New Toy! Nook with Glowlight

Remember last month when I tried out the Kindle Touch? I'm glad that I didn't keep it, because B&N has one-upped them again.They recently put out the long-windedly named "Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight", and of course... I had to have one. Everything that I already love about my Nook Touch, now with a backlit screen?? Count me in!
I got it on Wednesday, and I love it. My new Nook is wearing custom Dark Tower Gelaskin, which is awesome! Easy to customize & order, they shipped quickly, are easy to apply, and they feel great on the device. Not to mention that it looks great all dressed up. :D

The NLT (Nook Lighted Touch - which is what I've been calling mine) is selling for $139 and I think it's well worth the $40 increase over the Nook Touch. Not only for the light, but this one also comes pre-installed with a screen protector with a matte finish, which is usually $19.99 on its own.

I'll admit that the screen has taken a little bit of getting used to for two reasons.
1) The texture. The matte finish makes the touchscreen on the NLT feel quite different from the Nook Touch. It's not as smooth, and initially feels a bit dusty and grainy -- DID NOT LIKE. When I felt the screen for the first time, I immediately drove to B&N to get a screen protector to put on it, and was dismayed to find a big red warning on the package saying NOT to use it on the NLT, that it would damage it. I almost considered returning it because I didn't like the feel that much. But I wiped it down with a soft cloth and I admit that after using it for the last couple days the grainy feel has improved quite a bit, and no longer bothers me nearly as much. And I think I'm pretty picky.

2) The font appears slightly lighter. It's just as crisp and clear, but it's lighter on the grey-scale than the font on the Nook Touch. I believe that this is also due to the matte finish. Here's a picture to compare.

I apologize for the blurriness... I really need a better camera!
But, you can see how the font on the Nook on the right is just slightly lighter than the one on left.

I really don't notice a difference while reading. It's only when looking at them side by side like this that I can even tell. Here's another example, that's maybe better (my camera really doesn't like focusing on words!).

The black in the image on the left is more of a dark grey on the right.
(Flash was on in this pic)

OK, so about the backlight. This is the whole point, right? Yeah. I really like it. It's not 100% uniformly even across the whole screen, but I'd say it's like 95%, which is much better than any separate reading light can do. There's 8 LED lights across the top, and directly underneath them is a strip of bright light, and then right under that it dims a bit, and then evens out:

This is about 25% brightness in a completely dark room.

Again, I honestly stop noticing this while reading - it's only slightly dimmer, and perfectly readable. The light is adjustable, and at some brightnesses the unevenness is more noticeable than others. I've tried it with a variety of settings, and I think I like it best at around 25% brightness. Even that is plenty bright enough to read by in pretty much all settings. In bright background light, it just lightens up the background display for a little contrast, but in dark settings it's quite bright. 100% brightness is VERY bright. It's almost bright enough to use as a reading light for another reader!

Wasn't kidding. O_o

Anyway - I love it. If you're in the market for an e-reader, I would absolutely recommend this one. Little clip on lights can't hold a candle to the backlit e-ink display. No glare, no unreadable dim spots and adjustable.

Good job B&N! :D

For those of you curious - here are front and back images of the Gelaskin: