Very good book

The GlowLight Nook's six-inch, 800 x 600 E Ink Pearl display is old hat for ebook readers — the new Kindles use it, last year's Nook uses it, and a host of other devices use it. The GlowLight Nook has a screen protector on top of the display, though, which makes text appear slightly softer and lower-contrast than on last year's model. I didn't notice until I held the GlowLight Nook next to last year's Nook and a Kindle, and even though all three use the same display technology the GlowLight Nook's text didn't look quite as sharp. It's a fine screen, but it's nothing remarkable anymore, and I'm starting to wish for a slightly higher-res display that renders text a little more sharply.

The big change here is the GlowLight — it makes the Nook's name a serious mouthful, but it's a wonderful addition to the device. There's a new item in the main menu for toggling and adjusting the light, or you can press and hold the "n" button for about three seconds to turn it on or off. Barnes & Noble doesn't want to explain how the light works, but it's basically a set of eight LED lights at the top of the device, slotted in between bezel and display. The lights shine down onto the Nook's display, and Barnes & Noble works its patent-pending magic to spread the light uniformly over the whole screen.

I wouldn't describe the light as uniform, though. It's really bright at the top, right next to the LEDs, then there's a dark stripe right below. It evens out considerably by the time it's illuminating any text, but it's still inconsistent enough to make certain lines of text look slighty darker or lighter than others. None of it really impedes the reading experience, but it's not as nice-looking as a cool, even glow would be.

Still, all things considered, the light works really well. Rather than a backlit screen that seems to glare out at you, the Nook's screen really does glow a bluish white, which is both easier on your eyes and just generally a nice effect. The light's intensity is customizable, and will go from just-barely-on to blind-you-immediately levels of brightness. Reading in bed, I was able to use the Nook with the light only slightly above the minimum level, and still read comfortably. Barnes & Noble touts that the light is much less disturbing to your partner in bed, and that it'll pretty much save your marriage forever; given that I could turn up the GlowLight and use the Nook as a flashlight, I don't know how much I buy that. Still, it's far less obtrusive than using a lamp or an iPad, and that's good for you and whoever's in bed next to you.

Excellent eReader, very happy with the purchase & functionality!

I bought this as a present for a loved one's birthday. It arrived a few days late, since there were some aggravating complications which resulted in the shipping method being downgraded from USPS Express Int'l to First-Class. Anyhow, complaints aside - let's dig into the actual product.
After reading a multitude of other reviews on eBook readers, I decided to purchase the Nook - and I am not in the least disappointed! It is the first eReader in the industry to have the Glowlight feature - something that has not yet been put to an extensive test, but is still a nifty feature to have if you do a lot of nighttime reading and want to save on electricity bills. The response time and page-turning time are all very good, significantly better than my Sony PRS-T1 (which is admittedly older, but for comparison's sake please allow this). Although the range of eBook support is behind the competition, I personally believe that the PDF and ePUB format is all one could ask for - for the tech-savvy that don't buy this you can always consider rooting the device and thus unleash a wider range of format support. Furthermore, I like how the screen has an in-built anti-glare layer (which would have saved me some bad applying on my PRS-T1) and the way the text looks. As for the design - the Nook's design is pleasing to the eye and comfortable to hold and read for long periods of time; compared to the PRS-T1, however, I think the Nook falls back in terms of appearance and "style". Overall, I believe the Nook was worth every cent and is an outstanding eReader - affordable, efficient and easy to use! I highly recommend this!

good product

With purchase of this device it is happy. Conveniently weight small lies in a hand, it is convenient to glance over pages, buttons are intuitively clear, sometimes it is possible to use illumination though it probably isn't so useful for eyes. On space of the former USSR electronic books of the fb2 format are very popular, but for this purpose it should change the device software. I decided not to do it. I load books in the epub format in the Russian and Belarusian languages which are supported by the device without problems. It was necessary to buy a cover :-). Electronic the eReader of the costs money, I recommend.
Покупкой этого устройства доволен. Удобно лежит в руке,вес небольшой, удобно пролистывать страницы, кнопки интуитивно понятны,иногда можно пользоваться подсветкой, хотя это наверное не очень полезно для глаз. На пространстве бывшего СССР очень популярны электронные книги формата fb2 , но для этого пришлось бы изменять программное обеспечение устройства. Я решил этого не делать. Загружаю книги в формате epub на русском и белорусском языках, которые поддерживаются устройством без проблем. Осталось купить обложку :-). Электронной читалка своих денег стоит, рекомендую.

Thanks to the NOOK engineers!

I bought it for the gift. She likes to read in bed before fall a sleep. I look for the book with light on board and was very surprised when found it. The glowlight feature is the best for night reading. All other books has no inside light, and outside light is not so good. It light and easy to hold in hands for a long time.

Mis-leading description of a good product.

I would have given this product a 5 star rating, because it does everything the good old Simple Touch does, except I purchased this item because of the description, instead of just buying the one without Glowlight.

I am not real impressed with Barnes and Noble.

Waited and hour and fifteen minutes last night for Chat to come online...finally gave up and went to bed. Just tried again, and got through in just a few minutes.

I purchased this Nook Simple Touch With Glowlight BECAUSE it says in the description:

'With Wi-Fi support, this Barnes and Noble tablet PC lets you wirelessly access books from the Barnes and Noble stores and other online book stores.'

Just got off of Chat with Barnes and Noble because I could not find the 'browser' that will let me buy from 'other online book stores.'

The Tech said the wi-fi will only allow me to buy from Barnes and Noble, BECAUSE IT DOES NOT HAVE A BROWSER!!!!!! to enable the user to buy and download from 'other online book stores.'

Told them they need to change the description and I will go back to an e-book reader that does have a browser.

The Nook with Glowlight is a good product, but Barnes and Noble needs to smarten up and correct their description of this item. It is not a 'tablet' nor is it a 'PC,'and does not have a 'browser.'

So DO NOT BUY THIS FOR THE BROWSER! IT DOES NOT HAVE ONE!