Refurb. Color Nook? or?

[Greg_H]

I have been reading ebooks on my phone for a good while and am ready to get a "real" e-reader. I want 6-7", lighted, and the ability to check email, play movies, and price not much more than $100. From my research, a refurbished color nook that is rooted seems to be the best choice. Please respond with any advice on this device and any other device suggestions. Thanks!

[HarryT]

You say you want a "real" e-reader, but you seem to only be considering LCD tablets. An eInk screen is FAR better for reading on than an LCD display. If reading is important to you, I'd honestly suggest that you discard the requirement to be able to play movies, and get an eInk device. There are many excellent eInk readers available in your price range.

[Greg_H]

I meant real e-reader as opposed to reading on my smart phone. I am undecided between an e-reader and a tablet as I would like to have some of the tablet features also....

[HarryT]

I understand what you're saying, but unfortunately a tablet is always going to have limitations when it comes to reading, both in terms of daylight visibility (you can't see them in bright sunshine) and battery life (a tablet will run for a few hours on a battery charge; an eInk device will go for weeks between charges).

[murraypaul]

As far as the sunshine issue goes, the Nook Color actually has a very bright screen, noticeably brighter than more modern 7" tablets like the Nexus 7 or iPad Mini, so would perform slightly better in sunlight, although still nothing like an eInk device.

And the battery life issue is real, but not in the weasel words that the eInk manufactures claim. Lasts for weeks (if you only use it half an hour a day). A tablet would also last for weeks if you only used it half an hour a day.
A modern eInk device will probably have between 2 and 4 times the endurance in reading hours of a modern LCD device, depending on the exact model of each. Significantly better, but not orders of magnitude better.

eg for Amazon devices:
The Kindle touch is quoted as up to 60 days at 1/2 an hour per day = 30 hours.
The Kindle Fire HD is quoted as up to 11 hours.
So roughly three times longer.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

And the battery life issue is real, but not in the weasel words that the eInk manufactures claim. Lasts for weeks (if you only use it half an hour a day). A tablet would also last for weeks if you only used it half an hour a day.

Only if you totally shut it down between uses, and most people don't do that. An eInk reader in "sleep" mode genuinely will last for weeks if you read for an hour a day. An Android tablet will typically drain its battery in a few days even if you don't use it at all. That, at least, has been my experience of tablets (I have both a Kindle Fire HD and a Galaxy Tab 2).

Eg, I've recently been on a 2-week holiday in Egypt, during which I read for several hours a day on my Kindle Touch. When I came home, the battery was still at something like half charge. I had to charge my Galaxy Tab every couple of days during that same period, and there's no way I could have used it outside in the bright sunshine.

Nothing wrong with a tablet, of course - goodness knows I have enough of them to know that . But I genuinely think that for reading, an eInk device is hugely better.

[Greg_H]

Battery life is not a big concern to me. My phone only last for a few hours so that's not a major item for me.

[Billi]

If you're into refurbished readers you may want to think about the Entourage Pocket Edge too. The company is dead, there's no warranty whatsoever, but they sell very cheap at Ebay and are very interesting as they have an eink/reader and a lcd/tablet side.

[NickyWithNook]

You'll probably have to charge a Nook Color every night, or every other night, but if that isn't a concern, it works well. The Nook Tablet seems obviously faster to me, so there is a difference you can feel between the two, especially if you're playing movies and that kind of thing, but the Color works well too. I don't think it's the best thing out there, but for $99, it seems like a good deal to me.

[murraypaul]

My take on a rooted/CM7 Nook Color is that it is fine as a tablet for reading books, but substandard as a tablet in general. Everything is just a bit too slow, a bit too laggy, and because it only has the one hard-key rather than the multiples that Android at the time expected you have to have a soft-key bar up all the time, and I found selecting the right icon from that to be a hit and miss affair.
Once you've got a reading app installed, and if that is all you want to do with it, none of that should really matter, but if you want a general Android tablet, this won't give a fair impression of what they are capable of, compared to something modern like a Nexus 7.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

My take on a rooted/CM7 Nook Color is that it is fine as a tablet for reading books, but substandard as a tablet in general. Everything is just a bit too slow, a bit too laggy, and because it only has the one hard-key rather than the multiples that Android at the time expected you have to have a soft-key bar up all the time, and I found selecting the right icon from that to be a hit and miss affair.
Once you've got a reading app installed, and if that is all you want to do with it, none of that should really matter, but if you want a general Android tablet, this won't give a fair impression of what they are capable of, compared to something modern like a Nexus 7.

I agree, I got a refurb Nook Color +n2a card for the kids last Christmas, and it is ok.....runs fine on the Nook side, which we never use. The NC side is, as murraypaul says, a little laggy, a little slow, and the battery life is not too good. But at least they can play Angry Birds Star Wars for free, which they can't do on my Fire. I would much rather have an open android tablet, such as the Nexus, than a tablet that is dedicated as a color reader and tied to a store like the B&N tablets are. Much as I would love the new Fire, I would rather spend the money (if I had any haha) on a Nexus.