Would you think I’d like a Nook?

desdemona · 06-10-2010, 05:03 PM

I have a PocketBook 360. I love the firmware and how portable the device is, but am finding the hardware uncomfortable over time, as my primary reader (using for long periods, like reading at night). I have an opportunity to buy a Nook for about $160. While I like being able to customize the fonts on the PocketBook, it took me a while to find one that didn’t tax my eyes over time. I think Helvetica on the Nook, with that beautiful screen, will be fine. I read mostly ePubs, with and without DRM. The first night with the PocketBook, I set the margins and spacing to my taste and haven’t touched them since. I don’t use the rotation nearly as much as I had anticipated. Can you think offhand of any pitfalls in the Nook for a "set it and forget it" kind of person, who’s pretty happy with a PocketBook, who’s basically looking for a reasonably comfortable reader?

speedtouch · 06-10-2010, 08:19 PM

The Nook is freakin' heavy! I've got a PB 301+ that's light as a feather compared to the Nook.

brecklundin · 06-10-2010, 09:28 PM

out of curiosity what are ya finding uncomfortable about the PB360? Not being dismissive but honestly wanna know because I know it is a thin reader and could easily see it being almost too thin to hold after a while. I found my K2i uncomfortable to hold not because of weight but due to it being too thin and the switch to a metal back from the K1's rubber back panel.

My solution to the issue with my K2i was to add a silicon-rubber protective cover I found on Amazon. It adds enough thickness as well as make it a fair bit "grippier". but now I don't feel like I have to squeeze it to hold onto it in one hand.

I am intending on grabbing a PB360 sometime this year and have already planned a fix if I find it also too thin (even with the front cover flipped over and attached in the back while reading. There is a dip I use for my tool handles that adds a rubber grip so I just figured I would coat the front of the cover with a black version, it comes in a number of colors) of the same stuff. Hopefully it will adhere but even if it peels over time I can recoat it. It will also add a good 5-7mils thickness, especially if I add multiple coats.

Anyway, just was curious and wandered into my own plans I have for any reader I buy that might present handling probs related to holding the device for a normal 2-3hr reading session.

Here is a link to the Plasti Dip I use:
http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Plasti_Dip

I just noticed they also have a Super Grip product which might be nice to coat the rubber or even a whole device with should it just feel kinda slippery:
http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Super_Grip

Sorry if this info doesn't address your probs using the PB360 but maybe they might?

BTW, I am not a fan of the Nook because I just don't get it yet. I haven't seen one IRL so until then I would just say it's not a product I would want to buy over any of the other reders from Pocketbook or even the Kindle.

oh, here is the "textured silicon case/skin" I bought for my K2i:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ef=oss_product

it's only $5 and the exact same thing as the one Amazon sells for $20. Only thing is ya need to be gentle with any of these when putting them on the reader as they can stretch a bit too much and take a while to regain their snugger fit. I which something like this was around for the PB360 or even other PB readers.

desdemona · 06-10-2010, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brecklundin

out of curiosity what are ya finding uncomfortable about the PB360? Not being dismissive but honestly wanna know because I know it is a thin reader and could easily see it being almost too thin to hold after a while. I found my K2i uncomfortable to hold not because of weight but due to it being too thin and the switch to a metal back from the K1's rubber back panel.

...BTW, I am not a fan of the Nook because I just don't get it yet. I haven't seen one IRL so until then I would just say it's not a product I would want to buy over any of the other reders from Pocketbook or even the Kindle.

Hi, thanks for your reply. For me, the problem with the PocketBook is that the buttons are really stiff. After I read for an hour or so, I start feeling pain shooting up my arm from my thumb through my wrist and up into my elbow. There is a "sweet" spot on the buttons that's easier to push than the rest of the wing, but I can't find a position to hold the reader so that my thumb lands on that spot. I've been trying to give it a fair chance, but really, love it best when I'm not using it. It is super nice to take on the go and I get a lot of positive feedback on it because of its looks and the built in cover, but it's not the reader I want to take to bed to read into the wee hours.

I'm not entirely sure about the Nook, either. I have seen one in the store and love, love, love the display (very white compared to the PocketBook), and was pleasantly surprised by how not sluggish it is with the current firmware, but spending ten minutes playing with a device in the store isn't the same as spending hours using it only to regret the purchase because of some niggly detail, like too-stiff buttons.

desdemona · 06-10-2010, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedtouch

The Nook is freakin' heavy! I've got a PB 301+ that's light as a feather compared to the Nook.

Excellent point! It is considerably heavier than the PocketBook, but still not as heavy as the books I wanted a reader to replace. Gettin' old.

boswd · 06-10-2010, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desdemona

Excellent point! It is considerably heavier than the PocketBook, but still not as heavy as the books I wanted a reader to replace. Gettin' old.

are you guys kidding me the Nook is light. It weighs 12ozs do you need to drink some milk or something? egaads people. 12oz is HEAVY?. lol lol

oH MY.

My wife loves how light it is and here you got some big ole tough guys complaining about 12 bleeping oz. My 65 year old Father who just got one, commented on it's weight or lack of it compared to all the Hard cover's he reads.

Wow Just Wow

but to answer the OP I think you'll like it. Almost everyone who owns one loves it more and more. Very fun to navigate, Out of all the major ereaders it is one of the most attractive. Color book art. fun instore experience.

It's a great product.

desdemona · 06-10-2010, 11:41 PM

Quote:

My wife loves how light it is and here you got some big ole tough guys complaining about 12 bleeping oz.

Who are you calling a big ole tough guy?? I'm a girl!

desdemona · 06-10-2010, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boswd

...but to answer the OP I think you'll like it. Almost everyone who owns one loves it more and more. Very fun to navigate, Out of all the major ereaders it is one of the most attractive. Color book art. fun instore experience.

Thanks for this. I think it may have been your posts in the Nook forum that convinced me to take a second look. That and the free book promotion they've been running got me to the kiosk. The Nook's a lot better than it was when I looked in January.

Is there anything you wish the Nook did better?

boswd · 06-11-2010, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desdemona

Thanks for this. I think it may have been your posts in the Nook forum that convinced me to take a second look. That and the free book promotion they've been running got me to the kiosk. The Nook's a lot better than it was when I looked in January.

Is there anything you wish the Nook did better?

yeah v1.3 really makes this one of the tops. Too bad they rushed it out back in November but it's a calcualted marketing risk and were willing to take their lumps early but got their product out. As someone in the marketing business I knew what they were doing, it's risky and they have paid for it in certain aspects but on the flip side if they didn't do it, you give the Kindle and the Sony yet another shopping season to dominate and solidfy the Kindles brand name. Making them to an almost iPod like status among e-readers and putting it out in the Spring to play second fiddle in the news to Apple's iPad? LOL
Yeah, bugs are firmware fixable and they fixed and pretty fast too 6 monts and three upgrades and fixes, overall I think it was the right decision.

but to answer your question

I guess implementing adding a go to page number to the "go to" section. It has a "Go To" section for furthest point read, chapters, index etc but for some reason a specific "page#" was omitted. Though I haven't ran into an opprotunity in which I needed it yet, I can see why its a head scratcher to why it's not there.

I would be surprised if this was not along with a more detailed folder managment systme in the next round of updates.

One other feature that is fantastic is the ability to download books wirelessly.
At first it seems more like a feature that is nice but not that important until you have it. You won't go back.
For example I live in Boston and had a Dr.'s appointment and while waiting just being able to download the LA Times to read the enemy's perspective, is just great. and being able to buy books on line and not have to hook up your device to the computer and it's already on the Nook before you know it.
it's sweet.

boswd · 06-11-2010, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desdemona

Who are you calling a big ole tough guy?? I'm a girl!

too funny

iandix · 06-11-2010, 12:29 AM

I agree with boswd, the nook display is about the best I have seen, makes reading books easy (and is that not the point of a ebook reader)

The response time is very good and the nook just improves with each update. The fact it reads epub as well as B&N DRM epubs ..is a major selling point over the more limited and out of date Kindle. Only draw back I see is with the way it catalogues books, but rumours seem to indicate that might be fixed next firmware update. If not just root your nook and then it will have the best Catalogue system I have yet seen on a ebook reader.

If the only complaint people can come up with, is that it's a few grams more than a more limited less evolved reader, then that sounds like a good selling point to me

speedtouch · 06-11-2010, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boswd

are you guys kidding me the Nook is light. It weighs 12ozs do you need to drink some milk or something? egaads people. 12oz is HEAVY?. lol lol

oH MY.

My wife loves how light it is and here you got some big ole tough guys complaining about 12 bleeping oz. My 65 year old Father who just got one, commented on it's weight or lack of it compared to all the Hard cover's he reads.

Wow Just Wow

but to answer the OP I think you'll like it. Almost everyone who owns one loves it more and more. Very fun to navigate, Out of all the major ereaders it is one of the most attractive. Color book art. fun instore experience.

It's a great product.

You must not have used a PocketBook before. The Nook is considerably heavier than the PB, in fact it is twice as heavy. If you're an older reader, thinking about the weight of something you're going to hold for hours is an important criteria. Dismissing my earlier post about the weight of the Nook in such a flippant way would be the wrong thing to do.

boswd · 06-11-2010, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedtouch

You must not have used a PocketBook before. The Nook is considerably heavier than the PB, in fact it is twice as heavy. If you're an older reader, thinking about the weight of something you're going to hold for hours is an important criteria. Dismissing my earlier post about the weight of the Nook in such a flippant way would be the wrong thing to do.

Nor would I use a PocketBook, I find 0 value in them for only $20 more dollars I get a larger screen, color touch screen navigation, color book cover art, wireless downloading via wi fi or 3G, instore features and a much better bookstore platform.

But that's not my point, I don't want to make this into a "Mine is better than your's" I'm sure you love your Pocketbook as much I love my Nook. And everyone has their own reasons why they buy their particular brand.

But you make it sound like the Nook weighs 10 lbs. sure the pocketbook is light but seriously to imply you wouldn't buy a product because it weighed 12 oz is a little absurd dont you think?

I'm assuming since you are on this forum you love reading And what did you read until you bought an e-reader? Books right?, hard cover, paperbacks, tradepaperbacks. Was life an unbearable mess? Did the 6oz Pocketbook ease all the pains in your life and are now able to enjoy reading?

I'm sorry for being a little snarky but seriously 120z's is too heavy, weighs a ton? It weighs as much as a standard Trade Paperback. We all read hardcover's throughout our lives that weighed in at around a pound and in some cases even more some close to 2lbs and 12oz is heavy?

BookJunkieLI · 06-11-2010, 04:14 PM

On the issue of weight, yes, the Nook is 'only' 12oz but the PB360 is 5.3oz which is less than half the weight of the Nook. For some people, especially elderly or those with fragile wrists, this is a big weight difference. That said I own a Nook and a Jetbook-Lite which is 7.5oz and have not really noticed a weight difference when I'm holding each with both hands. When I'm holding the Nook in one hand I do notice a difference but it is more because the forward page button is the *bottom* button and tends to make the Nook top heavy whereas I find the Jetbook-Lite weight more evenly distributed due to the way it's setup. Not owning a PB360 I can't say for sure that it's the same but looking at a picture I imagine it would be.

There are two important issues to consider before making the switch to the Nook.

One is the fact that the Nook does not have any folder management on it. Yes, rumor has it that it will be included on the next firmware update but rumor had it we would get it with the last one and instead we got Sudoku, Chess and a crappy web browser. Yes, you can go to Nookdevs and install their Library software which I've heard is excellant but you do run the risk of bricking your Nook and if the people at Nookdevs can't get it unbricked you're screwed. Or you can do as some people suggest and only carry 20 or less books on it which, to me, defeats the purpose of being able to expand the memory to at least 16GB.

The other issue is that you can only put EPUB files on it. Well, technically you can put PDF/PDB files on it too but I've yet to have one actually appear properly so I don't count them. If all you read are EPUBs or you are familiar with programs like Calibre which will converts various formats to EPUB then it shouldn't be an issue but it is something to keep in mind.

Otherwise the Nook has an excellant screen and B&N has a great selection of ebooks.

Logseman · 06-11-2010, 05:44 PM

desdemona, if you don't know the feature already, maybe you could make good use of the Pocketbook 360 modified software which allows you to turn pages by turning your wrist, not needing to touch any of the buttons. Aside of that, it allows you more reading configuration options, too ^^

In case you don't know it, you have more information here.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65865

The last version of the software is in the last page of that thread.

06-10-2010, 05:03 PM	#1
desdemona Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Device: PocketBook 360	Would you think I’d like a Nook? I have a PocketBook 360. I love the firmware and how portable the device is, but am finding the hardware uncomfortable over time, as my primary reader (using for long periods, like reading at night). I have an opportunity to buy a Nook for about $160. While I like being able to customize the fonts on the PocketBook, it took me a while to find one that didn’t tax my eyes over time. I think Helvetica on the Nook, with that beautiful screen, will be fine. I read mostly ePubs, with and without DRM. The first night with the PocketBook, I set the margins and spacing to my taste and haven’t touched them since. I don’t use the rotation nearly as much as I had anticipated. Can you think offhand of any pitfalls in the Nook for a "set it and forget it" kind of person, who’s pretty happy with a PocketBook, who’s basically looking for a reasonably comfortable reader?

06-11-2010, 12:29 AM	#11
iandix Addict Posts: 295 Karma: 109308 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: NSW Australia Device: nook touch a Nook 3g (rooted) and a nookcolor (rooted)	I agree with boswd, the nook display is about the best I have seen, makes reading books easy (and is that not the point of a ebook reader) The response time is very good and the nook just improves with each update. The fact it reads epub as well as B&N DRM epubs ..is a major selling point over the more limited and out of date Kindle. Only draw back I see is with the way it catalogues books, but rumours seem to indicate that might be fixed next firmware update. If not just root your nook and then it will have the best Catalogue system I have yet seen on a ebook reader. If the only complaint people can come up with, is that it's a few grams more than a more limited less evolved reader, then that sounds like a good selling point to me Last edited by iandix; 06-11-2010 at 12:31 AM.

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06-10-2010, 08:19 PM	#2
speedtouch eBook Newbie Posts: 373 Karma: 1724 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Kobo Clara HD	The Nook is freakin' heavy! I've got a PB 301+ that's light as a feather compared to the Nook.

06-10-2010, 09:28 PM	#3
brecklundin Banned Posts: 1,906 Karma: 15348 Join Date: Jun 2007 Device: mine	out of curiosity what are ya finding uncomfortable about the PB360? Not being dismissive but honestly wanna know because I know it is a thin reader and could easily see it being almost too thin to hold after a while. I found my K2i uncomfortable to hold not because of weight but due to it being too thin and the switch to a metal back from the K1's rubber back panel. My solution to the issue with my K2i was to add a silicon-rubber protective cover I found on Amazon. It adds enough thickness as well as make it a fair bit "grippier". but now I don't feel like I have to squeeze it to hold onto it in one hand. I am intending on grabbing a PB360 sometime this year and have already planned a fix if I find it also too thin (even with the front cover flipped over and attached in the back while reading. There is a dip I use for my tool handles that adds a rubber grip so I just figured I would coat the front of the cover with a black version, it comes in a number of colors) of the same stuff. Hopefully it will adhere but even if it peels over time I can recoat it. It will also add a good 5-7mils thickness, especially if I add multiple coats. Anyway, just was curious and wandered into my own plans I have for any reader I buy that might present handling probs related to holding the device for a normal 2-3hr reading session. Here is a link to the Plasti Dip I use: http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Plasti_Dip I just noticed they also have a Super Grip product which might be nice to coat the rubber or even a whole device with should it just feel kinda slippery: http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Super_Grip Sorry if this info doesn't address your probs using the PB360 but maybe they might? BTW, I am not a fan of the Nook because I just don't get it yet. I haven't seen one IRL so until then I would just say it's not a product I would want to buy over any of the other reders from Pocketbook or even the Kindle. oh, here is the "textured silicon case/skin" I bought for my K2i: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ef=oss_product it's only $5 and the exact same thing as the one Amazon sells for $20. Only thing is ya need to be gentle with any of these when putting them on the reader as they can stretch a bit too much and take a while to regain their snugger fit. I which something like this was around for the PB360 or even other PB readers.

06-11-2010, 04:14 PM	#14
BookJunkieLI Evangelist Posts: 435 Karma: 572984 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Long Island Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kindle 4, Nook Gl4, Nook STR, REB 1100, Ebookwise 1500,	On the issue of weight, yes, the Nook is 'only' 12oz but the PB360 is 5.3oz which is less than half the weight of the Nook. For some people, especially elderly or those with fragile wrists, this is a big weight difference. That said I own a Nook and a Jetbook-Lite which is 7.5oz and have not really noticed a weight difference when I'm holding each with both hands. When I'm holding the Nook in one hand I do notice a difference but it is more because the forward page button is the bottom button and tends to make the Nook top heavy whereas I find the Jetbook-Lite weight more evenly distributed due to the way it's setup. Not owning a PB360 I can't say for sure that it's the same but looking at a picture I imagine it would be. There are two important issues to consider before making the switch to the Nook. One is the fact that the Nook does not have any folder management on it. Yes, rumor has it that it will be included on the next firmware update but rumor had it we would get it with the last one and instead we got Sudoku, Chess and a crappy web browser. Yes, you can go to Nookdevs and install their Library software which I've heard is excellant but you do run the risk of bricking your Nook and if the people at Nookdevs can't get it unbricked you're screwed. Or you can do as some people suggest and only carry 20 or less books on it which, to me, defeats the purpose of being able to expand the memory to at least 16GB. The other issue is that you can only put EPUB files on it. Well, technically you can put PDF/PDB files on it too but I've yet to have one actually appear properly so I don't count them. If all you read are EPUBs or you are familiar with programs like Calibre which will converts various formats to EPUB then it shouldn't be an issue but it is something to keep in mind. Otherwise the Nook has an excellant screen and B&N has a great selection of ebooks.

06-11-2010, 05:44 PM	#15
Logseman Orisa Posts: 1,999 Karma: 1035571 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Ireland Device: Onyx Poke 5	desdemona, if you don't know the feature already, maybe you could make good use of the Pocketbook 360 modified software which allows you to turn pages by turning your wrist, not needing to touch any of the buttons. Aside of that, it allows you more reading configuration options, too ^^ In case you don't know it, you have more information here. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65865 The last version of the software is in the last page of that thread.