| Ever since Amazon released their Kindle eReader | | | | the Kindle. Every day, Barnes and Noble also sends |
| device in 2007, many other companies have released | | | | you two free pieces of content written by |
| similar devices. The two most notable of these are | | | | professional journalists. One is a humor piece and the |
| Barnes and Noble and Sony, although Apple's iPad will | | | | other is a "this day in history" type piece. If you bring |
| also be an interesting competitor. Given Barnes and | | | | your Nook into a Barnes and Noble store, you can |
| Noble's respectability in the book market, their device | | | | connect via WiFi to gain access to a slew of extras. |
| is definitely one which many people have been hotly | | | | You can read selected short stories and essays for |
| anticipating. But how does it compare to the others? | | | | free, and you can also find coupons for free coffee |
| If you are thinking about purchasing a Nook or any | | | | or cookies from the in-store coffee shop. This is |
| other eReader in the near future, here is some | | | | definitely something Amazon and Sony can't offer. |
| information about the Nook that you will want to | | | | Unfortunately, the Nook doesn't come equipped with |
| keep in mind. | | | | a web browser like the Kindle does. |
| 1. Dual Screen | | | | 3. Book Store |
| The first thing you will probably notice about the | | | | The book store that you can access with your Nook |
| Nook is that it actually has two separate screens. | | | | is very intuitive and easy to use. Because it isn't a |
| This makes it quite unique compared to every other | | | | touch screen device, the store is mostly text-based. |
| device on the market. The bottom portion of the | | | | You can browse through bestsellers, newspapers, |
| screen is a full color screen with multi-touch display, | | | | magazines, and by genre. You can also perform a |
| while the upper screen is a monochrome e-ink display, | | | | search for your favorite author or title. Once you |
| just like the Kindle's. You can browse through your | | | | make a purchase, the book is downloaded to your |
| books on the color screen with a flip of your finger in | | | | device within seconds. |
| a display which is highly reminiscent of Apple's Cover | | | | 4. Technical Specs |
| Flow display. Turning pages is optimized for both left | | | | Overall, the device looks very similar to the Kindle. |
| and right handed folks, and the upper screen is highly | | | | However, it is a bit thicker, at half an inch, compared |
| responsive to page turns. The color screen uses quite | | | | to the Kindle's 3 inches. There is a power button |
| a bit more battery juice than the upper screen. | | | | which you can tap once to put the device to sleep. |
| Luckily, they aren't both required to remain turned on | | | | You can also hold it down for about 5 seconds to |
| at all times. The lower screen will generally turn off | | | | turn the device off completely. Oddly, the Nook |
| automatically after 30 seconds, while the upper | | | | won't charge when it is completely turned off. There |
| screen will go to sleep after about 20 minutes. | | | | is a standard micro USB port on the bottom of the |
| 2. Connectivity | | | | unit, and a slot to insert an SD card. The internal hard |
| The Nook can connect and download books either | | | | drive holds 2GB, so the SD card isn't strictly needed. |
| via an AT&T powered 3G wireless connection or | | | | However, it can be useful for loading PDFs and ePub |
| through WiFi. Books download just as quickly as on | | | | files into the Nook. |