# K Touch or Simple Nook?



## Irving

I know this is a Kinde board, please move if in the wrong section.

So, here's my issue. I love my K3, the design, my Amazon experience, etc. However, since they updated the line, I really hate the new design of all three devices. I do like the Nook's design. I don't know if I'm ready to deal with B&N, though. If anyone has dealt with both companies and devices, or one or another, please share your insight. Thanks.


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## mikeschr

I used to have a Nook.
It's well-designed, but keep in mind that of the 2GB of memory on the Nook, you're only allowed to use 256MB for non-B&N content.  To use the rest of the memory, you must purchase the contents from B&N.


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## northofdivision

K touch. If only because one touch to wikipedia and clicking onto "article mode"...plus its much thinner than the nook. I have a nook simple touch and its great for when i read at home but when i'm sitting around at a cafe, its a little thick. If you're at a barnes and nobles often, its nice to have a nook. hardware alone, however, the k touch is cleaner, lighter, thinner and just feels like a better quality machine.


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## Ann in Arlington

I haven't used a Nook, though I've played with them in the stores.  They strike me as, generally, well designed devices, and improving as they go. . .much as the Kindle.  I don't see that the design is that different to the new Kindles, though there are differences that I understand can be important to folks -- page turn buttons, for instance.  I guess the main thing to know is that you can't use your Kindle books on a nook.  At least, not without violating the terms of service you agreed to on purchase. 

It also occurs to me that if your K3 is working fine, there's no need to buy another device. . .and if you really prefer that design to the newer Kindles, get another one now as a spare.  I've heard of a number of people who have done that. . . I won't be surprised if they're on sale again between now and Christmas.

I am going to move this whole thread to the 'other e-readers' area of the boards. . . .might get someone in that section who has both devices and can speak more knowledgeably about pros and cons.

For me, personally, Amazon would have to do something pretty heinous to cause me to 'jump ship' as it were.  But that's me.  And it's nothing against B&N, just an acknowledgement that I have been extremely happy with Amazon's products and service for 15 years.


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## KindleGirl

I have had both the Nook Simple Touch and the Kindle Touch. I prefer the Kindle Touch, but probably mainly because I am familiar with the kindles and all of my books have been purchased at amazon. I bought the Nook Simple Touch pretty much just to read library books, before they were available on the kindles. I thought the Nook was a pretty well designed e-reader. It does show the covers of the books, if that is of interest to you. If I remember right, the main screen was divided into 3 sections...the book you were reading, more books in your library and books recommended to you. I didn't really care for that part. It was easy to find the book you were currently reading, but more steps to find your other books. I don't remember if the Simple Touch has a shelf system or not...I didn't use one, but then I really only had a few books on it. I honestly didn't fiddle with it much as I was only using it for library books and my kindle was my main reader. As Ann said, if you love your K3 there really isn't a need to jump to a touch reader unless you are really wanting to. The Kindle touch has the xray feature that the nook does not, but for the most part they are very similar. It's kind of just a matter of where you want to purchase your books from and who you want to deal with for customer service should you ever need that. I have dealt with Amazon c.s. for my kindles and have had very good service so far. I never had to deal with B&N c.s. so I cannot give any advice there.


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## Irving

Great answers everyone, I'm leaning towards a Kindle. I do agree with KindleGirl about the whole three sections thing. I have a friend with a Nook, you have to purposely navigate to your library; only the latest read appears on your home screen. I also like the fact that I can view book covers on the Nook, but it's not a huge issue, of course. 

Also thanks Ann, for moving the topic.


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## Cardinal

Pains me to say, I like the Nook Simple Touch better than the new Kindle line up.  I bought the NST on Black Friday, so I have it as well as the new Kindles.

I think Barnes and Nobles really thought about the reading experience.  I think the worst part of eBooks is that they are hard to navigate and Barnes and Nobles addressed this with the Touch.  Holding a page turn button down flips through the book quickly.  The Go To has a slider that easily lets you move around the book.  If you are reading a book and go to the Table of  Contents the chapter you are in is highlighted.

The NST is the first eReader I've had that I've found easy to hold without a cover that I don't fear is too fragile to use without a cover.  

I love the custom screensavers without a hack!  

I am very impressed with the Nook Simple Touch.


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## KindleChickie

I currently have a K3, nook simple touch, and returned my Kindle touch.  I love the Nook for its touch feature and in store reading.  But I really hate B&N store.  My only complaint on the nook itself is the housing feels poorly fitted.  My bezel feels funny when I use the page buttons, almost as if it isn't fitted properly.  And the chubby design reminds me of something that was made for a child's hands.

I have zero problems with non B&N material because the Nook has an expandable memory card slot.  All the books I bought from the Sony store work just fine on the Nook.  

There is a great video on YouTube which shows a Nook simple touch rooted and running the android Kindle app.  I would like to try it on mine, just haven't gotten around to it.


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## KindleChickie

Irving said:


> I do agree with KindleGirl about the whole three sections thing. I have a friend with a Nook, you have to purposely navigate to your library; only the latest read appears on your home screen.


I do not have this problem. All of mt side loaded content shows on my home screen just like the B&N books, so it must be a setting.


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## dbeman

Irving said:


> I know this is a Kinde board, please move if in the wrong section.
> 
> So, here's my issue. I love my K3, the design, my Amazon experience, etc. However, since they updated the line, I really hate the new design of all three devices. I do like the Nook's design. I don't know if I'm ready to deal with B&N, though. If anyone has dealt with both companies and devices, or one or another, please share your insight. Thanks.


Most people who complain about Barnes & Noble's customer service have never truly attempted to contact them for anything. I presume either guerrilla marketing or that they're passing on what they "heard from somewhere else." In the rare instance when I have required Barnes & Noble customer service (only twice) I received instant and thorough responses that resolved my issues.

I have been and continue to be an Amazon customer; but when researching e-readers I purchased a nook. I find the nook ST to be superior to the K3, K4 and Kindle Touch. I also prefer the epub format to the mobi-esque Kindle files; this allows you to read ADE epub's on your nook thereby giving you more options when purchasing content.

It is true, as another poster mentioned, that you are only allotted 256 megabytes for side-loaded content; however given the relatively small file size of ebooks this is virtually a non-issue. If it ever becomes an issue you can pop a micro-SD card into the easily accessible slot on your nook ST and it will never be an issue again.

When I purchased my nook I only had a handful of Kindle books, only one of which I paid for. (I read them on my iPhone.) Additionally I rarely read the same book twice, so access to previously purchased content is not a huge deal for me. If it were, and if I had already acquired a significant number of books in my Amazon library, it might have been a more difficult decision to jump off the Kindle train.

So in summary:

1. There is very little difference between the nook ST and its various Kindle counterparts. When I weighed the pros and cons I bought a nook; but that doesn't mean its the right choice for everyone.

2. Barnes & Noble's customer service department is not the pack of heartless ogres that people make them out to be; nor is Amazon's customer service as infallible as some would have you believe. (Just do an internet search to find out the headaches people have then they get locked out of their libraries.)

3. Whatever you decide to go with be sure to back up your purchased content and take the necessary steps to ensure that you can personally enjoy each and every book you've purchased regardless of any outside factors. (*cough* apprentice alf *cough*)


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## Irving

dbeman said:


> Most people who complain about Barnes & Noble's customer service have never truly attempted to contact them for anything. I presume either guerrilla marketing or that they're passing on what they "heard from somewhere else." In the rare instance when I have required Barnes & Noble customer service (only twice) I received instant and thorough responses that resolved my issues.
> 
> I have been and continue to be an Amazon customer; but when researching e-readers I purchased a nook. I find the nook ST to be superior to the K3, K4 and Kindle Touch. I also prefer the epub format to the mobi-esque Kindle files; this allows you to read ADE epub's on your nook thereby giving you more options when purchasing content.
> 
> It is true, as another poster mentioned, that you are only allotted 256 megabytes for side-loaded content; however given the relatively small file size of ebooks this is virtually a non-issue. If it ever becomes an issue you can pop a micro-SD card into the easily accessible slot on your nook ST and it will never be an issue again.
> 
> When I purchased my nook I only had a handful of Kindle books, only one of which I paid for. (I read them on my iPhone.) Additionally I rarely read the same book twice, so access to previously purchased content is not a huge deal for me. If it were, and if I had already acquired a significant number of books in my Amazon library, it might have been a more difficult decision to jump off the Kindle train.
> 
> So in summary:
> 
> 1. There is very little difference between the nook ST and its various Kindle counterparts. When I weighed the pros and cons I bought a nook; but that doesn't mean its the right choice for everyone.
> 
> 2. Barnes & Noble's customer service department is not the pack of heartless ogres that people make them out to be; nor is Amazon's customer service as infallible as some would have you believe. (Just do an internet search to find out the headaches people have then they get locked out of their libraries.)
> 
> 3. Whatever you decide to go with be sure to back up your purchased content and take the necessary steps to ensure that you can personally enjoy each and every book you've purchased regardless of any outside factors. (*cough* apprentice alf *cough*)


This really helped. I wasn't exactly sure of their services. I was indeed listening to rumors.  Also, I don't really side load any content, so this isn't a problem at all. The option of micro-USB is always nice, though.

Also, someone said how the Nook ST's design was a bit bulky and seemingly designed for small children; this was actually a favorite feature of them to me. The fact that it feels solid overall, and thicker (which, for me, means better in the hands) than the Kindle is a nice upside.

Thanks once more for the continued responses.


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## pomtroll

*I have both the Kindle Touch & the Nook ST. Both have their good points & both have things that could be improved on. I have never had trouble with B&N (have the Nook Classic) nor the Nook reader. But I can say the same for my Kindles too. So it boils down to which one you are comfortable using. Personally I find the Kindle size easier for me to hold. But I like the tap screen positions on the Nook. I like the thumbnails on the Nook but find it nicer I can hide the books in the collections on the Kindle. Since you already have an amazon library & are used to the Kindle, it might be the easiest to go with. But if you liek how the Nook looks & handles I think you will find B&N easy to deal with....There I'm a big help right? *


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## rickw717

Daughter has a Kindle with keyboard, wife has a Kindle Touch and I have a Nook simple touch. I've played with all of them for quite a while now, my Nook is the best hands down. Much easier to use, can get all kinds of free books (usually don't even have to convert them) and seems a little faster. The Nook is a snap to use and can add libraries with no problem, unlike the Kindle. Seems as if Amazon deliberately decided to make the Kindle user non-friendly. As far ad B&N customer service goes, I've only contacted the once, but they were excellent. Came on the line quickly, took care of the question I had with no problem. So far I'm impressed with the Nook and the B&N customer service. Not dissing Amazon (I have a Prime account), use them all the time. Just think the Nook is a better buy...Amazon just needs to stop all of the proprietary nonsense and make the Kindle a little more user friendly.


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## mlewis78

rickw717 said:


> Daughter has a Kindle with keyboard, wife has a Kindle Touch and I have a Nook simple touch. I've played with all of them for quite a while now, my Nook is the best hands down. Much easier to use, can get all kinds of free books (usually don't even have to convert them) and seems a little faster. The Nook is a snap to use and can add libraries with no problem, unlike the Kindle. Seems as if Amazon deliberately decided to make the Kindle user non-friendly. As far ad B&N customer service goes, I've only contacted the once, but they were excellent. Came on the line quickly, took care of the question I had with no problem. So far I'm impressed with the Nook and the B&N customer service. Not dissing Amazon (I have a Prime account), use them all the time. Just think the Nook is a better buy...Amazon just needs to stop all of the proprietary nonsense and make the Kindle a little more user friendly.


B&N ebooks have B&N's proprietary format so that their ebooks only work on Nooks, so I don't understand how it would be any less proprietary than Amazon's format.  But I've heard this argument many times.


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## pitbullandfire

Cardinal said:


> The NST is the first eReader I've had that I've found easy to hold without a cover that I don't fear is too fragile to use without a cover.


I have to agree here...I love the Touch and all my Kindle readers but the NST is the only Nook I liked and mainly it was because of the feel while holding and reading...I still might get one for "grins and giggles" if I can scrounge up some extra $$


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## Ann in Arlington

I admit that I tried out a nook touch when they were first released -- this was before a Kindle touch was around. It's definitely a nice device. . . .I liked that it still had physical page turn buttons -- but I'm not one of those who _needs_ a touch screen so it wasn't nice enough for me to abandon my huge Kindle library.


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## Cardinal

pitbullandfire said:


> I have to agree here...I love the Touch and all my Kindle readers but the NST is the only Nook I liked and mainly it was because of the feel while holding and reading...I still might get one for "grins and giggles" if I can scrounge up some extra $$


I'm blown away by how much I love this thing! I really wasn't expecting that.


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## luvshihtzu

I belong to a forum where several people have recently bought the Simple nook Touch.  These are people who have had Sony readers.  All three recent posts have had them all unhappy with the page turns and the slowness.  Some are returning them and ordering the Sony T1.  I keep hoping that Amazon will fix the page turns with a firmware update on my new Kindle Touch.  Personally, I think the Kindle Touch is too slow and very seldom registers the touch for page turns accurately.  I really like my Sony PRS950 -7 inch screen from last year.  It registers the touch page turns much better.  Too bad that Sony dropped this reader from its line.


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## MichaelPaytonMZ

I've only used the Kindle Touch, but how is this device "user unfriendly"? I tap on a book's title and it opens. I hold down my finger and a menu screen pops up. How much simpler is the Nook touch? Does a little robot pop out and guide you along the menus? Does the thing make dinner? 

Personally, I just like having a wider selection of books at my fingertips. B&N just doesn't have as vast a library. Yeah, you can sideload epub files. I can (and have) sideloaded 100s of mobi and txt files on my KT. How many books out there are epub format exclusives? 

I know I'm being a bit cheeky here, but what can I do with a Nook that I can't do with a Kindle? Outside of adding an SD card for a few 1,000 extra books on the go, I just don't see where they have a single advantage. I could have seen the Nook Tablet over the Kindle Fire for the SD card slot (until B&N removed the ability to sideload non-B&N apps, which is a deal-breaker for every tech-minded buyer that i know).


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## mlewis78

I sideloaded 161 epub (drm-free) ebooks to my new Nook Simple Touch and it was full, since it is made to limit the number of side-loaded, non-B&N books.  In order to get the 1.1 update, I had to take them off.  After I installed the update, I put only some of them back on so as not to have it "full."  I realize I can add a micro SDHC card but I haven't purchased one yet.  I may have one lying around (used one for Nook Classic updates).

I was finally able to connect to my home wifi with it yesterday (had it for 5 days). Someone on Mobilereads suggested I click the back button after it rejects my wifi password and that worked.  I wasted a lot of time with B&N's customer service the first night I had it (because I couldn't connect to home wifi), when they ultimately told me to call my router manufacturer and change my password for it (despite my other devices, including my laptop, already being connected to my home wifi network).

I have the $79 kindle and love it, so I can't honesty recommend the kindle touch, but Kindle is  user friendly and Nook is not.  I've had my baby kindle for more than 2 months and have never had any bad issues with it.


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## Meemo

rickw717 said:


> Daughter has a Kindle with keyboard, wife has a Kindle Touch and I have a Nook simple touch. I've played with all of them for quite a while now, my Nook is the best hands down. Much easier to use, can get all kinds of free books (usually don't even have to convert them) and seems a little faster. The Nook is a snap to use and can add libraries with no problem, unlike the Kindle. Seems as if Amazon deliberately decided to make the Kindle user non-friendly. As far ad B&N customer service goes, I've only contacted the once, but they were excellent. Came on the line quickly, took care of the question I had with no problem. So far I'm impressed with the Nook and the B&N customer service. Not dissing Amazon (I have a Prime account), use them all the time. Just think the Nook is a better buy...Amazon just needs to stop all of the proprietary nonsense and make the Kindle a little more user friendly.


I can't speak to the devices themselves, because I don't have either Touch reader - but I have had a couple of Nooks (the original eInk one and I now have a Nook Color). I'm not sure I'm understanding some of your other arguments, though.....

Kindle's library access couldn't be simpler. (But maybe you're talking about something other than the Overdrive library?) One thing I never liked about ePub library books is having to go through ADE - for that matter, if I'm remembering correctly (it's been a while) I had to run any non-B&N books through ADE.

I have yet to see *any* bookstore (i.e. Nook, Sony, Kobo, Copia) best Kindle for the sheer number of free books available.

And as someone else mentioned, Nook's books are proprietary, despite what lots of folks say - even though the device might not be. Try putting them on a Sony reader.  They are, however, open to other store's books. I personally don't much care for that policy - we can read your books but you can't read ours...it doesn't even make good business sense to me. In fact it's a lot of the B&N policies that have pretty much turned me off of Nook.

But like I've always said, I want the Nook, and all the Kindle's competitors, to succeed _almost_ as much as I want Kindle to continue to succeed. It's that competition that will keep Amazon & Kindle on its toes. So I'm glad you're liking your Nook Touch.


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## dbeman

MichaelPaytonMZ said:


> I've only used the Kindle Touch, but how is this device "user unfriendly"? I tap on a book's title and it opens. I hold down my finger and a menu screen pops up. How much simpler is the Nook touch? Does a little robot pop out and guide you along the menus? Does the thing make dinner?


Another case of self initiated guerrilla marketing methinks.



> I know I'm being a bit cheeky here, but what can I do with a Nook that I can't do with a Kindle?


Preview a book for free at Barnes & Noble for 60 minutes a day.  That, and the expandability via the micro SD card slot.

But in all seriousness it comes down to personal preference; and when I weighed the pros and cons the nook came out on top for me. But that doesn't mean its the right choice for everyone. In fact my wife owns a Kindle 3 and my mother in law just ordered a Kindle Fire yesterday.


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## Will Write for Gruel

KindleChickie said:


> I do not have this problem. All of mt side loaded content shows on my home screen just like the B&N books, so it must be a setting.


Same for me with my Nook Touch. I think it may simply be a matter of side loading into the proper directory on the Nook. I actually have a lot of Kindle books I converted with Calibre that I then side loaded onto the my Nook, and they are indistinguishable from the native Nook books. They even show the "lend me" label on them.

I also find the Nook Touch very easy to hold and use in one hand. Sometimes I use the page turn button and sometimes I use the touchscreen to turn pages. It offers a very nice reading experience.


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## luvmy4brats

dbeman said:


> Another case of self initiated guerrilla marketing methinks.
> 
> Preview a book for free at Barnes & Noble for 60 minutes a day.  That, and the expandability via the micro SD card slot.


Yes, but they've taken most of the chairs out of the stores. Unless the store has a decent size cafe with an empty table, are you going to just stand around and read? They frown on you plopping down on the floor.


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## KindleChickie

Luvmy4brats said:


> Yes, but they've taken most of the chairs out of the stores. Unless the store has a decent size cafe with an empty table, are you going to just stand around and read? They frown on you plopping down on the floor.


I frequent 3 B&Ns, only one has a large cafe. I have never had a problem finding a chair to sit and read. I don't understand, is this new? Was there an announcement? I have been out of the loop recently.

I can't say enough how much I enjoy the free hour reading inside B&Ns. I didn't think I would. But I actually read Steve Jobs bio for free that way. Never would have paid for it.


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## mlewis78

I've had Nooks since October 2010 but have never read mine in a B&N store.  They closed the B&N that was closest to where I live (near Lincoln Center).  There is one right across the street from my job.  I go in there occasionally after lunch.  The cafe seats have been full whenever I have looked.  There is a sign saying tables are for people who buy from the cafe.  I guess a lot of them are drinking coffee, and they still read the magazines that are for sale in the store (without buying them).


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## luvmy4brats

KindleChickie said:


> I frequent 3 B&Ns, only one has a large cafe. I have never had a problem finding a chair to sit and read. I don't understand, is this new? Was there an announcement? I have been out of the loop recently.
> 
> I can't say enough how much I enjoy the free hour reading inside B&Ns. I didn't think I would. But I actually read Steve Jobs bio for free that way. Never would have paid for it.


They've taken the chairs out of many of them... I see complaints about it on the nook FB page all the time. The only chairs left in mine are the cafe.. And there's only about 5 tables and they are always full.


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## Meemo

Read-in-store is nifty - if there's a place to sit AND if your B&N is handy.  The only one in my area is 20 minutes and a toll bridge away.  I used to work 5 minutes from there, but that was long before Kindle existed, much less Nook.  So for folks like me, that "advantage" is a non-factor, even though I've been able to get a seat to have my coffee the rare times I get over there.


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## mlewis78

Luvmy4brats said:


> They've taken the chairs out of many of them... I see complaints about it on the nook FB page all the time. The only chairs left in mine are the cafe.. And there's only about 5 tables and they are always full.


The one near my job is in the Citicorp building. The cafe has more tables than yours, but that's it. No other place to sit.


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## dbeman

dbeman said:


> Preview a book for free at Barnes & Noble for 60 minutes a day.


I meant for the  in my previous post to signify a touch of "cheekiness" as the question I was answering was:



MichaelPaytonMZ said:


> I know I'm being a bit cheeky here, but what can I do with a Nook that I can't do with a Kindle?


He also wondered if the nook made dinner...which made me chuckle a bit. Mine doesn't; but perhaps that's an improvement for the next generation of devices.

[quote author=dbeman]
But in all seriousness it comes down to personal preference; and when I weighed the pros and cons the nook came out on top for me. But that doesn't mean its the right choice for everyone.
[/quote]

So I would agree that if there isn't a Barnes & Noble store close to you, if there is but there are no chairs to sit in, or if you don't feel like ordering a cup of coffee and a scone while you sit and read in the cafe then by all means use something other than a nook.


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## Ann in Arlington

dbeman said:


> So I would agree that if there isn't a Barnes & Noble store close to you, if there is but there are no chairs to sit in, or if you don't feel like ordering a cup of coffee and a scone while you sit and read in the cafe then by all means use something other than a nook.


 I guess I see the in store thing as a nice perk, but not a major feature of the device. Might be something that would tip you for the nook if you were truly completely undecided. . .but there are just so many more important things to consider: content, usability, desire for in person support, track record. . . .all things each person will have to evaluate for themselves.

That's my view anyway.


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## mlewis78

Hope I didn't sound snarky about the tables.  Just an observation.  I just spent some time in the store before lunch but looked at things and didn't look over at the cafe status (and didn't have my nook with me anyway).


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## Reiki Nurse

Wow, I'm so torn between a kindle and a nook, and reading these posts hasn't made it any easier  
They both sound great. Guess I'd better keep reading


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## luvshihtzu

After I actually held the nook ST and tried to use the page turn buttons today at Target, it was a no-brainer.  Kindle was vastly superior in the $79 model with page turn buttons and also the navigation with the Kindle Touch $99/WiFi/Special Offers.  I have arthritis in my fingers, so page turning has to be easy with very little pressure. The old nook Classic had the same kind of turn buttons as their new nook ST and it hurt my fingers after just a few page turns with both units.


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## luvmykindle3

I have the ktouch. I like the smaller size. I prefer reading it without a case. The screen was a little too sensitive at times, and sometimes mine flipped too many pages at one time. I ended up exchanging it at Target for another one. This one works a lot better. I thought about the simple touch too, but I love the way you can get library books with the kindle, so I decided to stay with that.

I guess it all comes down to preference. Both re gret devices.


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