nook

I've gotten a lot of requests from people wanting to know what I think of my nook. I've read all the same reviews that you guys have and most of them are not very favorable. I think I might be coming at it from a slightly different perspective though.

I am what the ladies call an "early adopter". That is to say I buy new gadgets as soon as I possibly can. I think if you are a fan of new tech, you tend to overlook a lot of the stuff that comes along with buying a brand new gadget. Often times they simply don't work as well as they should or could. In the case of nook, the thing is just plain slow. I spent all weekend with it and I love it but my biggest complaint is the speed. From navigating the touchscreen, to the refresh when turning pages and most noticeably the disconnect between selecting something on the touchscreen and seeing it take effect on the big screen. Rumors abound that B&N already has a fix in the works and that we could see an update as early as January. I can't say for sure if that's the case but making the UI snappier certainly seems like the sort of thing that could be fixed with a software update.

Other than the speed, I really like my nook. It feels comfy in your hand, the touch screen looks great and the whole device in general is just very appealing. I love the store UI and the access to Google books. It's a solid PDF reader and the book lending functionality is an awesome idea. Overall I am really happy with my purchase. I wouldn't buy one for my Mom just yet and honestly my recommendation to anyone would probably be to wait and see what that first update solves. Since the device is sold out until February waiting shouldn't be too hard.

My impression of nook is that right now its got a lot of potential. It just needs some love on the software side.

-Gabe out