Should I get a nook? Does it take longer to read on it?

[Pelicantor]

I want an affordable E reader,
Is the nook a good choice?
How big is the public (free) database for books, like at the library?
I heard that reading a paper book is faster, does it make a difference?

[T.A. Hurst]

I have a NOOK and I have fallen in love with it! Great choice, some of their books are free but others arent. Great way for free ones is on the search you can search your favorite author then type; $0.00 and it gives you all the free books by them! And you can do that right on your NOOK. Hope this helps! Good luck!

[Belovedpie688]

You may get better answers from Barnes and Noble about the Nook.

[Dusko Popov]

I have a Kindle, and it doesn't take me any more time to read anything on it compared to reading the "paper" version. I chose the Kindle because it supports more formats (e.g. pdf files) as well as newspapers and magazines compared to the Nook. Unless Barnes & Noble has changed their policy - where you can only download something that B & K sells and formats compared to the Kindle - this was a big plus for me as I can go to non-Amazon sites and download. Also, the upper-level/$189 version has lifetime free Wi-Fi and 3G access; not sure about the price and accessibility concerning the Nook, or any other e-Readers out there.

[JaKi]

Hi, Pelicantor, Nook from Barnes & Noble is the best combination of price and features of the eReaders market. When choosing an eReader, you need to consider not only the physical properties of the device, but also compare eBook stores behind it. Sony has never been a contender for any comparison by anyone as they only have like 5 books in their Ebook store and their devices are way overpriced for what they offer. Borders is behind Kobo/Cruz devices in US and as you might of heard, Borders is on a brink of bankruptcy. Kindle and Nook are the only devices to be considered as their eBook stores have over a million of free public ebooks as well as over a million of ebooks that you need to pay for available.
Having that out of the way, you should then decide which screen you want: e-Ink or LCD. It depends on what you're reading. If just black & white novels then the better one would be Kindle or e-Ink Nook from Barnes & Noble. If you read electronic magazines or college text books with a lot of color graphs and charts or children’s' books with a lot of pictures then the better would be Nook Color LCD from Barnes & Noble. Then, you should understand the limitations of e-Ink eReaders - they are limited to be black & white for now they "blink" at each ebook’s page turn, they're not too good for web browsing, they need external light source for reading when dark, and they cannot handle videos.
Whichever device you choose, here's the advantages of the Nook’s (both e-Ink black & white and Nook Color) over Kindle:
- Any Barnes & Noble store provides free Wi-Fi to Nook's
- Nook allows to lend Nook books for two weeks to friends and family or share with your other devices that run B&N app (PC, MAC, Android phones, Apple iPhone, iPod and iPad, etc.) Barnes & Noble allows (when you walk in with the Nook to B&N store) to read any available eBook for free while in the store via free provided in the store Wi-Fi. With Nook, while in BN store you get exclusive articles from top authors, and great offers including cafe treats and unique deals.
- Nook (unlike Kindle) can be used for library ebooks.
- Nook (unlike Kindle) can be used for renting text-ebooks.
Nook Color is worth mentioning separately as this is a hybrid Android eReader/tablet device, something between Kindle and iPad. Even though Nook Color has LCD touchscreen, it's a new generation screen which is anti-glare coated and is better performing in sunlight and produces less glare all of which are dooming reading on iPad. Also, the screen is amazing and readable/viewable at wide angles.
Overall, Nook Color is more than e-Reader as you can also watch video and use Android applications on it. It's a hybrid device, much more than just an e-Reader but not a full tablet as it doesn't have a camera. If all you want is to read novels, the original e-Ink Nook might be better for you. If you want something more from your device (color graphs and charts of college text books, childrens books, photos and videos, web sites in full color) at half of the price of iPad or Galaxy tab, then Nook Color is your best bet.
Nook Color has several apps that already come with the device (Pandora Internet radio, QuickOffice, etc.) Also, Barnes & Noble recently released Nook SDK and Nook Developer platform that will allow most of the existing 100,000 Android apps be ported to it. Also, you can use the Social Settings screen to link your NOOK Color to your Facebook account and your Twitter account. You can also import all your contacts from your Google Gmail account. Once you have linked to Facebook and Twitter and set up email contacts, you can lend and borrow books, recommend books, and share favorite quotes with your friends.

[Jessica Stephenson]

I love some book promo videos, they are a good way to get an idea of what the book is about in a concise and quick way. check these out they are great.

[Micheal Shwan]

In short, I won't choose iPad or Nook Color, because they're using backlight screen like computer screen, and is difficult to our eyes. Just not suitable for reading purpose. For other ebook readers including the B&N Nook, Sony Reader, and Amazon Kindle, I'll go for the Kindle. For the Sony Reader, many books (especially new releases) cannot be easily find on it. For the Nook, it is good but it is slower and less user friendly compared to the new version of Kindle.

There is also quite a good comparison between the ebook readers here:

http://bit.ly/whichebookreader