Barnes & Noble's Color Nook (vs iPad)

[bigdaddymac]

This is the new Nook from B&N, introduced today for $249. It's a 7 inch Android, backlit, color screen, tablet.

I'm not sure who would buy this, when you can get an iPad or another tablet, that can do everything this does and more. With the e-ink on their previous Nook, they at least had something (a strong reading experience for books and other long form works of prose) that distinguished them from the iPad and other backlit tablets. They've lost that here, and are now just another tablet - and a somewhat mediocre one at that. And if you were buying a color Tablet, would you really choose B&N over, say, Apple or HP?

And for ebook reading purposes, why wouldn't someone just buy an iPad and use the Kindle App or purchase via the iBookstore?

Given that it is clearly a Tablet, and not just an e-reader, it seems it should be reviewed/considered alongside the iPad. What do you guys think?

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nookcolor/index.asp?cds2Pid=35607

 

[MacDawg]

I can do so much more with my iPad than just read a book

It has no appeal to me whatsoever

 

[sracer]

The color nook is lighter than the iPad as well as having a built-in SD card reader. The list price is $250. I expect that to drop below $200 pretty soon. It's not for everybody, but it appears to be a quality device that is worthy of attention.

Half the price of the lowest priced iPad is a reasonable price for it.

 

[Tankfantry]

From the first couple of reports I have read the Nook Color is a great Tablet/E-Reader Hybrid but it's just that a hybrid. They are in two completely different classes so comparing them would be hard. My wife is looking at maybe upgrading her current Nook for the Nook Color but I still plan on getting the iPad 2.

 

[1appleAday]

I think the color nook is competing with kindle rather than iPad. Except for those who uses an iPad strictly a ebook reader, I doubt any iPad user will switch over.

 

[gibbz]

Have you seen demo video here

Seems kind of slow and touch response is laggy.

 

[bigdaddymac]

Have you seen demo video here

Seems kind of slow and touch response is laggy.

Wow, you're right. This video seems to indicate it is slow/laggy. And the woman working the Nook isn't exactly selling it well....But, I also see from this review that the new Nook doesn’t even support the Android App Store. Huh? Can't see why you would buy this device. If you want a tablet to read on, and don't want to spend as much as the iPad costs, there are other tablets out there that you can read books/magazines on, that are faster, and are capable of WAY more than the Nook (Bluetooth, Tethering, App Stores, etc.) that are in this same price zone (The Archos Internet Tablet is the nearly the same price, for ex.).

If you're reading books on a backlit screen tablet, why would you buy this closed device from B&N, instead of an open device from a better electronics manufacturer?

This seems like the beginning of the end for the Nook.

 

[sracer]

Wow, you're right. This video seems to indicate it is slow/laggy. And the woman working the Nook isn't exactly selling it well....But, I also see from this review that the new Nook doesn’t even support the Android App Store. Huh? Can't see why you would buy this device. If you want a tablet to read on, and don't want to spend as much as the iPad costs, there are other tablets out there that you can read books/magazines on, that are faster, and are capable of WAY more than the Nook (Bluetooth, Tethering, App Stores, etc.) that are in this same price zone (The Archos Internet Tablet is the nearly the same price, for ex.).

If you're reading books on a backlit screen tablet, why would you buy this closed device from B&N, instead of an open device from a better electronics manufacturer?

This seems like the beginning of the end for the Nook.

Beginning of the end!? Melodramatic much?

The color nook is not officially available yet. There will be more tweaks and updates to it in the coming days/weeks/months. Let's wait until this thing ships before doomsaying.

 

[spammerhamster]

Looks like your average cheapass android-tablet in new clothes to me...

People are better off buying one of these thingies than the nook color..

 

[Ciclismo]

I dunno - looks rather laggy and if I am not mistaken it comes in a WiFi only flavour. Also, I can't find mention of an app store, which severely limits the ability to custom the usability of a device (as well as extend its useful life).

 

[87vert]

I dunno - looks rather laggy and if I am not mistaken it comes in a WiFi only flavour. Also, I can't find mention of an app store, which severely limits the ability to custom the usability of a device (as well as extend its useful life).

No App store but they are trying to get developers for their own Nook only app store.

The old nook also runs android 1.6 I believe. It can be rooted and you can load a "marketplace" on it. I like mine with the e-ink screen for reading. A backlit screen is too hard for me to read on, even my iPad I don't like using. which is why I have both

 

[Zcott]

Would consider buying one if I wasn't such an Apple fanboy who already has an iPad.

 

[NebulaClash]

It's the worst kind of in-between tech:

It lost the advantage of the Kindle by going with a color LCD screen. No E-ink for this Nook! But that's what the Kindle (and older Nook) users raved about. Now it's gone. If you are going to have this kind of screen, why not just get the iPad?

It lost the advantage of the iPad by not supporting the Android store. Oh sure, they will create their own store, but as we saw with iTunes competitors, it's one thing to announce a new store and quite another thing to get developers to support it in any number.

So you have a smaller iPad screen, without the apps, that won't work at the beach, but is cheaper than the iPad. Might attract those who don't want to spend much for an e-reader (but then why not just buy a Kindle), but they are going to find themselves in possession of an in-between device that does nothing well.

 

[barkomatic]

I think there is definitely a market for this. First of all, it has a 7 inch color screen and weighs 15.8 ounces--which will make it much easier to hold in your hand for a long time. I go to the gym, lift weights, and have decent bicepts but holding the iPad with one hand while holding onto the pole with the other tires my iPad arm out when I'm on the subway.

Granted, it doesn't do everything the iPad can do but lets not forget its *half* the price of the cheapest iPad. I'd get this over the Galaxy Tab. I enjoy my iPad and plan on keeping it but this is a good choice for those whose primary use for the device is reading and web surfing.

Additionally, if you go to a Barnes and Noble bookstore they let you read any ebook you want for an hour.

 

[zhenya]

Don't count this device out yet. It's not intended to be a direct iPad competitor - it is filling another niche that Apple is not playing in. At 1/2 the price (and likely to fall, this is considerably closer to the impulse buy level than an iPad ever will be). Don't forget that these are being pushed by the biggest book retailer in the industry - the existing Nook has a not insignificant part of the ebook market, and that device is terrible.

Further, there is nothing else in this niche right now - show me another 7" IPS color screen tablet with 8 hour battery life that weighs under a pound? B&N was rightly limiting access to these devices because the software isn't finished! No, I don't expect this device to be perfect or anything - but if it is anywhere near as good as these first looks, they will sell a lot of them!

They aren't giving access to the Android store because regular Android apps are not adapted to the tablet market. This is a custom version of Android. If making an Android tablet was as simple as 'making a giant Droid,' the market would be flooded with Android tablets already. It's not, because it isn't!

 

[prot0type]

Just in time for the holidays, not bad for the price.

As already stated, it's not meant to be an all in one ipad competitor, but another option for those shopping for a color e reader, being able to "surf the web" is a nice bonus too.

Pending user reviews, I may pick one up for my gf.

 

[muenginerd]

The Nook Color is an attempt to fill a gap in Barnes & Noble’s offering. Two big areas they wanted to introduce are magazines and Nook Kids. I haven’t heard much about the magazine offering so no idea on how it’s going to be handled. Are they going to give them free to subscribers or are you going to have to pay per issue similar to most Ipad magazines? Nook Kids sounds great too by introducing kid friendly books that are interactive (Nook Kids books should be available through Ipad’s app too). Remember, they are still keeping the standard Nook in 3G and wifi, so they will still have an e-ink reader to compete with the Kindle.

Now having both the Nook and Ipad I don’t see a huge advantage in this product. I love my Nook solely for reading and the ability to checkout library books, the e-ink is great and it fits in my purse. My Ipad is used mostly at home for internet browsing and watching Movies. If I did it all over again would this be a smaller color tablet to fit all my needs? No, while it is smaller, the storage capacity is smaller, I can’t watch videos or browse the internet easily (based on nooks current browser), and the LCD would not get the 5-7days of battery life I can get today.

 

[zhenya]

To answer some of your questions muenginerd - it appears that B&N has made arrangements with a significant number of newspaper and magazine publishers ("over 100") to offer both single issues and subscriptions. If they do this well, that could be the ace-in-the-hole for this device. Apple needs to get on this NOW, as the fragmenting and rip-off pricing for magazine content that is currently happening on the iPad is turning consumers off from this model of consumption.

Also, the color nook has a microSD card slot - which will allow for additional storage space, and it is said to 'play most video formats, other than flash.'

(Source: http://gizmodo.com/5673924/nook-col...-apps-mags-and-books-for-250?skyline=true&s=i)

 

[NebulaClash]

I always thought the market for e-readers was divided between two camps:

1. Those who want a cheap eInk device for mostly just reading.

2. Those who want a color screen for reading and everything else.

Camp one buys a Nook or a Kindle. Camp two buys an iPad.

Now I'm learning there is a third camp from the comments in this thread: Those who want a color screen for mostly just reading and is half the price of the iPad.

So all those Nook supporters who swore up and down that they could never get an iPad because the of the color LCD screen were actually not worried about the screen after all? It's just a price issue?

 

[zhenya]

So all those Nook supporters who swore up and down that they could never get an iPad because the of the color LCD screen were actually not worried about the screen after all? It's just a price issue?

You are looking at this as though the ebook/tablet market is mature, where most people already own a device and have decided what they want, when in fact most people don't yet own a device of any type. This is another option, which will only serve to expand the market as a whole. It's not yet one or the other.

 

[muenginerd]

So all those Nook supporters who swore up and down that they could never get an iPad because the of the color LCD screen were actually not worried about the screen after all? It's just a price issue?

They aren't doing away with e-ink. Just adding another model. Reading off of an LCD screen is still an issue for some people. This is a decent price for an ereader, time will tell if people will buy into it or not.

 

[NebulaClash]

Understood, it's just another option. I guess I don't understand products that don't stand for something. This is a product that tries to be two things at once and fails at both as a result: it wants the iPad screen, but it's much smaller and won't be as easy on the eyes while retaining the battery issues that Kindles do not have. And it wants the Kindle's portability and e-reader reputation, but at a much higher price and without any of eInk's advantages.

It's an in-betweener. And to your points, yes, that makes this a new niche for some folks who, I guess, want to save $200 from an iPad and can live without apps.

 

[zhenya]

It's an in-betweener. And to your points, yes, that makes this a new niche for some folks who, I guess, want to save $200 from an iPad and can live without apps.

It's half the price of an iPad. Don't minimize the importance of this!

 

[cube]

This is just for people who want something cheaper or smaller that the iPad.
Without e-ink, it makes no sense for me.

 

[NebulaClash]

It's half the price of an iPad. Don't minimize the importance of this!

I don't, and actually said that earlier in the thread. That is a valid sales driver. And its only advantage that I can see.

I held some of these devices in the store to see what the smaller, lighter size would mean. Unfortunately they are still too big to stick in your pocket, so you stick them in the bag just as you do with an iPad.

I understand that the iPad is a bit heavy to hold up, so my solution to that is to hold it as I do a hardcover book: in my lap. Issue solved. It's only too heavy when I hold it in an artificial manner unlike the way I hold books.