Nook sale goes national (with Play Store)

[s44]

So... 7" 14*9 = $150
9" 19*12 = $180

Both have 1GB RAM, the OMAP 4470, and microSD. HDMI with a proprietary dongle.

Maybe el Goog refreshes the N7 soon, but this is ridiculous. Deal runs for a week.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

theyre only doing this because they are losing the ebook war against amazon and nook isnt selling. an ok but not great tablet and a soon-to-be-obsolete ereader ecosystem

 

[BladeVenom]

They shouldn't have locked it down to begin with. Their first ones weren't, and they sold well.

 

[pauldun170]

Just helped my Mother in law set her's up.
She has the HD plus and picked it up with coupons\discount...whatever.

Loaded up a bunch of apps from the play store and I have to say its a great device. I highly recommend for the non-power users who doesn't need a tablet with a camera for around the house.
If it had a camera I'd pick one up.

 

[Roland00Address]

The Nook HD+ is a 9 inch ips screen with a 1920x1280 resolution (1.5 aspect ratio)

It also had a dual core a9 at 1.5 ghz (omap 4470), 1gb ram, 16gb/32gb storage with micro sd expansion, and bluetooth. Doesn't have a camera and it is android 4 and not 4.2 but it is still a pretty nice tablet for this price.

It is pretty much the cheapest nice tablet with a nice screen now that it has google play without rooting/sideloading/etc

-----------

That said the new nexus 7 is comming out soon though, it is rumored to have a higher resolution screen than the cure nexus 7 (1280x800 ips), and a qualcomm (s600 maybe?) processor.

an ok but not great tablet and a soon-to-be-obsolete ereader ecosystem

Who cares about buying books from the nook app, you can also buy books from other sources (without rooting) now that the nook has google play.

You can complain and say B&N may drop support for the product and it will be stuck with android 4, but I can say the same thing about pretty much any android tablet brand besides nexus, asus, and samsung.

 

[Zaap]

I knew it- B&N seems to be trying to get rid of these any way they can. I'm picking up a 2nd HD+.

The HD+ is an excellent tablet for $180. (Since now it has Play acces, or otherwise running CM10 hybrid). If someone can show me a better 9" tablet of a reputable make with a 1080p screen and SD slot for less, please show me because I'd like one.

For reading, light to medium gaming/emulation, web surfing, basic tablet tasks, it simply can't be beat at that price.

 

[Darknite39]

I'm really debating an HD+ as a replacement for my touchpad...

 

[Geekbabe]

This is seriously tempting, of course I need another tablet like I need a hole in the head but I liked my 1st Nook & this might be fun to mess around with.

 

[gorcorps]

They shouldn't have locked it down to begin with. Their first ones weren't, and they sold well.

Yeah but they didn't get any money from selling those well. The hardware was sold for damn near cost and they were hoping to make it up in content sales. But people just rooted and ran roms, so B&N had some market share but no profits to show for it.


I really don't need it but I think I'm gonna get the HD+ today

 

[OBLAMA2009]

theyre nice to have for the nook features alone so you can get ebooks at most local libraries

 

[Bateluer]

Yeah but they didn't get any money from selling those well. The hardware was sold for damn near cost and they were hoping to make it up in content sales. But people just rooted and ran roms, so B&N had some market share but no profits to show for it.

Pretty most, if not all of them, installed the nook app. I've a lot of content with B&N myself, so the nook app is installed on all my tablets and phones.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

Debating getting this, or waiting for the new nexus 7 announcement, which im pretty sure is coming very soon.

I dont really care about having a ffc, but im more concerned with how well this hardware will stack up against the new nexus 7. I also really like that its not super narrow like the 16:9 nexus 7.

Im a sucker for a good deal, so i might just pick this up either way.

 

[gorcorps]

Im a sucker for a good deal, so i might just pick this up either way.

Me too, especially with gadgets.

I have a Nexus 7 already, but I don't have anything worth while on the larger side. At least that's my justification :biggrin:

 

[ElFenix]

Me too, especially with gadgets.

I have a Nexus 7 already, but I don't have anything worth while on the larger side. At least that's my justification :biggrin:

me too

there isn't a better large screen tablet out there at this price point. even if the standard experience isn't great it's painlessly hacked.

 

[gorcorps]

me too

there isn't a better large screen tablet out there at this price point. even if the standard experience isn't great it's painlessly hacked.

And from what I've seen (and some reviews confirmed) it's got one of the best screens of any Android tablet when it was released. The biggest issue was how limited it was by being B&N limited which is obviously no longer an issue.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I kept telling myself I don't need a Nook HD or HD+. I have an iPad 4 and a Kindle Fire HD 7. And I'm planning on getting the next Nexus 7 in probably a couple months if things go like last year.

But I ended up buying the Nook HD+ last night. I figured I don't have a large screen Android tablet right now. And Google makes apps on 7 inch tablets look like phone apps for some reason. So it would be nice to have a larger tablet with full tablet apps (like Chrome browser with tabs). I also like the unique 3:2 aspect ratio on the Nook HD+, it makes browsing the web in portrait mode nicer among other things. And heck, I don't own a single tablet that has a micro SD slot, so that'll be a nice change as well.

I'm really loving the Nook HD+ so far. I had a Nook Color before, and I'm not crazy about this particular look on a tablet, with the large plastic bezel wrapped around the front glass and the "nook" in the corner. But now that I have it in my hands, this tablet isn't as ugly as the original Nook Color and does feel much better and solid as well. So its' not as bad as I feared and feels very comfortable in the hand.

The 2.1 update installed fairly quick after I left it idle a few minutes and I had Google apps on there in no time. I installed Nova launcher from Google Play and had the HD+ looking like a proper tablet in no time.

One of my favorite apps is no longer in Google Play (Google is getting worse than Apple at pulling apps for weird reasons), so I needed to sideload it. And sadly sideloading apps is still blocked. Was hoping B&N would have removed that restriction by now. So I had to install the Android/Nook SDKs and adb install the apk instead.

The performance is okay at best. It's stuck on Android 4.0.3 and so the UI just doesn't feel as smooth as Jellybean does, even with Nova launcher. But it seems to be a bit faster than my Kindle Fire HD 7 as I would expect. And no real complaints.

I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the single speaker on the back sounds. It's loud enough (much more than the Nexus 7) and sounds quite clear good.

 

[Chrono]

Got one on Sunday myself from Best Buy. Pretty awesome tablet to be honest for $220 OTD.
I'm kind of sad it's not on Jellybean but I'm hoping for some CM 10.1 magic in the near future. Seems most games/apps work but there are some that kind of halt, like star wars pinball game.

Great screen btw! Definitely great for reading.

 

[MBentz]

Really wish it had GPS.

 

[gorcorps]

I also picked up the HD+ yesterday. Haven't installed a different launcher on it yet, but it's still a nice machine. Very good display overall with some deep black levels. I think this sale will be a pretty big boon to the dev community and we'll be seeing a lot more stuff popping up on xda in the coming months.

 

[Denithor]

Picked up the HD+ yesterday, going to make my gf very happy tonight.

 

[ibex333]

even if the standard experience isn't great it's painlessly hacked.

Not true. The process of installing CyanogenMod right now is actually fairly complicated. My quick Google search revealed that there is actually no "official" release yet, apparently some dude at XDA devs converted the source code and made some sort of a hack which allows him to install CM on the Nook HD+. He released his methods publicly so anyone can do it now, but you have to use HIS snapshot, unless you have enough knowledge and time to make your own.

Sounds too me like too much work. Then again, I am tempted to buy the Nook HD+ now, and wait till a good, stable CM build is released for it.

Keep in mind that the Nook HD+ is inferior to Kindle Fire and iPad Mini in many ways. No cameras, not even a front one, no gps, no accelerometer/gyroscope (or whatever its called), only 1 speaker vs. Kindles two. However if you don't need any of these things it is a very solid tablet. Screen is gorgeous, CPU and GPU powerful enough to play any of todays Android games. Also I like the Nooks screen format much better than Kindle Fire. The Kindle is clearly made to be held horizontally even the camera is oriented that way, the Nook is made to be held vertically. This INO is so much better for books, internet browsing and whatever else. That is not so say that both tablets aren't great when you hold them the other way, but I hope what I am saying makes sense.

 

[ElFenix]

Not true. The process of installing CyanogenMod right now is actually fairly complicated. My quick Google search revealed that there is actually no "official" release yet, apparently some dude at XDA devs converted the source code and made some sort of a hack which allows him to install CM on the Nook HD+. He released his methods publicly so anyone can do it now, but you have to use HIS snapshot, unless you have enough knowledge and time to make your own.

Sounds too me like too much work. Then again, I am tempted to buy the Nook HD+ now, and wait till a good, stable CM build is released for it.

i had thought it was a matter of putting your rom on a microsd card and booting to the card.

 

[ibex333]

i had thought it was a matter of putting your rom on a microsd card and booting to the card.

That is how it usually is. But if I understand what they are saying correctly, it's not that easy YET. Before yo can put it on the SD card and boot from it, the file needs to be created/modified in in a fairly intricate way. Also, apparently a bunch of stuff is not working properly because this CM build was not created for the Nook HD+ but in fact "ported over".

I hope someone comes in and tells me I misunderstood completely and its actually a lot easier than I think.

 

[Ravynmagi]

So do we have new Nook tablets arriving soon or something?

First we get Google apps, then this crazy 33% off sale. Even all the accessories are on sale. Staples has it's accessories marked as clearance. Kinda feels like they are clearing room for something new.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

That is how it usually is. But if I understand what they are saying correctly, it's not that easy YET. Before yo can put it on the SD card and boot from it, the file needs to be created/modified in in a fairly intricate way. Also, apparently a bunch of stuff is not working properly because this CM build was not created for the Nook HD+ but in fact "ported over".

I hope someone comes in and tells me I misunderstood completely and its actually a lot easier than I think.

I think id just rather install it on the nooks memory, than have to use a sd, and possibly take a performance hit.

I stopped in B&N today, with the intention of picking up a HD+, but left with nothing because i ended up liking the HD so much.

I was thinking that for an almost 10" tablet with a screen like that, its an awesome deal, and how could i not buy it at that price. The truth is, 7 inches i think is a much better fit for me. I can hold it easily with one hand, and i even like the design better. I liked the nexus 7, but the bezel was huge, and i dont like its aspect ratio. IMO the nook HD is just about perfect, except for the software.

If CM were a breeze to install, and you would essentially have a nexus tablet, I'd probably buy one. Im gonna be waiting for that day to come though, and in the meantime, there is going to be a new nexus 7 tablet announced very soon.

Ill probably end up getting the 7" nook. I just feel like its not as great of a deal as the HD+ even though its the device im better off with. Especially when you can get a 32GB nexus 7 for ~150 if you look around.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, some of the nooks in the store seemed really bogged down by whatever it was running. Kind of a turn off at first. That moby dick live wallpaper seemed like it was slowing everything down. All the more reason to put CM on this thing.