An ode to the Nook GlowLight Plus (BNRV510)

I present the Nook GlowLight Plus (model BNVR510):

 

 

 

 

Nook GlowLight Plus (BNVR510) eReader

I have no idea when, where, or how I acquired this thing, or how much I spent on it, but even though it’s almost 10 years old, it’s still a compelling little gadget. Mine already has a couple of small marks in the screen that aren’t gonna “buff out,” so when I decided to carry an eReader in my unisex shoulder bag, I figured I’d load this up and not risk my more expensive, larger, Libra 2 or Elipsa 2E. In the process, I found out I really like it.

It’s diminutive (6.4x4.7x0.34"), light, backlit, has 4GB of storage (about 2.5 GB usable) which is plenty to carry a reasonable number of books around, it’s IP67 certified for dust / water protection, and it shares an E Ink Carta HD display (1080 by 1440 resolution on the 6" screen for 300 ppi) it shares with the Kindle Voyage, Oasis, Scribe, Paperwhite 3 and newer, Tolino Vision 2, Kobo Klo HD, PocketBook Touch HD and HD 2, and the Kobo Clara HD. (I’m using the Malabar font.)

I can side-load content via Android File Transfer or Calibre (ePub FTW, though the screen is a bit too small for these eyes to read PDFs).

(If I ever get around to replacing the screen, I can do so with parts from AliExpress and a teardown guide from iFixit (though that would probably destroy the waterproofing).)

Accessories are, understandably, getting harder to source, but there are still, e.g., protective cases, on Amazon.

So, there you have it. I have mine loaded up with six “shelves” of books; 13 on writing, 19 light reading books, 10 self improvement texts, 8 non-fiction books that looked interesting, a few cyberpunk texts, and a handful of books on Java, Spring, front end development (XHTML / CSS quick references), and databases.