Nook?

[David Houck]

I'm researching e-books.  Anyone here have a Nook?

[lbpesq]

Dave:
 
I never heard of the Nook, but my recently acquired Ipad makes an excellent reader, as well as a bunch of other uses. (I'm half-way through Tom Robbins' latest: B is for Beer, my very first ebook.)
 
Bill, tgo

[ajdover]

Bill,
 
    I'm a Mac convert since I had to replace my PC notebook (hard drive died) last October.  Is the iPad a PC replacement, or is it more of a niche product?  A good friend who writes programs for Macs and PCs (as well as apps) tells me it's not intended to replace a PC or Mac notebook/desktop.  What are your thoughts?  What have you used it for?  Your comments would be very helpful as I am considering picking one up.
 
Thanks,
 
Alan

[darkstar01]

Dave - never heard of the Nook, but i have friends and family that swear by the Kindle. My mom (who is a writer and seriously reads like 15 books a week) never puts hers down.
aj- the ipad is definitely not intended to replace a desktop/notebook of any kind. it's pretty much just a fun little gadget to play around with- although it is ridiculously powerful, i would think it would be real hard to actually get real work done on it. could be wrong, as i don't actually own one, but i've spent a good bit of time messing around with them.
my unrequested 2 cents.

[Bradley Young]

If you are mostly a consumer, rather than a creator, of content, then the ipad is a fine general purpose computing device.  My wife uses it as her primary computer.
 
For email/web, it's pretty hard to beat.

[lbpesq]

My first impression of the ipad when it came out was that it was merely a giant iphone without the phone... until I ran into a friend in court in Northern California who showed me his.  The calendar is tremendous.  For me, it's worth the price of admission alone just for the calendar.  Web surfing is great.  I'll be bringing it to the guitar show at the end of the month to access my online guitar Blue Book account.  The reader is very cool too.  I can take along several books when traveling without taking up space.  I'm really looking forward to loading up some movies the next time I fly.  The picture is outstanding.  The battery lasts something like 10 hours, so you can easily watch coast to coast.  And it will fit on the little airplane tray much more conveniently than my laptop.  My calendar and other info is backed up on an account I have with Apple and I'll be setting it up to automatically sync the calendar on my desktop and home computers.  If it's lost, I can go online and see it on a map, wherever it is.  I can send a message that will appear on the screen, like my phone number and a reward offer.  I can also lock it remotely, or even wipe it clean remotely, if necessary.  I guess you can say that I like this thing.  Of course it's not really meant to do a bunch of word processing, though the on screen keyboard works quite well.  The keyboard even has a single key that reads: .com!  Very thoughtful!
 
Bill, tgo

[David Houck]

I've done a ton of research on this, and I think I've talked myself out of getting a reader.
 
The Ipad is considerably more expensive than the Nook; and from what I've read, the Kindle and Nook are much easier to read for long periods of time than the Ipad.  The Ipad also runs much warmer, and doesn't do as well outside in sunlight.
 
Perhaps the main reason I was looking at getting a reader is that I seem to be downloading a lot of pdf files that would be nice to have in a reader to take out on the porch, or to town when I go eat, or take to bed for late night fall asleep reading, etc., and that would be easier on the eyes than a regular computer screen.  However, readers do not handle pdf's very well.  So I've played around with a converter that will convert pdf's to epub; but it still does a less that adequate job.  Here, the Ipod, from the accounts I've read, does a much better job, as it displays pdf's properly.
 
As far as the Nook and the Kindle, I found the Nook to be the better choice for me, if I were to get a reader.  (The Nook is Barnes and Nobles' reader.)  The Nook has wifi access, so if you're in a restaurant with wifi, you can access and browse the web.  The Nook has a replaceable battery; and it supports Epub.  And it's only $149.  And to do conversions for the Kindle, apparently you have to email your pdf to Amazon and then download the converted file, rather than just do the conversion yourself on your computer.
 
But I think I'm just going to pass for now.  Since none of the ebook readers can handle pdf's adequately, and since pdf's apparently do not convert well, I just don't think a reader is going to work well for me.

[senmen]

Guys,
I must step in into the discussion if you allow.
As a true Mac fan (as also beeing an Alembic fan) I currently do own a Macbook Pro, an old iBook, an old Newton, an iPad, an iPhone 3g and an iPhone 4.
As for the iPad it is not a computer, it is something between a full Mac and an iPhone. But it is way ahead of any ebook readers.
Try one and you will be surprised and satisfied with it.
Dave,
to my opinion is it just the iPad that makes reading more than easy and much better than any other ebook reader due to the fantastic display. It is fun reading books, mags or newspapers on the iPad and I believe that this will be a huge market in the future. And as for warming: the iPad doesn?t get warm at all!
Nothing! It stays absolutely cool after hours in use!
If you have any questions, plse let me know
Oliver (Spyderman)

[David Houck]

Thanks Oliver; I still can't get past the price on the Ipad though, not for what I'm wanting to do.  The $149 for the Nook would be a significant outlay for me for the intended purpose.  The Ipad appears to be at least $600; so it's pretty significantly outside of what I'm willing to spend for making the reading of pdf files a little more convenient.

[senmen]

Dave,
of course it is expensive, I really understand. But you really cannot see it only as a reader as you have so many options with the iPad.  
Surfing alone is real fun as the web pages are displayed as full and you can sit down everywhere with the pad on your knees and just surf.
Oliver (Spyderman)

[edwin]

I'm tempted by the iPad to use it as a DAW control surface. There seem to be lots of uses.
 
Edwin

[sonicus]

Edwin , Yes  , good call, ____such as a touch screen for the mix ,edit and transport windows & plug ins in Pro Tools . That would be great if the DAW supports it.    I am still  using  an  old HUI   controller.

[lbpesq]

Ipads are not the best choice for reading in the sun.  I was using mine in bright sunlight on a moderately warm, (high 70's/low 80's), day.  The finger oils on the scene become visible and after 20-30 minutes, my iPad said it was too hot and needed to shut down.   Oliver is correct, though, that it doesn't get warm to the touch as you use it (like my laptop does).  I agree with Dave that it's a bit pricey for a reader, but I suspect Dave or anyone using it as a reader would soon find many other uses too.
 
Bill, tgo

[edwin]

Wolf, there are apps that do control DAWs. I use one on my iPhone called AC-Control and there is a version for the iPad that is supposed to be great. Given the cost of the HUI and other similar devices, the iPad is cheap!

[sonicus]

Edwin I agree 100 percent,   there is no dispute on my side ; my thoughts are that Digidesign  sometimes takes a while to accommodate certain such issues  for my uses.  I will most likely end up with an Ipad but first a new Macbook Pro for remote work with the 7200 rpm  hard drive upgrade  to reduce the seek time.