Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch
The Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch is the second generation of the Nook e-book device. It is designed and manufactured by Barnes & Noble, and was released on June 10 2011. People who already have a Nook touch do not need to purchase the Nook Simple Touch, as they can upgrade the operating system for free, enabling many new features. It has received fairly positive reviews from industry critics, and was PCMag.com’s Editors’ Choice as the best low-cost e-book reader you can buy.
Key Information
The Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch has Best-Text Technology that producers super-sharp fonts, and the breakthrough E Ink display makes it seem just like reading an actual book. The touchscreen is easy to use. It lets you open the book, make the font larger or smaller, look up words, organize your library, and lend a book or shop for new titles. Barnes & Noble has the world’s largest bookstore with over 3 million titles. With the Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch, you have access to bestsellers, new releases, and free samples. The Nook Daily Find feature offers a great book at a discounted price each day, to go with Free Fridays. The Nook Simple Touch also lets you borrow books in the universally accepted ePub format. It comes with free Wi-Fi and offers free access at all Barnes & Noble stores and over 24 000 AT&T hotspots. The Nook Reading App syncs the last page you have read across your Nook, computer, and smartphone. This allows for you to pickup where you left off on any device. The Nook Simple Touch also allows users to connect with friends and share recommendations about books on Twitter and Facebook, or swap books with the LendMe App. It can be purchased online from Amazon. It is also available at Best Buy.
Tech Specs
The Nook Simple Touch is 5 inches by 0.47 inches by 6.5 inches and weighs 7.48 ounces. It has a Monochrome E Ink 6-inch display, with a resolution of 800×600. The display is a touchscreen. The Nook Simple Touch has 2 GB of Flash Memory and 1.25 GB of Total User Available Memory. It supports both microSD and microSDHC Flash Memory Cards, and has a wireless connectivity of 802.11b/g/n. It supports PDF and ePub text formats. It has a Lithium Polymer Rechargeable battery that takes around 3.5 hours to completely recharge. It comes in black.
Pros
- One of the best features of the Nook Simple Touch is the lack of annoying advertisements; the device lets you immerse yourself in books, newspapers, and magazines without being distracted by ads that appear in other e-readers
- Offers free support from their 40 000 booksellers, and offers free Wi-Fi at all Barnes & Noble locations and all AT&T hotspot locations (restaurants, cafes, etc…)
- It has very fast page refreshes
- Provides access to over 2 million newspapers, books, and magazines
- The touchscreen is very responsive
- Built-in LED light for reading in the dark
Cons
- Does not have 3G, only Wi-Fi (although Barnes & Noble’s partnership with AT&T makes the lack of 3G much more bearable)
- The physical page-turn buttons are stiff
- No audio capability, which means you cannot purchase audiobooks
- It is fairly expensive (although on par with other e-readers of its class)
- Some users have complained that it attracts dust, which can damage the device over time (although ensuring it is cleaned on a regular basis will help prevent this)