Walt Mossberg reviews the nook

Thinking of buying a Barnes & Noble nook instead of a Kindle? It’s sexier, especially with that full color touch panel on the bottom, but the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg says it’s not “fully baked” and that you should hold off for now.

You can watch his video review below, but here’s his summary after spending a week with the device:

GOOD
• you can lend books [yeah but not very easily! -Ed.]
• the touchschreen navigation/keyboard panel is unique

BAD

• it’s slower than the Kindle
• generally buggy

In his companion review at AllThingsD, he says this about the sluggishness of the nook:

For instance, the Nook constantly delayed taking me to books while the main screen displayed a message that said “formatting.” Its standard practice is to open books you select not at the actual start of the book, but at a description of the book. Turning pages inside books was slower than on the Kindle. Looking up a word in the built-in dictionary, a quick process on the Kindle, was far harder on the Nook. Even swiping the touch screen to turn pages would suddenly stop working for periods of time.

In the video, he adds, “After a week of testing the nook I have to say my overall conclusion is it’s not a match at launch against the kindle… It looks like a product that was rushed to market… I recommend that if you’re interested in the nook, you wait a while until it’s fully baked.”

“Nook E-Reader Has Potential, but Needs Work” [AllThingsD]