Doubts about buying Nook color

[apeine]

I'm very interested in buying a Nook color, even though I don't live in the US (I live in Brazil, actually), but I have a friend that will travel to the US by mid-march.
As I can see, one of its strongest point is its great hackability, which allows it to run as a Android 2.1 tablet (even 2.2!).
But I'd like to know a few things before buying, and I'd be glad if you people could help me:
1) On a review (at Cnet, I believe), people complained about compatibility issues with 802.11g wifi connection (slow or not reliable). Is it true? Reviews were from 6 weeks ago, maybe before the last upgrade from BN. And I wouldn't like to change my wifi router just because of this.
2) On the same reviews, people complained about video playing, which was skipping some frames. Is it true? I mean, in regular mp4 video (H264 vid + aac sound).
3) Can I buy book from abroad at B&N?
4) As I use lots (I mean, LOTS) of PDFs files for my master degree, I need some sort of annotation system. Is there anything like this straight out of the box? If not, is there any software that might do so? Unfortunately, some PDF were not passed through an OCR soft, so I guess they can't be converted to something better (epub or any other ebook format), which would allow annotation.
5) Any recommended covers, skins or accessories?
Thanks, folks!

[geertm]

Originally Posted by apeine

I'm very interested in buying a Nook color, even though I don't live in the US (I live in Brazil, actually), but I have a friend that will travel to the US by mid-march.
As I can see, one of its strongest point is its great hackability, which allows it to run as a Android 2.1 tablet (even 2.2!).
But I'd like to know a few things before buying, and I'd be glad if you people could help me:
1) On a review (at Cnet, I believe), people complained about compatibility issues with 802.11g wifi connection (slow or not reliable). Is it true? Reviews were from 6 weeks ago, maybe before the last upgrade from BN. And I wouldn't like to change my wifi router just because of this.
2) On the same reviews, people complained about video playing, which was skipping some frames. Is it true? I mean, in regular mp4 video (H264 vid + aac sound).
3) Can I buy book from abroad at B&N?
4) As I use lots (I mean, LOTS) of PDFs files for my master degree, I need some sort of annotation system. Is there anything like this straight out of the box? If not, is there any software that might do so? Unfortunately, some PDF were not passed through an OCR soft, so I guess they can't be converted to something better (epub or any other ebook format), which would allow annotation.
5) Any recommended covers, skins or accessories?
Thanks, folks!

1) For most people Wifi worked fine. And a lot of the Wifi problems mentioned were user error. But the NC seemed to have a problem with some specific routers or configurations. The recent 1.1.0 update seems to have solved most Wifi problems, as there are hardly any Wifi problems mentioned these days on the B&N boards.

2) MP4 video plays fine. The problem you mention has not been mentioned on the B&N boards.

3) You can buy B&N e-books using your PC. Register your B&N account with a US shipping and billing address (you can use your regular credit card). And use a VPN like Hotspot Shield (free) or alwaysVPN ($8.50) to get an US IP-address when buying e-books.

4) I do not use PDF files, perhaps someone else can answer your questions.

[debteb]

PDF annotations can be done via RepliGo reader. I use PDFs a lot as well and on a rooted NC it's the best pdf app out there.

[jocampo]

For PDF documents, I strongly recommend you an iPad plus Goodreader on it. You should also wait a bit and probably get your hands on the Motorola Xoom (if money is not a concern) It is heavier, but has the perfect size for PDF documents and runs Honeycomb. I have seen RepliGo on it but I'm assuming it will be soon optimized for that screen if it was not already.

Even though RepliGo is really good (I have it on my Galaxy Tab), nothing beats Goodreader as PDF editor and viewer. The bigger screen on the iPad also allows you to read the document with few or no page turns. 7" screen are kind of small for PDF documents, at least on my opinion. I prefer 10" for my PDF documents: Kindle DX, iPad.

Yes, there were known issues with wifi connections after NC was released, I personally had some of them: poor or no connection and got disconnected all the time, but that was before firmware upgrade. If I recall well, those were fixed with 1st patch. I cannot make any comments after that because I returned my NC just a few days before that initial patch was released.

Last but not least, be aware that from B&N online store, you could face some GEO restriction problems which means, there are some books that you won't be able to buy or download.

[apeine]

Thanks, people. Reviews are very good, and even the tip for Ipad, which unfortunately is a little bit too expensive (as it the Motorola's Xoom and Samsung tab). I also wanted to get far from those horrible chinese Android pads, Velocity cruz (which had bad reviews regarding software and video speed), Pandigital and Pocketbook (both had also some major flaws in review). Nook color has also a well stablished community for providing help, which is always a major item on my personal review. I think I'll stick to buying the Nook color, but I'll try to get the one with discount on ebay, if there is any available.

[jocampo]

Nothing against chinese people. ... ... but yes, if money is a concern, buy the Nook Color!

[apeine]

I don't have either, but sometimes their products lack finishing... Thanks everybody.

[apeine]

BTW, if anyone has any tip on accesories (covers, skins, chargers or whatsoever) for a starter, please write.

[jbcohen]

My recommendation, and I have nothing against a nook color, is to examine the Sony PRS and the Pandigital Novel before you settle on a Nook Color since the two others that I mentioned are also touch screen. Makre sure that you are buying the best reader for you.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

My recommendation, and I have nothing against a nook color, is to examine the Sony PRS and the Pandigital Novel before you settle on a Nook Color since the two others that I mentioned are also touch screen. Makre sure that you are buying the best reader for you.

I don't think the PRS is a good alternative because it's EInk, and so has a different feature set than an LCD tablet/reader.

The Pandigital novel might be worth considering - but then you're looking at a resistive screen at a lower resolution. Nothing against the device - but it's a lower spec'd tablet at a lower price - and so may be less likely to meet the OP's needs.

[cmanbrazil]

I recently bought a nook color and updated it to 1.1 and I have wifi issues at home and at work. It is one finicky device, and I think anyone buying it should be aware of it. Luckily I found an old router and now use it alongside my new router. With the old router, it is flawless. Pandora streams perfectly now and the internet is very responsive.

The main problem still is that I will end up in many places where the nook color will struggle to connect or stay connected to the internet. Personally I like the device so much I can live with it, but for many this won't be the case.

As an ereader, it has many good points. You can take notes, highlight text, email quotes. Taking notes alone is worth it for me. I just read a book, and can review all of my thoughts about it through looking at my notes.

I am waiting to receive my accessories in the mail. I used ebay to buy my cover and gelaskins to buy my skin for it. I think barnes and nobles way over charges for their accessories, but I have to wait and see if what i bought is comparable.

Good luck

[Noah98]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

My recommendation, and I have nothing against a nook color, is to examine the Sony PRS and the Pandigital Novel before you settle on a Nook Color since the two others that I mentioned are also touch screen. Makre sure that you are buying the best reader for you.

I wouldn't compare the Pandigital Novel to the Nook Color. The devices are like night and day. If you can get a Pandigital Novel for around $60 (what I paid for my latest one--I bought my original one for $130), then it might be worth looking into. Also, installing custom firmware or even the open platform makes it much more useful.

The main problem with the Pandigital Novel is that it is slow, the screen is not very responsive (although not the worst resistive screen I've used), and it is running on an older version of Android.

IMHO a hacked Nook Color is the best value right now. It's certainly not the best tablet on the market, but it does enough well at the price that I think it is the best option for the general user. With that in mind, I wouldn't spend a lot of money on a tablet right now. This year should offer an exponential jump in technology at (hopefully) more reasonable prices. For me to upgrade, I want a flash enabled Xoom tablet (or something comparable) at $500 or preferably less, off contract.

[apeine]

Noah, that's pretty much my thought about the Nook. It's the best price / quality blend you can have at this moment, with added hackability. Unless the new Ipad costs less than the Nook color, is the best option at the moment.

[GemenZ]

All,

I had finally decided to seek a professional help Ended up in this forum...

Anyway. I do not have NC, but have been following news about it for last couple weeks. I have change in my pocked anxiously waiting to be spent on NC. There are few reasons I have not bought it yet, however, I have more and more doubts if those reasons are void.

The NC salesgirl at BN told me that there will be an update at the end of March that should bring flash to NC. I came back home, but could not find any information that would confirm that. I can understand that - it may not be officially released yet.

Now I am reading all this information on how things work with the NC and I started thinking that it may not be worth waiting at all. So let me ask this question (which I cannot find an answer to anywhere) - is it worth waiting? Let's assume that the upgrade bringing flash to NC will be released by BN, but would it really change anything for you who already own the rooted NC?

I know it may sound stupid, but I cannot make up my mind just because I do not understand how the new possible upgrade w/ flash would affect current owners of the rooted NC...

[Lemurion]

Flash is nice - but it wouldn't be the determining feature.

Anyone who really wants flash can get it by running what's called "Nookie Froyo" which supports it natively.

The real question for rooted people is whether the update will unroot existing devices or not - and if so, whether it will be forced through automatically or not. People have guesses but no one knows for sure. What we are pretty sure of is that people will still be able to root after the update because the key factor enabling root is in hardware not software.

I wouldn't let that be a determining factor.