No 3G on the new Nook???

[craftychick]

I admit I am tempted to retire my N1E and replace it with the new black and white. It's more along the lines of what I thought the first edition should have been like. Not that I don't love mine any less. It really is my most favorite electronic. But great progress has been made with the ereaders in such a short amount of time. 

However, I was distraught to learn that it does not come with 3G. Not even a higher priced option. Hands down, I don't want my Nook without 3G. I have WIFI at home. But because I go on road trips and such a lot, I have more than got my money's worth for having the 3G ( I was on the waiting list for when the N1E came out and there was not an option yet to get it without 3G).

I was told by a Nook rep in the store, that the color doesn't have room to make it as compact and be able to do the 3G. But from reading the specs and checking out the pictures, the new black and white is dramitcally smaller than N1E and would have had room if they were trying for it. This makes me feel like maybe the situation is nothing to do with size and maybe more something to do with the contract with AT&T??  

Please don't make me switch to a kindle after all the money I have invested in my Nook Books.

Is there any word on this happening on any future Nooks? I did check the FAQ section but the answer to the question was extremely vague. It just said, no it's not available.

If anyone knows why not or if it will be a possibility, please let me know. Thanks all!

[Doug_Pardee Distinguished Bibliophile]

B&N doesn't reveal future plans. At all. So there's no way to get an official answer to your question.

My personal speculation: 3G is over. Technologically, it's being phased out by the phone companies. Product-wise, it's a niche that too few people will pay for to make it worth the cost of designing, producing, and supporting a separate model, plus committing to pay the carrier fees for years to come. From what I could see in my visits the local B&N stores, sales of the 3G model almost disappeared after NOOK Wi-Fi came out.

[Nom-de-Nook]

Personally, I never use the wifi on my Nook3g (why when I have 3g).  I can download a new book at the beach or camping or wherever I get 3G signal.

But I guess that makes me a "niche" market.

[bklvr896]

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Doug_Pardee wrote:

B&N doesn't reveal future plans. At all. So there's no way to get an official answer to your question.

My personal speculation: 3G is over. Technologically, it's being phased out by the phone companies. Product-wise, it's a niche that too few people will pay for to make it worth the cost of designing, producing, and supporting a separate model, plus committing to pay the carrier fees for years to come. From what I could see in my visits the local B&N stores, sales of the 3G model almost disappeared after NOOK Wi-Fi came out.

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I would have to agree with Doug, although I'm holding out some hope.  I did ask the Nook expert at the local B&N and he said before the N2E was released, they sold a lot more WiFi only Nooks than the 3G/WiFi version.  

With free WiFi popping up everywhere, I'm guessing that most users simply don't see the need for the 3G.  Personally, I use it all the time, I only turn on WiFi when I'm in the store, but I supposed I could get used to the WiFi only if I had to  Fortunately, for right now, I don't have to.

[Kiteygurl]

I'm in the same niche....  I use the 3G on my nook much more often than I use the Wi-Fi.  I didn't buy a portable e-reader to stay at home or sit in a B&N store to access the web and download reading material.

[KingAl]

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Kiteygurl wrote:

I'm in the same niche....  I use the 3G on my nook much more often than I use the Wi-Fi.  I didn't buy a portable e-reader to stay at home or sit in a B&N store to access the web and download reading material.

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You can't surf the web with 3G on the N1E, so that shouldn't be a consideration.

[AlanNJ Inspired Bibliophile]

@Kiteygurl :

If you knew that you didn't have wi-fi available to you why did you buy the N2E which only has wi-fi?

[Nom-de-Nook]

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AlanNJ wrote:

@Kiteygurl :

If you knew that you didn't have wi-fi available to you why did you buy the N2E which only has wi-fi?

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I believe it is implied that Kiteygurl owns a Nook 3G by her response that she uses 3G more than wifi. 

[DeanGibson Distinguished Bibliophile]

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Nom-de-Nook wrote:

Personally, I never use the wifi on my Nook3g (why when I have 3g).  I can download a new book at the beach or camping or wherever I get 3G signal.

But I guess that makes me a "niche" market.

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I was called to jury duty last week.  The court web site said that there was free WiFI in the jury waiting room (on the 1st floor).  I took my N1E/3G with me, to order and read books while waiting.  It turns out this was a busy week for new trials starting, so they immediately moved some jurors (including me) to an auxiliary waiting room without WiFi (on the 4th floor).  So, I tried to use the 3G to read a sample of a book I wanted, but the Nook seemed to not want to download the sample using 3G.  Same with another book for which I tried to download the sample.  So, I just bought the book I wanted, and that downloaded just fine.

Anyone else have problems getting samples via 3G?

It seems to me that B&N should create little B&N Nook kiosks (like they have in the bookstores) in/near places where there a lot of people doing a lot of waiting:  Outside courthouses, in airport waiting areas, etc.

[Nom-de-Nook]

The problem may not have been related to 3G specifically or the books.  You were inside a glass and concrete and steel building.  Depending on how deep inside the building you were (ie. away from a window), your 3G reception may have just been poor for the first few attempts.  Do you remember looking at the meter to see how many "bars" you had?  I know in my work place, they have installed repeaters for the various cell companies because we could'nt get cell reception except by a window.

[DeanGibson Distinguished Bibliophile]

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Nom-de-Nook wrote:

...  Do you remember looking at the meter to see how many "bars" you had?...

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As I recall, I had good signal strength.

[JHood]

Believe me, I was devastated when the Nook Simple Touch came out without a 3G option, especially since I got my mom the Nook 1st edition 3g and wanted the same. And I can;t even find a 1st edition with 3g anywhere unless I buy it used, but I want the warrenty.

I spoke with a representative and she told me there was a contract problem with AT&T, so to continue 3g, either there will begin a monthly subscription to pay for it, or Nooks from now on will be wifi only.

I'm on the hunt now for a Nook 1st ed 3g as we speak.

[RHWright]

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JHood wrote:

Believe me, I was devastated when the Nook Simple Touch came out without a 3G option, especially since I got my mom the Nook 1st edition 3g and wanted the same. And I can;t even find a 1st edition with 3g anywhere unless I buy it used, but I want the warrenty.

I spoke with a representative and she told me there was a contract problem with AT&T, so to continue 3g, either there will begin a monthly subscription to pay for it, or Nooks from now on will be wifi only.

I'm on the hunt now for a Nook 1st ed 3g as we speak.

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Believe me, I understand your trepidation of going without 3G. I was the same way when I considered updating to the N2E from my N1E/3G.

I don't have a wireless router at home, open wi-fi network at work, or free wi-fi all over my community.

But you know what? I don't really miss it. I can usually get to an open wi-fi spot pretty easily: my local library, several local B&Ns, etc.

Are there times it bugs me? Sure. (Though that would mostly be solved by buying my own wi-fi router.)

Is it anywhere near as annoying as I dreaded it would be? Not even close.

So if you really must have 3G, shop around for a good used unit. Who knows, we may see a last batch of B&N certified refurbs with the recent trade-in promotion.

Otherwise, I would say give a new N2E a try. They're relatively inexpensive (in some part due to no 3G) and you may be surprised at how much you find you can get by without the 3G.

(Also, keep in mind B&N has always limited what you can do over 3G and this may become tighter as time goes on with this device being discontinued. For example, you couldn't use the beta web browser in 3G. Certain book files were too large to download via 3G. After firmware 1.7, people were finding that book covers were not being download and/or would disappear during syncing without wi-fi. So it's utility was shrinking.)