

New BN eReader: iPad's first real competition? - dave1619
http://venturebeat.com/2010/05/24/pandigital-announces-ereader-with-barnes-noble/

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watmough
I hope this is a better device than the _abomination_ that is the Pan Digital
photo frame my mother in law bought me for Christmas.

Crappy hardware, ugly, difficult to use.

I'm looking forward to a profusion of great (and open) tablets to compete with
the iPad, but I'm betting this won't be one of them, sadly.

At $200, I doubt that's a capacitative screen, which is a deal breaker for
people who are buying the machine to use themselves.

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Groxx
I dunno, if you make the interface basic enough, and treat it as a _reading_
device, I doubt there would be a need for a capacitative screen. Tap to go
forward, tap back, and basic dragging is easily possible with other methods.
Capacitative is just a bit more reliable (with _fingers_ , worse with anything
else) and reads multiple inputs more easily.

If it's not a generic app platform, do you _need_ multiple-finger input?
Especially on a decent-sized screen? On an iPhone, certainly, there's no room
to waste on UI, but on 7"?

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dave1619
Impressive specs for the new BN eReader by PanDigital:

7 inch screen (vs 10 inch for iPad)

.5 inch thickness (same as iPad)

1 lb (vs 1.5 lb for iPad)

6 hour battery life (vs 10 hour iPad)

1gb internal storage with SD card (vs 16gb+ for iPad)

full touch-screen

runs Android

only $199

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FluidDjango
I know it's been said so often before, but "specs don't bring in the general
public."

For B&N to make any inroads, they're going to have to do something more than
build huge, dead product display areas like the one at my local BN store.
Anyone see action around the "Nook" displays at their BNs?

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yumraj
I think you missed some reports that Nook has been selling better than Kindle:
<http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20003387-17.html>

So, it seems to be doing OK.

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Groxx
I certainly hope not, the Nook is a POS every time I've touched it.

edit: ok, some justification. I've crashed it twice inside of 5 minutes (the
third time I used it, it took 20 minutes). The display device had what looked
like burn-in on the screen until it had refreshed the whole thing a half-dozen
times. It was in a B&N, but it either couldn't connect to their network, or
couldn't display the first page once it connected (first happened once, second
twice). The interface _requires_ a manual; I had trouble with it, and I've not
seen anyone pick it up and get _anywhere_ from just fiddling. They get
frustrated and leave in a couple minutes. (sample size: 10+, plus chatting
with 20+)

P. O. S.

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hugh3
What don't you like about it?

I've been thinking of getting one, or maybe a Kindle, or maybe the Sony
equivalent. I've been reasonably impressed by the readability of the Nook
every time I've touched one, and that's all I really care about.

Realistically I should probably remain indecisive for another year and
there'll be something better available for $99.

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Groxx
800x600 resolution? For long-term reading? Count me out. I'll get an iPad
before that, though I still think the future for reading is E-ink.

~~~
glhaynes
But it's a 7" display instead of 10". So I'd think text resolution would be
pretty similar. (Of course, it very well may not be a high-quality type of
panel.)

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Groxx
True. But Apple's shown they use utterly fantastic displays, unlike nearly
everyone else. * shrug __* I guess density could be good enough.

I'll definitely go in and give it a run-through, but B&N hasn't exactly proven
themselves as good device makers, IMO. (see another of my comments here, I
won't go into it in this thread) (
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1374992#score_1375363> )

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lleger
No.

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jrockway
The screenshot made me throw up a little bit in my mouth. I will stick with
the Kindle -- I enjoy the minimalism. I don't want my electronic book to have
an explosion of colors, or music, or videos, or photos -- "do one thing, and
do it well". I already have a laptop and mp3 player.

~~~
dkarl
I partially agree and don't see why you were downvoted. If you don't want to
browse the web, then the Kindle's screen is far superior for reading. The
Kindle needs more speed, better resolution, and a better interface for hopping
around in a book, but I always put it in my suitcase when I travel, and given
the choice between reading a novel on the Kindle versus reading a novel on a
beautiful bright color tablet like the iPad, I would choose the Kindle. A
tablet that has an e-ink mode will have a very large advantage in my book.

