Classic Anyone else nervous about giving the nook as a gift?

jcar302 · 12-16-2009, 06:28 PM

So i purchased a Nook for my significant other for christmas.
I've been drawn to it for a while, and really didn't like the form factor of the kindle much, so the nook seemed like a great alternative.
She's an avid reader, spends pretty much the entire summer reading books on the beach (teacher).

Time was running out so i over paid by a few bucks to get one on ebay, the money isn't really my concern.
I'm more concerned about my reputation of giving great gifts that are high quality and desireable.

Had i tried this thing out in my local BN, i can certainly say i'm skeptical.
Holy crap was their nook screwed up. Once you got the book up on the screen to read it ran fine, but the menu's were a laggy mess and the touch screen was just as bad, sometimes lighting up key hits well after i was done.
The asscociate suggested there had just been too many hands on it for the last week and everyone has messed it up.
Nevertheless, it left me lacking confidence in giving it as a gift.
The one i have is unopened, but god knows i want to open it, to make sure it runs right.

Neither her nor i have ever had an ereader, so beating the kindle at speed isn't that important, because there is no experience to compare it to. I need reliable in this case and i don't want this thing to be a technological nightmare that i spend more time hard resetting than she does using it.

I'd just like to know if you guys that have used this thing think that my gift giving reputation is at stake.

I'm sure this has been asked over and over (haven't seen a definitive answer yet) firmware before christmas?

user_none · 12-16-2009, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcar302

The asscociate suggested there had just been too many hands on it for the last week and everyone has messed it up.

I highly doubt people using it messed it up. If it's that fragile then that's an entirely different issue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcar302

I'd just like to know if you guys that have used this thing think that my gift giving reputation is at stake.

No. It's the thought that counts and it's a very thoughtful gift.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcar302

I'm sure this has been asked over and over (haven't seen a definitive answer yet) firmware before christmas?

B&N has not said anything about it one way or another as far as I'm aware.

The menus might lag a little bit but that's only a small part and probably won't be as much of an issue as you think. The majority of the time it will be in the book itself.

kennyc · 12-16-2009, 06:45 PM

I'd never give an unproven device as a gift. Just a bad idea. We don't even have feedback, reviews, etc at this point other than a few that seem to be significantly negative.

Madam Broshkina · 12-16-2009, 07:06 PM

When I first received the nook I was not that impressed but after using it more I am beginning to really like it. Once you get used to it the touch screen works quite well in my opinion. As for actual book reading experience I prefer the nook to my Kindle 2 even though it is a little slower.

bzImage · 12-16-2009, 07:55 PM

I was going to do the same thing, i own a Kindle 2 and bought a Nook for my wife, i did open it and tested the device.. and after some days i just put the nook on sale, why ?

Because i will be the tech support for my wife and she will be bothering me with "why it skips pages ?", "why the touch screen don't respond the way i want ?", "why it just crashed ?".. etc, etc, etc.

jcar302 · 12-16-2009, 08:09 PM

Kenny, you make a good point. I may not of thought it out well.

Madam, The book reading is probably the most important, she's not a gadget girl so if it downloads and displays the books as expected i might be ok.

Bzimage, i'm already pretty concerned about becoming tech support.

As i said i didn't open it, so value is still high, i'll mull it over for another day and i could still ebay it.

Madam Broshkina · 12-16-2009, 09:06 PM

Perhaps all nooks are not created equal. I have not had any of the problems the above posters have mentioned. But if you can recoup the money that you have spent by selling the device on eBay I say go for it.

lisreed · 12-16-2009, 09:11 PM

I don't know how much an opened one as opposed to an unopened nook goes for on ebay. Time is running out though if you do want to sell it on ebay before Christmas. I sold my opened nook on ebay and made $100 over the price of the device. I had too many issues with it and the battery draining much faster than my kindle was the last straw. I really like the kindle just fine. I was drawn to the color touch pad but in the end it wasn't worth the switch. I would suggest you open it and try it out for a day. See how you feel about it and then make a decision about whether or not you think your wife would like it. You can go to borders and try a sony reader to compare. And of course kindle would have to be bought online if you chose that route.

Anarel · 12-16-2009, 11:10 PM

Jcar,

I say try out the Kindle.

You have a thirty day refund period which you can use as a trial run; at the end of the thirty days, you can send it back to Amazon for a full refund (they'll even send you a shipping label).

In those thirty days you (or your significant other) can throughly test out the Kindle, download some free books and see how it reads, while waiting to see if any of the nook's issues are fixed.

If the nook's issues as you see them are improved in that time she can return the kindle and buy the nook.... and if she's perfectly satisfied with the Kindle, well, that's that!

stangri · 12-17-2009, 12:49 AM

I've owned sony's prs-500 and prs-505 e-ink readers since they came out in US and been using nook for about two weeks. As many actual nook owners will say, most of the negative reviews are either downright lies or greatly exaggerate things.

I definitely would not buy a dated device (Kindle or current line of PRS readers) when there's a new one on the market. The only thing which bugs me now is no jump to page function in the nook. See if it comes in the next firmware update and if it does -- go ahead with the nook. Otherwise I'd get the Sony PRS-900 when it comes out.

crutnacker · 12-17-2009, 07:06 AM

What concerns me is that B&N entered an already competitive market with a half finished product. I understand that many of the nook's problems will PROBABLY be fixed with a firmware update, but it seems as though these problems were ones that easily could have been determined in the testing phase, and if they weren't B&N should have been working overtime to have a firmware update out there by now.

The Kindle may be less advanced, but it has the support of a company that is economically strong, has more of an interest in supporting e-books (B&N has to worry about eating into the business of its physical stores) and has more knowledge about the business. I don't doubt Amazon is looking at the Nook and figuring out how to take its innovations and make them their own, plus some.

stangri · 12-17-2009, 07:40 AM

What exactly do you mean by "a half finished product"? It reads books just fine, the *only* downside is there's no "jump to page" functionality yet. I switched from Sony PRS-505 and I'm not looking back.

Also, since you mentioned it -- is Amazon finally profitable? Because you know, they haven't been for a very long time. They've been bleeding investor money like crazy.

kennyc · 12-17-2009, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stangri

What exactly do you mean by "a half finished product"? It reads books just fine, the *only* downside is there's no "jump to page" functionality yet. I switched from Sony PRS-505 and I'm not looking back.

Also, since you mentioned it -- is Amazon finally profitable? Because you know, they haven't been for a very long time. They've been bleeding investor money like crazy.

Well it certainly appears to have been rushed to market based on the lack of information to potential buyers and to the stores. Also the pushed-back deliveries, not meeting promises, and according to some reviews somewhat slow or awkward operation.

Musicman · 12-17-2009, 08:18 AM

I have absolutely no problem giving one as a gift and have in fact ordered one as a gift.

It is interesting to see negative comments from people that do not own the device or reviewers that don't know how to use it..

I have been using the device now for three days and love it. I have no problems reading books on it. Granted there are some software glitches on some books, but there are work arounds until they are corrected.

The nook is a great reading device and has the most consumer friendly form of DRM. Once Adobe upgrades their product next year more devices will be able to read the B&N social DRM (as long as the device manufactures decide to implement it).

jcar302 · 12-17-2009, 09:05 AM

I spent the night reading and thinking it over, and i'm just gonna keep the nook and give it as a gift as planned.

While it may not be totally polished as of yet, seems the hardware is pretty good.
Hackers seem to be having their way with it which normally means quick firmware updates. Would seem that they are going to totally exploit ATT's unlimited 3g on this device. Something i really don't plan to do but causes companies to stay on top of the software.
According to nookdevs a firmware update is coming likely this weekend, so hopefully there will be some fixes for complaints.

12-16-2009, 06:28 PM	#1
jcar302 Member Posts: 14 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: NJ Device: Nook	Anyone else nervous about giving the nook as a gift? So i purchased a Nook for my significant other for christmas. I've been drawn to it for a while, and really didn't like the form factor of the kindle much, so the nook seemed like a great alternative. She's an avid reader, spends pretty much the entire summer reading books on the beach (teacher). Time was running out so i over paid by a few bucks to get one on ebay, the money isn't really my concern. I'm more concerned about my reputation of giving great gifts that are high quality and desireable. Had i tried this thing out in my local BN, i can certainly say i'm skeptical. Holy crap was their nook screwed up. Once you got the book up on the screen to read it ran fine, but the menu's were a laggy mess and the touch screen was just as bad, sometimes lighting up key hits well after i was done. The asscociate suggested there had just been too many hands on it for the last week and everyone has messed it up. Nevertheless, it left me lacking confidence in giving it as a gift. The one i have is unopened, but god knows i want to open it, to make sure it runs right. Neither her nor i have ever had an ereader, so beating the kindle at speed isn't that important, because there is no experience to compare it to. I need reliable in this case and i don't want this thing to be a technological nightmare that i spend more time hard resetting than she does using it. I'd just like to know if you guys that have used this thing think that my gift giving reputation is at stake. I'm sure this has been asked over and over (haven't seen a definitive answer yet) firmware before christmas?

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Giving K3 as a gift	yankgirl	Amazon Kindle	2	09-21-2010 11:10 PM
Classic Best Buy giving out $25 Gift Card with Nook Purchase	boswd	Barnes & Noble NOOK	11	09-11-2010 10:07 PM
Giving the gift of ebooks	JanuaryF	Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links)	13	02-11-2010 05:44 AM
Classic Gift Cards Go for nook Books	jasonkchapman	Barnes & Noble NOOK	5	11-17-2009 06:15 PM
xmas gift giving	UncleDuke	Lounge	3	11-18-2007 11:59 AM

12-16-2009, 06:45 PM	#3
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,872 Karma: 118716293 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	I'd never give an unproven device as a gift. Just a bad idea. We don't even have feedback, reviews, etc at this point other than a few that seem to be significantly negative.

12-16-2009, 07:06 PM	#4
Madam Broshkina Manic Do Fuse Posts: 2,312 Karma: 3325462 Join Date: Oct 2006 Device: Sony 500, 505, 350, Kindle 3, DXG, nook, Irex DR800SG, iPad	When I first received the nook I was not that impressed but after using it more I am beginning to really like it. Once you get used to it the touch screen works quite well in my opinion. As for actual book reading experience I prefer the nook to my Kindle 2 even though it is a little slower.

12-16-2009, 07:55 PM	#5
bzImage Enthusiast Posts: 45 Karma: 106 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: Kindle 2	I was going to do the same thing, i own a Kindle 2 and bought a Nook for my wife, i did open it and tested the device.. and after some days i just put the nook on sale, why ? Because i will be the tech support for my wife and she will be bothering me with "why it skips pages ?", "why the touch screen don't respond the way i want ?", "why it just crashed ?".. etc, etc, etc.

12-16-2009, 08:09 PM	#6
jcar302 Member Posts: 14 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: NJ Device: Nook	Kenny, you make a good point. I may not of thought it out well. Madam, The book reading is probably the most important, she's not a gadget girl so if it downloads and displays the books as expected i might be ok. Bzimage, i'm already pretty concerned about becoming tech support. As i said i didn't open it, so value is still high, i'll mull it over for another day and i could still ebay it.

12-16-2009, 09:06 PM	#7
Madam Broshkina Manic Do Fuse Posts: 2,312 Karma: 3325462 Join Date: Oct 2006 Device: Sony 500, 505, 350, Kindle 3, DXG, nook, Irex DR800SG, iPad	Perhaps all nooks are not created equal. I have not had any of the problems the above posters have mentioned. But if you can recoup the money that you have spent by selling the device on eBay I say go for it.

12-16-2009, 09:11 PM	#8
lisreed Addict Posts: 281 Karma: 1301 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Upstate NY Device: Nook GlowLight 3	I don't know how much an opened one as opposed to an unopened nook goes for on ebay. Time is running out though if you do want to sell it on ebay before Christmas. I sold my opened nook on ebay and made $100 over the price of the device. I had too many issues with it and the battery draining much faster than my kindle was the last straw. I really like the kindle just fine. I was drawn to the color touch pad but in the end it wasn't worth the switch. I would suggest you open it and try it out for a day. See how you feel about it and then make a decision about whether or not you think your wife would like it. You can go to borders and try a sony reader to compare. And of course kindle would have to be bought online if you chose that route.

12-16-2009, 11:10 PM	#9
Anarel Evangelist Posts: 424 Karma: 61399 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: K1, GKDX, K3	Jcar, I say try out the Kindle. You have a thirty day refund period which you can use as a trial run; at the end of the thirty days, you can send it back to Amazon for a full refund (they'll even send you a shipping label). In those thirty days you (or your significant other) can throughly test out the Kindle, download some free books and see how it reads, while waiting to see if any of the nook's issues are fixed. If the nook's issues as you see them are improved in that time she can return the kindle and buy the nook.... and if she's perfectly satisfied with the Kindle, well, that's that!

12-17-2009, 12:49 AM	#10
stangri Addict Posts: 352 Karma: 55400 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: YVR/BWS/PUJ Device: nook	I've owned sony's prs-500 and prs-505 e-ink readers since they came out in US and been using nook for about two weeks. As many actual nook owners will say, most of the negative reviews are either downright lies or greatly exaggerate things. I definitely would not buy a dated device (Kindle or current line of PRS readers) when there's a new one on the market. The only thing which bugs me now is no jump to page function in the nook. See if it comes in the next firmware update and if it does -- go ahead with the nook. Otherwise I'd get the Sony PRS-900 when it comes out.

12-17-2009, 07:06 AM	#11
crutnacker Connoisseur Posts: 54 Karma: 850 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: None	What concerns me is that B&N entered an already competitive market with a half finished product. I understand that many of the nook's problems will PROBABLY be fixed with a firmware update, but it seems as though these problems were ones that easily could have been determined in the testing phase, and if they weren't B&N should have been working overtime to have a firmware update out there by now. The Kindle may be less advanced, but it has the support of a company that is economically strong, has more of an interest in supporting e-books (B&N has to worry about eating into the business of its physical stores) and has more knowledge about the business. I don't doubt Amazon is looking at the Nook and figuring out how to take its innovations and make them their own, plus some.

12-17-2009, 07:40 AM	#12
stangri Addict Posts: 352 Karma: 55400 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: YVR/BWS/PUJ Device: nook	What exactly do you mean by "a half finished product"? It reads books just fine, the only downside is there's no "jump to page" functionality yet. I switched from Sony PRS-505 and I'm not looking back. Also, since you mentioned it -- is Amazon finally profitable? Because you know, they haven't been for a very long time. They've been bleeding investor money like crazy.

12-17-2009, 08:18 AM	#14
Musicman Evangelist Posts: 440 Karma: 364 Join Date: May 2009 Location: New York Device: EZ-Reader - Samsung Nook's- Nook S/T w/Glow - Kindle Fire - Nova 2	I have absolutely no problem giving one as a gift and have in fact ordered one as a gift. It is interesting to see negative comments from people that do not own the device or reviewers that don't know how to use it.. I have been using the device now for three days and love it. I have no problems reading books on it. Granted there are some software glitches on some books, but there are work arounds until they are corrected. The nook is a great reading device and has the most consumer friendly form of DRM. Once Adobe upgrades their product next year more devices will be able to read the B&N social DRM (as long as the device manufactures decide to implement it).

12-17-2009, 09:05 AM	#15
jcar302 Member Posts: 14 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: NJ Device: Nook	I spent the night reading and thinking it over, and i'm just gonna keep the nook and give it as a gift as planned. While it may not be totally polished as of yet, seems the hardware is pretty good. Hackers seem to be having their way with it which normally means quick firmware updates. Would seem that they are going to totally exploit ATT's unlimited 3g on this device. Something i really don't plan to do but causes companies to stay on top of the software. According to nookdevs a firmware update is coming likely this weekend, so hopefully there will be some fixes for complaints.