In Which I Explain Why I Abandoned the Nook Color in Favor of the Samsung Galaxy Tablet

iPod Touch

So, last week I talked about finally getting an e-reader of normal size. You know -- as opposed to the minimal reading I was getting done on my iPod touch. Don't get me wrong. I love my iPod touch. But it is much better for on-the-go things like listening to music, checking Facebook, Twittering, etc. than it is for reading e-books. Actually ePub books look pretty good on it. Because they are specially formatted for e-reading, you can change the size so that they are not bad at all to read on the iPod touch.

However, as I've said before, reading PDF-formatted books was near-to-impossible. It really just couldn't be done. I did finally figure out a way to do it if I had to (i.e., really wanted to read a book that was only offered in PDF format), but it wasn't pretty. As a result, I was bypassing books on NetGalley on a regular basis, simply because I had no realistic, comfortable way to read them for review. I mean, I couldn't read Kristin Gore's new novel -- a piece of southern lit, no less -- even though I loved her first two books (Sammy's Hill and Sammy's House, for those of you who didn't know until now that she was an author). And all because it was offered in PDF only.

Nook Color

So after many months of debate and looking and trying and asking people, I purchased the Nook Color. This, as I said last week, was primarily because it had recently been Android-system enabled. Thus, it worked like both an e-reader and as a tablet computer. Or it did theoretically. Actually, it did have an Android system and did function as both. Just not very well. The Nook interface was beautiful. It couldn't have been a more smooth, clear e-reader. But when you switched to the Android system (app store, web surfing), it fell far short of the mark.

Now, I know I realize that I am used to the iPod touch. Which, I discovered after seeking answers on the internet, has an entirely different kind of screen and user interface. In short, I should have never expected the Nook to compare to the iPod touch. It wasn't made to, and it wasn't going to. Still, I was unhappy with it. I knew that while I would use it as an e-reader, I would virtually never use it as a tablet computer. So I had basically just more than doubled what I could have spent on a Kindle on a slightly-fancier just-e-reader.

I was not okay with this, and I decided I was going to return it. I really didn't care at this point if I even got an e-reader. I decided it was not that important to my life right now. I could use the money for other things. (Maybe even real paper books?)

Then my fiance suggested that I look at a Samsung Galaxy tablet at Verizon. I was initially against this idea. Very, very against this idea. I didn't want a contract, I didn't want just a tablet, I didn't want... Blah, blah, blah. I had no idea what I was talking about -- obviously! -- because I am currently in love with this piece of technology.

Samsung Galaxy

The Samsung Galaxy tablet functions as a tablet computer, as an e-reader (on which I can use any system for e-book reading that I want: Nook, Kindle, Aldiko, even audio on Audible), as a camera (video AND photographs), as a social networking tool... The list goes on. Also, the screen is so similar to the Apple system (iPod touch, iPad) that I can tell virtually no difference between the two. It is beautiful, working perfectly, and -- best yet -- because I did get a contract, it cost less than the Nook.

I signed the lowest data usage contract Verizon offers (1G) because when I am at home or in a place with wi-fi, I simply use it rather than Verizon's 3G network. It is amazing, and I couldn't be happier with my purchase. I wanted to feel this way about the Nook, and I knew when I didn't that it simply wasn't meant to be.

So, this is an explanation (when you never hear me mention reading anything on the Nook again, and when you do hear me mention reading things on a Galaxy tab). And a suggestion to those who have been looking -- this may be exactly what you've been waiting for in the e-reading world.