[Q] Simple answers for prospective buyers - Nook Color General

So I am considering buying the Nook Color for use with an Android ROM ideally honeycomb and Instead of having to sort through tons of threads I think a single one would be nice for those also thinking about jumping in.
Most of these will be in reference to android phones and relating the experience since that's all I have to go off.
I have a SGS Captivate
Battery life compared to phone?
Usability? Speed, what is working what isn't? Does it feel like a step back when coming from a high end smart phone?
Video? Sound? etc
I know these questions have been answered somewhere, but having a single thread dedicated to answering questions for users looking to jump in with the Nook Color hacking would be nice, IMHO.
Thanks for all the help.

Bump
Anyone who has done this how is it related to your android phone if you have one. I'm really interested in this but if it will feel like a step back from the phones i don't know if it's worth it?

I have a Droid X and the nook running CM7.
Right now the nook is very comparable to the X. With the beta rom it is still a little chopy but web browsing is so much better on the bigger and higher resolution screen. I don't boot up my computer as much for casual web browsing as much as I use to. It is nice being able to browse anywhere in my house(I'm writing this while cooking dinner) , or while watching TV.
Apps are still hit or miss on CM7 right now (Pandora doesn't work) and I'm not much of a gamer so I'll leave that to others.

Thanks so much I'm pretty excited to try this out. Hopefully it is as good as I think it can be. I know it won't be a xoom. But it should be sweet.

I have an HTC Incredible which should be similarly performing to the Captivate.
The DINC has the worst battery life of any Android phone I've seen so that's not maybe the best comparison, but I use my nook several hours a day and manage several days between charges. I think battery life is impressive.
Out of the box, the speed is noticeably slower, but not that bad. Running an OC'd 1100mhz kernel I get a much higher quadrant score (around 1150) than my stock DINC. The NC's improvement is significant.
I haven't installed a different ROM since I'm waiting for a daily driver stable honeycomb. That beings said, I have absolutely zeros problems using my NC daily as a tablet. I find it much easier than the smaller screen on my phone. Nor have I encountered anything I wanted to do that didn't work almost perfectly.
Video is a bit more pixelated than I'd like but I haven't spent a lot of time looking into it. Sound is pretty good, and the built in speaker is better than expected. I have heard of issues with the headphone jack.
All in all it's a great investment of $250. You could get a more fully featured tablet for the price of three NC's. I don't think the additional features are worth the cost difference, especially when you add in the amazing work done by the xda Devs.
jlt220 said:
So I am considering buying the Nook Color for use with an Android ROM ideally honeycomb...
Most of these will be in reference to android phones and relating the experience since that's all I have to go off.
I have a SGS Captivate.
Battery life compared to phone? Usability? Speed, what is working what isn't? Does it feel like a step back when coming from a high end smart phone? Video? Sound? etc
Thanks for all the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from a NookColor using the xda app

DeadStiff said:
I don't boot up my computer as much for casual web browsing as much as I use to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Sent from a NookColor using the xda app

I used to spend a couple of hours every evening sitting at my desktop PC browsing the net and reading forums. In the couple of weeks since getting and rooting the NC, I think I've fired up my PC four times. Now I do my nightly surfing from the couch next to my wife while she watches TV and she feels much less neglected. ;-)

Ars Technica wrote a nice feature article today that should answer all your questions.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/guides/2011/02/howto-root-a-nook-color-to-transform-it-into-an-android-tablet.ars

Thanks for the responses this is helpful
I'm planing on using this as an ebook reader some just because the screen size would be nicer than my phone, but also like you said web, stuff like that. Keep the personal experiences coming they are very helpful for us who are hesitant to join in.

The nook is not perfect but its impossible to beat for the price. As other have said I fire up my computer far less than before. I have an evo and I would say that the NC feels as snappy and maybe even snappier. The thing I can tell you is that I was a for sure for the Xoom but the NC and all of its hacks help me to make the decision that I can wait. 100% happy with the Nook and I think most anyone else would be also.

jlt220 said:
So I am considering buying the Nook Color for use with an Android ROM ideally honeycomb and Instead of having to sort through tons of threads I think a single one would be nice for those also thinking about jumping in.
Most of these will be in reference to android phones and relating the experience since that's all I have to go off.
I have a SGS Captivate
Battery life compared to phone?
Usability? Speed, what is working what isn't? Does it feel like a step back when coming from a high end smart phone?
Video? Sound? etc
I know these questions have been answered somewhere, but having a single thread dedicated to answering questions for users looking to jump in with the Nook Color hacking would be nice, IMHO.
Thanks for all the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also have a captivate since release day (and got the pleasure of gettint a new one in December due to random shutdowns) and I can say the battery life on the nook is way better than any sgs rom even the stock eclair. I also don't browse on my phone anywhere near as much as I used to. The nook color doesn't have the most features, the fastest cpu, or even the best screen but for the price it blows everything else away hands down. Honestly its one of the few "toys" I've gotten in a while that I haven't had an ounce of buyers remorse with
Sent from my Nook Color.

I love my honeycomb. Its really fast and it has only minor issues. Mine is 100% reliable and i use it everyday and i only use my laptop for downloading roms and/or flashing sd cards. I have a rooted rom'd and oc'd droid 1 at 1300mhz and while i love my droid, i hardly use it anymore.
I really recommend it and emmc honeycomb is awesome. The lack of gps is the biggest thing for me, but o well... my rooted droid has one so its fine for me.
Sent from one of those missing Droids

Related

How usable is the nook color?

I mean has development become steady at this point?
I wonder how well honeycomb will run on this once it really comes out
I may loose track of 250 bucks and buy one :O
There are some reporting OC Kernel + the SDK Port on the NC are netting them Quadrant Scores of 2000+. That is with just the SDK, imagine what a ASOP would do...
honeycomb looking awesome then?
The development is quite steady and it will stay that way for quite some time. I'm running a rooted nook that is overclocked to 1.1ghz and it is stable. I have no issues with it.
The NC is as usable as the Android Community makes it.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
comdei said:
How usable is the NC?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Long answer to short question ... depends on your expectations .. but the nice thing is you can be anywhere along a pretty broad spectrum.
Running a rooted 'stock 1.01' there seems to be NO problems and most apps will run fine with rock solid stability, BUT it's not a multimedia tablet which many seems to want ... it's more a general purpose tablet and a darn good one esp. for the price.
From there you can go in many directions, all of which have some drawbacks at this point .. but it is nice there are lots of choices and with CWM available it is pretty hard to get a brick and pretty easy to switch ROMs. Hope this helps ... BTW the display is GReat!
For $250, the Nook Color has awesome specs. The display is IPS and has a pretty good resolution. All the "hacks" for it are fairly complicated, however if you are ready to put some time into the Nook Color you will have an amazing tablet. It is very hard to brick, though it is also fairly hard to restore to the factory ROM. All in all, it is an amazing tablet for the price, and once Honeycomb is polished a bit more, it will be even more amazing.

is it really reliable?

Hi,
I know that i am asking this in a Nook forum, but i'll ask as XDA users are always very true on their opinions.
I went some pages back of the forum, and i realised that many people have problems with the Nook.
So let's say a very good friend is interested in buying the Nook. Would you reccomend it to them?
Thanks
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
All the problems I've had with the Nook are related to custom roms and such, and even then, if you stick with, say, CM7 stable, the only real problem is the battery life since it doesn't fully sleep.
I don't think the stock rom really has many issues.
EnTg888 said:
All the problems I've had with the Nook are related to custom roms and such, and even then, if you stick with, say, CM7 stable, the only real problem is the battery life since it doesn't fully sleep.
I don't think the stock rom really has many issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What he said... Custom roms are really the only place software errors pop up, even then... Each rom's creator is working each to day to improve it.
If you stay on stock, I doubt you'll have any problems.
Would I recommend it to a friend? Sure, but most of them are apple fanboys and wouldn't even give it a chance.
I would recommend the nook without hesitation. The problems most people seem to encounter are with b&n's quality control in regards to things like lcd bleed and dead pixels. I was fortunate enough to get a good one on my first go, but some people had to return it a few times before they got a decent one. Beyond that, I think as long as one reads before jumping into something like rooting and flashing roms, the nook gives you one heck of a bang for your buck.
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk
I had absolutely no problems with something as simple as rooted stock, though I wasn't entirely happy with the B&N interface when it wasn't the reason why I bought the Nook. Yes, you'll probably spend a few hours (4-8) just learning what's going on and all the terminology, trolling around on the forums and getting the hang of things...
But honestly if you stick with a popular custom ROM like Phiremod, a CM7 Nook is just as stable as the real thing. The biggest downside right now is the battery drain while sleeping. And even that is not too big a deal; it's better than your phone for sure, and you just gotta charge it once every two days. So it doesn't have the 15+ day stand-by that the iPad would, whatever.
Gin1212 said:
Would I recommend it to a friend? Sure, but most of them are apple fanboys and wouldn't even give it a chance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sounds like you need better friends
Also, I would and do recommend it to my friends.
Assuming you want to either leave it stock or are ok with tinkering and use CM7 then yes. If you are expecting an ipad then get an ipad so we don't get another "why doesn't this work like an ipad thread."
I have a rooted Motorola Milestone, and i was using for several months CM roms, but for the last 2 months i am in MIUI...
Thus i dont think i will have many problems with modding it.
How long does it need to power on? In order to understand if is worth shutting it down, instead of standby...
I thought that CM, fixed the issue with devices not sleeping? At the beginning the solution was to restart the phone after a charge...
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
It takes 1-2 minutes for my cm7 nook to go from off to booted and usable. The sleep issue isjust a nook problem, cm7 sleeps fine on everything else. I loose about 20- 25% of the battery over 12 hours or so when I'm not using the nook. For me, that's not a big deal.
The only problem I have ever noticed with my nook is wifi disconnect when the screen has been off for a long time. All I have to do is go into wifi settings(I have a shortcut on my home) and it reconnects to the network. Although after flashing cm7 nightly 54 and the latest 4/23 test kernal I don't think I've had it disconnect.
Nook setup:
CM7 nightly 54
dalgrins OC 4/23 test kernel @ 1.3 ghz with interactive governer
Mad-murdocks honeycomb theme
I absolutely love my nook! Very fast and very responsive.
Ok great thanks.
How long is its battery life with moderate use with CM7?
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
I consider myself a heavy user and mine lasts 1 1/2-2 days before recharging.
Fekish said:
Ok great thanks.
How long is its battery life with moderate use with CM7?
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it will last probably a day and a half, maybe longer.
4-5 hours of use with cm7, 5-6 with stock rooted
(hours of use are total time using it not counting breaks in between use periods)
NewZJ said:
4-5 hours of use with cm7, 5-6 with stock rooted
(hours of use are total time using it not counting breaks in between use periods)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is pretty close if you're playing games all day... The only difference in this case with CM7 and Stock is the overclock kernel, otherwise you should get the same battery life.
Keep in mind turning things like wifi and lowering the display can increase battery life.
I usually get through an 8-9 hour day easily with moderate use (books, games, web browsing, manga, no video though).
If you're using it for Reading and surfing the Web nonstop, I've gotten close to 7 hours on CM7(more with WiFi off) and close to 8 on the Clean Froyo ROM(which sleeps properly). I don't have my Kernal OverClocked.
____________________________________________________
Sent from Nookie Froyo using Tapatalk
Thanks guys,
a friend recommended the Dropad A8 and Herotab C8, and now i am considering them instead of the Nook...
It would be around 70$ cheaper
Fekish said:
Thanks guys,
a friend recommended the Dropad A8 and Herotab C8, and now i am considering them instead of the Nook...
It would be around 70$ cheaper
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know anything about those tabs so I can't say anything negative or positive about them. However, the only thing that I would tell you to look out for is to see how much dev. support those two have. Paying slightly more for a heavily developer supported device (as the NC is) is an extremely wise investment.
I get a full day of use on mine. Love my nook. the geek factor of running cm7 on a nook is worth it to me lol. bluetooth kinda blows sometimes but its getting better as devs beast on it. also charging must be done with the stock charger "to reach full charging speed" due to some voltage change on original cord to allow more output. but for transferring any cord works great. And the devs are some of the best!
Drachen808 said:
I don't know anything about those tabs so I can't say anything negative or positive about them. However, the only thing that I would tell you to look out for is to see how much dev. support those two have. Paying slightly more for a heavily developer supported device (as the NC is) is an extremely wise investment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Truth. I would avoid anything that does not have a project like CM aimed at it. It does not have to be CM but it should be at least as active.
Two points:
1) The Nook will charge with other chargers and a standard cable jsut at 1/4 the speed as charging from an unknown source which is governed at 500ma while the stock charger is 2000ma.
2) Before buying either of the other tabs, check their screen resolution. I don't know much about them but the screen is the expensive part and what makes the Nook the best deal out there.
I regularly recommend my NC to anyone that will listen. Just converted a potential ixxx customer today as he likes to play with his toys in ways other than intended by the manufacturer. As stated above the dev support for the NC is spectacular.

Which would you get?

Hello all. I am very interested in the Nook Color or the Samsung Galaxy Tab (Wifi). I just don't know which one to purchase. I do read a lot of books so I like the NC, but for a hundred extra dollars should I just get the Sammy Tab which has a faster processor? Basically, I was wondering if you guys would still be using the NC if you had the cash right now or would you have gone the other route? Thanks in advance and cheers.
tfotos said:
Hello all. I am very interested in the Nook Color or the Samsung Galaxy Tab (Wifi). I just don't know which one to purchase. I do read a lot of books so I like the NC, but for a hundred extra dollars should I just get the Sammy Tab which has a faster processor? Basically, I was wondering if you guys would still be using the NC if you had the cash right now or would you have gone the other route? Thanks in advance and cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you're talking $250 vs $350 basically. The Galaxy Tab will have nice features like camera, etc. You don't have to put a custom ROM on it, it is supposed to even get Honeycomb (offical) some time in the future I guess. However, if you are willing to spend $350 on a tablet, I would suggest you pony up another $50 and get the Asus Transformer.
That being said though, cost wise you can't beat the Nook for features and custom ROM support.
I hear ya. The one thing that keeps drawing me to the Nook Color (aside from its price) is the fact that I love using my e-ink Nook for reading. I like the fact that the primary purpose of the NC is for books. How is the operating system on the NC? I heard that it got froyo. Is there access to the android market or do you have to root/flash to use it like a tab? Are movies OK to watch on it? I have seen the Asus Transformer, but I think that it is kind of ugly. I know the hardware is a beast, but the bezel around it is kind of huge isn't it? Aesthetically I like how the NC and the Sammy Tab look, and I like the 7 inch size. I am thinking portability. Who knows though, I could always change my mind and get a 10 inch tablet.
tfotos said:
I hear ya. The one thing that keeps drawing me to the Nook Color (aside from its price) is the fact that I love using my e-ink Nook for reading. I like the fact that the primary purpose of the NC is for books. How is the operating system on the NC? I heard that it got froyo. Is there access to the android market or do you have to root/flash to use it like a tab? Are movies OK to watch on it? I have seen the Asus Transformer, but I think that it is kind of ugly. I know the hardware is a beast, but the bezel around it is kind of huge isn't it? Aesthetically I like how the NC and the Sammy Tab look, and I like the 7 inch size. I am thinking portability. Who knows though, I could always change my mind and get a 10 inch tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, if you stick with the stock Nook software you only get access to the B&N appstore thing. I've heard it is pretty limited and the apps are more expensive than their Android Market and Amazon Appstore counterparts. I couldn't tell you much about it though. Within 5 minutes of my Nook charging up I installed the CM7 Gingerbread build on it and it works great! So I never played around with the 1.2 NC version of Android.
Also, the screen on the NC is LCD, not eInk, and while the resolution is nice, it still will cause more eye strain than eInk or paper. So you might not enjoy reading on it as much as you think! I find it comfortable though.
I still think you should stay away from the Galaxy Tab right now. It is sure to have some sales as soon as they release their new tablets (an 8.9" and a 10") which are faster, strong, meatier.
As for movies, I also don't know how the NC stock OS works with media. I'm using an app called MoboPlayer which seems to play just about every video format I have without an issue. Prior to that with the base CM7 (and I'm assuming stock NC) I could only play 1-2 formats...don't even remember which ones anymore. I hate converting video, so I found another solution right away.
I hope that helps, and honestly, for $200 (used) - $250 (new), you won't get better than the NC at this point in time.
There are 2 Nook Colors in my house.... One is rooted with original B&N 1.1 software, which gives you a stock E-reader with access to the Android Market. I find this setup to be a bit quirky for my liking (it's my wife's Nook). I've not tried playing video on this particular Nook, but the market & apps work fine. My Nook is rooted and running Cyanogen CM7.0.0 Gingerbread from internal memory and is overclocked to 1.2 GHz (from the standard Nook 800 MHz processor). It is very stable and video playback is excellent, however the Nook App from the Market is not as user friendly as the B & N version (not a big deal to me it still works for the amount of reading I do). I find the 7" size is perfect and I take my Nook EVERYWHERE with me. I get about 2 days between plug-ins with moderate use and it tethers perfectly with my phone. I don't believe I'd be so willing to carry it with me all of the time if it was any bigger though. I don't think I'd trade my Nook for anything shy of an Xoom which I believe is about $600 right now.
The wifi Galaxy Tab has the same GPU as the Nook Color, and the same CPU. Once you overclock the Nook Color CPU it can be equal or better.
It comes down to paying extra if you want built in cameras and a GPS.
Thanks to all for the great info. If I wanted to..could I run CM 7 from the sd card like they do for Honeycomb, thus keeping my NC stock for when I do want to use it for reading? I read a lot and love the original stock interface for my reading and shopping. I am headed out the door now and I am coming back with either the Sammy Tab or the Nook. I'm leaning heavily towards the Nook though.
tfotos said:
Thanks to all for the great info. If I wanted to..could I run CM 7 from the sd card like they do for Honeycomb, thus keeping my NC stock for when I do want to use it for reading? I read a lot and love the original stock interface for my reading and shopping. I am headed out the door now and I am coming back with either the Sammy Tab or the Nook. I'm leaning heavily towards the Nook though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can. However if you have no use for Nook Kids or Nook magazines, you can just install the nook android app and read books from it. Or you can use a bunch of other pdf, epub, doc readers.
The only benefit to stock is those two features. So up to you.
tfotos said:
Thanks to all for the great info. If I wanted to..could I run CM 7 from the sd card like they do for Honeycomb, thus keeping my NC stock for when I do want to use it for reading? I read a lot and love the original stock interface for my reading and shopping. I am headed out the door now and I am coming back with either the Sammy Tab or the Nook. I'm leaning heavily towards the Nook though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. You can run CM7 from the sd card and even run a rooted BN version on the internal memory for the best of both worlds.
I agree with previous posts...
in addition, I could say that the only things I really miss on my Nook (more then gps and camera) are the aptik feedback (vibrations, specially on the keyboard) and a microphone for voice recognition... instead I think that both things are on Galaxy tab (but I'm not sure)...
more then galaxy, you can have on Nook Color a great devs community here at xda! other then save 100$ ...
tfotos said:
Thanks to all for the great info. If I wanted to..could I run CM 7 from the sd card like they do for Honeycomb, thus keeping my NC stock for when I do want to use it for reading? I read a lot and love the original stock interface for my reading and shopping. I am headed out the door now and I am coming back with either the Sammy Tab or the Nook. I'm leaning heavily towards the Nook though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Better yet, you can split the internal drive partition, and allow for dual booting partitions on internal. That way, you can run stock on one partition, and CM7 on the other and not have to worry about carrying around a bootable sd card all the time. You can boot from CM7 into stock and vice/vs in literally 45 seconds, pnce you take the 30 minutes to get it all set up.
Check me here: http://www.mobileunderground.info/showthread.php?t=51217&p=84794
Well, I thank all of you for your input. I literally spent an hour just messing with both the SGT and the NC. The SGT was a little faster and more responsive but I think that was due to the differences in the UI's themselves. There is only a 200 mhz difference in the processors. I did like the fact that the SGT had front and rear facing cameras, as well as the android market already rocking. BUT..I picked up the Nook Color for two big reasons. The first being that I am an avid book reader, and love the fact that you can boot from SD so I can still have the stock Nook reading experience as well as Gingerbread. The second reason is the modding community here on XDA; you guys pretty much talked me into it. So thanks for all the responses. I am a new Nook Color owner.
Am a happy user of a dual-booting Nook Color running CM 7.0.2 off sd-card, with little need for a camera.
However, being someone who appreciates how much lighter the Nook is compared to the iPad, I'd like to point out that the Nook is ~30% heavier than the Galaxy Tab.
The SGT was a lot thicker. I did not notice a huge difference in weight though.
I am surfing the forums from my NC right now and loving it. Can't wait to load up Gingerbread! Unfortunately I have to work in about an hour, so I will be reading all I can on flashing a new rom onto this. Thanks again guys and gals.
furius said:
I agree with previous posts...
in addition, I could say that the only things I really miss on my Nook (more then gps and camera) are the aptik feedback (vibrations, specially on the keyboard) and a microphone for voice recognition... instead I think that both things are on Galaxy tab (but I'm not sure)...
more then galaxy, you can have on Nook Color a great devs community here at xda! other then save 100$ ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah...if the NC had a microphone it would be doubly awesome. That is a limiting thing that made me think twice, but for the price vs features, I still couldn't find better. I'm only OCed to the CM7 default 925Mhz and I haven't had any video playback issues. Watched a few episodes of the Big Bang Theory just yesterday.
Since the Nook's froyo update can you still over clock it? Also, how is battery life after you flash gingerbread or honeycomb?
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk
tfotos said:
Since the Nook's froyo update can you still over clock it? Also, how is battery life after you flash gingerbread or honeycomb?
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't run Honeycomb, but running CM7 from EMMC overclocked to 1.3 GHz, my battery life is about 2 days between charges with moderate use....facebook, email, streaming videos and reading the news. My wife's Nook with rooted stock firmware is definately easier on the power consumption, but not nearly as capable of a machine.
Running CM7 with 1.3 GHz kernel, I think the only missing thing is the camera for me...
Iucas said:
Running CM7 with 1.3 GHz kernel, I think the only missing thing is the camera for me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just curious and truly not trying to be a smartass or anything, but why would you use a camera on a tablet? I mean cell phones are near dedicated digital camera quality and easier to use. I guess I just don't get the desire for a tablet with a camera unless its front facing for video calling...but honestly, if you called me on the phone and I was home you probably wouldn't want the camera turned on anyway...trust me on that one.
I would agree about the camera thing on a tablet. It seems like it would be awkward snapping photos with it. It may be cool for skyping maybe. Usually if I'm going to use the webcam I'm at home so the kids can talk to everyone too.

What's next for stock rooted development?

I'm very happy with the manualnooter setup for the new update. I like the stock feel and apps while having the ability to overclock, use the market, etc. After all, I do use it for reading. But is there nothing more to develop with this setup until B&N releases a new update? Maybe the ability to merge specific CM7 features with it to gain performance if nothing else?
Honestly, I'm not seeing any reason these days to switch back to CM7. The only thing currently on my wishlist is better flash browsing performance. But that's more of a hardware issue than anything from what I've read.
Kayak83 said:
I'm very happy with the manualnooter setup for the new update. I like the stock feel and apps while having the ability to overclock, use the market, etc. After all, I do use it for reading. But is there nothing more to develop with this setup until B&N releases a new update? Maybe the ability to merge specific CM7 features with it to gain performance if nothing else?
Honestly, I'm not seeing any reason these days to switch back to CM7. The only thing currently on my wishlist is better flash browsing performance. But that's more of a hardware issue than anything from what I've read.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thankfully, all of the current developer resources are being spent on more fruitful ventures like CM7. Sorry, but sticking with the old OS is silly, unless you specifically need the nook app features. CM7 has more hardware features enabled, a new OS, and a good classic Android experience (none of B&N's blah framework).
I think the best that stock users can hope for is some newer kernels every now and then, but ill be honest; i really hope he keeps up with CM7 first and foremost. Again, it is the better OS, and more deserving of the development time.
Divine_Madcat said:
Thankfully, all of the current developer resources are being spent on more fruitful ventures like CM7. Sorry, but sticking with the old OS is silly, unless you specifically need the nook app features. CM7 has more hardware features enabled, a new OS, and a good classic Android experience (none of B&N's blah framework).
I think the best that stock users can hope for is some newer kernels every now and then, but ill be honest; i really hope he keeps up with CM7 first and foremost. Again, it is the better OS, and more deserving of the development time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bluetooth thats not very useful/practical. Decreased battery life. No stock B&N reader app (the market one doesn't have near the stock's polish).
I'm not sure why this makes the ROOTED stock OS "silly." This is, of curse, coming from a non-developer/programmer. Standing plainly from a consumer perspective, I don't see the "blah" framework nor do i care since the performance seems to be nearly the same. I'm not getting into a Quadrant score argument here either .
That being said, honeycomb would be deserving of my attention....with the B&N reader. haha.
*I realize this might read as being negative, but I promise you it's not. I'm just carrying a conversation of the pros/cons. I obviously appreciate the development, whichever way it goes, because it benefits everybody.*
Kayak83 said:
Bluetooth thats not very useful/practical. Decreased battery life. No stock B&N reader app (the market one doesn't have near the stock's polish).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, but that is crazy. The bluetooth is incredibly useful. It allows me to use the Nook as a standalone nav device (and let me tell you, nav on a 7" rocks), or use my bluetooth speaker set. The battery life is fine for what it is. even overclocked, i have never run out of battery in a heavy days use. Charge at night, and i am good to go. I understand the reader, which is why i gave it as the one exception.
Kayak83 said:
I'm not sure why this makes the ROOTED stock OS "silly." This is, of curse, coming from a non-developer/programmer. Standing plainly from a consumer perspective, I don't see the "blah" framework nor do i care since the performance seems to be nearly the same. I'm not getting into a Quadrant score argument here either .
That being said, honeycomb would be deserving of my attention....with the B&N reader. haha.
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I am talking as a consumer as well. I hated the changes B&N made to the Android look and feel. I understand it was done with the goal of making it an eReader, but given an alternative, i had no desire to keep it. Even benchmarks aside, Ginerbread has always felt faster (and has better app and memory management).
Kayak83 said:
*I realize this might read as being negative, but I promise you it's not. I'm just carrying a conversation of the pros/cons. I obviously appreciate the development, whichever way it goes, because it benefits everybody.*
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I have no problems with discussion.
Divine_Madcat said:
I understand the reader, which is why i gave it as the one exception.
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Yeah, but the reader is a pretty big exception depending on what you use the Nook Color for. While I can't see myself going back to stock OS from CM7, I have to say that the B&N reader in the market blows in comparison to what comes stock on the NC. Most critically, opening a book with highlighting can take 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on the App, wheras it's instant on the stock reader.
My Nook Color journey will be complete and I'll finally be able to use this thing the way I truly want when (1) Movies play as well on my NC as they did on BN OS 1.1, and (2) the Nook App for Android opens books as quickly as the stock reader does.
dsf3g said:
Yeah, but the reader is a pretty big exception depending on what you use the Nook Color for. While I can't see myself going back to stock OS from CM7, I have to say that the B&N reader in the market blows in comparison to what comes stock on the NC. Most critically, opening a book with highlighting can take 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on the App, wheras it's instant on the stock reader.
My Nook Color journey will be complete and I'll finally be able to use this thing the way I truly want when (1) Movies play as well on my NC as they did on BN OS 1.1, and (2) the Nook App for Android opens books as quickly as the stock reader does.
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Click to collapse
The reader is the only reason I can justify having a tablet. The Transformer is REALLY tempting but I can't really find a specific use aside from the "because I can," attitude.
Hate to say it, but I tend to agree with Madcat on this one. CM7 is a constantly growing project with lots of development support. Stock is... Well stock... You may never see another update for it and I don't feel it comes with anywhere near as much customization.
If you're truly happy with an "eReader" than updates are silly past Manualnooter. It's overclocked and you can read just fine. If you want a "tablet" that's why there's CM7.
That said, had I just wanted an eReader, I would have just bought a Nook or Kindle, battery life is far better for those, and you can easily read your books. Like Madcat said, it's very easy to use the Nook Color heavily (overclocked to 1.3ghz on .29 kernel/Debateable on .32 till PBD is fixed) for a whole day and charge at night. I don't think you're going to see much better even on Stock...
Bluetooth... Silly? LOL, the only thing missing from the Nook color is video out, and I would have a highly portable video game system for vacations, family get togethers, etc.. As Madcat also mentioned, bluetooth gps is pretty awesome on this screen, makes me regret recently buying a TomTom.
But you're also forgetting USB host support that will soon be baked in, allowing the nook to use external usb keybords, mouses, webcams(possibly?), video game controllers and hard drives!
Something goes wrong with CM7 you have a lot of dev support and other user support. Something breaks in Stock and you have the manual spoken to you in verbatim, with an Indian Accent and an American name.
My Nook Color journey will be complete and I'll finally be able to use this thing the way I truly want when (1) Movies play as well on my NC as they did on BN OS 1.1, and (2) the Nook App for Android opens books as quickly as the stock reader does.
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Not sure why it hasn't ended for video... Overclock it and use Moboplayer and you can easily watch videos. That or learn to encode videos with handbrake to the specs of the nook color for hardware acceleration.
As far as the Nook App goes... I don't really read books outside of pdfs, so correct me if I'm wrong... But couldn't you use other programs like Kindle? or Moon Reader or Aikido?
I'm a little confused about the Bluetooth usability comments. Has the extremely short range issue been resolved and I missed it?
Personally I did want a device that was mostly an eReader with added capability. A rooted/over-clocked Nook Color running Smart Taskbar, Button Savior and a few other goodies fits that bill. Sure the user interface is not Android but that wasn't my intent from the start.
If the Bluetooth range can be/has been resolved, that would be icing on the cake if it gets ported to the rooted NC.If Bluetooth range while using WiFi is still sub par, I wouldn't describe it as very useful even if I were running CM7.
Even though we're on XDA, not all of us are interested in constantly tinkering with our toys all the time. If that is your thing, I say more power to you but there is no call to ridicule others who are looking for something different. Hopefully we can rise above such rudeness and treat each other with common courtesy.
-Joe
PuterGeek said:
Hopefully we can rise above such rudeness and treat each other with common courtesy.
-Joe
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Who's being rude? Seems pretty civil so far.
I just nooted last night with the lastest MN and Dalingrin's 2.6.32 OC kernel and let me tell you I am as happy as I can be. I did consider CM7 or Phiremod which I think are great but then I realized I am using this baby more for ereading than anything else.
I do like the BN reader launcher and I want to enjoy it a little bit more, the OC brings new life to it (is laggy as hell out of the box). I have now installed around 50 apps including ADW EX, customized it to my taste and to be frank regarding UI I have it to the level CM7 or Phiremod is. I can't imagine it faster than it is (it actually beats my Cognition 4 Samsung Galaxy S in feel and in Quadrant 1800 vs 2300 for the nook).
So I might change later but my needs are fulfilled for now, same situation with my Galaxy S, until CM7 is stable over there I'm sticking with stable froyo Cog goodness.

[Q] Nook HD+ For My Mother

All,
My mom's birthday was coming up and I was going to get her a tablet. She doesn't have a computer and still uses a flip phone just for reference how nontechnical she is.
With new new price of the Nook HD+ it seems like a great buy however how is it in the stock form? I know there is going to be some lag but is it at least tolerable? I watched some YouTube video reviews and it seems when it was first released it was kind of bad but some of the newer ones looked much better.
I know you are all going to say just put CM 10.1 on it and if I was going to use it for myself I would 100% do that however it always seems even at their best roms have some idiocracies of their own that we don't mind but to an average user would seem annoying.
What you guys think in stock form do you think someone would be ok with it if just using the tablet for basic browsing, reading, and netflix is this a good choice?
For a non-tech person, running just plain stock with no mods should work good. It is fairly smooth and stable. Since she has never had a device like this before, she will never notice its shortcomings compared to other Android devices. Go for it!
Sent from my Nook HD+ running CM10.1 on emmc.
leapinlar said:
For a non-tech person, running just plain stock with no mods should work good. It is fairly smooth and stable. Since she has never had a device like this before, she will never notice its shortcomings compared to other Android devices. Go for it!
Sent from my Nook HD+ running CM10.1 on emmc.
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Thanks for the quick reply! I just didn't want to buy her a piece of junk. Someone bought my Great Aunt (she is 95!) some Walgreen's special android tablet. She was so excited when I went over her house for dinner to show it to me. It was running Ice Cream Sandwich and the thing lagged like I have never seen android before and I just felt bad and smiled and said "wow this is great".
While at least B&N is a reputable company I wanted something that is usable and wont frustrate her to and also cutting down on the inevitable tech support calls I will get.
dsf767 said:
All,
My mom's birthday was coming up and I was going to get her a tablet. She doesn't have a computer and still uses a flip phone just for reference how nontechnical she is.
With new new price of the Nook HD+ it seems like a great buy however how is it in the stock form? I know there is going to be some lag but is it at least tolerable? I watched some YouTube video reviews and it seems when it was first released it was kind of bad but some of the newer ones looked much better.
I know you are all going to say just put CM 10.1 on it and if I was going to use it for myself I would 100% do that however it always seems even at their best roms have some idiocracies of their own that we don't mind but to an average user would seem annoying.
What you guys think in stock from do you think someone would is just going to sue the tablet for basic browsing, reading, and netflix is this a good choice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock is a good choice. I just set one up for my wife to use and kept it stock. I figured the easier-to-use Nook interface would be more beneficial than the raw Android interface.
After the two automatic updates, you have all the apps, including Play Store, so just keep it at that. It's a very powerful and beautful tablet (especially for the price!).
Happy Birthday to your Mom!
dsf767 said:
With new new price of the Nook HD+ it seems like a great buy however how is it in the stock form? I know there is going to be some lag but is it at least tolerable? I watched some YouTube video reviews and it seems when it was first released it was kind of bad but some of the newer ones looked much better.
What you guys think in stock form do you think someone would be ok with it if just using the tablet for basic browsing, reading, and netflix is this a good choice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought mine last week and am running it stock.
I have used numerous custom ROMs on numerous devices but I don't plan on putting any custom ROM on the Nook (for now at least).
My impressions:
First - The screen is fantastic!
I can't say enough about the screen; Full HD (1920x1280) resolution with a 9" size makes this a 'Retina' display (if compared to the iPad) - 257ppi (Nook HD+) vs. 264ppi (iPad).
Google Play Store is installed on first boot (system updates itself when turned on). With full store access, it is a full-featured Android tablet, not an e-reader.
The dual-core CPU is on the mid-range side; however it runs the tablet really well. Since the usage is normal browsing and/or reading there should be no problems with it.
I have downloaded Holo Launcher HD and use that as my interface. This gets rid of the B&N interface and allows resizing of the screen grid, widgets etc.
I use the stock reader to read my ePubs and actually prefer it over the ones available in the market.
Adobe handles PDFs and some comic books. With the high-resolution screen, I am able to view an entire page without zooming in.
The Zinio app allows me to download magazines for free from my public library account. These look great too.
There is some lag when viewing PDFs and magazines; the screen takes a second or two to focus when turning pages. Of course, it depends on what is being displayed too.
Angry birds works fine; haven't tested it with any resource-intensive games.
Skype runs all the time on my HD+ and have had multiple conversations with family around the world with no connection issues.
All this would be nothing if not for the price. the close-out price of $150 makes this an incredible value. You can buy 3 of these for the price of one iPad.
Do not hesitate.
Cheers.

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