Nook Color is Here!

[detayls]

I do wonder about all the LCD moaning. Is it psychosomatic?

I have been using an iPad with the Nook application for months and have no issues. It obviously helps to dim the back light in a dark room but that is no big deal.

All the e-ink add-on lights are essentially making as much light reflect into the users' eyes.

I doubt it is a real concern and will quickly fade away.

[Dandy55]

The more - the merrier!

Nice attempt from Barns & Noble to bring in something really different and new as a reading device. Different people have different preferences, requirements, priorities - so it is all for the good that there is a new device, answering the need for color reading.

Quite reasonable price - half the price of iPad, same as first incarnations of Kindle and Nook eInk readers.

Eight hours of reading is not so bad - quite OK, actually. Come home from work, have a few hours of evening reading, charge device at night - what's wrong with this scenario?

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by detayls

I do wonder about all the LCD moaning. Is it psychosomatic?

I have been using an iPad with the Nook application for months and have no issues. It obviously helps to dim the back light in a dark room but that is no big deal.

All the e-ink add-on lights are essentially making as much light reflect into the users' eyes.

I doubt it is a real concern and will quickly fade away.

I find myself getting headaches if I read off an LCD screen for too long. I also end up with very tired eyes. I prefer the e-ink. I can read longer and with greater comfort.

[monkeyluis]

Originally Posted by detayls

I do wonder about all the LCD moaning. Is it psychosomatic?

I have been using an iPad with the Nook application for months and have no issues. It obviously helps to dim the back light in a dark room but that is no big deal.

All the e-ink add-on lights are essentially making as much light reflect into the users' eyes.

I doubt it is a real concern and will quickly fade away.

I think just like TVs people put the brightness all the way up. That's why it bother's them. Reading on an iPad doesn't bother me either.

[MV64]

You can reduce the brightness but it's still going to create more eye strain than e-ink. It's just a fact. Some people aren't as susceptible to it, but especially to people who work on computers all day, they're not going to want to stare at more backlight. I work on a computer in a brightly lit room and I get headaches and eye strain from the backlight. Dimming it will help, but it's not the same.

However, if it doesn't affect you, you're lucky. But it's not like it's some imaginary thing for it to affect the vast majority of people.

[detayls]

Originally Posted by MV64

You can reduce the brightness but it's still going to create more eye strain than e-ink. It's just a fact.

Please could you cite research for this "fact"?

I don't think it is really a fact - just a heavily promoted opinion.

[Over]

Originally Posted by rty

Nope. I have both Nook and Kindle DXG. There's no zoom option on Nook like Kindle. You just need to change the font size and it will reflow the text of the PDF automatically. With Kindle DX, you can only do a fit to page or zoom (& pan). No text reflow option for Kindle DXG.

I guess not having the option to zoom in is bad. I would like to keep the formatting of my docuiments, see as they were meant to be seen. Unless we're talking about text only PDFs and such.

[Nahgem]

Originally Posted by detayls

Please could you cite research for this "fact"?

I don't think it is really a fact - just a heavily promoted opinion.

Fact in the sense of "Has lots of official research to support it"? Perhaps not. Fact that I personally get headaches from reading on an LCD screen for long periods of time? And that I noticed this long before I knew about other screen options, and thus wasn't being swayed by marketing? Absolutely. Fact that other folks have similar claims? Certainly.

Clearly eyestrain/headaches from LCD isn't a problem for everybody, so maybe it's not a universal truth. But it's definitely true for some of us, which is why we love the eInk so much.

That said, there really doesn't need to be an LCD vs. eInk war (I'm aiming this at the general concept, not specific posters; I see this sort of thing all over online). They're just different technologies designed for different people with different needs. I think it's smart of B&N to capitalize on this split in the market by trying to appeal to both customer groups.

[luvmy4brats]

That 8 hour battery life is with the wireless off. Once you turn the wireless on and/or decide to listen to Pandora, that battery is going to take a serious hit. If you plan on reading for awhile, you better stay close to an outlet or bring an extension cord. There's no user replaceable battery, so when it dies, you're out of luck.

I wanted to like it. I had every intention of buying it before the actual presentation (I'm a gadget junkie).. But that's because I had hoped we'd be getting something new and innovative. Um, no. I have a Kindle, a nook, and an iPad. I just don't see how or why I'd want to use this. It weighs nearly a pound, has a cruddy battery life, and just doesn't make sense to me.

I cannot figure out for the life of me who B&N is targeting with this. They did go out of their way to not mention it's actually an LCD screen, only calling it backlit and VividView.. People are going to think it's an e-ink screen... But it's not. Sorry, it's an iPad wannabe. I'll wait for new technology and stick with what I've got in the meantime.

But hey, you can hang charms on that "signature design element"

[ManosHandsOfFate]

I won't buy it because of the crappy battery life and the weight but I hope they sell a ton of them. The more reading devices sold, the more rights holders will be encouraged to convert older books (I hope).

[luvmy4brats]

Originally Posted by ManosHandsOfFate

I won't buy it because of the crappy battery life and the weight but I hope they sell a ton of them. The more reading devices sold, the more rights holders will be encouraged to convert older books (I hope).

This is true. I've got a bunch I'm waiting for....

[aagstn]

Originally Posted by MV64

However, if it doesn't affect you, you're lucky. But it's not like it's some imaginary thing for it to affect the vast majority of people.

I would love to see some real scientific proof that the "vast majority" of people get headaches and eye strain from lcd. I have no doubt some people do, but I think it is a vast minority of people.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by detayls

Please could you cite research for this "fact"?

I don't think it is really a fact - just a heavily promoted opinion.

Well, it's a fact that everyone's eyes are different... some are comfortable reading LCD screens all day, some aren't. Some manage to find a combination of settings (font size, brightness, color balance, etc) that make LCDs comfortable to them... some don't. And some people are comfortable with the low contrast of e-ink screens... some aren't.

No need to pick on the other group, though... that's just the way it is.

[markbot]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Nook Color is here. Priced at $249 and to ship 19 Nov 2010.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nookcolor/

This is yet more evidence of B&N's desperation. I give them 5 yrs until they close shop entirely.

[lionel47]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

Well, it's a fact that everyone's eyes are different... some are comfortable reading LCD screens all day, some aren't. Some manage to find a combination of settings (font size, brightness, color balance, etc) that make LCDs comfortable to them... some don't. And some people are comfortable with the low contrast of e-ink screens... some aren't.

No need to pick on the other group, though... that's just the way it is.

NY Times article on e-readers and eye strain