Will the Nook Color convince you to go digital?

Nook Color eBook Reader/ Tablet Review

What’s it like for reading with?

There are many things we need to cover in this review to help you decide whether the Nook Color is the ereader for you, but I think the most important question we need to answer here is what is it like to read with? After all, while it might have tablet features this is an ereader and if you’re not interested in reading you’d be better off with an iPad!

First up, there’s no e-ink technology here as there is with the Kindle, because it has a color screen instead. This brings with it some pros and cons. On the upside, you can read on the Nook Color even in the dark thanks to the backlit screen. On the downside it doesn’t fare as well as e-ink in bright conditions, but if you’re currently trying to read books on a smart phone then this will definitely be an improvement for you.

Of course the other plus side of a color screen is that as well as plain old fiction you’ll be able to enjoy graphic novels and magazines in full glorious color.

If you currently subscribe to a magazine or newspaper in paper form you will be happy to read that you can now go digital with those subscriptions on the Nook Color, and the prices are competitive too (though personally I think a digital copy should cost a fraction of the paper version as there’s no printing or shipping involved!)

When turning pages on the device they simply filter in and out which is a pleasing experience. And of course one of the huge benefits of the ereader is the ability to change font size to suit your eyesight. The Nook Color doesn’t disappoint here with six different font sizes, six fonts, three paragraph formats, three page formats and six background colors to choose from!

If you want to use the Nook to read your own electronic documents then you have plenty of options as the Nook supports a variety of formats including those generated by Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

So all in all as an ereader goes, it’s a pretty decent device for reading your books on!

If your mind is made up then here is a link to Amazon.com so you can order your Nook Color. Surprised that I’m not pointing you to Barnes & Noble? Unsurprisingly Amazon is cheaper

Want to learn more before you order? Keep reading…

The Nook Color is more than just an ereader

These days it seems we want our gadgets to do more than one thing. It used to be a mobile phone was just for calls, not I can email, surf, listen to music, watch movies, take photos and a whole host of other exciting things all with one tiny device. We it looks like ereaders are heading the same way. Not so much just for reading, but a device to keep you entertained generally. The Nook Color is no exception.

The device runs on the Android operating system which opens the door for all kinds of applications to be installed.

Once you unlock the screen you’ll find yourself in your library on the home screen. There’s a bookshelf at the bottom and at the top is the Keep Reading section letting you pick up where you left off on your book, magazine or newspaper.

There’s also a notification bar where you can check your battery power and amend your wifi, sound, orientation and brightness settings.

Books that you buy from the Barnes & Noble store are stored on bookshelves in your library.

If you add music, videos or books from other sources then they won’t appear in your library but in a set of folders for easy access.

Built in music player

If you like to listen to music while you read then you will appreciate the built in musicplayer, just upload your MP3s and plug in a pair of headphones. The sound quality isn’t brilliant, but this is an ereader rather than an MP3 player.

If you have movies in MP4 format you can watch them on the Nook Color – which is great for long journeys when you might want to mix reading with video watching to pass the time.

There’s also a web browser so you can stay connected with the internet.

What’s the build quality like?

B&N encourage you to share your Nook Color with your kids to take advantage of the Nook Kids (TM) interactive books. The good news is that this device feels pretty durable so while you might not want to leave little ones unattended it feels rugged enough for kids to use.

The back of the device is rubberized for a non-slip finish and it’s also comfortable to hold.

There’s plenty of storage space with the built in 8GB storage, and you can use microSD cards to expand the memory up to 32GB – that’s a lot of books!

Nook Color – Key specifications

Pros of the Nook Color

7 Inch Color Touchscreen: The 7 inch screen on the Nook Color is larger than you’ll find on many other eBook readers. The bigger screen makes it easier to get lost in a book – which is exactly what you want from an eBook reading device.

Aside from the size, the touchscreen performs very well. It’s very responsive thanks to the technology employed (the same technology used by the Sony Reader and Kobo Touch Edition), and getting to where you want to go is fast and intuitive. A touchscreen is useful on an eBook reader – it makes it easy to highlight memorable passages, select a word to look up in the dictionary, or press menu items without having to slowly scroll through the page.

The fact that it’s an LCD backlit screen means you can read it in the dark, and view images in all their glory. Many users are much happier with the full color screen than they were with the split panel of the original Nook reader, though of course it doesn’t look great in the sunlight like e-Ink will.

Interface: Barnes & Noble have done well with the interface on all their Nook devices, and the Nook Color is no different. Although it doesn’t use physical buttons, it does have just one: a home button. This makes it easy to get to the home menu when you need to. Once you’re there, you’ll find it easy to use without the need for a big instruction manual.

Internet & Web Browser: The Nook Color comes with Wi-Fi as standard, meaning you can connect to the internet whenever you’re around a Wi-Fi hotspot. This is great for buying books from the Barnes & Noble Store right from the device, but it’s even more useful for those who want the ability to connect to the internet from a portable device. Because of the LCD screen, the web browser is better than what you’ll find on the e-Ink Kindle, but the Kindle Fire does offer an excellent browsing experience.

Android Tablet Features: Android is the operating system you’ll find on the Nook Color: a favorite in the tablet computer world. What this means is that you get access to a very wide range of functions, from the ability to browse the web, to playing your multimedia files, checking emails, streaming music and reading documents/ PDFs.

Although you cannot access the full Android Market app store, Barnes & Noble have included their own store with a range of apps available to download. Although you don’t get thousands of apps, there are still plenty of features here that make the Nook Color an excellent value tablet computer.

Memory: 8GB memory isn’t massive for a tablet computer, though it is bigger than what you’ll find on most rivals to this device. It means you can store a large number of books, though it’ll fill up a little more quickly if you use it for movies and lots of music files. The good news is that, unlike many of the top tablets such as the iPad 2, the Nook Color does feature a memory card slot, allowing you to expand the storage capacity if you need to in future.

Cons Of The Nook Color

Price: Because the Nook Color is a cross between a tablet and an eBook reader, it makes sense that it should cost more than the e-Ink Nook Touch and other eBook readers. Coming in at around $250, it’s certainly a bigger expense than the cheapest $79 Kindle, and also the $199 Kindle Fire. That said, it still offers far more functions than an e-Ink reader (mentioned in this review), and costs far less than a full-blown tablet computer.

Weight: The Nook Color weighs more than the Nook Touch and the Kindle, making it slightly less comfortable to hold. However, the size and weight will still suit most users, and it’s a lot lighter than tablets like the iPad 2.

Glare: The good news is that Barnes & Noble have added an extra layer to the screen on the Nook Color to help prevent the issue of glare in bright lights. The bad news is that no technology can ever completely get rid of glare on an LCD eBook reader. This means it’s not comfortable to read in sunlight, unlike the Nook Touch.

Battery: Another problem with the LCD screen on the Nook Color is the fact that the battery life is greatly reduced. Compared to the two months battery life of the Nook Touch and other readers, eight hours on the Nook Color really is nothing. You’ll have to be willing to charge your device often if you opt for a tablet-eReader. Eight hours is around average for any such device.

What do other readers think of the Nook Color?

There are more than 200 reviews on Amazon and more than half of them award the Nook Color 5 stars. One reader has used her Nook every day for a year: