Barnes & Noble reduced the price of its Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight e-reader to $119 this morning, matching the entry-level price of the competing Kindle Paperwhite on the eve of the ship date for the new Amazon e-reader. In the news release announcing the move, Barnes & Noble calls out Amazon on multiple points, making the case that its device is a better value even at the same price.

For one, the GlowLight Nook doesn’t come with “distracting ads,” the company notes. (Amazon’s $119 Kindle Paperwhite is the “special offers” version with sponsored screensavers and an ad on the bottom of the home screen.)

In addition, Barnes & Noble notes that its device includes a power adapter, for which Amazon charges an additional $10. (The Kindle Paperwhite comes with a USB charging cable but not an adapter to plug into the wall.)

And finally, Barnes & Noble says, “At under 7 ounces, NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight is also Barnes & Noble’s lightest NOOK ever, even lighter than Kindle’s new competitor to Barnes & Noble’s innovative device.”

In other words, the Kindle Paperwhite is not only an imitator, it could also stand to lose a few fractions of an ounce. (The Kindle Paperwhite is 7.5 ounces, compared with less than 7 ounces for the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight.)

Will this increasingly pointed tone work for Barnes & Noble? Even though it wasn’t first to market, Kindle Paperwhite seems to have struck a chord. Amazon says the first Paperwhite devices ship tomorrow, but new orders will ship the week of Oct. 22 due to “popular demand” for the new devices.

Unsolicited advice for B&N: You might want to have your graphic artist take another run at the primary GlowLight product image that you’re using online (above). Especially when compared with Amazon’s crisp Paperwhite product images, it looks like a blurry scene from an old black-and-white movie.

Previously: Closer look: Amazon’s new Paperwhite and Immersion Reading features

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