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To Buy or Not to Buy: Nook Frequently Asked Questions
Nobody has any hand-on experience of nook yet. No videos or review of nook is available except what B&N had already provided us. The website is not yet detail enough to get a complete idea about nook. B&N is far behind the marketing strategies when compared to amazon’s launch of kindle. Even though lot of people are exited about nook, the decision to buy nook depends on a clear picture what it can provide over and above kindle. Here I’ve tried to compile some FAQs from the B&N e-book forum. Most of answers were provided by the forum administrator Kevin. I’ve tried to keep things in his words as far as possible. Hope that helps the e-book enthusiasts.
Q: There are confusions on nook’s wi-fi capability. Can you make it clear?
A: nook is programmed to automatically connect to the free AT&T Wi-Fi in any Barnes & Noble store. When you’re in the store with nook, you’ll be able to read any eBook we stock, and we’ll be able to send you special content and promotions. You can also use nook on any 802.11b/g Wi-Fi access point. So, you can connect wirelessly at home, or whereever you have a preconfigured Wi-Fi connection. for a point of clarity, you can connect on any 802.11b/g Wi-Fi hotspot, or wherever you have the SSID password. The exception to thie is Wi-Fi hotspots that use proxy settings (like you typically see in a hotel), where you have to enter a password or some other information before you can connect. Regarding AT&T 3G coverage: You can connect for free anywhere on AT&T’s 3G network.
Q: Can I buy e-books when I’m overseas?
A: you can certainly read any of the content on your nook whereever you are. And if you’re on Wi-Fi, you can access and download any content in your online eBooks Library (sometimes called the digital locker). This includes any subscription content that arrives during your travels. But you cannot buy new Barnes & Noble eBooks (through nook or our website) when you are overseas. We’re sorry, but this is a rights issue that we have to abide by.
Q: Does nook supports folders?
A: A few questions here about navigating the content on your nook. nook’s touchscreen has a keyboard to help you search, lend and annotate your eBooks and other content. The cover flow view is a great and fun feature, but you can also browse the content on nook a number of ways: by type (eBooks vs subscriptions vs other content you’ve loaded on nook, for instance), by title, or by author. You can also use the touchscreen keyboard to search for the particular eBook or content. But nook doesn’t support folders.
Q: Can I read e-books from erader.com and fictionwise.com?
A: We’ve been asked in a number of places if you can read Fictionwise and ereader.com eBooks on nook. The answer is that yes, you can add Fictionwise PDB, PDF and EPUB content (and ereader.com PDB content) to nook using a USB connection. Not all of nook’s features (like lending and synching to other devices) will work on such “sideloaded” content, but you’ll certainly be able to read this content on nook. Nnook accepts EPUB, PDB and PDF files for reading, MP3s for audio, and JPG, GIF, PNG, or BMP for screensavers. You can’t put your eBooks into “folders” or tags at this time, but we’ve heard the request, and we’re looking into it for down the road. nook accepts un-DRM’d EPUB files as well as EPUB files using Adobe’s DRM or B&N’s DRM (a version of Adobe’s). Hope this helps.
We’re also working on a full chart detailing the specific types of content that can be added to nook. We’ll let you know when it’s live.
Q: Will there be a bigger screen and international nook?
A: We’re hearing all your questions about a bigger nook, an international nook, and a textbook nook. As you can imagine, this is just beginning. We have a lot of ideas for the future (and we’re getting even more ideas from you!), but we have made no annoucements about international products or other devices.
Q:Does B&N members get discount on nook and e-book downloads?
A: Members do not get additional discounts on nook or on B&N eBooks at this time. They do, however, get free expedited air shipping on nook, with delivery in 1-2 business days. nook also knows when you’re in a Barnes & Noble store, which allows us to send special content and promotional offers to you when you’re in a store.
Q: Does (or will) the nook have ability to browse the web, like the (experimental) feature on the kindle?
A: nook does not have a web browser. The E Ink display is great for reading, but is less ideal for web browsing. We’re focused on the eReading experience, and think we’ve got the features most people are looking for.
Q: What emagazine and enewspapers are available for the nook and where can I find a listing of them and costs on barnesandnoble.com?
A: I’m in the process of obtaining a list of the eNewspapers and eMagazines that will be available on nook when it launches Nov. 30th. Once I have that list I’ll post it here in this thread.
Q: Does the nook have a dictionary lookup feature (such as is available in the B&N ereader for the PC)?
A: nook has Merriam & Webster dictionary . Yes, nook has dictionary look-up. You use the touchscreen to do these kinds of functions.
Q: Can nook display foreign languages (including European characters such as “é ö ü ä ß”)?
A: You’ll be able to read some other-language ePub files when loaded on nook. It depends on the character set. We’ll try to get more details should you need it.
Q: Can you only loan a book once and once only?
A: Yes, that’s correct. You can loan each eBook (providing the publisher allows this) one time only, for a period of 14 days, to any B&N eReader-supported device, including nook, Mac, PC, iPhone, iPod Touch, and BlackBerry. During this time you cannot read the eBook yourself. Hope that helps, and thanks for your question.
Q: Does nook appear as USB mass storage? If not, is it using some other standard interface?
A: It’s read as an external drive.
Q: Does the nook have test-to-speech feature?
A: You can load MP3 files onto nook, but it does not come with text-to-speech at this time.
Q: Are some type of graphics always at the bottom LCD touchscreen, like annoying billboards?
A: The touchscreen goes dark when you’re not using it. As is noted elsewhere in this thread, the touchscreen also has the keyboard and other navigation features. We’re getting some other pictures to post online so that people can see what this is like. … The “cover flow” makes for a nicer ad, but we should have shown the alternate views, too.
Q: kindle allows one account to be connected to up to five different users. Can we read or share same book at the same time on two different Nooks?
A: Yes, you can access one B&N account from multiple nooks and multiple eReader supported devices (iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry, PC, and Mac).
Q: Can you annotate any eBook with the nook?
A: nook has a touch keyboard and offers a variety of markup features, including note taking, bookmarking, and highlighting. Only content purchased from B&N can be annotated on nook at this time.
Q: Does the pdf reading allow for zooming on the text and annotations?
A: We’re not sure about it, but probably not.
Q: Will the screen saver just show one picture at a time until we change it, or will it rotate the pictures after a set interval?
A: The screen saver does not rotate, though you can change it when you want to.
Q: Can e-books written in Chinese, Japanese and Korean be downloaded and read using the nook?
A: I do not believe that these character sets are supported at this time; but pdf text with embedded fonts will work perfectly.
Q: Can use gift cards to buy e-books?
A: At the present time, Gift Cards and Gift Certificates cannot be used to purchase eBooks, though they can be used for every other product line on the site. This may change at some future date as we move forward with our eBooks offerings, but there don’t appear to be any immediate plans to make it happen.
Q: Where are the 1 million e-books?
A: (Not clear where are they. One forum participant shows that on B&N e-book store he could count 70k e-books, then there are 500k e-books from google, so where are 430k e-books?)
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5 Responses for “To Buy or Not to Buy: Nook Frequently Asked Questions”
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Jetbook Lite for $149.95
I wanted to know if the Nook have christian authors for christian inspirational reading as well as fictional books by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker?
Yes, available. You can search the e-books by author name or title.
I just pre-ordered a nook for my wife, and was told at the store that she could use a gift card to purchase accessories and eBooks, so I also gave her a gift card to purchase her books with.
Am I now hearing that you cannot use the gift card to purchase eBooks?
See here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/help/cds2.asp?PID=8116&cds2Pid=28412
Paying by Barnes & Noble Gift Card or Gift Certificate
Enter the Gift Card or Gift Certificate number and the PIN (the 4-digit number also located on your Gift Card or Certificate) on the Payment page. (Please note: Some Gift Cards and Gift Certificates do not have a PIN.) If the balance available on your Gift Card or Gift Certificate is less than the total cost of your order, you will be asked to provide credit card information or select Pay by Phone.
Gift Cards or Gift Certificates cannot currently be used towards an eBook purchase. Please check back for updates.
The lending once and only once for 14 days is extremely restrictive especially considering that’s not how it happens in the real world with physical books. Kindle allows you to share your login with other users and thus share the same library. Will that be possible with Nook?