[Q] The Color still worth it? - Nook Color Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

So I have been an xda member since long before the android craze took root, or even before the icrap products were aired, back in the days when the good old winmo or symbian was the only platform of choice for enthusiasts and geeks like us. Those days are sadly the past now, and most of the good folks who were driving the growth of the winmo platforms have now migrated to android, or even ios.
I'm finally taking the jump too and have decided to tinker around with android, thus my dusting off of this account and bringing it back to life from lurker status. I've already purchased a xoom and an iconia a500 recently and am now looking to purchase a third tablet. I know, that sounds a little crazy, buying three tablets on the trot, but they're all going to go around among either family or family after I'm done playing with them. Since I've run my cash well dry by now, as you might as well have guessed, this is going to be my last tech purchase for a while, and probably might also be the tablet that gets left over to me in the end after the others are set up and sent to their new homes as presents as this will be the cheapest yet.
There, I've laid out the whole story. Now for the nagging question, is the nook color still worth the money? I had set my mind on the purchase and was getting down to the exploring options part when I noticed craigslist showing kindle fires going consistently for as much or as the nook colors or even less than that. And that has got me torn. I really badly wanted to buy another nook device, this will be me second after the nook simple touch, which I have yet to receive. However, I am also a performance and a bang for buck junkie, and I am also likely to end up staying with for the long haul. So I want something robust enough ot last me a couple of years from now atleast. Now with the fire sometimes going even cheaper than the nook, is the color still a good buy, and should I take the plunge on this, or that?
I really havent found a recent comparison between the two, especially if they're competing for my dollars at the same price point, to help me decide which one ot go with. The lack of a micro sd is the real killer in fire, the lack of dual core and a modern, higher performing soc in the nook color. I'll be buying either as a potential primary device and will be tinkering with both, meaning rooting, and installing custom roms, so I couldnt care less for what amazon tries forcing down my throat. And I will definitely be buying second hand, probably off craigslist, to save what little I can of my last bits of remaining money and hopefully buy a radeon 7850.
So there, thats my dillema, all put out in fornt of you folks. The question has been bothering me for days, and no amount of searching has managed to help me, and thus I have ended up here, resorting to the good old xda and its pool of immense resources.
Also, should I post this same question on the kindle fire threads too, to get the other side of the picture? Any help would be appreciated.
--Werentuckl

Nook Color is definitely still worth it* You can get them used or refurb and the prices come down to around $100.
*It really depends on what you want it for though. It would be more appropriate to compare a Nook Tablet to a Kindle Fire. But the Color is really the ultimate tinker's device. Great developer community and practically unbrickable. With CM7 and CM9 you get great performance numbers for the hardware and tons of bang for the buck.
Nook Tablet is also a good device but it is going to cost more which brings other possible tablets into consideration. Even though B&N wasn't as nice making the NT as open as the NC it is still a great device and the developer support is growing. It is nearly as good for tinkering as the NC at this point.
If you want a device for email, light gaming, web surfing, videos and tinkering as well as a great reading device the Nook Color is about the best bang for the buck you can get.
JP

I agree. Still a lot of bang for the buck, especially in the $100 range. My coworker always brings me ads from here and there advertising Android 2.0 tablets for $88, this one beats them every time for just a few dollars more.
I used to run Android 1.5 off the SD card using haret on Windows 6.0 (HTC Touch). I miss those days.
After Modding 6 or 7 Nook Colors for family, friends, and coworkers today I decided to pick one up from Cowboom for $100. My daughter has a HTC Flyer and Wife has an iPad 1. I really have no use for one, but I like to tinker from an alpha/beta tester standpoint, and I figure I could at least get my money back when I get bored with it.

All good points actually, and the reminder about android on winmo reminds me of my cousin, he still runs gingerbread of his hd 2. Good stuff.
However, what actually has me torn is seeing both the fire and the nook color going for the same prices. They're both hitting close to hundred on pre-owned units off craigslist. So I can't really decide which would be the better choice for the same price.
And the nook color was my first choice, the merits of rootability and the vibrant community had me won over. And then I saw the fire going for the same price for twice the processor, and now I don't know which way to lean.

The Fire doesn't have an SD card slot. Total deal breaker.

my nook essentially hard bricked without warning, just out of warranty. beyond that it was just too slow IMO for me - laggy video was my main issue. my RAZR is so nice for playing video i no longer can stand slow processor Android devices. my next tablet is probably the Samsung galaxy tab 2 for $250, dual core, GPS, camera, compass, microphone... all the stuff that is missing in the NC. i think you should save your money and put it towards something less limited

The reply above is right on. Personally, I would not buy another Nook in todays market. I have a Nook Tablet too (both were gifts). The Nook was great when I was learning to flash roms, etc because it is literally unbrickable.
What I really HATE is B&N and TI putting all the effort to lock the OS down. If it were not for the great devs here the Nook sales would have stalled long ago.
I for one will never buy another product which has such an anally locked boot loader and OS. The Nexus Tablet is right around the corner.

You should have asked here about the issue you were having with laggy video. I watch .avi's every day at lunch, Grimm, Walking Dead, etc., keep Hitchhikers Guide on it as a matter of principal and keep a few Pinky and the Brain's as baby sitting tools. I use MoBo player and software decode everything. Smooth as glass. The "Server Room Drive-In" is famous.

Ok, here's my 2 cents. As I only own NC, I'll comment only on it.
The nook color is a good device- for old technology. Ok, so the DEV team for NC is fantastic, porting ICS over, which has completely revamped how I see/use the NC now. It's awesome, plays videos, works smoothly. Everything is running clean from Eyeball's nightly.
However, as from your situation, you're looking to keep this device for a while. While the software side (able to crack BN, root, and run android) is fun to tinker with and has good support, the hardware is just not going to be good enough for these days' technology. There are a lot of apps that just needs more power than what the NC has.
So, if you're just buying to tinker and browse the internet on the go, NC is fine. But if u wanna do anything heavy, wait a few more months until some of the newer gen android tablets are priced lower in the market.
Btw, the fire without SD? deal breaker.

Okay, so I've been following this thread, and frankly, it hasnt made my choice any easier. I've gotten two posts against the nc, every post against the fire thanks to its lack of an sd slot, and plenty of others cautioning me against the nc because its dated. :'(
Now what do I do? And guys, even though I will be keeping this device for good, lets not forget that I'm under money constraints, I go any higher and I wont be able to buy my gpu. Plus, waiting is also not an option, I have until the end of this month to complete all my purchases, since I'm getting all this through a family member coming back from the states.
--Werentuckl

Wait for google's nexus tablet,
Sent from my NookColor using xda premium

Werentuckl said:
... Now what do I do? ...
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I fail to see a problem. You say you are a tinkerer. The unbrickable nature of the NC, (yes someone said they bricked it a while back but they also said they couldn't play videos either, do the math), makes it a no-brainer. Couple that with the fact that you can get them for between $100 and $150 all day long and you are golden.

I am actually satisfied with my nook color use it more than my ipad 2, feel that the ipad is big for all day use
Sent from my NookColor using XDA Premium App

Given the lack of information on the Google tablet, I would go with either the Nook Color or Nook Tablet. Given limited cash, obviously the nook color. I have a nook color and nook Simple Touch. I love the nook color, sure it doesn't have everything I want, but nothing does. If you are worried about it being dated, you will never buy anything. Everything is dated by the time it gets to market. The biggest problem I have is everything seems to be designed for something else. All the roms seem to be made more for phones than tablets, even my windows 7 notebook came from HP with ta
blet services installed and running on a notebook that doesn't have the hardware to use the services. I am more
worried about the Microsoft/BN deal. Perhaps it will mean more support for windows products in Android, more likely like the Kindle Fire, the next nook will not have a SD slot and will be designed to push people to Microsoft's online services. Perhaps even a nook running windows...
Microsoft always has found creative ways to kill great products... But from what I see, the Nook is by far the best for the money.

I'd agree with Floyd, the google tablet wont be launching until after I am unable to purchase anymore.
So, I'm leaning just a little more towards the nook now than I was before, and I have found a couple of other options to throw in the mix for considering as well. I just found the iconia a100 going for 190, a little under 200 after taxes, at the acer ebay store. And though the fact that the thing has little to no dev support or any roms for that matter, and has abysmal battery life, the thing is still very feature rich. Should I be even be looking towards it or not? Sans custom rom loading goodness and crap battery, its very good bang for buck, no?
Damn, this is so frustrating! This is why spending the last bits of your money is always so difficult. I had no such problems buying either of the last two tablets or the wacoms. :'(
And MisRy, everything is more expensive in ny, thats where the problem initialyl started from, the nc and the fire playing in the same price brackets. Though, any ideas about any decent deals or devices solidly under 200, new, or refurbed, or even craigslisted for nyc, would be welcome.
--Werentuckl

Werentuckl said:
...
And MisRy, everything is more expensive in ny, thats where the problem initialyl started from, the nc and the fire playing in the same price brackets. Though, any ideas about any decent deals or devices solidly under 200, new, or refurbed, or even craigslisted for nyc, would be welcome. ...
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Nook Color refurbished, http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/cert-pre-owned-nook-color-barnes-noble/1100666155 $135 shipped. My boss got his wife's in 4 business days via UPS.
Brand new from Sears with in store pickup for $150, http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_05725930000P?aff=Y&cj=true&sid=I0084400010000100600
Sent from the Center of My Mind

I would say yes, depending on the price. Got mine in Feb '11 and I've worked the crap out of it. I still don't see any other 7 inch tablet in the sub $200 range as flexable as the nook. The color with CM7 RC2 hits the sweet spot for me. Of course: YMMV.
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk 2

Kind of in this dilemma as well. Has anyone had trouble running programs from the play market(3d games, comic apps, drawing apps)? I picked up a NC for 125 a week ago and triple booted without a hitch. It just seemed kind of slow to me, but then again I didn't do too much tweaking. I already returned it but might get it again. Awaiting the Nexus tablet, but would like something to hold me over til then. Any recommendations?

I wouldn't pay 150 for NC, maybe 100 nowaday since the nook tablet is going for 200.

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[Q] worth the purchase?

the question is pretty obvious. Given the current launch of new tablets vs. rooted NC is it still worth the purchase.
I don't really need a tablet for anything other than reading the ebooks / and digital comics i have. I like to tinker and play with stuff so custom roms and rooting are fine with me and I would most likely try to push an NC to it's limits, but given what's coming in late fall early winter would you still purchase the NC (provided you have one)
Well, the NC is a great idea for a budget tablet. 1.3 GHz is really good for a meant-to-be-ebook reader compared to just a 200 MHz faster Flyer which is meant to be a business tab. Also, if you want to fool around, the NC is the best. It has a root and a ever-growing dev community. And you can't argue the price. Coming soon I would have still gotten on of these, but since I have one now I'm saving up for a Flyer (I do more than read books!) But, it's your choice and money. Disregard this if you want to.
Well, what are you comparing to?
Which new tablets are you looking to get instead?
I mean _right_ now, I don't see a better option provided you don't need the things that nook doesn't have (bt/gps/mic/etc).
Screen, cm7, safety to mess around with, etc...it's great.
For the price, you can't beat the Nook Color. Especially if you pick up one of the Refurbs B&N is selling on eBay with full 1 year warranty for $190. It is so easy to play with and install custom ROMs. Like Phatdawg mentioned, unless you need a camera, GPS, or any of those extras, the Nook Color is great.
putney said:
the question is pretty obvious. Given the current launch of new tablets vs. rooted NC is it still worth the purchase.
I don't really need a tablet for anything other than reading the ebooks / and digital comics i have. I like to tinker and play with stuff so custom roms and rooting are fine with me and I would most likely try to push an NC to it's limits, but given what's coming in late fall early winter would you still purchase the NC (provided you have one)
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What other tablet can you purchase now, or soon, for $250 retail with warranty? The answer is as obvious as the question, IMO. NC is about doing what all the other tablets do for half the price.
Phatdawg said:
Well, what are you comparing to?
Which new tablets are you looking to get instead?
I mean _right_ now, I don't see a better option provided you don't need the things that nook doesn't have (bt/gps/mic/etc).
Screen, cm7, safety to mess around with, etc...it's great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats a good question, im not sure. There seems to be a few options coming out the A100, Lenovo has one coming out, toshiba has one coming out. Im more aware of whats available I guess than what's down the road. hmmmm i guess there's a life metaphor in that somewhere.
Bigtuna00 said:
What other tablet can you purchase now, or soon, for $250 retail with warranty? The answer is as obvious as the question, IMO. NC is about doing what all the other tablets do for half the price.
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Yeah I guess the answer is in my face. I don't need all the stuff as mentioned by phatdawg, thats what my phone and laptop are for.
great responses everyone! Thank you all for your input. I'll see you all soon when I get my NC and join the family.
best,
P.
I'll have to give into selling my G Tablet for a nook color. I'd rather have portability and a better screen than a dual core and working honeycomb.
Also Nook color is $189 refurb on ebay right now. Now is the time to buy a nook color.
Just ordered mine yesterday, looks they raised the price to 199, but still a good deal
Congrats. If you need any help installing your custom ROM or rooting PM me.

Xmas for kids question

Need some advice from 18 to 21 year olds. I have a son twenty and a daughter 21
Would the Kindle Fire be a good xmas present for young adults or should I go with a larger tablet. They both have notebook computers and smart phones. Thx for the help!
This will be great
Sent from my MB525 using XDA App
My 21 year old daughter put the Fire on her Xmas list already.
If your willing to look at other options I would really consider it.
(depending on their use at least.)
If they strictly want to read books it is fine.
It is pretty cramped as soon as you want to do anything else. I realize there are options with the cloud and all that jazz, but that doesn't do you any good if you want a choice of movies while on a long flight.
With all that said, I realize that 50-100$ is a lot more expensive especially for two people.. but, the A1 by lenovo is a good alternative, and the HTC flyer is a really, really, really, sexy device. I played with one and wished I could have walked out with it.
The fact that your kids already have notebooks and smartphones would seem to imply a certain amount of "tech-savvy". That said, I really do believe that once the "shine" of a new device wears off they will find the AF intolerably restrictive and use it less and less till it gathers dust.
The only thing (IMO) that the AF has in its favor is price. Features and functions not so much. Any optional device with a microSD would be MUCH more preferable and add to length of usefulness.
I would get one if you are looking for a book reader and movie viewer. I would not get one if you are looking for cheap tablet with full table functionality. Get a device dedicated to be a tablet if that is what you want.
Amazon has made this device to increase sales in their markets (apps, books, movies, etc.) period. Anything else it does, browse web, etc. are nice add-ons.
This not necessarily a bad thing. There is lot to like about a mostly stock device. Online updates works as expected, you can get tech support from the vendor, etc. My Nook color is rooted, but after playing with CM7 for a while I got tired of each build breaking something else and having to upgrade to a later build to get back functionality that worked in a previous build. Same with my Transformer. I rooted it, installed some ROMs, ended up reinitialized and going back to stock/rooted.
This should be good the size is great for holding. Just one thing to think about do they own android phones already? If they do you may just want to get them a real android tablet cause if they buy apps and such it would be an extra bonus now having them on a larger screen
Sent from my A500 using xda premium
I am a 21 year old male, going to college, and working full time as a Computer Technician. I am pretty tech-savvy, and personally this tablet is the best price to function available. I've already pre-ordered one for myself.
The only loss I have(personally) with getting the AF rather than an iPad or what have you, is the loss of storage(the cloud makes up for it), and the loss of camera/mic.
Thats it, and for 200$ you cant beat it. If my parents got me one for Christmas, I'd be very happy about it.

Got my Kindle all boxed up for return need some advice. (Having second thoughts)

Ive had my Fire a few days now and have done a lot of modding. Ive rooted it, installed TWRP, then CM7. Then gapps, market, etc. Then I decided I wanted to go back to rooted stock so I installed the prerooted 6.2.1 along with go launcher ex to have both the Amazon launcher and a more standard android interface, and be able to switch between the two. And no matter what way I set it up there was always something that just didnt work the way I wanted.
The main issue I had was that almost all video had out of sync audio. Internet videos, netflix. And I tried several different wi-fi connections. One of which is a very solid 20 mb/s connection to my laptop. I took my mother in laws samsung galaxy 7.0, set up the exact same video using the same wi-fi just to see if it might be the connection, and the galaxy was perfect, and the Fire just enough out of sync to be irritating.
So I set up a return with Amazon, got it back to full stock, and boxed it up. But now Im having second thoughts. I know how popular it is, and it seems like it has a lot of great developers working hard on roms. So Im wondering if I should just keep it, and hope that someone makes a fully functioning ICS port that fixes all the issues that are keeping this from being my ideal android tablet. Or should I go ahead and return it and cough up another $200 and get the Samsung galaxy plus.
Anyway I figured you guys would be the best ones to ask for advice regarding this. Thanks in advance for your feedback.
If it doesnt work for you, well, it doesnt! Thats that... Get an iPad 2 (seriously). The Android tabs despite their hardware specs arent that great currently.
/not trying to start a flame war here, i own several tablets and for me the iPad works best... YMMV
Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk
I personally hate apple, plus I want a smaller tablet. I figure if im going to get a tablet that big I might as well just carry my laptop around.
Gam3r 4 Life said:
...I figure if im going to get a tablet that big I might as well just carry my laptop around.
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I have to agree, and the 4:3 aspect ratio of the iPad is annoying.
I'm confident ICS is coming to the Fire, but if you have the money to upgrade to the Galaxy, I would probably do that. Can't really complain for $200 on the Kindle, though. Plus Samsung had played games with customers before with promising updates and not delivering. So maybe I wouldn't go with it. Moto's new 8" tablet is appealing except for the fact that its tied to Verizon.
Sent from my rough sketch of a Vibrant on a brick.
Well if your having second thoughts, take it back. With a somewhat big purchase like that, you'd want to be 100% sure you like it. If you really want a small tablet get a cheap Asus tablet, or a small laptop that has a touch screen.
u have issues.
get what works for u, don't convince yourself to keep something u don't want. I sold my tf101 transformer too big for my taste, I don't watch videos on a 7" tab. the fire is awesome for me
Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda premium
Well its gone. Boxed up and at the ups store.
Gam3r 4 Life I think I am right behind you.
I have used mine since Christmas day and although its a neat gadget its really neither a good reader nor a good tablet. It kinda lacks an identity. I emailed Amazon about their lack of TTS on the reader for this unit and their reply was pretty much "sorry.. you have 30 days to return it".
I guess for $200 I will just wait and see what comes down the road, and continue using my Samsnung Infuse for this kind of stuff. It has a 4" touch screen and I dont watch alot of videos anyway so it works ok for now.
Nice try Amazon, but I think you forced this thing to market without thinking it all the wary through. Maybe the next gen will be better. Well anyway I have another couple weeks to see if I can learn to like it. But at this point, I am thinking no.
I think the expectations might be too high. You're looking for the best of both worlds, and if you want media that you don't have to rip yourself, you're not going to get it on a rooted tablet, that's been made apparent by the MPAA. Netflix only runs on Silverlight or on platforms on which you don't have full access do the device where the studio's have guaranteed control of their media.
And given the limited RAM available on the Fire, it's not surprising that running a full sized ROM like CM7 could cause video issues when streaming. Probably not enough remaining RAM to buffer the video with CM7 running, that's my guess.
*IF* you want to get CM7 and then some other method of video streaming outside of Amazon, you'll need a more capable tablet like the Galaxy 7, Galaxy Plus, or the Flyer, and you'll need to pay a lot more for it up front to get the flexibility you want.
the 4:3 aspect ratio is the best feature of the ipad...
I hate how everything is 16:9 nowadays. it's terribly inefficient.
Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk
I've always been curious about this.
My pro-Apple friends have argued the same thing, saying Apple has done tons of research and 4:3 is best for a tablet.
But 4:3 is one of the main reasons why I'd never buy an iPad. If entertainment media is one of the prime features of a tablet, why would I want a screen that has black bars on the top and bottom (effectively shrinking the screen size) whenever I'm watching hi-def widescreen video?
In general, android tablets compete on price. They are the Yugos of the tablet world compared to the Benz that Apple offers (at a Benz price, I might add)...and the fire does a heck of a job at $199. If it works for you at that price point, great...if not, well get an iPad.
I wouldn't recommend looking to replace the fire with another android tablet, however, because once rooted and sorted it really competes with the best of them.
Amacx86 said:
In general, android tablets compete on price. They are the Yugos of the tablet world compared to the Benz that Apple offers (at a Benz price, I might add)...and the fire does a heck of a job at $199. If it works for you at that price point, great...if not, well get an iPad.
I wouldn't recommend looking to replace the fire with another android tablet, however, because once rooted and sorted it really competes with the best of them.
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LOL, I had a Yugo!!! I bought it from a guy that needed to pay his rent for under $500. If I remember right his name was Billy Bob, or something like that (and the name fit). The only thing he requested to keep from the car was a shifter knob that looked exactly like a bathtub water knob. My mother and I drove it til the engine gave out at about 30,000 miles. Not bad for under $500.
Funny story, that thing was such a piece if junk that the shifter knob and handle use to pop off and you could see through to the ground through the floor. So my mother would call me and say it happened again. I would have to go rig it back on just so she could drive it again. My mom was such a good sport and never got mad about it, and laughed about it with me. (RIP).
You know the saying that your first idea/answer about something is usually the right one. Well that applies here. When I first decided to get a tablet I wanted the HTC EVO View. But I didnt want to have to add a data plan to my bill so I ended up with the Nook tablet. Then the nook color, then the vizio vtab, then the Coby kyros, then the Kindle fire. Well after all that Im back to the evo view and found it on amazon for under $300. And this is a wi-fi/ 4g version, but doesn't require a data plan. So on payday thats what Im going to get. I originally had the evo 4g as my cell, and now have the evo 3d and love it. So the Evo view is basically a larger version of my phone which is exactly what I want from a tablet.
chaose said:
the 4:3 aspect ratio is the best feature of the ipad...
Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Agreed, that's why I haven't wasted my money on one.
Damn you Swype!
I've got my KFire rooted running CM7 and haven't noticed any sync problems at all with netflix or youtube. I'm completely happy with it and all these devs are busting their butts to get some pretty sweet ROM's running on here. Hopefully MIUI will be one of them. ICS will work for now once they get the audio/video issues worked out.

[Q] Nook color replacement for $129ish?

Hey all, I have to send in my Nook Color to SquareTrade and I'm hoping someone can suggest a similar replacement. I got mine from the B&N ebay store for $130, so I will be getting a check for that amount. I don't mind paying a little more, but I'll have to replace my case and screen protector too.
Nothing too expensive, as my two little ones have dropped the Nook quite a bit (hence the replacement) but something a little rugged would be nice...even if it means getting a ruggedized case. I expect to buy some kind of case and screen protection
Probably something popular enough to be somewhat up to date on CMs, preferably with a bootable sdcard (I'm ok modifying the internal OS if necessary, but would prefer not to) option like the Nook.
I realize that's a lot to ask, but your experiences would be appreciated. I got CM10 working decent on the Nook Color, so features-wise, anything that meets or beats would be good.
Thanks!:cyclops:
P.S. The usual I searched, but couldn't find a similar thread applies here, so if there is one, if you would kindly point me there, I would appreciate it.
Thx
I don't know if you have ever seen this, but the Nubi is a pretty cool thing that has a built in rugged case type thing. Even though it is marketed toward kids, it is a full fledged Android 4.0 tablet.
http://www.nabitablet.com/nabi2
refreblast said:
I don't know if you have ever seen this, but the Nubi is a pretty cool thing that has a built in rugged case type thing. Even though it is marketed toward kids, it is a full fledged Android 4.0 tablet.
http://www.nabitablet.com/nabi2
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I should have been a little more clear. I am the primary user, but I have seen this one rated pretty good by Consumer Reports:good:...so-so on Amazon. I might consider it if it were solely for the boys.
http://swappa.com/listing/MGV058/view
Use Swappa. It's now my go to site for trades. This is the lowest price one right now. I got one for 70, with case and SD. My Nook is getting here tomorrow. I would have it today but the weather is bad.
AgentCherryColla said:
http://swappa.com/listing/MGV058/view
Use Swappa. It's now my go to site for trades. This is the lowest price one right now. I got one for 70, with case and SD. My Nook is getting here tomorrow. I would have it today but the weather is bad.
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Click to collapse
Cool site. I would like something new/refurbished/ebay so I can get a SquareTrade accidental protection warranty though. I'm not ready to spend $100 (the lowest price) on a Nook knowing it will get beat up...although maybe I could give it to my wife. She still has the warranty on hers for the kids...hmmmm. I will have to think this one over.
Thanks!
BTW AgentCherryColla,
Do they have any kind of dispute system like if I buy something from someone and it isn't what is says it is?
Yeah.
Sent from my NookColor using XDA Premium HD app
I swapped my 7yr old daughter last year from a NC to a refurb Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7" for $145. It's held up pretty well, just like the Nook Color did. My youngest (5 1/2) still has a NC.
It's a good buy if you want an SD card. I didn't want to spend the extra on a Nexus 7 and wanted the SD card for My Little Pony episodes and such.
I haven't replaced the stock ROM because it works well enough as-is (although I dislike Samsung's Touchwiz, my daughter doesn't seem to mind).
I surely have appreciated all the help provided on this forum to load cyanogen mods on a couple SD cards for my NC and make it function as an android tablet. My NC is still as good as new so if anyone is interested in it, let me know by email.
I gave my nc to my 87 yr old mother. It was one of the first models. I put 7.1 and then 7.2 on it. I was using on of the 10 releases but took it back down to 7.2 for her. (Stability) she loves it and uses it daily.
from my HTC one v slimbean 9-1-13 and lilrob's kernel.

[Q] Why isn't the nook hd+ wildly popular?

Silly question, I suppose, but why isn't the nook hd+ just wildly popular. it's such a cool tablet, and you can get them cheap on ebay... or from barnes & noble, for that matter, what with the recent sales at various stores.
EDIT: 3 weeks later and I'm liking my nook more and more. It's just a joy to hold. The perfect size for me. I hope all the predictions about its demise are wrong. I'd love to see it continue to develop, keeping the hardware up-to-date as time goes on.
As a tablet it is fine and dandy with all that it has going for it but I felt it was too big to carry around as a reader. Obviously many many others disagree since the iPad is popular as a reader as well as being used as a tablet though so I don't know
I'm mostly unplugged from mainstream media, but I don't think it got nearly the exposure of the Nexus and Kindle Fire products. It also has the B&N app store dragging it down, and the original software (which is what most people experienced in-store last year, and maybe still do) was a bit laggy. Developers and tech lovers flocked to the Nexus 7/10 and "For Dummies" types looking for a media device went to Amazon and Apple. The low end of the tablet market is a lot more crowded than it used to be.
We have to remember, the Nook is targeted as an eReader. To be frank, it actually is - nothing more. Only once rooted, or once CM10 is installed, is it's true full potential unleashed, as a competitor against the Nexus 7, iPad etc. Without the XDA community, and the developers here (sincerely thankful to those), without them, this tablet would be basic eReader.
You can imagine the amount of people who have a Nook HD/+ and have no idea how to root, or install CM10. Those who simply use it as an eReader; they're not going to consider it competing against the likes of a Nexus 7. Once the developer community steps in, that's when it's popularity is increased.
So, as a stock ROM is shipped by default, and not many people are aware of it's "full-potential", we can assume this is the reason for lack of sales.
Boy, ain't that the truth. I think B&N are doing a huge disservice to themselves and their customers by being so uncooperative with all the developers who're making their tablets into useful multipurpose devices.
HiddenG said:
We have to remember, the Nook is targeted as an eReader. To be frank, it actually is - nothing more. Only once rooted, or once CM10 is installed, is it's true full potential unleashed, as a competitor against the Nexus 7, iPad etc. Without the XDA community, and the developers here (sincerely thankful to those), without them, this tablet would be basic eReader.
You can imagine the amount of people who have a Nook HD/+ and have no idea how to root, or install CM10. Those who simply use it as an eReader; they're not going to consider it competing against the likes of a Nexus 7. Once the developer community steps in, that's when it's popularity is increased.
So, as a stock ROM is shipped by default, and not many people are aware of it's "full-potential", we can assume this is the reason for lack of sales.
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Market
We tend to forget that B & N is in the book business not the hardware business. While I wish they would let this device be fully and easily converted to an Android tablet, why would they? I use the few hacks available and find it to be good as an Android Tablet and happy to have it.
dbrickg said:
Boy, ain't that the truth. I think B&N are doing a huge disservice to themselves and their customers by being so uncooperative with all the developers who're making their tablets into useful multipurpose devices.
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Yes, of course they're in the book business. But they do sell other stuff, nice coffee cups, for instance, with cute book-related quotes printed on the outside. And they don't lock the top, making them useless for coffee, on the grounds that they're a book business and don't want to allow their customers to actually use their mechandise for anything other than reading. Or, maybe if they were selling sports cars, they'd take the wheels off, insisting that people only use them to sit in the driver's seat and read books on the heads-up video display. In short, it seems to me that, more than being in the book business, they're in the business of selling stuff, and, no matter what that stuff, it seems silly to deliberately cripple it. It's as if they started censoring their books based on some arbitrary rule....
diajohn said:
We tend to forget that B & N is in the book business not the hardware business. While I wish they would let this device be fully and easily converted to an Android tablet, why would they? I use the few hacks available and find it to be good as an Android Tablet and happy to have it.
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diajohn said:
We tend to forget that B & N is in the book business not the hardware business. While I wish they would let this device be fully and easily converted to an Android tablet, why would they?
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They just took a big step in that direction: http://liliputing.com/2013/05/bn-adds-google-play-store-to-nook-hd-nook-hd.html
If they would just let other launchers override the native button/notification bar and recent apps, I wouldn't need CM10.
dbrickg said:
Yes, of course they're in the book business. But they do sell other stuff, nice coffee cups, for instance, with cute book-related quotes printed on the outside. And they don't lock the top, making them useless for coffee, on the grounds that they're a book business and don't want to allow their customers to actually use their mechandise for anything other than reading. Or, maybe if they were selling sports cars, they'd take the wheels off, insisting that people only use them to sit in the driver's seat and read books on the heads-up video display. In short, it seems to me that, more than being in the book business, they're in the business of selling stuff, and, no matter what that stuff, it seems silly to deliberately cripple it. It's as if they started censoring their books based on some arbitrary rule....
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Comparing a tablet and a coffee mug is like me comparing a car and a tank.. Two COMPLETELY different things.. I'm pretty sure it probably cost B&N about 2 dollars to "make" that coffee mug and sell it at a 90% profit when they sell them.. Tablets are very content driven.. B&N probably isn't making any money on the Nook itself.. More off the content that people buy on it (Newspapers, books, magazine subscriptions, ect..)
Yes, of course you're right: they're very different things. Just like books and cups and nooks are all very different things. All I'm saying it *whatever* they sell, whatever *anybody* sells, they should probably sell the best stuff they can. I still buy ebooks from the B&N store, but I would never have bought a nook in the first place if it couldn't be uncrippled. As it is, I've bought 4 of them. But no thanks to B&N. A big thanks to xda developers.
bkosh84 said:
Comparing a tablet and a coffee mug is like me comparing a car and a tank.. Two COMPLETELY different things.. I'm pretty sure it probably cost B&N about 2 dollars to "make" that coffee mug and sell it at a 90% profit when they sell them.. Tablets are very content driven.. B&N probably isn't making any money on the Nook itself.. More off the content that people buy on it (Newspapers, books, magazine subscriptions, ect..)
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I don't think the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is selling well, either. It has had several $50-off sales, and has been marked down to $269 (16GB) from $299. Likewise, from the latest IDC report, the whole KFHD line hasn't had the same success as the orig KF had. A reasonable conclusion can be drawn that, as tablet users become more savvy and demanding of their tablets, walled-garden-style tablets with limited ecosystem are losing out to more "open" tablets. Perhaps that's the same conclusion drawn by B&N in adopting Goog Play.
http://www.geekwire.com/2013/amazons-kindle-fire-dips-4-market-share/
It'll be interesting to see how Amazon adjusts to the slowdown in adoption rate. It can't rely on low pricing to push KFs any more, not with low-end tabs dropping down to $170 for 7" and $250 for 10". From the B&N CEO's allusions, we can surmise that B&N is ditching the hardware route and concentrating on packaging its core IPs for existing ecos. There's no good business reason for B&N to do its own hardware, now that the walled-eco strategy has failed.
I just got the Nook HD+ a couple of days ago, about a day before the new 2.1.0 update, so have had experience with both the old and new software. The improvement is night and day. I'm hoping that this will kickstart the Nook line and get more users into the Nook fold, if for nothing else than to get more bodies into these forums. The hardware is great, and now the (stock) software is good enough. But for the long term, I do expect the HD line to be the last of the Nooks.
Yahoo! Sounds like they're starting to get the message.
Taosaur said:
They just took a big step in that direction: http://liliputing.com/2013/05/bn-adds-google-play-store-to-nook-hd-nook-hd.html
If they would just let other launchers override the native button/notification bar and recent apps, I wouldn't need CM10.
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Click to collapse
Nicely said. Yes, yes, and yes. And I imagine you're right, too, about the HD being the end of the line for nooks. But I hope not. I really like my HD+ and would love to see them continue to upgrade it!
e.mote said:
I don't think the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is selling well, either. It has had several $50-off sales, and has been marked down to $269 (16GB) from $299. Likewise, from the latest IDC report, the whole KFHD line hasn't had the same success as the orig KF had. A reasonable conclusion can be drawn that, as tablet users become more savvy and demanding of their tablets, walled-garden-style tablets with limited ecosystem are losing out to more "open" tablets. Perhaps that's the same conclusion drawn by B&N in adopting Goog Play.
http://www.geekwire.com/2013/amazons-kindle-fire-dips-4-market-share/
It'll be interesting to see how Amazon adjusts to the slowdown in adoption rate. It can't rely on low pricing to push KFs any more, not with low-end tabs dropping down to $170 for 7" and $250 for 10". From the B&N CEO's allusions, we can surmise that B&N is ditching the hardware route and concentrating on packaging its core IPs for existing ecos. There's no good business reason for B&N to do its own hardware, now that the walled-eco strategy has failed.
I just got the Nook HD+ a couple of days ago, about a day before the new 2.1.0 update, so have had experience with both the old and new software. The improvement is night and day. I'm hoping that this will kickstart the Nook line and get more users into the Nook fold, if for nothing else than to get more bodies into these forums. The hardware is great, and now the (stock) software is good enough. But for the long term, I do expect the HD line to be the last of the Nooks.
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Click to collapse
dbrickg said:
Nicely said. Yes, yes, and yes. And I imagine you're right, too, about the HD being the end of the line for nooks. But I hope not. I really like my HD+ and would love to see them continue to upgrade it!
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I'm doubtful whether there will even be another generation of eink Nooks, though I'd love to see a reader with the screen and lighting of the new Kobo Aura, but running Android.
Sent from my LT28at using xda premium
You just need a bigger carry bag
Seriously, though, one of the reasons I like the HD+ is that it fits in my small Eagle Creek side bag... just barely. Whereas all the 10" tablets are too big. And I love that it's big enough to display a usable full hacker's keyboard in portrait mode. On my 7" tablets, the keys are too small for my big fingers. The keyboard works well on the 7"s in reduced mode, but it's kind of nice to have working Ctrl and Tab keys accessible all the time.
koreanschoolkid said:
As a tablet it is fine and dandy with all that it has going for it but I felt it was too big to carry around as a reader. Obviously many many others disagree since the iPad is popular as a reader as well as being used as a tablet though so I don't know
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Had it released with Google Market, it would have been. That of course would defeat the business model purpose of the device in the first place.
rushless said:
Had it released with Google Market, it would have been. That of course would defeat the business model purpose of the device in the first place.
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You are absolutely right. I was in the market for a tablet in last November and checked out Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD 7, and Nook HD. I ruled out Nook quickly after checking what's available in the B&N App store. I have Amazon Prime but still refused to pay for a KFHD due to the locked environment. In the end, I bought Nexus 7 and later received KFHD as a free gift. Now I just bought a new Nook HD+ as I prefer a larger tablet for reading books and technical manuals. I would not have bought one if they didn't add Google Play support.
I was able to take advantage of the Mother's Day sale on barnes&noble.com, got me a Nook HD+ for $228 with taxes and shipping—still a great steal at that. I wish B&N would turn the walled ecosystem biz model on its head and compete head-on with the other tablet giants. Heck, ship them all rooted, and watch the buyers drop the Kindle and iPad mini lines en masse once they realize what Nook HD+ can do. (the hope of course being that B&N can sell more books despite having that open platform)
I do hope they don't discontinue the Nooks; with their specs, they can price it up to $300 and it'd still be an attractive alternative to the other better-marketed options from Samsung, Apple and Amazon.
Taosaur said:
They just took a big step in that direction: http://liliputing.com/2013/05/bn-adds-google-play-store-to-nook-hd-nook-hd.html
If they would just let other launchers override the native button/notification bar and recent apps, I wouldn't need CM10.
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? I installed apex launcher from Google Play and everything worked fine sorry for bumping an old post
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
CubeCloudOS said:
? I installed apex launcher from Google Play and everything worked fine sorry for bumping an old post
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
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Ya I ran go launcher HD pad version and it works fine on stock nook HD+
I am running cm 10.1 now rooted.
I would have been ok with running stock rom, but got too many "you can't do that" messages lol.
So I'm running CM 10.1 and love it. This is a fantastic tablet for the value. I got the HD+ 32gb for $ 179
then added a 64GB sandisk class 6 (one of the very few 64gb sdcards that actually works without problems on nook)
so I have a 96gb tablet that still cheaper than a Nexus or Asus.
Very happy with it and recommended to all my friends.
I think if more people were fully aware how awesome it was for the low cost, they would quickly be bought up!

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