nook tablet unboxing & hands on

[Zaap]

That is absolutely horrible. WTF? B&N doesn't even sell movies and music, yet they reserve 15 of the 16 GB of storage to only B&N storage (ie, ebooks)? Ebooks take almost no space. I don't get it, that's crazy. D:

That's just insane.

Yes, I know there's an SD slot, and I know power users will root/ROM the thing and bypass this, but many users won't. 1GB of storage, with 12 or so GB just sitting there held hostage trying to force you to buy content from B&N? (And yeah, it's right there in the fine-print under item 6 at the bottom.)

The way its worded sounds like it's optional?

Sneaky bastards.

Was the Nook Color like this stock?

I just don't get some companies- they bring something great to market that tons of people are going to want, then always find a way to dick it up.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Was the Nook Color like this stock?

Out of the 8 gigs in the Nook Color, 3 were for the system inaccessible. The other five was useable. B&N originally gave 1 gig to the system with 4 gigs for ebooks. Later on when the app store opened they moved to 4 gigs system 1 gig ebook. I liked that arrangement, as I have like 3gigs of apps on mine now.

 

[Zaap]

http://www.geek.com/articles/gadget...tablet-may-have-a-signed-bootloader-20111116/

If this is eventually confirmed, and the device isn’t able to install custom ROMs, this could turn out to be an epic blunder for Barnes & Noble. While hackers probably spend less money on Barnes & Noble content, their feverish interest in the Nook Color was the driving force behind the tablet’s success. Tech blogs’ coverage of the reader’s hacks served as free publicity, and it made the device more recognizable to those who would never consider hacking. Taking that geek cred away just when the device gets a rival that is (in most ways) the better choice anyway could kill their slate’s momentum.

On top of the signed bootloader talk, developers are also saying that the Nook Tablet won’t be able to boot off of the SD Card — at least not without additional workarounds. Yet another perk of the Nook Color was its ability to boot from the SD card. This allowed the device to run custom ROMs without tampering with the internal memory.

I'm holding off judgement until this is confirmed.

I was fine with the extra $50 for an SD slot. (Now one that's more useless than its predecessor). I was weary of the the locked up internal storage and need right away to spend around another $40 for a 32GB micro SD in order to have any sort of storage potential (taking me from a $200 tablet with the Fire, to a $300 tablet for the Nook) but it still wasn't a total deal killer.

But a locked bootloader = no sale.

I know a lot of people will say: eh, if it's true it won't matter because most people aren't geeks, would never root/ROM the device anyway, and therefore they won't care anyway about things like locked bootloaders.

But I think it cuts both ways. The same people won't necessarily see the need to spend $50 to $90 more just for things like SD slots and cards. Even non-geeks can become livid when they realize their "16GB tablet" somehow shrank to "1GB" for many of the practical purposes they may have had in mind for it. That's a huge difference that even my non-techie wife or mother would notice and feel cheated about. Also, I'd say Amazon already has the clear advantage in content, and now out of box storage as well.

The way I see it, B&N ONLY had an advantage among techies. Piss them off and maybe the Nook tablet won't be a total flop, but it could be a way less of a success than B&N might have been counting on.

 

[BladeVenom]

How to sideload apps:
http://liliputing.com/2011/11/how-t...ok-tablet-amazon-appstore-go-launcher-ex.html

 

[ponyo]

Locked bootloader? Game over. Nook tablet is dead.

Like people needed anymore reason to buy the Amazon Fire. Good job B&N. You just killed your tablet.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Don't crucify just yet folks. Sounds like nothing is confirmed.

 

[shortylickens]

Locked bootloader? Game over. Nook tablet is dead.

Like people needed anymore reason to buy the Amazon Fire. Good job B&N. You just killed your tablet.

Well, the Fire doesnt have an SD slot and since theres no cellular version most of the content you view will be downloaded. I think there will be quite a few people (nerd and noob alike) going for the Nook regardless of the boot loader issue.

 

[shortylickens]

OK, fukc it. Ima go out to B&N and get the Nook. Supposedly some places are selling early. Will try it out and see if I like it. Better than Fire? Fire goes back to Amazon.

 

[Bateluer]

Locked bootloader? Game over. Nook tablet is dead.

Its dead because .01% of their potential customers won't buy it? Honestly, the average person doesn't even know what a bootloader is. If confirmed, it won't hurt their sales in any measurable way.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Its dead because .01% of their potential customers won't buy it? Honestly, the average person doesn't even know what a bootloader is. If confirmed, it won't hurt their sales in any measurable way.

Yeah, I never run across people that have rooted their Android devices in the wild, seriously...

 

[bonkers325]

got my nook tablet yesterday.

the screen looks nice and does a decent job resisting fingerprints and oil. it doesn't feel "smooth" to glide your finger over, but i attribute that to being new. guess i'll have to break it in!

i installed go launcher and amazon app store already. you need an sd card to download/install from amazon app store.

edit: with go launcher and amazon app store, i'm pretty much set. i haven't even tried to install google apps yet, but it seems some users on XDA have had success with google apps on the nook tablet.

 

[ponyo]

Its dead because .01% of their potential customers won't buy it? Honestly, the average person doesn't even know what a bootloader is. If confirmed, it won't hurt their sales in any measurable way.

Never underestimate the geek factor. Geeks are early adoptors and their positive or negative reviews can make or break a product.

Casual and moms will buy the Amazon Fire. Positive word of mouth reviews and recs from the geeks and modders was the only hope for Nook vs Fire.

The only reason the original color Nook was a success was due to the hackers. Without the free publicity and advertising of CM7 hack on the internet, color Nook wouldn't have near the success it achieved. Hackers sold the color Nook. Their absence from Nook tablet will kill it. Hackers are now supporting Amazon Fire. Hackers and Moms=unbeatable combo. Nook tablet is finished. So is Barnes and Noble.

 

[SunnyD]

How to sideload apps:
http://liliputing.com/2011/11/how-t...ok-tablet-amazon-appstore-go-launcher-ex.html

Wait wut? They're including a full not-stripped-down Android Framework with the new nooks??? God damn! That's a complete about face from the old nook color. I wonder if they've updated the old one too...

 

[Bateluer]

Never underestimate the geek factor. Geeks are early adoptors and their positive or negative reviews can make or break a product.

Casual and moms will buy the Amazon Fire. Positive word of mouth reviews and recs from the geeks and modders was the only hope for Nook vs Fire.

The only reason the original color Nook was a success was due to the hackers. Without the free publicity and advertising of CM7 hack on the internet, color Nook wouldn't have near the success it achieved. Hackers sold the color Nook. Their absence from Nook tablet will kill it. Hackers are now supporting Amazon Fire. Hackers and Moms=unbeatable combo. Nook tablet is finished. So is Barnes and Noble.

Still scratching my head over why some people seem to think casual&moms will exclusively buy the Fire over the Nook Tab. Is it because its cheaper? Thats really the only advantage the Fire has over the NT, everything else is either equal or tipped in the Nook's favor.

And hackers didn't sell the Nook Color, it got some free publicity from it, but not nearly as much as you think. Moms and casual buyers don't read Engadget, Droid Life, CM/XDA, etc. They walked into B&N and saw the Nook kiosk that every B&N has right as you walk into the building.

 

[Red Storm]

Is it because its cheaper?

Yes.

The Fire will outsell the Nook for that reason alone. It's more like a ~$70 difference when you factor in tax.

 

[jaydee]

How fast is the bus speed to the SD card? Is there significant lag loading items off the SD card compared to the internal memory?

 

[Bateluer]

Yes.

The Fire will outsell the Nook for that reason alone. It's more like a ~$70 difference when you factor in tax.

Outselling the nook is not the same thing as 'crushing' it. The Nook Tab is going to sell extremely well, its not going to fail utterly because of a signed bootloader and some disgruntled tech enthusiasts.

Edit - After seeing how the Nook Tab performs compared to the Fire, if a customer actually uses both of them, they're going to buy the Nook. I know BB sells the e-ink nooks along side Amazon's Kindles, but I don't think they sell the Nook Color. Don't think people will actually get to see them side by side.

 

[Zaap]

The price difference between the two is significant. At least $50 to $70 right out of the box, and the cost of a micro SD card if you actually are going to use what you're paying the extra money for.

Add to that the fact that oob the fire at least has 5GB non-reserved storage vs. the nook's stingy 1GB and I see no reason why moms and non-geeks will rush to buy the nook.

Maybe I'd feel more confident in the nook if b&n had a top notch app store and digital media store to go head to head with amazon, but they don't. (and no I don't believe their hold 98% of the devices storage potential hostage to force users to buy from B&N in order not to be wasting their device is going to prove a big sell with the Mom crowd or anyone else. Non tech people can still tell a major ripoff when it smacks them.)

 

[abaez]

Yeah, if you think it's just price - Amazon's ecosystem spins circles around what B&N provides and is probably the most compelling thing about it outside of the price. How many people will go to the amazon homepage and see the full screen ad about the fire/kindle versus B&N homepage and stores?

If you are saying that it's just casuals&moms - how many of them are actually going to compare the two? Which website do you think they use more? Amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com?

 

[Bateluer]

The price difference between the two is significant. At least $50 to $70 right out of the box, and the cost of a micro SD card if you actually are going to use what you're paying the extra money for.

Add to that the fact that oob the fire at least has 5GB non-reserved storage vs. the nook's stingy 1GB and I see no reason why moms and non-geeks will rush to buy the nook.

Maybe I'd feel more confident in the nook if b&n had a top notch app store and digital media store to go head to head with amazon, but they don't. (and no I don't believe their hold 98% of the devices storage potential hostage to force users to buy from B&N in order not to be wasting their device is going to prove a big sell with the Mom crowd or anyone else. Non tech people can still tell a major ripoff when it smacks them.)

Keep in mind the Amazon Appstore is basically Android Market, but without any primary dev focus. It has no exclusives and few developers bother to support/update the apps they submit to the Amazon Appstore. Whether this will change with the Fire remains to be seen, but on Android phones, the Amazon Appstore is a complete joke.

AFAIK, the storage allocations only apply to the internal storage? To my knowledge, it doesn't effect the SD card at all, which renders it completely moot.

Yeah, if you think it's just price - Amazon's ecosystem spins circles around what B&N provides and is probably the most compelling thing about it outside of the price. How many people will go to the amazon homepage and see the full screen ad about the fire/kindle versus B&N homepage and stores?

If you are saying that it's just casuals&moms - how many of them are actually going to compare the two? Which website do you think they use more? Amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com?

Amazon's ecosystem is no better than B&N's, I've pointed this out before. B&N's ebook/e-zine market is larger than Amazons and just as accessible and easy to use. Amazon has their own streaming video service, but since both the Fire and Nook Tab support Netflix and Hulu, they're equal.

Just checked Bestbuy.com, and they are selling the Nook Color, which means they sell the full range of nooks and Kindles. So its VERY likely that buyers are going to walk into Best Buy, shopping for gifts for the holidays, and be able to easily compare them side by side.

Your second paragraph is slightly more valid. B&N's site splashes the nook products over the main page too, advertising them prominently. You seem to be under the mistaken impression that B&N is a young, unknown upstart book seller with no market clout to speak of. When it comes to books, B&N is just as well known as Amazon. Perhaps more so, since they've been around longer and an older crowd could very well be more likely to go to a brick store than to hit the web.

 

[Specop 007]

From what I can tell from reading reviews and such it seems we are in the fortunate position of choosing between "good and better". Of course the question is which is which but I dont think a shopper could make a bad choice between the two.

 

[AstroManLuca]

AFAIK, the storage allocations only apply to the internal storage? To my knowledge, it doesn't effect the SD card at all, which renders it completely moot.

Not completely moot! It sucks that there are 16 (well, more like 13) perfectly fine gigabytes of internal storage that are walled off and unusable. It's basically requiring you to buy an SD card even if you don't need more than 13 GB of space, because 1 GB is very very little.

Sure, if you want to carry 20+ GB of music everywhere you go, it's a moot point, but if you're okay with the amount of internal storage it's a slap in the face. Combine that with the locked bootloader rumors and it almost seems like some jerk executive forced them to make the thing suck.

 

[Zaap]

AFAIK, the storage allocations only apply to the internal storage? To my knowledge, it doesn't effect the SD card at all, which renders it completely moot.

It doesn't effect the SD card slot at all, but that's not the point. The point is, people have to spend extra money to use the SD card slot, and B&N is sneakily selling a "16GB" device that people are going to rudely find out is really a "1GB" device.

It amazes me that people think that even tech-novices are going to overlook that. If it were the case, Apple would just sell 8GB iPods and sneakily make the 32GB ones be 8GB available for the user, with the rest only usable if you buy the content from them. Does anyone really think that would fly and no one would feel cheated having paid more for the larger capacity device?

 

[fbrdphreak]

Still scratching my head over why some people seem to think casual&moms will exclusively buy the Fire over the Nook Tab. Is it because its cheaper? Thats really the only advantage the Fire has over the NT, everything else is either equal or tipped in the Nook's favor.

We've been over this before. Price helps, but in the end Amazon has a FAR larger market to pitch this too. Amazon is integrated into FAR more people's lives than B&N. At the very least, consider that for every one of Amazon's Prime subscribers that is in the market for a tablet, the Fire is probably at the top of their list. How does B&N compare to that? It doesn't.

To use your example: B&N has a lot of people who walked into their store and saw the Nook. That did help sell a lot of tablets. How many people does Amazon have visiting their homepage?
........
Okay then.

 

[manly]

It doesn't effect the SD card slot at all, but that's not the point. The point is, people have to spend extra money to use the SD card slot, and B&N is sneakily selling a "16GB" device that people are going to rudely find out is really a "1GB" device.

It amazes me that people think that even tech-novices are going to overlook that. If it were the case, Apple would just sell 8GB iPods and sneakily make the 32GB ones be 8GB available for the user, with the rest only usable if you buy the content from them. Does anyone really think that would fly and no one would feel cheated having paid more for the larger capacity device?

Bateleur is the resident NOOK fanatic, usually with and within reason. Not so much on this single point.

I agree that having double the KF's storage, but being forced to buy an SD card out of the gate is plain silly (if you want more than 1GB of user content). But tech novices overlook all kinds of things, don't overestimate em. In one of these recent KF threads, a poster said a women he talked to doesn't know what RAM or storage memory is. That's more or less your typical consumer, so price and convenience trump all the factors that members here would evaluate.