nook tablet unboxing & hands on

[fumanstan0]

How could you give the edge to Amazon by number of apps? I have never, EVER ran into an app that amazon had and the real market didn't... but there are many apps that the main market has that Amazon doesn't. Plus it's quite well known that the amazon version and market version of the apps are separate, so you can't update until your market gets the update. And in the case of cross market apps, the REAL market is getting those updates first.

Yeah, like others said the comparison is solely between stock Kindle Fire and stock Nook Tablet. Even bringing up how the Amazon Appstore works compared to the normal Android Market is irrelevant, so it being slower, clunkier to update, etc also doesn't play a factor which is why i'm confused as why the poster would rate the Fire and Nook equal.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Honestly, they're cheap enough, buy one of each

Heck, I may buy 2 of one of them, figure out a case so I can multi task

 

[poofyhairguy]

I think he's comparing B&N Apps to Amazon Apps.

Then Amazon wins by a ton. The B&N app store sucks on selection, it only has about 1200 apps. I think Amazon already has ten times that. There is a reason no one cares about hacking the B&N store onto their device.

 

[AstroManLuca]

The rooting wizards have gotten permanent root and access to the Android Market for the Nook Tablet.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/244384/nook_tablet_rooted_gets_you_android_market_apps.html

That didn't take long!

 

[shortylickens]

Nerds: 1
Locked bootloader: 0

 

[manly]

I don't see how the Appstore is equal. Edge is Amazon's there given the number of apps, let alone the free app a day. If you're an existing Android user and have been picking up apps, that's a huge plus.

Bat is a Nook fanboy, he'll make some borderline statements to "win" the argument.

Nerds: 1
Locked bootloader: 0

isn't the locked bootloader winning so far?

 

[shortylickens]

Oh, and I just returned my Fire this morning. Only had to pay 2.98 for shipping. Was worth it.

Still waiting on the perfect device.

 

[Zaap]

Went to B&N today and finally got a hands-on with the Nook Tablet. Pretty damned slick. It was fast and responsive. No, it's not iPad 'smooth' but I don't care, it's plenty 'smooth' for $250. The quality felt better in person than it looks online. The screen looks great. I prefer the size/weight to a larger tablet for casual use.

Now that it can be rooted, I'm in. Buying one next week. I'll probably play with it for a month at work, then rebox and give it to my wife for Christmas. Unless I really get attached to it.

 

[manly]

Went to B&N today and finally got a hands-on with the Nook Tablet. Pretty damned slick. It was fast and responsive. No, it's not iPad 'smooth' but I don't care, it's plenty 'smooth' for $250. The quality felt better in person than it looks online. The screen looks great. I prefer the size/weight to a larger tablet for casual use.

Now that it can be rooted, I'm in. Buying one next week. I'll probably play with it for a month at work, then rebox and give it to my wife for Christmas. Unless I really get attached to it.

Target is throwing in a $30 store gift card these next couple days, don't know if Black Friday brings a better deal.

 

[AstroManLuca]

What I don't understand is why B&N went with a locked bootloader at all. It's sort of like using intrusive DRM. The people in the know will figure out how to get around it anyway, it just delays and annoys them and possibly loses a few customers among the techie crowd.

And while plenty of people have said that techies are a tiny sliver of the market, if that is true, then why bother locking the bootloader? The same number of people are going to hack their tablets whether the bootloader is locked or not. Even among rom flashers, most of them are only capable of following instructions posted on a website. With a locked bootloader it just means they'll be following different, more difficult directions.

 

[Zaap]

^ I'm betting The same clueless B&N executive mentality that wants to lock up 90% of the internal storage to force the use of a lackluster Appstore, rather than just develop a world class Appstore that people would actually want to hack someone else's device to have.

 

[Zaap]

Target is throwing in a $30 store gift card these next couple days, don't know if Black Friday brings a better deal.

Thanks! I'm going to look into this.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Yeah, I'm sure it was some executive who doesn't understand the situation at all and was talked into it by some lackey. If you think about it, it potentially costs them more money. The old Nook Color was unbrickable - if you screwed it up, you could just format your SD card and reload the OS and be fine. Now there is the potential to mess it up, which could lead to people trying to exchange their tablets if they brick them.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

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.

well the only thing the Nook Tablet has over the Kindle Fire IS the geek factor. Moms will buy the cheaper version and trust me, the geeks and rooters have a LOT of say on how well the Nook Tablet does. You act like any negative news for Android is never negative news.

Think of it this way. iPad 2 = Kindle Fire. Nook Color = Motorola Xoom. Now compare the sales. Now any more negatives against the Xoom would've made it an even bigger failure. So that's what's happening here.

 

[rstove02]

Just a heads up that B&N are pushing an OTA update that breaks both root and side loading of applications. In order words, if it is not available on B&N Market, you can not install it.

I can understand the breaking of root, but disabling installing apps from anywhere except B&N Market is a deal breaker for me. Am returning the unit and going with a generic android tablet that is not locked to a particular market.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Just a heads up that B&N are pushing an OTA update that breaks both root and side loading of applications. In order words, if it is not available on B&N Market, you can not install it.

I can understand the breaking of root, but disabling installing apps from anywhere except B&N Market is a deal breaker for me. Am returning the unit and going with a generic android tablet that is not locked to a particular market.

I wonder if B&N execs will soon be sitting around a table scratching their heads wonder, why? Why did this one not sell nearly as well as the last!

 

[Bateluer]

Just a heads up that B&N are pushing an OTA update that breaks both root and side loading of applications. In order words, if it is not available on B&N Market, you can not install it.

I can understand the breaking of root, but disabling installing apps from anywhere except B&N Market is a deal breaker for me. Am returning the unit and going with a generic android tablet that is not locked to a particular market.

Damn, just saw the Twitter feed on this. Nixing that from the purchase plans.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Got a link to this?

 

[Bateluer]

Got a link to this?

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/1...r-respective-tablets-that-breaks-root-access/

 

[Zaap]

Apparently it's pretty easy to block the update. (I disabled the auto-update on my wife's NT). Also the geniuses over at xda-devs have worked out how to do a restore to the previous version from the SD card even if the new update does take. Still, this takes invasive too far.

While I won't panic and return my wife's NT, I would not recommend anyone that hasn't buy a NT after this. Basically, if you want any kind of decent use (the stock UI SUUUUUUUUUUUUCKS!) you'll just have to accept that it'll be frozen at the first OS version forever. (Unless a total ROM method is achieved.)

B&N's execs pushing for this locked down crap are the worst sort of nitwits. I hope for them to get burned and for it, and this to be a model of what not to do for anyone else getting into the tablet market. I'm not only not going to recommend the NT, I'm going to actively steer people away from it when I can. Dumb, greedy B&N bastards.

 

[rstove02]

Even with update blocks and workarounds I decided to still return my NT so I will not have to deal with B&N's hostility towards improving their tablet's functionality.

When returning it, I stated that the reason why I was returning it was their latest update breaking the ability to side load applications that are not available on their market. I made no mention of rooting, just side loading apps. The customer service rep then stated (in an obviously hushed tone) "You can root it to side load the applications". After informing her that the update also breaks root and voids the warranty she quickly processed the refund for me.

 

[micrometers]

got to the 2nd page.

$50 is better understood as 25% more expensive.

 

[Bateluer]

When returning it, I stated that the reason why I was returning it was their latest update breaking the ability to side load applications that are not available on their market. I made no mention of rooting, just side loading apps. The customer service rep then stated (in an obviously hushed tone) "You can root it to side load the applications". After informing her that the update also breaks root and voids the warranty she quickly processed the refund for me.

Thats awesome.