The Barnes & Noble NOOKcolor (Nook) e-reader is Barnes & Noble's next entry into the growing e-reader market. It follows their successful NOOK e-reader released in late 2009.
The Nook has a backlit, full color touchscreen display and runs the Android operating system.
This makes the Nook closer to an iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab than to Amazon's Kindle. This will please some users while alienating others.
The advantages of a backlit LCD display:
The screen displays bright, vibrant color, and you can use the device to browse the Web or listen to music in addition to reading books.
The touchscreen makes navigation easy, and there is none of the clunkiness of having to use a directional pad.
Barnes & Noble is also heavily pushing the Nook as a device for reading magazines and children's books. Both work well and show off the Nook's beautiful screen.
You can also read in the dark without the need for a light.
The disadvantages of a backlit LCD Display:
Many prefer reading on a Kindle to reading on their computers because of the former's high-resolution E-ink display. While E-ink can't display color, it displays text that is extremely crisp and clear.
Some people complain that backlit displays strain their eyes, and E-ink screens alleviate this pain.
E-ink screens are also easy to read outdoors and in bright light, while the Nook's can become washed out and difficult to see.
Battery life is also a problem. The Nook claims eight hours, which is about what I experienced. This is impressive for a tablet, but nowhere near the battery life of E-ink devices, which can go a month between charges.
Using the device:
One of the first things I noticed about the Nook was its weight. At just over a pound, it is about twice the weight of a Kindle, although not nearly as heavy as an iPad. The Nook has a 7-inch screen, and the whole device is only slightly larger than a Kindle.
The Nook runs the Android operating system, the same operating system that powers many of today's top smart phones.
However, Barnes & Noble has heavily customized the Android experience to tailor it toward reading e-books.
The front of the device has one button, a lowercase "n" that looks more like an upside down "u". The bottom edge has a standard micro-USB port. There is a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack on top and volume buttons on the right.
On my unit, the volume buttons regularly got stuck down, making it impossible to turn up the volume.
Speaking of sound, the Nook has one speaker on the back of the device, and it is terrible. Sound from the built-in speaker is muddy, quiet and indistinct.
Reading books on the device works well. Pages turn smoothly and quickly. There are also plenty of options for changing font and text size. Reading magazines and PDFs was an equally pleasant experience.
The Nook starts to have problems when you want to do something other than reading books. The interface can be slow and laggy, navigation isn't always intuitive and the software is littered with bugs.
Barnes & Noble has also chosen not to include the Android Marketplace.
This is a shame and severely cripples what could have been a fantastic, full-fledged Android tablet.
The Web browser also has problems. The Nook is running an old version of Android and has an old version of the Web browser. Some Web pages don't display correctly, and although the Nook's screen supports multi-touch, there is no pinch-to-zoom in the browser.
Wrap up:
The NOOKcolor is a very solid device. If you don't mind its LCD screen or shorter battery life, then you get a lot for your money: a moderately fast device with a great screen that does an excellent job of reading books, magazines and can also be used to browse the Web and listen to music.
Barnes & Noble has promised to release an upgrade to the Nook's operating system that should fix many bugs and improve performance. An app store is also on the way.
When these updates come, the Nook will be a full-fledged Android tablet at a great price of $250.
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