Product ReviewsBarnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch 2GB, Wi-Fi, 6in eBook Reader - Black

Basic, Solid E-ink reader.

This is an older model B&N nook, with good (not adjustable) contrast and low glare. I purchased because my Mother broke her GlowLight version, I gave her my GlowLight version (since I rarely used the light), and I purchased this as my replacement. Battery life, for some reason, seems a little shorter than the GlowLight version (maybe different size battery); but only going from 100% to 68% in a week of use, the battery life is more than sufficient. Easy to understand interface, and plenty of online tutorials to assist. Setting up for borrowing from public library (via Adobe Digital Editions) might be a bit fussy the first time; it is easy to use after setup and first sync. I stare at LCD at work for 9+ hours per day, so I find E-ink easier on the eyes when reading for that extra 45-90 minutes in the evening. Remember that E-ink experience is pretty much for black-and-white, low-refresh-rate activities, and cannot provide a "tablet" experience. But as an E-reader only, I love this series and the GlowLight series of e-ink readers.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: new | Sold by: lobsternum2

Small reader with clear pages

I've had several Nooks and liked them very much. When I purchased this one I didn't realize that it's only a reader and will not work to check e-mail or go to the web. I was able to purchase a book from Barnes and Noble very easily. One thing I don't like is the page sort of jumps each time I go to a new page in my book. It's a minor issue though.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: lvsells7

Great little e-reader for the price!

Great little e-reader!

Pros: Better e-ink display/contrast then the Sony PRS-T1, and Kobo Touch. Easy to set-up and use the menus, wireless, lettering font/size, and does not slow down when using a microSD card with 1620 e-books on it in PDF format, which is why I tried out the Nook Simple Touch and the Kobo Touch. Sony's PRS-T1 can't handle very many e-books-it slows down around 500, freezes and you have to do a 'hard reset' often, to get it to work right for a little while. When asked why, Sony said the book covers in PDF format slow it down. Not so with the Nook....it just zips right along no matter how many e-books you load in PDF format on the microSD card! PC software-easy to use.

Cons: Nook PC software-while easy to use it does not compare to Sony's 'Reader for PC' software, which allows you to add/delete e-book groups yourself-which also slows down after 500 or so e-books. Nook's just does not give you enough catagories and/or the ability to add/delete them yourself. I like to separate per favorite author and then by genre.

It's also not as 'touch' sensitive as I'd like-it 'misses' quite a few finger swipes and the forward/backward 'buttons' on the front sides of the Nook are just a little too hard to push to be comfortable. I also could not find a browser, even after trying the 'search' button the 'how to's' online said would work. I also don't like the fact I can't download all my e-books in one place. I can only read Nook's via my Adobe Digital Editions as long as it's hooked to my computer. I don't like not being able to download purchased content from Barnes & Noble to my computer.

That said, I am going to buy another one so my Mom can enjoy one too!Read full review...

Compare Nook Touch and Kindle Keyboard

I bought this used as a second reader. I already have a Kindle keyboard. I wanted an easy, portable way to get the library books not available for Kindle. So far, I still like my Kindle better. It is easier and more intuitive than the Nook. The home screen is simple and straightforward compared to the Nook Touch. It has taken me some effort to figure out how to navigate around the Nook to do what I want to do. There seems to be many more layers of menus to wade through on the Nook. I am sure I need to read the owner's manual to figure out some of the features. I didn't have to do that with the Kindle. The Kindle navigation and features were obvious to me without reading an owner's manual.

One thing I like about the Nook, and its not an important thing, is that you can put your own screen savers up. I can't do that with the Kindle keyboard and I'm pretty tired of looking at the same old blah pictures.

Another thing that is kind of irritating to me about the Nook is the screen lock that you have to disengage when the Nook comes out of sleep. Why is that there? I haven't figured it out yet, but its a pain in the neck.

I have put a library book on the Nook Touch and it was a real process compared to the Kindle. Kindle is a lot easier, but again, not all library books are available for Kindle.

To me the difference between the Kindle and Nook in turning pages is not a big deal. I haven't noticed one is better than the other. I also haven't noticed that one screen is better than the other. Although the Nook has better black and contrast I will admit my Kindle keyboard is older and second generation Kindle. The newer Kindles might be different. I have poor eye sight and both screens are okay for me.

Comparing to the Kindle keyboard, the other thing I don't like about my Nook Touch is that it only has WiFi. My Kindle keyboard has Whispersync and 3G which means I can connect to the internet and check out new books I may be interested in at any location, not just a WiFi hot spot. This is an important feature to me because sometimes I may be sitting in the backyard by the pond or I may be in the car on a long road trip and I can still shop. To me, shopping is half the fun of an e-reader.

All in all, if you want a an e-reader and don't want to drop a lot of money, a used Nook Touch will do the job. If you can afford it, I would recommend a reader that can connect to the internet anywhere and not just at a WiFi hot spot.

If your bottom line is whether you can read the screen comfortably for hours at a time and you can hoard tons of books, the Nook Touch will do that.Read full review...

Light, simple, great display; everything you want in an ereader

For a simple ereader, look no further than this Nook simple touch. Very impressed at the features, size, low eight and the awesome eink display! If you like to read books, newspapers and such, then this simple device is all you need.

The downside is that its a very limited device; can only use it with B&N's system, so you can't even use web browsing, email and such. I'm very surprised this doesn't come with simple apps like sudoku! Everyone I know who reads a lot plays this game and I'm at a loss why this was left out of the ST. But, it makes up for it with the ability to read pdf's and has the expandable microSD card slot as well.

And did I mention this thing is uber light? Once color eink displays hit the market, these types of cheap tablets will be awesome. Once step closer to star trek. :)Read full review...

Great device, easy to use, great for reading. Top alternative to a Kindle

For those looking for an alternative to the Kindles I can well recommend one of these, Reading wise the e-ink screen is very easy on the eyes and it feels almost like reading on paper, the screen has a slight santin-like sheen to it which sits it somewhere between a normal paperback and a glossy magazine.

Performance wise it does what it needs to do with page turns handled quickly enough not to detract from the reading experience. Some features can be a tad clunky like the onscreen keyboard for example but they all function as they should. The web browser in the latest firmware is great for static pages like recipes, news and game hints where you want the info onscreen for a while but without worrying about battery life while reading in.

With this device and a copy of Calibre (google it) you have a wide range of free books and texts available which can easily be sorted, converted and loaded onto the Nook without the need for going near any protected ebooks (especially for UK users like myself that can't use the B&N store)Read full review...

One of the best ebay purchases I have ever made.

I love my new Nook reader. With changable font sizes, it is easy to read and does not hurt the eyes. I prefer the non-color as it is realistic to a book. Easy to use, long battery life and an easy to travel with size make this a terrific bargain. Even without the 3G, it is easy to get books using wi-fi and considering each book I get is about 600 pages long, I can plan well in advance to have books in my library to use. It was one of the best purchases I have made. My friends have paid so much more for a Kindle which is basically, just thinner. I read, and that is exactly what the Nook is used for. Reading. It is a great tool and because I travel often, the perfect reader for me!Read full review...

Great with epub, not so much with PDF

I bought the Nook for my dad, he reads a lot and hates doing it in a computer 'cause it gives him eyestrain.
He's fascinated by it. Loves the fact that in little space can hold that many books, that he can read several books at a time, and the recommendations from the Barnes & Noble store.
PROS:
- Easy and simple to include a book, just like you would on a flash drive
- Inner memory 240mb and microSD slot
- Reads epubs wich is (to me) the best e-book format
- Good battery life
- Nice respond on the tactil screen and buttons
- No compatibility issues with PCs and e-book formats
- Easy to change the font size

CONS:
- The only one we've found is that you can't zoom in when reading a PDF file, wich I find terrible since you can't possibly read any PDF file unless the original book was the same size as the reader.

If they could change that, it would be completely perfect. My dad is a doctor and he would love to be able to put his med-books there, specially zoom in the graphics and pictures. My sister is a med student and she already told me that if she can't zoom in the diagrams it's worthless to her.

So, if you read for the love of books, I completely recommend it, but if you need to study with it, better get a Kobo (I own one), it does zoom in and you can read in landscape mode, with the zoom at pagewidthRead full review...

Nicely tuned native EPUB reader, but doesn't eats all PDF. Can be unblocked

The reader-soft is a two-sided thing. The native soft is the best for reading EPUBS cause it is fine-tuned to minimize the features of e-ink technology (flashes when screen is redrawing) and it shows itself best here (approx. 5 pages before a black flash). Taking in consideration that I made a known procedure and turned Nook into an android-pad and can now install other programs, I have to tell that other top soft-readers (CoolReader or FBReader) flash every page-change and that's much noticeable. Still Cool- and FB-reader fully support almost any other book-types you may encounter: FictionBook, HTML, CHM, RTF, mobi and some more with no need to convert books.
The semy-epic fail came when I tried to oped a downloaded non-specific PDF-text made of book-pages scans. The screen showed a number here and there and some dashes but nothing more. It made my mind to have another pdf-viewer instead of original, and to do so one need to unblock the access to the Nook's Android. So, that's the way to read all PDF and DJVu books.
Although the greyscale screen is no for graphics, Nook unblocked can read e-mail and browse the inet (through your favorite browser), play chess or like, be a diary - just use android's native or install your choice app. The Rule to remember - the Angry Pig Killers do not live here. :)
The choice: Kindle4 or Nook.
The solve: You can't tune Kindle in case of... but can do with Nook.Read full review...

Awesome product! Recommended to all of my friends and family.

Excellent eReader! I love all of the little extras that come with the touch screen at the bottom and the ease of use that it has as far as navigating or looking for things. By far one of my favorite features is the dictionary, you don't even need to be connected to the internet, and it will look up a word for you quick and easy. The only reason I give this a 4/5 is the battery life, while its not too bad and I usually put it on the charger every 2-3 days, it comes no where near close to the Kindle but sacrifices must be paid when we want a color touch screen on our eReaders.Read full review...

The Nook Simple touch is superior to the Kindle Touch

I bought this product because I wanted an ereader to use on the subway, and I didn't want to use my ipad. (I still carry books around.) I also wanted something that actually did exactly what I wanted it for - to read ebooks. The Kindle is superior in the experience of purchasing Amazon products. It also lets you read ebooks. There's a difference.

The Nook Simple Touch's reading experience is superior to that of the kindle. The touchscreen technology and page-turning is fast. The battery lasts 1.5 months. It has extra options for setting font size and type. It's a nice compact size you're comfortable holding for extended periods of time. It is non-slip, and curved to fit a holding hand.. It has expandable memory in the form of a microSD slot. It fits in a coat pocket. It doesn't force ads down your throat. It's under $100.

My only quibble with the device is that it could get better value out of its wifi connection. Setting up an API for service providers to create plug-ins shouldn't have been that much of a burden. I honestly don't care so much, because I have a smartphone, but I'd trade battery life to occasionally check email or the time.

Also, it could do better with 'collection'/list management, and it could better incorporate any embedded description tags in the ebooks. When you have hundreds of books, the search function is useful but browsing isn't as much. The Kindle has this problem too.

Another issue, affecting nearly all ereaders, is the difficulty they have in rendering PDFs.

How often do you get to pick the superior product while also discouraging the formation of a media distribution monopoly at the same time? Amazon requires a credit card in your account set up to use kindles. It has been known to unilaterally revoke/remove ebooks from kindles, if it runs into a dispute with the publisher.

I prefer reading on the simple touch over kindle, kindle touch, ipad, laptop or desktop. It's easy to hold for extended periods of time. The touch screen experience is superb; much faster than the kindle, and still a little faster than the kindle touch.

Don't let anyone tell you that ebooks are replacements for real books. Ebooks have superior portability and possibly better annotation functionality, but at the end of the day what you bought from most vendors is a non-transferrable license to read something. And they can change the rules of that license whenever they find it worth the hassle. You don't 'own' an ebook. You can't resell it. You almost definitely can't lend it to 100 friends. And you can't download it to all your devices (kindle app on desktop, on iphone, on tablet, etc., kindle upgrade/replacement) if the number of devices exceeds a variable number of maximum downloads set by the publisher. Ebooks are degraded 'defective by design' products, and should always be cheaper than an actual book. I'd set the right price at 1/2 to 2/3 of the paperback price.

Always demand ereaders that can read open formats, and have external memory slots.Read full review...