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Barnes & Noble nook Simple Touch with GlowLight
9.0
final rating

reviewed on
this review has been viewed 296 times

Criteria Comments Rating
  • Display / readability Screen looks nice with decent contrast and refreshes quite fast when you change pages great!
  • Battery life Lasts me weeks even when I use the light. I usually have wifi turned off. great!
  • Store and selection of titles You are not restricted to using only the B&N store great!
  • Ease of use Easy-to-use touchscreen interface great!
  • Document support ePub support makes me happy great!
  • Storage capacity 256MB onboard and a card slot for expansion great!
  • Durability Seems pretty well built so far, although it doesn't have a metal shell like the Sony readers good
  • Design and form factor I like the forward and back buttons on both sides of the screen, but they're kind of hard to click just right with their squishy exterior good
  • Portability (size / weight) About average for these devices. good
Detailed review
Its all about the glow light. Until the announcement of the Kindle Paperwhite, that set this reader apart from the rest. However, Kindles still will not open ePub files, but the Nook will. I've had two Sony readers in the past (PRS-600 and a PRS-950), and this just blows those out of the water. The screen contrast is better, the on-screen fonts look much nicer and the whole package just works nicely.
I do almost all of my reading in bed, late at night and usually stay up later than my wife. Now she doesn't have to be bothered by a reading light being on while she tries to sleep. It was worth the cost of upgrading just for that. Speaking of which, gdgt has the wrong price listed for this reader. It is marked as low as $170, but you can buy it for $139 from B&N right now. I suspect the price may drop a little in the near future with the competition from the Kindle Paperwhite on the way.

Updated 10/30/2012: Price is now $119 at B&N.
review history
2012-10-30
Updated detailed review