As much as I love books, as much as I love holding books in my hand, as much as I love the feel and the smell of books, I have to admit, these new eReaders are pretty cool. And whether stand-alone eReaders like Nook and Kindle will survive against new tablet computers like iPad and other similar devices that are on the way to stores right now, remains to be seen. The new tablet computers have eReader software built-in. But Nook and Kindle keep evolving and they both have a lot to offer.
Recently I downloaded Barnes and Noble’s “Nook for PC”. I was totally impressed. If you have a laptop or a netbook, it’s a must download. It’s great for desktops too, except I like to lie down while I read which I can’t do at my desktop. So I just put the laptop on an old TV tray, make the font a bit bigger and lie down and read until I fall asleep. NO! I’m not kidding, I really do.
There are so many things I like about reading books on my Nook for PC, I don’t know where to begin. It remembers the last page I read, which is great for me because I often fall asleep while reading. When I would fall asleep reading a paperback or hardback, the book often fell on the floor and I lost my place. Now when I fall asleep, Nook for PC remembers what page I last read, so when I open it back up again, I am right back to the page I was reading when I nodded off.
I can increase or decrease the size of the text, from ridiculously huge to very tiny. I can buy newly released books online for half the cost of a hardback (and only slightly more than a paperback) and don’t have to wait months for the paperback to come out. I can buy books that are already out in paperback for about half the cost of a paperback. And with Nook for PC as soon as I purchase a book it’s automatically downloaded and placed in my Nook for PC library.
Another nice feature is that you can download samples of books and read the first chapter or two. If you find it interesting you can buy the book, if not you can delete the sample. Being able to read a chapter or two of a book you’re not sure about is great. Many times I’ve purchased books that I thought I’d like but once I started reading them, didn’t like them at all. The “try before you buy” feature is one of my favorite things about Nook for PC.
But the advantages of eReaders don’t end there. You can download hundreds of thousands of books for your Nook for PC eReader – free. Just about all the classics are free for eReader. Verne, Dickens, Shakespeare….hundreds of thousands of great books – a treasure of books – free. I just finished reading Jules Verne’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth” on Nook for PC, and I enjoyed reading it on Nook for PC as much as I did reading he hardback that my Grandfather had given me when I was eleven.
Nook for PC works exactly like the Nook eReader, except it doesn’t cost $200 or $150, it is free. It is free. Even if you’re from the old school and think you’d hate reading books on an eReader, I promise you, once you try it, you’ll be hooked. I’m not saying that eReaders will replace books, but it sure is a great way to read – and with all the classics you can download and read free – it books hundreds of thousands of books within easy reach – have access to a an eReader or eReader software on your PC – gives you another way to read books, newspapers, and magazines.
If you love to read, you’ll love Nook for PC. Try it. You’ll like it. For more information or to download Nook for PC, please visit this page. Oh, by-the-way, Nook software is available for iPhones and Droids too.
Re: NOOK. I too love to hold a paper book but…….. gotta admit reading eBooks on my iPad/iPodTouch is great. I get a choice of reading matter and don’t have to lug books around in my purse. There seem to be a number of designated tablets for reading but not all are universal. With iPad/Touch one can access Kindle as well as iBooks and probably more yet to come. It gets expensive buying one-use electronics.
Have a nice week People.
I have used the nook application on my laptop for sometime and I loved it for the same reasons that you do. At Christmas, in response to my many hints, I was given a Nook. WOW! I love my Nook. Waiting rooms and long lines are no longer a bore, and the time passes all to quickly. The Nook is great for reading any place because of it’s light weight and small size. Where I go, my Nook goes. Besides it’s lightweight and small slim size, the Nook reading screen is like a page in a book with no flicker rate to irritate the eyes. It’s advantages make it well worth the price.
You can’t buy etitles that have been out there for a while for “half the cost of a paperback” anymore. In almost all cases I have seen, the ebook costs MORE than the paperback. Because that file that you don’t even own (technically you just “license” it so you can’t give it away like you can a real book) apparently costs so much more to produce than the one that is printed, bound, shipped and stocked. It’s time for a backlash against book publishers and ebook sellers. We got baited and switched, folks!
You are talking about ebooks you have to buy. I’d love my nook. I love the convenience. But if you find the pricing unfair, you have a choice (unlike with Kindle). Nook allows you to sideload ebooks in many formats (epub, pdf, txt, and others). I have gotten many great books free from http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page . Gutenberg has over 33,000 ebooks – all free. I’ve downloaded many books from this site – many classics. Also, there are over 21,000 ebooks, all free at http://www.manybooks.net/ . and there are over 1 million free ebooks you can find listed here http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/.
I bought a copy of “The Lincoln Lawyer” for $10 from Barnes & Noble. The book, as far as I know isn’t out in paperback yet (I might be wrong I haven’t looked). I don’t know about you but I’d rather pay $10 or $12 for a new release I want to read than $25 or $30 for a hardcover or wait 4 or 5 months for paperback to be released and pay $7 or $8 for it. I find that a cost savings to me. I have several authors I really like and when they have a new book, I used to spend $25 or $30 on the hardback – and now I spend $10-$14 for an ebook – I might spend a $4 -$6 more for the nook ebook than I’d pay for the paperback, but I don’t wait for the paperback, so I look at it as saving me $10 – $14.
Nook at least allows you the ability to download and read other formats and I take advantage of that quite often. I enjoy reading Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, and other classic authors and you can find thousands of great classics free.