Want to order the Nook but you’re outside the US? Here’s my experience16-Jan-2010
After almost 2 months of wait, a couple of postponed shipments and several angry emails to Barnes & Noble, my nook finally arrived a few weeks ago. And just when I thought the suffering was over, I eagerly unboxed my nook only to find out that I had a bigger problem. I was unable to register it. But before I get to the painful details, let me take a few steps back for those of you who aren’t familiar with this device.
‘Nook’ is the e-reader announced by Barnes & Noble late in October 09. With its E-Ink display reading screen, a colored LCD touch-screen strip at the bottom for navigation, a Wi-Fi internet connection and an Android OS opening a world of possibilities for hackers, it posed what was perhaps the only real threat to Amazon’s Kindle in the market. Just as the Kindle, nook users in the US with access to AT&T’s free 3G network have the privilege of buying books directly on their devices from the Barnes & Noble online store. It's essentially a great idea because unlike with a laptop, you don't have to worry about whether you have wireless with O2 or a similar company. The idea is that on the go you can browse and buy books. To be able to buy books, users need to have an account on B&N’s website with their default credit card details saved. Once that step is completed, the user should use the same account details to register their nook devices & get access to their B&N library.
My experience, however, wasn’t that smooth. At first I thought I was unable to register my device because I’m outside the US. But as I followed customer reviews and complaints on B&N’s support forums, I discovered that a lot of users in the US who don’t have access to AT&T’s 3G, and are trying to register through Wi-Fi had the same problem. Unfortunately, despite continuous pressure from customers, B&N are still unable to provide a solution for this issue. Many users are suspecting the possibility of early devices being faulty and are requesting for replacements. But if your only source of reaching B&N Customer Care is through the phone (which is my case), then you’ll spend a lot of unhappy time on hold, waiting for your lucky moment to get through to Digital support, only to be told to go to the nearest Mcdonald’s & try to register from there (no kidding).
To be honest though, aside from the horrifying customer experience with B&N and if I was to neutrally judge the nook, I’d say it’s a masterpiece. Even with the inability to register, I’m totally in love with it & I don’t really mind side-loading it with e-books manually using the USB connection. The size is perfect, not too big, nor too small. The E-Ink display is as easy on your eyes as a printed page. With the nook, you have the option to bookmark, jump to different chapters, highlight your favorite parts & write your own notes with the soft keyboard that appears on the bottom LCD screen once prompted. You can personalize your device by loading your favorite images to use as wallpapers or screen savers, but these will be black & white because they are displayed on the upper E-Ink screen. As far as book navigation is concerned, there have been reports about the lag experienced when flipping through pages, but I honestly think it was exaggerated and the 1.1.1 update pretty much fixed the issue.
You might think I’m crazy for buying a device that does not fully function in this part of the world, but living here, unfortunately our options in the e-reader market are rather limited. I’m sure many of you who share my love for reading would agree. Having an e-reader not only makes my book shopping experience much easier & convenient, but also saves a lot of space and makes my mom very content with the lack of usual mess & scattered books around the house.
So if you are willing to put up with B&N’s terrible customer service as I did just to lay your hands on this admirable device, here’s what you have to do:
- Register for an account on www.nook.com
- Place the order using your Shop&Ship account with Aramex because this is not available for delivery outside the US (note that their latest expected shipping date is 12th Feb, that’s if you’re lucky of course)
- If you know anyone in the states who could register the device for you through AT&T’s 3G network, you’d be saving yourself a lot of anxiety. But if that option is not feasible, you’ll have to take the risk & try registering through Wi-Fi once you receive it, wherever you are in the world
- Even if you are able to register, you will not be able to buy e-books directly from your nook due to US copyright laws. However, you can buy e-books from B&N on your laptop/desktop using an IP anonymizer, such as Hotspot shield which you can download here.
- Once you buy the book, it should automatically be available on your B&N library and only then will you be able to download it on your nook
- If worse comes to worst, and you’re unable to use the IP anonymizer for any reason, you can always find e-books from different sources online and side-load them to your nook using the USB connection. Nook can read ePub, PDB & some PDF files.
If you’re very confident about your tech-skills and don’t mind voiding your warranty, you can soft-root (in other words hack) your nook using the steps explained by the nookdevs here. The advantage of the hack is being able to install some applications including an internet browser.
Frankly I haven’t tried that yet, but maybe I will if B&N keep getting on my nerves the way they are doing right now. I have been on hold with their customer support for the past 39 minutes while writing this post & their automated voice message keeps repeating the same excuses for the delay over and over again.
Remind me again why am I even bothered to call? I’d better retreat to my ‘nook’ and continue reading my manually side-loaded book.
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Wow
I hate it when things like that destroy my experience of finally getting a new device that i have been longing to get my hand on for what seemed like forever!
lucky me my library is not that big yet, so i can affored to by the acutal books for another one year or so without worrying about the space it will occupy, hopefully taht will be enough time for this technology to be domesticated
enjoy your reads
And until then I'm sure new e-readers will be available in the market & hopefully ones you can order without going through my experience
You make me could not wait for my Nook. A relative of mine is coming back from the US, I will get her register it 1st! Yay!
Yes that would be the perfect solution
Remember, you won't be able to buy books directly on your nook, but that really shouldn't be a problem since you will be reading most of the time as opposed to shopping!
Good luck & let me know what you think once you get it!
This looks cool.. it will take time to come at us.. but its very good for someone who has time to read..
[...] for the Jet Set Beth wrote on January 16th, 2010 at 11:54:39 AM BQuill writes about acquiring, owning, and operating nook outside of the US. This is a great guide for would-be international users of the eReader and [...]
@Besjan: you must always find the time to read
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by B_Quill: Want to get a #nook but you’re outside the US? Here’s my experience:
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And the software updates?
I did the first software update which solved the problem of slow page flipping, but it didn't solve the registration issue.
There are talks about another software upgrade that could solve this problem but it hasn't been released by B&N yet. I'll keep you updated though.
Very nice read. Im not sure which one to get Kindle or Nook. Is it possible to use 3G with a local SIM card?
@Lalo: thank you for your comment
Unfortunately it's not possible to use your local SIM card because the devices are locked to AT&T services.
However, if you have a data SIM card from your operator, you can give it a try. I doubt it will work because it didn't for me, but I know a person in New Zealand who used a data SIM card of his local operator and managed to register the nook through it.
Good luck & let us know if it works for you!
I still dont have mine, still cant decide which one (Nook, Kindle, Sony,…) to get i will surely try it out when/if i get one. It could be possible if you gain root access to use any SIM card. But still, being outside of the US they wouldnt let you buy ebooks.
@Lalo: I haven't tried the root/hack yet. Maybe I will this week as soon as I find the time.
In both cases (nook or Kindle), we can't buy books on the device as we're outside the US. So I guess when you decide you'll have to evaluate both devices in terms of speed/attractiveness/functionalities rather than the shopping feasibility. I think in terms of the attractiveness + cool factor the nook beats the Kindle, that's why I got it. It depends which of these 3 factors is more important to you
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Received my nook yesterday. My mom shipped it to me (in Germany) from the U.S. A warning: the customs fee was something like €70! However, registration via WiFi was no problem, and things seem to be working fine. I'm not so concerned about downloading eBooks. Mostly want the nook to read .pdf articles I need for my dissertation. Thus far I'm pretty pleased!
@Griff: good for you & good luck with that dissertation
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Does anyone have experience with side-loaded books from other sources and the thumbnails? I would like to be able to flip through the covers, but the thumbnails don't seem to want to show up in the same location as the B&N books do. I tried moving the epub files as well as the thumbnail files to different folders, but that also didn't work.
First tahnks for the ncie summary.
GRIFF: How did you manage to register your Nook from Germany? I have tried from Spain and France (different hotels WiFi and even Starbucks) without success. Either does not connect or get the message "try later"!
@JGL: Did you try the new software update? It should solve the registration through Wifi problem. You'll find the update file & instructions here:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/support/?cds2Pid=30195
@Silvia: I've got side loaded books from Other sources & when I go to my library –> view my B&N Library –> show covers, I can see the thumbnail covers for some of them but not all. I guess it depends on the file itself, some of the files don't have covers.
Hi Kyara. Thanks for the post. I bought kindle 2 and nook and will receive them next week. I want to keep either of two and sell the other one. What's your advice? Which of these shall i keep? Thanks in advance!
Hi Kyara. Thanks for the post. I bought Kindle 2 and Nook, planning to use one and sell the other. Which of these you'll recommend to keep? Thanks in advance!
I haven’t used the Kindle but I supposed if you’re outside the US and it’s an International version, it’s more convenient when it comes to buying books. But in terms of functionality and UI the nook looks better
thanks for the article! i'm also looking for an ereader ourside US. i was able to try the nook and based on my friends' review of both ( he has a kindle as well) bn is less strict with international laws. meaning you don't need a US credit card to be able to purchase books and such. Although I'll still need an anonymizer to be able to purchase ebooks at bn. hope to get my nook two weeks from now and i'll be able to have a better reply especially on my experience with it. thanks!
Thank you for your blog. I am stationed in Japan and was really upset that I would not be able to use a nook here. Your blog has given me hope! I'm going to have a friend in the states buy one and register it for me and see if I can figure out how to side load books.
I am stationed in Germany and just got my nook. How do I get my ebooks from B&N on my nook manually?
I just found your blog. Can you tell me if you can download free ebooks from barnes and noble if you live outside the US? Do you need barnes and noble account for that as well?
Hi Kyara. GREAT BLOG someone directed me to it and I'm glad I read it.
Here's the thing…DOES THE NOOK HAVE TO BE REGISTERED?
I was planning to just side load content and be content with that =)
Another thing…I get most of my reads from filestube and 4shared because I don't have a credit card and I love to read.
Concerned because you said "some" pdfs will work….Help plez, how could I convert them into some other format that will make them readable to Nook?
I'd love to hear your thoughts on my queries and any advise you may have. THANKS MUCH!
I sent a comment earlier….oh well..
Great blog Kyara.
If unable to register Nook, I can sideload content right?
Registering the Nook is really to enable you to buy books from B&N right? I'm in Jamaica WI so I know i wont have the wifi access willing to go without same.
Is there anyway to convert those pdfs that it will not read into a format that the Nook will read?
I don't know why I'm set on getting a Nook ,do you think that in my case I would be better off with a Sony touch 600?
I really use filestube and 4shared to get books because I'm without a credit card…do you think that type of content is supported on a Nook?
Thanks in advance for your response Kyara.
hi great blog
Hey, if you don't have a US based credit card, you can still buy ebooks for the Nook using Barnes and Noble gift cards. You can buy these online from CardReach – http://www.cardreach.com, and they deliver it via email so you don't need to wait on the post office!
I was lucky with my first experience with B&N – I live in Canada so am quite limited with what ereader I can buy. Wasnt too impressed with the Sony, had heard horror stories on Aluratek so when we went to Fargo ND this weekend, was looking either for the Kindle, which buy the way is now sold in Target and Best Buy in the US, unfortunately all sold out and everywhere on back order. For the heck of it went into B&N and so impressed, bought one. Asked the questions that I needed (due to being Canadian) and the staff was really helpful. Told me to use the stores address to register my nook, which I did at my hotel, as they had the wireless connection, and downloaded 25 books (all free except for one) right at my hotel. Had bought the extended warranty (which the staff had assured me could be bought and covered by Canadians) but when I got back to my hotel, read the paperwork and found out the extended coverage is not covered outside of the USA, called the store and was happily told to come in and they would refund the cost (which they did with no problem). They also thanked me as they have lots of Canadians come into the store inquiring/buying the Nook and they did not know that the extended warranty wouldnt cover Canada. So far great experiences, of course that might change now that I am back in Canada. Will have to wait and see
HI im a user from Jamaica and well I am about to buy a nook colour and my mother told me that I wont able to register.. is this still a problem given that these comments are fairly old.. i am basically going to use it for power point slides? and pdf? watch movies and to use the wifi.. will I still be experiencing problems
Please help! I can receive emails, via my gmail account, on my color nook, but cannot seem to send emails,
I would appreciate so much your help!.
Thanks!
M Thomas