The new Nook Touch looks sweet, right? It’s smaller and lighter than a Kindle 3 but with the same bright E Ink display, and the touchscreen is a far superior way to navigate than a d-pad that looks like it escaped from a Nokia factory.
I finally got to test drive a Nook Touch yesterday, right after sitting in a coffee shop reading my Kindle 3 for an hour, and I have to admit I was instantly in love; I wanted to leave my Kindle 3 behind at Barnes & Noble and bring home a Nook Touch instead. Even anchored by a security cable, it felt lighter and easier to hold while reading.
But that was only a brief infatuation, and this morning I’m glad my Kindle is still with me. Because as much as I loved playing with the Nook Touch, I’m not willing to come on board until Barnes & Noble fine-tunes some issues with the device and its customer service.
Two notes before I begin:
- These won’t be dealbreakers for every consumer, but they’re real issues that you should be aware of.
- If you’re savvy with computers and/or consumer technology, the Nook Touch can be rooted and you can do all sorts of fun things with it, so some of the limitations below won’t apply to you.
1. There’s no way to email yourself documents or web pages
If you want to sideload personal documents or ebooks, you have to do it via USB cable while the Nook Touch is tethered to your PC, or load it onto a memory card and insert that into the Nook Touch.
By comparison, every Kindle is assigned an email address upon purchase, and you can email various documents to it from anywhere. Lots of third party developers have taken advantage of this to provide easy ways to send your Kindle web content, including Readability (my new favorite), Instapaper and Read It Later. You can also set up Calibre, the free ebook library manager, to email RSS feeds or ebooks to your Kindle.
2. The browser is hidden and may not be as functional as the Kindle browser
Although Amazon has always called it an “experimental” feature, every Kindle model so far has come with a web browser that you can access directly. The Kindle 3′s browser is in fact fairly advanced and does a great job at HTML rendering.
You can access the browser from a Nook Touch, but not in an obvious way—there’s no menu option, so instead you type a URL in the search field. (The Kindle 3 offers this shortcut as well, but it’s in addition to the menu option. Amazon also advertises the web browser as a feature, whereas B&N makes no mention of a web browser at all in its Nook Touch marketing.)
I’m pretty sure the Nook Touch demo unit I played with was set up to kick me out of the browser after a short period, but I was never able to get beyond a Google search page using the search field shortcut. On Google, I could then search for another page, but inevitably the browser would quit and I’d be redirected to the Nook’s home page.
3. Activating the Nook Touch is a pain
Teleread has published a detailed review of the Nook Touch by a blogger named John Schember, and while it’s mostly positive, his description of the mandatory First Run Wizard shows just how far B&N still has to go before mastering the “it just works” design philosophy.
First, John says, you have to be online so the Nook Touch can be activated by B&N’s servers. If you can’t get online at home, you have to go to a B&N store or somewhere with free public Wi-Fi. By contrast, Kindles bought from Amazon ship pre-registered, and in fact you can still use your Kindle to read ebooks even if you never register it or activate the wireless connection.
Next, you have to agree to a 178 page Terms of Service document. Most of the legalese is for the B&N account that you will use with the device, but it’s still an unsettling experience to pay for a device outright and suddenly be forced to agree to a lengthy list of things you can and can’t do on it. As John writes, “It’s my reader, I bought it, I’m not renting it from B&N, they should not be dictating anything to me about the use of my property!”
And finally, you have to have a B&N account. John sums up the problem with this pretty clearly:
Again I do not want my Nook connecting to the internet. I do not want to download books using the Nook. I do not want to register it with my B&N account. I do not use the connectivity features nor do I want them. The Nook does not make this an option. You must sign into a B&N account which registers the device with B&N before you can use the device.
Certainly most people will expect and want the Nook to be able to easily connect to B&N, but if you’re not one of them, you’re out of luck.
4. Barnes & Noble uses the home screen for advertising
One result of the forced registration, notes John in his review, is that B&N loads samples onto your Nook at the end. You can archive them so they’re removed from your Nook, but again, by comparison Amazon treats your Kindle as your Kindle and doesn’t put any ebook on it without your permission.
Worse than that, in my opinion, is B&N reserves nearly 50% of the home page to market new books to you in the context of “expert suggestions.” B&N doesn’t make it clear how this section will work—in some shots it looks like your friends’ recommendations will appear there (assuming you have extroverted friends with Nooks), and in other shots it looks like the company will suggest titles. Either way, it’s outside content that’s intended to get you to buy more books.
Amazon does include advertising on special discounted Kindles, but the difference is you have to essentially opt-in (by choosing the “special offers” model), and Amazon compensates you with a $25 price cut. If you just want to compare where book recommendations appear, on the Kindle they show up when you visit the store on your device. Otherwise you don’t see them.
It’s true that at least Nook’s ads are for books, not (as with Amazon) credit cards or special sales. Still, this means that every time you activate your Nook to start reading, you’ll be hit with the E Ink equivalent of in-store advertising from Barnes & Noble.
5. Barnes & Noble customer service is awful
Amazon offers a refund policy for Kindle purchases. Barnes & Noble does not. To me, that alone is enough of a differentiator to make me want to shop from Amazon, but it won’t sway everyone.
Here are a couple of more subjective examples that I think illustrate how crummy B&N is with customer service:
First, in John’s review, he mentions that by default B&N sometimes pushes his Nook files to him in PDB format. PDB files work on the first Nook but not on the Nook Touch. When John called customer service to find out what he could do, he was told he simply couldn’t read those books on his Nook! After some online searching, John found that he was only receiving PDB files because he was using a Mac, and in Safari you can fake a different browser’s identity (e.g. Firefox or IE) and receive the EPUB format instead.
The point is, B&N’s own customer service was useless, and in fact essentially told John he couldn’t read the Nook ebooks he’d paid for, without offering a solution. John writes:
B&N support is terrible and will often make you more confused than help you. I am not confident in B&N support and there is quite a bit of miscommunication throughout the company.
Second, my own recent personal experience with B&N’s customer service was hands down the worst I’ve had with any company in at least five years. I’d purchased a Groupon offer and gave the code to my sister, who then applied it along with two gift cards to a big order of books for her sons. Everything we did was within the rules of both Groupon’s and B&N’s fine print (believe me, I quadruple-checked), but B&N’s overzealous fraud department flagged her order and canceled it without explaining why. The easiest thing would have been to walk away and buy the books elsewhere, but we now had two gift card balances and a Groupon purchase invalidated, so we were forced to deal with it. It took—no kidding—ten business days and over twenty phone calls, along with at least three order reversals from active to canceled to active again, before B&N sent the books. And then they left out two of the titles. Their fraud department still thinks my sister is some low-rent con artist, I think.
Although that concerned physical books and not the Nook, it soured me on B&N for a long time, especially since the problem wasn’t with physical inventory but with payment types (meaning it overlaps the Nook space). I’m not surprised at all to see that John couldn’t get any useful information about the format problem when he called.
For my needs, the first issue—not being able to email myself content—is a huge problem. I use my Kindle as an extension of my desktop, shooting web pages and articles over to it so I can read them later when I’m not at my desk, and I like the fact that I can email ebooks to it from Calibre.
I’m guessing the online/registration issues are less bothersome for most consumers. After all, the Nook is designed to work with the cloud, and to do that it has to be online and registered.
I think customer service is a big deal, though. My personal experience with B&N is an extreme case, but I also hate the lack of a refund policy, and as John discovered you may not be able to trust B&N with even basic technical support if a problem arises.
There are plenty of well-documented reasons to buy a Nook Touch, so I’m not saying it’s a bad choice. Just make sure you know what you’re getting into before you commit to it.
By E June 13, 2011 - 5:40 PM
Each of the above would be deal-breakers for me but 1, 3, and 5 also affects any recommendation to anyone asking me about ereaders. I prefer to state the pros and cons but these are definite warning flags. Thanks for the review.
P.S. At least the Kobo does not pretend to be anything but a simple ereader. Have you tried it yet?
By Chris Walters June 14, 2011 - 10:14 AM
No, I haven’t tried the new Kobo Touch Edition. Are they on display at any of the remaining Borders stores yet? I really liked the look and feel of the previous Kobo, but I didn’t like the interface—I felt it was too complicated for someone like my Mom to easily use. (I was looking for an ereader for her at the time.)
I have a feeling that I’ll really like it, especially because I really like the new “Reading Life” interface they’ve rolled out. It also hasn’t escaped me that while Kobo may not have the same marketing muscle as Amazon and B&N, the new Kobo Touch is the smallest and lightest of the three devices, and can handle the most formats. If you’re the type who removes the DRM from your ebooks, Kobo Touch Edition may be the perfect device for you because it will display both MOBI and EPUB files.
However, I don’t see any information on being able to email documents to the Kobo Touch, and that remains the biggest dealbreaker for me. I need to be able to shoot docs to my ereader from my PC or mobile device.
By Nook Touch Rooting: June 14th News | Mike Cane's xBlog June 14, 2011 - 7:04 AM
[...] Lastly, for the haters: Five reasons NOT to get a Nook Touch [...]
By Sid Boswell June 16, 2011 - 10:07 AM
Long time kindle owner, recent convert to the NOOK touch.
I had a first generation kindle. I got my wife got 2nd generation the day they were released, and I upgraded to the 3rd generation (WiFi only) the week they came out. I was lucky enough to get a decent amount for my 1st generation on Craigslist.
I dropped my 3rd generation on some rocks face down recently and it had a nasty scratch which was tough to read through. Rather than purchasing another Kindle, I bought the NOOK touch last week. I De-DRMed the few kindle books I had purchased but hadn’t read yet.
My thoughts on your comments:
1. never used the e-mail feature. my kindle was for reading books. I tested the e-mail once and never even bothered again.
2. never used the browser besides testing once. my kindle was for reading books.
3. activating? seriously? took me 2 minutes from a hotel using my smart phone as a WiFi hotspot.
4. so what? skip the home screen and go straight to the library. The Amazon store screen on the Kindle also advertises books you may like.
5. disagree. BN service superior to Amazon and comparisons notwithstanding, they are a company that has been successful based upon it’s great customer service.
I have a smart phone, a laptop, and even an iPad. My reader is to read in the quiet hours or on vacation. I think all those other features are pretty worthless. If you are in the market for a tablet, then I agree the NOOK touch is not for you (but the Kindle is no tablet PC either) …. but if you are in the market for an e-ink based reader, the NOOK touch is in my opinion the way to go. It’s lighter, faster, battery lasts longer, doesn’t have a pointless keyboard, has micro-SD slot, has hands-on customer and tech support in any of the many BN stores, supports ePub (get books at a library), supports lending, and the list goes on….
By hugh wanger June 19, 2011 - 7:12 PM
I just used the Kindle 3 on a 2 week vacation.
I use Calibre to keep up with the news. Sync the device via WiFi in the Hotel bar, then take the Kindle to the beach. Wave at the iPads owners as I walk by – them looking for shade so they can see their screen at the pool bar
I guess you’re right, if it is a book only device then the Nook Touch is still viable. But if you want to email yourself blogs/papers/rss/documents, then the Nook Touch is out. I won’t be getting one for this reason alone. Its too restrictive. Which is a shame as the hardware looks excellent.
I have a feeling Amazon will be bringing out something like this themselves. Kindle 4
?
By Mike July 13, 2011 - 3:25 PM
I agree with Sid, all the points discussed are worthless to me.
I have an iPad2 and it is superb at everything it does… except reading outside. However, it’s like taking a high-def tv outside, it would stink too.
In my analysis, the Nook Touch was better than the Kindle in that it had a “touch” interface. I am used to iPhones and iPads, and wanted a touch interface.
With Calibre, you can convert and migrate most books that are not DRM’d, and if this is important to you, you can jailbreak the Nook and install the Kindle App on it if you want, and read your kindle books on the nook.
By David August 6, 2011 - 8:41 PM
I agree. I currently own BOTH kindle 3 (gave to my wife) and Nook Touch (rooted with Kindle installed … feels obnoxious
I do miss the email-to-device function, but maybe amazon can come out with an update, enabling this. Hey, no update can get rid of the Kindle’s keyboard.
I did like kindles progress bar, with its chapter marks, better than Nook’s “x of y” indicator on the bottom.
By Ryan Kelly August 30, 2011 - 12:38 PM
+1 for everything Sid said; none of your points mean anything to me. My eReader is for reading. The only point which I find really bothersome about the Nook STR you didn’t even get at. The Nook STR uses half the advertised memory (2 gigs) for system memory and reserves 3/4 of the remaining for books you purchased through B&N. Leaving you with a paltry 250 mb for non-B&N books. Of course, the microSD expansion slot fixes all that…
By Geek Media Round-Up: June 24, 2011 – Grasping for the Wind June 24, 2011 - 9:03 AM
[...] Five reasons NOT to get a Nook Touch [...]
By From paperbacks to Kindle to NOOK Touch | Sid's Blog July 20, 2011 - 4:49 PM
[...] Booksprung (yes, those are my comments) [...]
By MrNuts August 3, 2011 - 5:37 PM
You would be right, however the fact that you can easily root the device and bypass all of these problems makes this article a bit misleading. The only limitations are the in the functionality of the 3rd party android apps in the market.
By William C August 10, 2011 - 2:01 AM
I have bern drooling over this one since it came out, but recently ran across a barbs and noble book club group that is loaded with complaints abuot screen freezing, and having to reboot every time, and as mentioned above all stated abysmal cutover service. I’ve included the link to the page, if that’s ok
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/NOOK-Technical-Support/New-Nook-touch-screen-stops-working/td-p/1059518
By Daniel M. November 28, 2011 - 2:22 PM
I agree absolutely with your objections against the B&N mandatory registration, but the following information (credits to “crazy_jake”, post #8 in thread # 15618850 in the xda-developers website, link is http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=15618850):
1. Enter the Factory Screen by holding the TOP RIGHT Button and slide your finger across the top of the Nook from left to right. A button labeled “Factory” will appear in the top left of the screen.
2. Once in the Factory screen, hold down the TOP RIGHT Button and tap in the bottom right of the screen.
3. A new button will appear labeled “Skip Oobe”. Tap that and you’re done!
And that’s it! Registration, B&N account, etc. all gone, it’s yours to do with as you will.
By ldow2000 December 15, 2011 - 5:17 PM
WHAT?! Barnes and Noble Customer Service has always been excellent for me!
By Gary February 8, 2012 - 12:11 AM
After months of deliberation between the two I got my nook touch last week. OMG am I happy.
1. If you really feel you want this ability, touchnooter is instant free and reversible root that adds full android functionality including kindle app, email, wifi sync, browser, etc. takes 3 minutes for a novice.
2. It’s a reader, not a mobile internet browser. But also fixed like number 1 above.
3. Activation took me 45 seconds. You must have wifi somewhere in your life, type email address, choose password, done.
4. Putting aside the fact that if your using your e reader, then you’re reading and spend a miniscule percent of your time on the home screen, kindle makes you pay extra to avoid all types of ads, BN just shows you current top sellers of books.
5. My wife playing on BN.com accidentally bought content that’s only for nook color. 2 minutes on phone with a friendly guy and all is refunded. Even got tokeep the audio books in case I buy a color one someday (very likely).
Overall, the sd slot and physical design were my deciding factors. Easy root to add any feature is a plus. I plan to root soon and use dropbox to keep my library syncd over wifi!
Love it!
By Chris Walters February 8, 2012 - 1:26 AM
I want to say thanks to everyone who has commented on this post over the past eight months.
Of all the posts on Booksprung, this is the only one that consistently attracts angry or insulting fanboy responses that I have to delete. (Just to be clear, I’m NOT referring to the comments above, all of which I think are good and opinionated.) I’m closing comments now that it’s got plenty of quality counterpoint to aid future shoppers.