Kindle vs Nook

[mlschop]

Originally Posted by GadgetGeek

1) Calibre is your friend.

Interesting...

Will this easily convert Kindle --> Nook and vice versa?

[GadgetGeek]

Originally Posted by GadgetGeek

1) Calibre is your friend.

Originally Posted by mlschop

Interesting...

Will this easily convert Kindle --> Nook and vice versa?

It won't crack the DRM on the nook epub, but other than than, yes. (I don't recall if there is DRM on MOBI or not).

I only know this because my Dad is a Kindle user, but a book he wanted was only available (at the time) from BN as a drm locked epub. Thanks to google and Calibre, he can read the book he bought from BN.com on his Kindle.

[ADoubleDot]

Originally Posted by mlschop

I'm definitely interested in hearing of your rooting experience and in general.

Stock Experience: B+
As an app, it is a top notch eReader. It switches in and out of documents a billion times faster than my old nook (you'll remember was stolen, lousy no good nicks ) and the page turns happen so fast that my eyes can't detect it. However, LCD is a poor poor substitute for eInk and I wonder how my eyes will like prolonged reading on the device.

The browser is pretty serviceable. If you were looking to just do some regular web surfing and such from the couch, this would be a good cheap option. The keyboard however is putrid. So lots of emailing is out. Part of the hack I'll run through in a minute is enabling multitouch. But much worse than that, there is no dictionary to learn your words, and no guess thing to figure out where you are going. Just raw one at a time touch typing. There is an auto-replace option in the menu but I can't figure out what its auto replacing. Even gimmes like "im" don't become "I'm".

The main event:
The root process is far from obvious or easy and it requires hardware not in the box (sdcard). You have to run this exploit to let the adb see your nook by flashing an image file to the sdcard. Then you have to update the drivers manually and update the adb's ini configuration file. Took me about an hour, but I was multitasking the prep and consumption of dinner. I felt like a 1337 haxx0r while rooting my X, and like a bumbling oaf while doing the Nook. Maybe that's just me.

From there, its pretty automated. Just google and download z4root (you need 1.3) and sideload it using adb. Then its in your extras menu, it roots and reboots your device in less than a minute. Then you run this handy script and you it gives you multitouch, gmail, and the market. It tricks the market into thinking you have an Eris so you can get anything.

More after the break, I'm off to build a better keyboard and get LP on this bad boy. I'll upload some screenshots in a few.

[ADoubleDot]

I have a lot more to say but the bottom line is, its worth it to shell out the dough for something that works out of the bix. Unless you simply enjoy hacking. Its a lotof work and I still have simething less functiinal than GalaxyTab.

Sent from my LogicPD Zoom2 using Tapatalk

[mlschop]

Originally Posted by ADoubleDot

I have a lot more to say but the bottom line is, its worth it to shell out the dough for something that works out of the bix.

Even for a 50% discount? Interesting...

[ADrunkDriver]

Originally Posted by mlschop

Even for a 50% discount? Interesting...

It was quite a bit of hacking. At one point, I had my XP netbook on the table in front of my Linux box and I was dropboxing files back and forth cause some thing were easier in Windows and vice versa. You need to be pretty comfortable in command line. My market is still glitchy after hours of work.

BUT, I enjoy this kind of stuff. I am confident I will get it working. I have already learned a lot on this one.

The screen on this thing is amazing. So accurate! And responsive and renders gorgeous images.

[ACCtuary]

Originally Posted by Jables

Ok, so Mrs. Jables's birthday is coming up, and I know she wants an e-reader (sometimes she's nice and direct with her hints), but is unsure of whether to get a Kindle or a Nook. Can someone with background knowledge of both provide some pros/cons or advice on one over the other?

As far as I can tell, they both cost roughly the same, and hold about the same amount of text... Are the costs of the books similar for both devices? The biggest difference I've found in my quick Googling is that the Nook has an expandable memory slot while the Kindle doesn't, right? My wife travels internationally for work now and then, so she'd use it as an easier way to bring reading material with her, but I'm pretty sure she'd download all her content while in the U.S.

Happy to answer any other questions that might apply in choosing one product over the other...

I would look carefully at image zooming - for illustrations, can you zoom in on the picture at any desired resolution or only until the page fills up. My Kindle 3G can't zoom in on images as much as I would like.

[mlschop]

Maybe rooting the Nook Color to get a fully featured Android tablet out of it will be a thing of the past?

http://www.smartphonemag.com/cms/blo...atment-january

If you've been wondering why Barnes & Noble's full color e-reader, the Nook Color, was running yesterday's Android OS, have no fear-2.2 is almost here!
I spoke today with a Barnes & Noble representative who showed me the forthcoming update on his company Nook which is slated for this January. The 2.2 Android update is a game changer and literally turns the e-reader into a near full Android tablet device.
The 2.2 update, or overhaul if you prefer, will give you access to a retooled Android Market, the typical Android home screen and even has pinch zooming with the browser. The Android Market app was still under development and was not on the device to see. I was told that Nook users may not have access to the full market. The Nook I looked at had apps loaded via the SD card slot and seemed to run fine. The device will still give you access to all of your Nook material via the current interface that will be swicthable for the user.
The update addresses performance and battery life concerns according to the rep I spoke to. The update on his Nook was still in beta so it lacked some polish but seemed to work smoother than the stock device. The graphics performance still seemed sluggish even with 2.2 when scrolling through magazines and web pages.
The best news is that Nook Color owners will be able to use their new Nooks as a full tablet device that rivals any other Android tablet currently in the consumer arena. Even iPad users may turn envious at the smaller form factor and $249 purchase price.

[ADrunkDriver]

holy crap. That is a game changer for sure.

I'll even factory wipe mine to make sure I get the OTA.

[ADoubleDot]

Finally got this thing the way I want it. Couldn't be happier with the purchase at this point.