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Wife want's a tablet. How's the Nook?

TurtleCrusher

TurtleCrusher

Lifer
We are giving away my Thinkpad T61 to my dad are are going without a mobile device. We don't need high performance devices, just something for content consumption/social media at coffee shops and on the couch. She has a Galaxy S2 4.5" phone, so the 7" wouldn't be that much bigger for her, so she says.



The 9" Nook is right in the price point we are willing to spend on a tablet.

1 - Am I able to use all Android apps on the stock rom?

2 - Is it feature limited at all?

3 - Also, is it hard to get it to a stock android experience?
 
I'd rather get the lady a kindle fire. Amazon usually has good deals on black friday. Think I picked one up for around $100 last year.
 
Yes
No rear camera
No

Wait a bit for some refurbished units to show up on ebay, B&N has been blowing them out for $99-$109, I've bought 2, they were mint condition.
 
gmaster456 said:
I'd rather get the lady a kindle fire. Amazon usually has good deals on black friday. Think I picked one up for around $100 last year.
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I'd get the Kindle Fire, but the Google Play store with all of my purchases is the main draw. Also, the price points are COMPLTELY different.
 
Just in reference to the 4.5" isnt that much smaller than 7" argument: I actually was thinking the same thing before I got my nexus 7.

I currently use a nexus 4 (4.75" i think)and nexus 7, and the difference is huge. Before I had my phone, my desktop, and macbook air 11". I got rid of that, and I needed something to act as my portable device, and was thinking about getting a nexus 10. Im so happy I didnt and went with the smaller tablet. You get used to the screen size, and it doesnt seem small at all.

I would have her check out a nexus 7 or 7" nook before getting the 9". Have her bring her phone and compare. I personally loved the smaller form factor of the nook HD (7 inch one, i get the names confused). Fits in your hand perfectly, and you probably dont even need to bother with a case. Either way, I think 7 inches is the perfect size for a tablet.

I dont have a ton of experience with nook devices, but I think you can just download the android market now super easily - I think they even advertise it.

But I would being her to the store first to see which she likes the best. For me, the feel of the tablet in my hands was an unexpected huge issue for me - which is why I brought back the original nexus 7 from 2012. It was just too heavy or something.
 
The Nook HD+ is a pretty nice tablet at this price. It's a great looking screen and the tablet feels pretty nice to hold, and even has a micro SD slot. The processor is a slow, but it gets the job done for most things.

For the price, I don't think you could go wrong with this tablet. Though I would definitely consider spending a bit more on the Nexus 7 2013. I know she doesn't think it's much bigger, but it it's about 3 times bigger than a 4.5 inch phone. And the 7 inch size is very comfortable for one handed use, so is ideal for book reading.


Regarding your three questions.

1. Most Android apps work fine. Can't really any that haven't worked.

2. Most Bluetooth keyboards won't work with it because there is a bug in the Nook UI that doesn't prompt you for the pair code most keyboards require. But can't think of any missing features.

3. You can install Nova Launcher or something to give it a more tablet like feel. Though some of the Nook UI will still be present, like it's horrible notification and settings replacement. Or you could install Cyanogen Mod on it, but the touchscreen was buggy for me with CM on mine, apparently due to different panel types being used. So YMMV with a custom ROM. Battery life is pretty horrible with a custom ROM too, so mine is back to stock.
 
8.9 inch tablets might be uncomfortable or unwieldy to hold in one hand for prolonged periods. While the Nook HD+'s weight seems satisfactory to me if held for 5 seconds, I can start feeling a "drag" in my arm after a slightly longer period of time. And don't bother taking your thumb off the front; it is not going to work. Only a portion of the tablet will be in the hand, not the whole device as with a 4" phone.

I want to unload the Nook HD+ I have anyway(I haven't even used it since I tried out a Kindle Fire 8.9 instead), as I've come to hate the 8.9 inch form factor with only a brief time of using it. Other folks might not care as much though, so perhaps it will work.
 
Look for a Nexus 7 on Black Friday or around Christmas for a deal. I've seen them as low as $180 already.

If you absolutely must get a "reading" tablet, I'd say the Kindle Fire is a safer bet than the Nook. Barnes and Noble is a dying breed...
 
I have the Nook HD+ (the one you linked to).

As soon as I got it I flashed CM 10.1 (super simple process) and now it is a fully functional Android tablet.

It is very fast, has a great display and fantastic battery life.
 
AFurryReptile said:
If you absolutely must get a "reading" tablet, I'd say the Kindle Fire is a safer bet than the Nook. Barnes and Noble is a dying breed...
Click to expand...
This makes no sense. Amazon isn't going to lock out the Kindle app from competitors' devices, and their device is not only twice the price but has no easy Play Store/ROM access.
 
I love my Nook HD+. Little things like surfing the web on the couch while watching the game and loading up movies and music on it for the kids before we go on a road trip make it great.
I use the stock rom with out to many problems but it does have its annoyances. You can't use any apps that arn't approved by Google and available through the playstore. So no Adblock or Ghostery unless you install Firefox. Also it can get a little sluggish at times while the processor tries to catch up. Nothing major but it is a little annoying.

Like I said I love my Nook but I would NEVER pay retail for it. I got mine from Onesaleaday when they had the factory certified ones for around $100 and I feel that for that price it's a good buy. For $150 or $180 that a new on costs I would have to think twice about it though.
 
bbhaag said:
Like I said I love my Nook but I would NEVER pay retail for it. I got mine from Onesaleaday when they had the factory certified ones for around $100 and I feel that for that price it's a good buy. For $150 or $180 that a new on costs I would have to think twice about it though.
Click to expand...

Don't think you'll find a better 9 inch tablet with a 1080p display at $150 though. 🙂
 
Nexus 7. Play with them in the store if you can, 7" doesn't sound that much bigger than a smart phone, but it is. In my experience go larger than 7" if it's for movies and t.v., 7" if mainly for reading.
 
zbalat said:
I have the Nook HD+ (the one you linked to).

As soon as I got it I flashed CM 10.1 (super simple process) and now it is a fully functional Android tablet.

It is very fast, has a great display and fantastic battery life.
Click to expand...

HD here and same thoughts. The wireless is great as well, I am not sure why people talk about lag with it.

It's for my 11 year old and he likes it a lot.

If money is no object there are better choices IMHO, but it's a great entry tablet to see if a tablet is a viable option for someone.
 
a couple years ago rooted nooks made sense when decent tablets were expensive. tablets are cheap now and theyre getting even cheaper. so theres no reason to get a nook with an obsolete two year old ti omap when you could get kindle, nexus 7 or dell 8 pro. in addition, nook as a platform is almost dead, bn lost the ebook war to amazon. they bailed on tablets cuz they know it, and said they were going to license nook out to other manufacturers, but had no takers because everyone else can see nook is dead as well. bn then said they would come out with one more new nook, but havent done so yet, they probably dont want another cycle of losing massive amounts of money on it. so i in short, dont waste money on a nook, there are much better choices
 
OBLAMA2009 said:
a couple years ago rooted nooks made sense when decent tablets were expensive. tablets are cheap now and theyre getting even cheaper. so theres no reason to get a nook with an obsolete two year old ti omap when you could get kindle, nexus 7 or dell 8 pro. in addition, nook as a platform is almost dead, bn lost the ebook war to amazon. they bailed on tablets cuz they know it, and said they were going to license nook out to other manufacturers, but had no takers because everyone else can see nook is dead as well. bn then said they would come out with one more new nook, but havent done so yet, they probably dont want another cycle of losing massive amounts of money on it. so i in short, dont waste money on a nook, there are much better choices
Click to expand...

Bang for buck the HD still has one of the best screens in the market.
 
alkemyst said:
Bang for buck the HD still has one of the best screens in the market.
Click to expand...

yeah but thats not enough to make up for the fact its a year and a half old. besides if someone could pay 150, they could pay 179 for nexus 7 or 300 for venue pro for a mo betta experience
 
I'm a Nook HD+ owner as well. I posted the question a while back and everyone pointed me to this over the nexus 7 2013. Haven used 2 nexus 7 personally and my nook HD+, i think its a wash.

It has to fit the person, its like giving an old man Ferrari or given a muscle guy a prius. If it tablet doesn't fit them they will not use it.

I like the nexus 7's size a little more but nothing wrong with my HD+. Both screens look great. I like the bigger screen myself. I was on CM10.1 with no issues for battery life. I'm now on carbon rom with Halo. Still testing it out. Everything works great. I bought a poetic case, with the flap like most ipads. Flawless so far. If your used to android this will not give you any issues.

I think i picked up my HD+ for $100ish. No issues, people always grabbing it to watch netflix/hulu/ some type of show.
 
OBLAMA2009 said:
yeah but thats not enough to make up for the fact its a year and a half old. besides if someone could pay 150, they could pay 179 for nexus 7 or 300 for venue pro for a mo betta experience
Click to expand...

The HD is plenty snappy for the apps I am running. I picked up mine for $150 with the warranty covering 2 years of an 11 year old using it.

The Nexus 7 vs Nook HD is a toss up though. If one needs the extra power and camera/mobile data vs a better screen.

$300 is an entirely different market segment. Like saying a $700 Dell vs $1500 niche laptop.
 
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