Thinking about buying a nook for yourself or someone else? Wondering which model is the best purchase – nook or nook Wifi “Lite”? Good question, and as a veteran nook user and troubleshooter I think I can help!   There are only three differences between these two models.  

1) The nook Wifi is $50 cheaper.

2) The nook Lite does not have free AT&T Cell Service for buying books anywhere (you have to connect to a computer or wif-fi network)

3) The nook Lite has a white back instead of a gray back panel.  

That's it! Obviously cheaper is better so let's look at the other two differences.  

Do you need the 3G feature? The regular nook has a built in cellular network connection that's free for life to buy books anywhere you can get an AT&T data signal. However, the 3G service for the nook, based on my recent experiences, still doesn't work great in non-3G areas (even though it has the right radio equipment). If you aren't in an area with the AT&T 3G service most of the time or don't mind using wifi or connecting your computer to buy books get a nook Wifi.  

Do you hate white? Seriously, some people will like the back of the regular nook because of the contrast of the dark back panel. For $20 you can change it out the nook white back or buy a decal for your nook and you're still $30 ahead! If you don't mind the white back panel or would just change it out anyway buy a nook Wifi.

I bought a nook for $259 when they were first available. If I had to do it again, I'd buy a nook Wifi in a heartbeat. It's a great deal and the options for the nook are much better than the similarly priced Kobo and Amazon readers. Keep the $50 and buy some books!

Ran across this picture on Flickr that shows a new type of nook packaging. The hard plastic container was interesting, but a bit dangerous to your nook when you tried to open it. Some people just couldn't believe that had to read instructions to play with their new toy.

While the package is probably cheaper and maybe less impressive this is likely an improvement because the old packaging style was frustrating to many users - especially those with arthritis like me :)

I wager this is all part of a "redesign" coming to handle the new nook "lite" model.  I suspect the $50 gift card deal is part of that strategy as well.

This goes in the category of "YES-WE-CAN".

Do you own an eBook reader like the B&N nook? Are you a library enthusiast, or would like to share books more widely than you can with "Lend-Me"? If your local library makes use of OverDrive for eBooks you are in luck!

A nookTalk user alerted me to a thread on Mobile Read that has a personal story about how to do this. I've summarized the steps to take to purchase a book for your library (and borrow it yourself of course).

1) Locate a book your are interested in at Overdrive (http://search.overdrive.com). The search results will show you what is available, and what may be in your local library.

2) Find the "Contact us" link and email Overdrive about purchasing the book for your library. They will forward the request to your librarian. Some librarians may not be familiar with this process or have someone to handle your request. It's possible your library has no easy way to handle this. It may be useful to contact your library the first time.

3) You will be contacted on how to pay the invoice for the eBook. Most libraries will have a discounted rate, but click here to find out the retail cost of the book you are considering (most likely more than B&N purchase)

4) Be the first to check it out from your local library! It's likely to appear immediately after payment.

5) Send Overdrive an email telling them that you think this is great and ask them to implement accepting payments directly for ebook donations to the selected library. This one change would be a huge help to get patrons purchase ebooks to donate.