When Barnes and Noble released the Nook last year, to be blunt, it sucked. Slow, baffling to use, buggy, and generally worse than virtually all of its competitors, the Nook was the equivalent of a Reliant Robin in a room full of Toyota Camrys and Corollas. The new Nook -- the Nook Color -- is much better. Now, it's more like a Dodge Viper alongside those same Japanese imports.
The Nook Color obviously does away with the eInk screen and it's tiny color touch-enabled control-panel-only screen, replacing them with a new color touchscreen that spans a pleasant seven inches and makes both navigation and reading much simpler than the original. It makes the Nook Color feel like a halfway point between a tablet computer like the iPad and a black-and-white eReader like the Kindle -- and, appropriate, the price tag is about half way between those two as well, coming in it around $250.
That said, unlike the iPad, the Nook Color is a dedicated eReader. You won't find apps or games for a Nook Color -- you'll find books.
While other color eBook readers have hit the market this year, they all have the same problem, one which the Nook avoids: their screens aren't really made for eBooks. They cause headaches and eye pain if you try to read for too long. The Nook Color uses the same kind of screen that the iPad does, creating a crisp, relatively glare-free image that is easy to use for hours at a go.
Admittedly, eInk does have the advantage of looking more like paper, which can be read in broad daylight, which Nook Color's screen has problems with -- but the disadvantages of eInk are more significant than that one 'pro'. Specifically, eInk can't show color, scroll or zoom in and out on images, and it can't be read in a dim environment. The Nook Color does all of that with ease -- and since most of us don't really read in bright sunlight that often anyway, the Nook Color wins out over an eInk-based reader consistently.
Even better, navigating on the Nook's touch-sensitive screen is much easier than doing so on a Kindle or a Kobo or a Sony Reader's separated buttons. Barnes and Noble have also paired their easy-navigating screen with some top-quality proprietary software that is easy to get the hang of.
Nook Color Vs. the KindleAs mentioned, the color screen beats the eInk seven ways from Tuesday. The Kindle is a hundred bucks cheaper, which means a lot in this economy -- unless, of course, you want access to cellular broadband, in which case it's only $60 less expensive. It also weighs about half as much as the Nook Color, which makes it a bit easier to carry around. On the other hand, the Kindle can't read eBooks available from public libraries, where the Nook can.
Nook Color Vs. the iPadWell, the iPad's screen is twice as large, which means a lot when it comes to reading larger documents like newspapers -- the Nook is particularly bad at magazines and newsprint. On the other hand, the Nook Color is lighter, less expensive by half, and you can turn the screen brightness up a lot higher -- meaning you can read in more places. The Nook Color can't even start to compare with the amount of online bookstores the iPad can access, but as far as apps go, Barnes and Noble have announced that they will open their own app store for the Nook Color in early 2011. In the mean time, the Nook can do basic Internet and comes with apps for Pandora and a few minor games.
All told, when you look at price, functionality, and ease of use, the Nook Color is right at the top of the bell curve -- for what it does, it's inexpensive, and for its price, it gets a lot done. That's what is going to make the Nook Color a strong contender this Christmas season