tale, phrase it in a more respectful manner. State what you didn't like and why, but don't trash Barnes and Noble, the designers of the device, and the users who enjoy it.

Spot on, its not that we can't take the opinion you have on the Nook, Its that you can't seem to realize that we LIKE these features or design flaws as you so elegantly put it.

Return the Nook or whatever and let people think what they want, Also the Page swiping is wonderfully designed, I never miss a page turn and my fingers never hurt from hitting a button 300 times a night, thats my favorite feature actually.

Does seem like you are more of K3 person though, so enjoy that, doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

[Noah98]

Originally Posted by superstitious

I actually found Mobileread to be the nicest and most respectful place to share opinions here comparing to the other boards I've been to. Other than the one person here, everyone is nice and respectful. People can beg to differ but there's no need to be rude about it. Let's just be happy reading, k???

I agree; for the most part everyone is very helpful and respectful. The discussions here are usually quite nice between owners of a variety of devices.

Even when points are argued, it is not mean spirited. I don't think that is asking too much.

[AdrianM]

Originally Posted by ManosHandsOfFate

Unless Sony comes out with some super compelling news in the next week, I'm going to stick with my K3 order and then I'll have the opportunity to compare the Nook against the K3. There's potential that I could get my wife interested in an e-reader and she likely wouldn't be as picky as me.

My guess is that when you open the K3 you will have as much of an "oh wow, this is what an eReader should be like" moment as I had.

[AdrianM]

Originally Posted by Noah98

For someone on a message board about reading, you don't read very well, do you.

1. I did not attack your opinion. I have posted before that your opinion is perfectly valid. However, I did attack your rudeness and combative posting. I am not insulted by your opinion, but by the way you express it. I even gave you examples. Calling the nook a bad ereader because you didn't like it is juvenile. I don't like BMW's, but I would sound ignorant if I went around calling them bad cars. There is no reason to be impolite on a recreational message board.

Actually, I didn't say the Nook was a bad reader because I didn't like it, I said it was a bad eReader because of bad design. For instance, it's truly an idiotic design decision to make an eInk device reflective and glossy in any shape or form as one of eInk's main advantages over devices like the iPad is that it should be usable in bright conditions. Someone in marketing must have thought that because the original white iPod was so successful they'd pull the same trick, probably going against advice from engineers - big fail there I think.

As for you taking offence at my tone, all I can say is that's your problem. I talk like this and if you want to read personal insults into it, tough.

Originally Posted by Noah98

2. I find it ironic that you did exactly what I said that you would--you called me a fanboy. How am I a nook fanboy? I usually recommend the Kindle 3 to most buyers. I only recommend the nook to those with specific needs. I think the Kindle 3 is the best overall value/design. I recommend the Pocketbook 360 to those who want portability. I even recommend the Kobo to those that want a small reader without all the bells and whistles. But, I guess since you don't have a real defense against my points, it is easier to just call me a fanboy.

The only difference between genius and stupidity, is that genius is limited.

I called you a fanboy as you seemed to have an issue with my critique for no other reason than my tone was "offensive". Well, again, tough. Grow a thicker skin.

As for the genius vs stupidity. lol You really have no idea.

[AdrianM]

Originally Posted by MangaEbooker

Spot on, its not that we can't take the opinion you have on the Nook, Its that you can't seem to realize that we LIKE these features or design flaws as you so elegantly put it.

Return the Nook or whatever and let people think what they want, Also the Page swiping is wonderfully designed, I never miss a page turn and my fingers never hurt from hitting a button 300 times a night, thats my favorite feature actually.

Does seem like you are more of K3 person though, so enjoy that, doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

Yes, fine. But it seems to me that it's far more acceptable to gush praise all over a product than to criticise and in my world, people have the equal right to do either. To be honest, negative criticisms are far more useful too. All this gushing praise I read about the Nook was the reason I bought it in the first place.

I know full well that people can have totally different preferences, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the design that they like is any good or better than another, it just means they like it!

If you go and read my original post you'll see this

Originally Posted by AdrianM

I know a lot of people like the Nook and although I can't really understand why, I accept that preference is a very personal thing. What I will say is this; if you are in the process of choosing an eReader I would suggest that you try to see one and hold it in your hand before you buy and, if like me you can't, then consider your available options very carefully before you buy. Personally, I will try damn hard to get used to the Nook before I go back to my iPhone reading but I'm guessing that once the Kindle has arrived, the Nook will be put in a cupboard somewhere, never to be seen again.

Which is a far cry from me calling all Nook users idiots or the like.

[Noah98]

Originally Posted by AdrianM

Actually, I didn't say the Nook was a bad reader because I didn't like it, I said it was a bad eReader because of bad design. For instance, it's truly an idiotic design decision to make an eInk device reflective and glossy in any shape or form as one of eInk's main advantages over devices like the iPad is that it should be usable in bright conditions. Someone in marketing must have thought that because the original white iPod was so successful they'd pull the same trick, probably going against advice from engineers - big fail there I think.

As for you taking offence at my tone, all I can say is that's your problem. I talk like this and if you want to read personal insults into it, tough.



I called you a fanboy as you seemed to have an issue with my critique for no other reason than my tone was "offensive". Well, again, tough. Grow a thicker skin.

As for the genius vs stupidity. lol You really have no idea.

Don't worry, my skin is quite thick. I'm not losing any sleep over your posts. Hey, if you don't want to be polite and respectful, then that's your choice. Actually, you don't bother me at all. However, I did notice that you were making others angry. I posted my response to you so that maybe you would understand why people were accusing you of trolling.

Ironically, I agree with some of your issues and think that you posting them is helpful. For example, glossy materials absolutely should not be used in devices that are used in the sun. Also, the Kindle 3 is designed much better than the nook. Consider though that the Kindle is on its third hardware design, and the nook its first. The original Kindle had a pretty funky design.

I'm really not trying to pick a fight with you. I agree with you more than I disagree.

[WT Sharpe]

As soon as my K3 arrives, I'm going to see if the Oberon cover in which my Nook is stored can be modified to fit it, then I'm selling the Nook. As someone addicted to underlining and taking loads of notes (both of which the Nook does poorly) and exporting them to my PC (impossible on a Nook) so they can be used in quotation and research; the Nook is pretty useless for my purposes. The only advantage the Nook has over the Kindle as far as I'm concerned is that it -- like my Sony -- is able to reflow text from PDF documents. The Kindle does a poor job with PDF documents, and it's ability to zoom and pan is a poor substitute for the ability to reflow text.

The Sony 600 isn't bad, but it truncates copied (underlined) passages when exporting them, and the screen glare can be pretty bad. I mainly use it for PDF documents.

If you only want a reader, the Nook is as good as any. If you plan to use your reader as a research tool, forget it!

[aagstn]

Originally Posted by ManosHandsOfFate

• Considering I've been spending most of my time reading in airplane mode with the touchscreen off, the battery life really isn't that great. Definitely not a show stopper but I'd rather not be charging it every 3 or 4 days. I know people argue that it's not a big deal and that we all charge our smart phones every day anyway but that argument doesn't hold water for me - I'd also rather not charge my smart phone every day.

• I think it's a bit heavy. I do some of my reading one-handed on crowded subway cars and the weight is less than ideal for that type of reading. One of the reasons I originally wanted an e-reader was to replace large trade paperbacks and the occasional hard cover that I carry during my commute. Will going down a 3 ounces in weight with a K3 make a big difference? I'm not sure.

I agree both of these are negatives. I personally liked the size and weight of my JBL, but the reflective LCD was not as easy on the eyes as the eink with a desk lamp for me and the JBL was constantly crashing and freezing something that has yet to happen for me with the nook. I adjusted to the weight of the nook pretty easily.

The battery issue is a negative, but such a minor one. 3-4 days a charge is a pretty small inconvenience. I like the kindle, but I find no ePub support to be a much bigger issue than battery life. I would gladly charge a kindle every day to get ePub. I don't have an issue stripping off DRM, but I'm not going through the hassle of converting every book I own to mobi format when the nook works with all my epub and eReader format books without even touching the DRM unless I want to.

I can say without reservation that I would be a kindle owner now if Amazon would have supported ePub. However, I will not be locked into a single store, locked out of the public library or forced to convert all my books and that is the reality of kindle ownership.

[Tattncat]

I likeine.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ManosHandsOfFate

Unless Sony comes out with some super compelling news in the next week, I'm going to stick with my K3 order and then I'll have the opportunity to compare the Nook against the K3. There's potential that I could get my wife interested in an e-reader and she likely wouldn't be as picky as me.

At least if you do get your K3, you can return it for a Sony if you find the Sony is better then the K3. But, not sure you can return any Amazon eBooks you may have bought.

[ManosHandsOfFate]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

At least if you do get your K3, you can return it for a Sony if you find the Sony is better then the K3. But, not sure you can return any Amazon eBooks you may have bought.

I have no problem removing DRM for books I've bought. I would either convert DRM'd Amazon books to epub or I'd find the epubs on bitorrent. It's not a perfect solution but it should work.

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

At least if you do get your K3, you can return it for a Sony if you find the Sony is better then the K3. But, not sure you can return any Amazon eBooks you may have bought.

You have 7 days to return an unread or partially read ebook to Amazon. Normally partially read ebooks are allowed to be returned if there is a formatting issue. I have returned a few that my Mom accidently purchased and when I made a mistake. For example, I bought the three books in the Lord of the Rings trilogy before I could buy one book that contained the entire trilogy. I returned the three books without a problem.

[LynnO]

I see some merit in a few of your complaints. I HATE looking at my double chin in my nook! And I'm not all that overweight, lol.

However, I do love that bottom touch screen for shopping. If I browse B&N 2or 3 times a week, I can swipe right through the covers looking for something new. Must be my personal preference for learning, but the covers seem much easier to recognize to me than going through the list.

My guess is that I would like a Kindle design and operation better, but it doesn't support library books, so- no go! I don't write in books, but then I only read for fun. So those features don't do anything for me.

It really does depend on what you want to do with the ereader and your style.

[ManosHandsOfFate]

Originally Posted by LynnO

My guess is that I would like a Kindle design and operation better, but it doesn't support library books, so- no go!

Do you have experience with library books on the Nook? I keep reading that the backlog is so big at most libraries that you have to wait months for anything decent.

[JSWolf]

What you do is check your library daily for new eBooks and then reserve/borrow ASAP anything you are interested in.