Starting anew with a Nook review

Over the holidays I decided that I needed a new ebook reader. I have had a Kindle for a long time (mine is the weird shaped first gen one) and the battery isn't want it used to be and my replacement battery wasn't much better. It still worked, but I wanted a longer battery life and a newer design. After a long internal debate, though, I decided to go with the Nook. That way I could have both of them and I didn't feel like I was missing out on something.

The Good

• I like the shelf feature. The shelf feature is one of the reasons I wanted to get the Nook. It allows me to separate my books by genres or any other way I want. I just have to create a shelf and place books. I can reorder the shelves so I don't have to flip through the ones I barely read. This would have been so helpful with the Kindle. I've had it since early 2008 and have amassed a large collection of books and I have to flip through over 30 pages (at least) of books to find one.
• I like the LCD touch screen menu though I don't know that it's really necessary. It took me a little bit to get used to accessing my menu that way and then I'd touch the ebook screen, forgetting it wasn't touch also. But now that I'm used to it, I like the way it's organized. The Nook turns on to a screen with just their logo and you can choose your option from the menu. The one I really like is the "Reading Now" button so I can go right to the book I'm reading without having to go to my library. I can't really compare it to the current Kindle menu system, but my old one has a roller ball down the side of the machine that you have to press in to select. So strange, but not hard to do.
• The Nook has a LendMe feature that lets you share books with someone else for 14 days. This would be great if I knew anyone that also had a Nook. It wasn't really a consideration when I was buying. I have been trying to talk other people into getting one, though. It seems that the Kindle has also just announced a similar feature, but I also don't know anyone with a Kindle either so I haven't looked into it.
• The Nook has all the requisite smart phone and PC apps, so I'm able to access my books on my Droid and my Ipod.
• The book selection overall is comparable to the Kindle. The prices are just as good. They also have a section in their NOOKbook menu of books under $5. This was great for me while I was browsing for things to buy when I first set it up.

The Bad

• The Nook does not have a sync to furthest page read feature on their apps. This is so annoying and makes me not really want to use one of the apps because that means I have to remember what page I was on or spend my time scrolling through the book. At first I thought I was somehow missing it but after an internet search I found out it's just not there and B&N isn't saying if they are going to add this feature. They should because this has been particularly frustrating.
• The Nook doesn't have a fraction of the free books the Kindle does. They do have a few that the Kindle doesn't have, though.
• In general, the B&N site sucks. I've never liked their site, even before I had the Nook. It is not as easy to browse for books as it is on Amazon. They have a very attractive initial site when you click on NOOKbooks, but from there it is just not as easy.
• The Nook book covers and cases are not that plentiful. When I bought my Kindle, it came with a cover (I don't know if they still do, however). My Nook did not. I had to buy one separately, but there were not a lot of options. I ended up getting one on eBay, which can be iffy sometimes. Luckily for me it was just what it said it was and is awesome. I also think it's kind of disgusting that there are designer cases that are between $50 and $125. The one that I really liked on the B&N site was a cute hot pink one. Unfortunately it was by Kate Spade and $125. It was almost as much as the Nook itself!

Overall, I think the Nook is a pretty good ebook reader. If you don't have an ebook reader or have an older type, it's worth considering as an option. If you already have a Kindle, I wouldn't get rid of the Kindle to get this. I do prefer the Kindle to the Nook and, if I didn't have either, I would personally pick the Kindle over the Nook.