Well, it’s been a week now, and I’ve yet to read a book on my NookColor! It’s only a matter of time, though.
I’ve purchased a couple books, but most of the titles on my Nook I downloaded for free. The Free Nookbooks page on the Barnes and Noble site has been great. They have 5 pages of free books with a mix of traditionally published titles and Pubit! Books, a self-publishing feature that I will have to look into further. So far I have been able to get Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, Chinatown Beat by Henry Chang, and two B&N editions, Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and Grimm’s Fairy Tales. To name a few. There does seem to be a high preponderance of romance titles and Pubit! Books, though. B&N updates these pages periodically, but especially on Fridays.
However, there doesn’t seem to be a quick link to the Free Nookbooks page from the Nook’s shop function. You can log onto the site using the web right on the Nook. It’s almost easier to view the titles there, and then search the titles in the shop for easy download.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I wanted a color-capable eReader for magazines, newspapers, and graphic novels. Though there don’t appear to be any graphic novels available yet; I imagine it will only be a matter of time. The NookColor already offers picture books and should be releasing motion picture books in 2011. Might motion graphic novels be a possibility?
I did get a magazine subscription to test. It looks great on the Nook. I can page through the magazine, ads and all. Zoom in to read the text or select articles to read like an ebook. And it’s environmentally friendly!
Music anyone? Hooking my Nook into my computer, I cut and pasted MP3 files to my Nook’s music folder and voila! Now, I can listen to some of my favorite songs while I read. I think the audio plays as good as any MP3 player.
Now some may wonder about video. Using the web feature, I logged onto Youtube to test this out. The NookColor does a great job of playing video. However, I couldn’t get the video to rotate on the screen, which is odd considering the picture books play “sideways.” Still, I think movies might be an option in the future, possibly with a downloadable upgrade?
The NookColor might not be as grand as the iPad, but for the price ($249), it’s actually quite flashy. I look forward to what new features they may release. I’m hoping for a solitaire or hearts game to add to the already included chess, sudoku, and crossword games.
The Poisoned Martini 