Classic Anyone get to try the Nook?

[Ocean]

Originally Posted by lolita42

it lags a little, but stil miles above the kindle

More info please.

[Ocean]

Originally Posted by jmaloney

The lag was definitely on the LCD screen. I'd touch an option, and a split second later, I'd see it highlighted on the LCD screen and get selected.

Did it work better with text as opposed to graphics?

[jmaloney]

Originally Posted by Ocean

Did it work better with text as opposed to graphics?

No, it was pretty much the same across the board. This should definitely be what B&N focuses on in their initial software updates, as aside from the responsiveness on the LCD screen, I think the interface was pretty great.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by jmaloney

Also, there was a feature described in the user manual for using a swiping gesture to turn pages that did not appear to be working on the unit I was using.

Swiping pages only works when the LCD is off, and it takes a bit getting used to, you have to swipe your finger pretty fast, otherwise the movement is not detected.

[jmaloney]

Yeah, I was doing it when the LCD was off, and tried different speeds. Guess I just didn't hit on the right speed. It's not something I anticipate using much anyway, but I was curious about it.

[kindlekitten]

haha! that could be a good thing that it takes a little determination! think about a cat sitting on your lap with a serious case of the tail whackas!!!

[SpiderMatt]

I posted this in another thread but this one is probably more appropriate. Here are my thoughts on the nook so far:

Originally Posted by SpiderMatt

I finally saw the nook at a B&N today. Apparently the stores in Arizona just got them today. I don't know if other places already had them but this was my first chance to play with one. I still prefer the Kindle for now. In addition to having a better ebook store, I prefer the physical key navigation and qwerty. The nook's lcd screen wasn't as responsive or intuitive as I had thought. I got the hang of it the more I played with it and, in their defense, I had and easier tine typing quickly and accurately on it than I did on an iPhone or my Droid's software keyboard. However, at one point I guess the screen couldn't handle the fast typing and it faded to white. I had to reboot the device to get the navigation screen back. I had my Kindle with me and people were asking me about it and coming up to look at it, even the B&N employees. I was explaining the advantages and disadvantages of each. I like that you can change the font on the nook (it comes with three but I don't know if you can add more later) and that it's based on Android, an open source OS. I also like the idea of lending, though the 14 day limit is pretty annoying, something one guy who had already ordered the nook didn't like very much. He was thinking about lending books to his family but didn't think his daughters would get a book read in 14 days. Especially if it were particularly long. He was very interested in the fact that Amazon allows six Kindles on one account access the same library. A B&N employee said that wasn't allowed with the nook. Isn't the ereader format locked with a credit card number, though? Could he just unlock the books on another device? At any rate, I strip the DRM off all my ebooks, so I could "loan" the book out if I wanted to. Most people only read a book once, anyway, something people can already do for free at the library. Or they could go into a bookstore and just read there, haha. Publishers are far too worried about the lending feature. They need to ease up on the restrictions. So the nook is neat but not something I'm really interested in buying for myself. I also like being able to browse news sites and Wikipedia on my Kindle. Sadly, that's another thing B&N doesn't want you doing.

Originally Posted by SpiderMatt

Also, I like the way the Kindle searches to the nook. The nook does linear searching through a book, one word at a time. I like that the Kindle pulls up all the results at once.

Originally Posted by SpiderMatt

I really expected the LCD screen to be more useful and less complex. They need to simplify it and find better uses for it. If I want to look up a word, why use the LCD screen to navigate the eink screen? There should be a way to look up a word right on the LCD display. It's faster and you don't need to leave the book. Also, I don't know if the display nook had a dictionary on it or not, but the one word I looked up (orthopedist) didn't come up with a definition.

...

I think the nook is going to frustrate more customers than the Kindle. As a techie, I'm usually willing to sacrifice some simplicity for extra desired features, but I don't see the extra features of the nook as all the useful yet.

[Propheous]

Originally Posted by SpiderMatt

I posted this in another thread but this one is probably more appropriate. Here are my thoughts on the nook so far:

On your thought on the Nook and multiple accounts.

I talked directly with B&N support and through a store, and they both confirmed to me that you could have multiple on an account and at current it wasn't limited.

Looking through the user guide the Nook itself is not linked to your account but the account is linked to the nook. You can register the device with the account read then un-register it and register it with another account and then un-register that account and reregister with the original account.

So I don't think accounts will be the problem. The one thing my wife and I are looking into is how the currently reading plays with two people using one account. Which is were it could get annoying as everything you do on the device propagates to the other devices including your current reading, notes, and highlights.

[jxh11215]

Originally Posted by lolita42

i have a kindle, l love it, but there is no organization to it, thats my number 1 complaint, other than that its been my buddy for a year now, but the nook has more eye candy, and if your a gadget person, u would enjoy it.....

You are aware that the nook has even less organization than the kindle?

[jmaloney]

Originally Posted by jmaloney

I tried one today as well, and I agree with you mostly. There was definite lag on the LCD screen that I was using, but page turns and such on the eInk were fine. I had no complaints whatsoever about reading on the device. Contrary to what you said, there were three fonts on the device I was using: Amasis, Helvetica Neue, and Light Classic. There were also five font sizes. I tried out several different text sizes, and was able to read without issue on all of them (including the extra small setting).

B&N will need to improve the responsiveness of the LCD screen, IMO. Also, there was a feature described in the user manual for using a swiping gesture to turn pages that did not appear to be working on the unit I was using. Also I wondered if there were some connectivity problems in the store (or simply restrictions on the demo models), but I had a really difficult time navigating the eBook store on the demo unit. I'm not sure what the issue was, but I imagine it wasn't representative of the normal experience.

I went back to B&N today to check the demos out again. After the update that B&N pushed out last night, the responsiveness of the demo units definitely seems to be improved. Good work with resolving that quickly, B&N!

I was able to get the swipe feature to work properly, though it definitely is a bit of a knack to work it. For normal paging while reading, this is not an issue for me (I'd be using the physical buttons anyway), but if they improve the responsiveness of this (while still preventing accidental swipes), this can be a good way to relatively quickly flip through a document.

[lolita42]

Originally Posted by jxh11215

You are aware that the nook has even less organization than the kindle?

uh , hardly so, the nook has different buttons to put things, the kindle is just in a row, no rhyme or reason, it is not my intent to argue with someone about either or, just a statement

[SpiderMatt]

Originally Posted by jmaloney

I went back to B&N today to check the demos out again. After the update that B&N pushed out last night, the responsiveness of the demo units definitely seems to be improved. Good work with resolving that quickly, B&N!

I was able to get the swipe feature to work properly, though it definitely is a bit of a knack to work it. For normal paging while reading, this is not an issue for me (I'd be using the physical buttons anyway), but if they improve the responsiveness of this (while still preventing accidental swipes), this can be a good way to relatively quickly flip through a document.

I went back and was even more frustrated by the slow responsiveness of the nook. The swiping to turn pages is completely useless. It takes more time to swipe a finger across the screen (and two hands, usually) than it does to tap the next page button. The only reason I can think of for why the feature was included is that some people will think it's fun. Not something I would use while reading, though.

I've been wondering about the slow screen refresh. Do any of you think it could be the ereader format? I know Amazon's TOPAZ format takes longer to refresh on the Kindle. Has anyone tried ePub on the nook? Or could it be the software? At least software or format issues are easily resolved. Hardware not so much. How does the nook's hardware measure up to the Kindle?

[jmaloney]

I don't think the swipe is at all useful for normal reading. But, as I said, if they can improve the responsiveness of the swipe gesture, it would be a great way to flip through a document (relatively) quickly.

[SpiderMatt]

Originally Posted by jmaloney

I don't think the swipe is at all useful for normal reading. But, as I said, if they can improve the responsiveness of the swipe gesture, it would be a great way to flip through a document (relatively) quickly.

I don't see how it would be any better than tapping the next page button. You still have to wait for the eink screen to refresh and tapping a button is faster than swiping a finger.

[jasonkchapman]

Originally Posted by SpiderMatt

I don't see how it would be any better than tapping the next page button. You still have to wait for the eink screen to refresh and tapping a button is faster than swiping a finger.

And you can do it one-handed. On a crowded subway, one-handed operation is a must.