Lovely Little Shelf

Jason is a near and dear friend.  He was the best man in our wedding.  We love him.  He is also a constant source of techy-jealousy in our house.  When he got an iPhone before Shaun, Shaun was inconsolable for days.  Seriously. This time, a little ol’ e-reader that is the device prompting envy.  I moped about it for a little while then decided to use his techi-ness (is that even a word?) to my advantage and asked him to write a review of the Nook for my blog.

Without further ado:

I started reading eBooks recently out of sheer desperation in an attempt to stave off terminal boredom while sitting in class or at work. I started out using my iPhone using both the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes and Noble eReader programs. Using my iPhone was less that ideal, but the idea of not carrying around several books appealed to me immensely; I am a consummate reader, and being able to pull my iPhone out of my pocket and read any time that I wanted to was the strongest appeal.

My job requires me to be away from home for 24-48 hours at a time, and there’s nothing worse than finishing my book and not having a new one on hand to start. Obviously, the iPhone was fine as a temporary solution, allowing me to make sure that I could really get into an eBook before plunking the cash down for an eReader, but its small screen was far from ideal. I am proud to announce that this week I finally purchased the Nook, by Barnes and Noble.

I also looked at the Amazon Kindle and the Sony eReader, but I like the Nook better for several reasons: the Nook has more titles (over a million, according to B&N), the sleek touch screen looks better to me that the somewhat clunky keyboard that adorns the Kindle, and the ability to go into any Barnes and Noble store for support.

The Nook also allows .pdf documents to be loaded, as well as pictures and music, allowing you to personalize your wallpaper and screen savers. There is a feature allowing you to lend a book you purchased to a friend, and your friend doesn’t have to have a nook- they can just use the eReader program on the computer or iPhone/iTouh to read it.

Alright, so now that I’ve covered some background information, what do I really think of it? To be honest, I really like it. I am probably just as attached to the feel and smells of a real book as anybody out there.  Lying in bed and flipping through the pages, and seeing the left hand of the book getting fatter while the right half gets thinner is something that can’t be totally replicated by an electronic device. However, as anyone who has ever borrowed a book from me can attest, my books tend to be a mess; I like to eat and read at the dining room table, and trying to eat and hold a book and turn pages is the perfect recipe for disaster, and I don’t have a book that is free of smudges and stains. The Nook can be held in one hand, and I can even turn the pages with one hand.

My other concern was how well my eyes would adjust to reading off of an electronic screen. I have some farsightedness and use reading glasses, but the eInk technology replicates the look of a page fairly well. The nook isn’t backlit, which helps revent getting a headache. I also haven’t had any eyestrain, even after reading for a few hours at a time. The page turns are animated, and there is a display in the corner showing the current page and the total pages in the book, somewhat allowing the satisfaction of seeing yourself pass the halfway point. I also haven’t had any problem with glare on the screen from other light sources.

Of course, like anything, it’s got some faults as well. After using the iPhone, I don’t feel that the LCD touch screen or the reader screen are as responsive. When a page is turned, the screen actually blacks out as the reader redraws the page. This results in a small time lag, however it was something that I was able to adjust to fairly quickly.  I do also see a little bit of time lag when I am using the touch screen to type, such as when entering a Wi-Fi password or a book title to search for. This is something that I still haven’t totally gotten used to, but it’s not a huge deal to me, because this is something that I’ve only done a few times.

All in all, I am very happy with my Nook purchase. If you travel, or you are in a position where you find yourself away from home a lot, I highly recommend the Nook. It’s very compact, it’s easy to read, and there’s no concern about ever not having a book- just download a new one. Best of all, you can go to any Barnes and Noble and play with one before spending the money!