Ah yes, the Barnes and Noble Nook. I received mine on December 9, 2009. So I’ve been using my Nook for about 3 weeks now and I really have to say that I like it. It’s a great little device. It works well with the Barnes and Noble store and it offers support for many more file formats than Kindle. It contains the very same viziplex e-ink display as the Amazon Kindle, but also has a smaller, color LCD screen below the 6″ e-ink display.

The Nook has gotten tons of bad reviews and frankly, I’m not sure why.  It seems to be a great device, so far it’s worked well for me and it runs the Android operating system.  I’ve read 2 books so far on my Nook and have had zero problems downloading, formatting or reading either of the books I’ve purchased.  The wi-fi works fine and as soon as I entered my security key it connected without a problem.

The Nook doesn’t have a web browser available like the Kindle does, and the Kindle browser did come in handy one time when I needed to check my gmail account.  Though it worked, the experience was anything like browsing on a regular computer or even on a cell phone.  So, I can’t say that I miss having the browser available.  A software update that was pushed out for the Nook last week (version 1.1.1) did improve page turns by leaps and bounds and my Nook is running relatively fast and fuss free.  I own a Kindle 2 also and I have to say the experience I get from either device is fairly similar.  Though so far I find myself heading for the Nook when I want to read something.

The only real drawback I’ve found so far is that Barnes & Noble claims a 10-day battery life.  So far, this has been a tad disappointing as I’ve only managed to get maybe 48 hours.  And I don’t leave any of the network connections turned on when using my Nook.  The Kindle battery life seems to deliver much more as advertised as I’ve left the Kindle on standby for at least a week before with little to no battery drain.

I’ll keep you posted.

Ah yes, it is only October, but this Christmas it is going to be  the season of ebook readers present.  As someone who used to read ebooks and news on her palm pilot 15, possibly even close to 20 years ago.  I am absolutely tickled Pink that the ebook reader market is taking off.  Last spring when I ordered my Kindle, it wasn’t the only ebook reader on the market, but after my usual researching it seemed the best of the bunch.  Now, I’m watching the Barnes and Noble Nook.  Mine is already on pre-order.  It’s being released on November 30.  It runs the Android operating system, displays PDF’s, and has both 3g and wi-fi (again the 3g is AT&T)…for a network that constantly whines about not being able to handle all the iPhone traffic I’m not sure why they would pony up use of their network for this…but well I guess they’re better than nothing.

Some great things about the Nook.

• Pricing is the same as Amazon Kindle 2 at $259.  Again I’d like to see the majority of ebook readers selling for $199 as I think this is the price point where MOST consumers will take the plunge.
• Free wi-fi in all Barnes and Noble stores.
• When you are in the store, you can read any electronic book free.  Just like when you are in the store you can page through any of the real books on the shelves without buying.
• It has an SD card slot.
• Replaceable battery (This has always annoyed me about the Kindle 2).
• It runs the Android operating system (though kindle also runs on linux).
• You can lend your books to other people.  This was a HUGE rant for many people with the kindle.
• Access to Googles extensive library of free books.

Anyway, you can check out the device and pre-order here.  It’s supposed to ship by November 30.

Plastic Logic recently announced it’s QUE Ereader. Details so far are pretty sketchy, but you can get you very own in January of 2010 at the product launch during CES. This reader is being billed as the first ereader for the professional. It has a touchscreen, does PDF, word, powerpoint and excel documents.

The device sports and 8.5″ x 11″ screen and 3g wireless provided by AT&T (ewe). Not that I’m opinionated or anything. It
will also be driven by the Barnes and Noble online store. I couldn’t find any information on pricing. I’m guessing it will be more than your average consumer will care to spend.