Tablet nook hd (return to nookland)

WillysJeepMan · 02-03-2014, 11:30 AM

I bought the first nook color, when it came out, rooted it, and used it as an Android tablet until I was given a good trade-in value toward the purchase of a Kindle Fire. I haven't used a nook device in a few years.

Recently however, I was looking to get a high quality 7" Android tablet. Although I have a Kindle Fire HD 7 and Samsung GTab 2 7.0, they both felt just short of what I was planning for. There was an update to the GTab that helped things a bit. I then rooted it and removed much of the bloatware from it. It made a significant difference. And the microSD slot has proven time and time again to be a necessity for me.

But I had been reading how the nook HD (w/Google Play) rivaled (and in many ways exceeded) the first gen Nexus 7 (which received unanimously high praise for performance).

Just as I had decided to settle on the GTab I ran across an ebay auction by a liquidator that was selling factory overstock nook hd units for $89 w/free shipping. I had to buy one.

It arrived Saturday. From everything I could see, this thing was brand new. Got it all set up and configured with the apps that I typically use on my Android devices.

The screen... wow the screen! Absolutely beautiful. Video, reading, image viewing, just stunning. I don't fall for the ppi numbers game but I'm impressed with the pixel density. (not that the GTab and KFHD were bad, just that the HD is noticeably better)

Performance is as impressive. This is the first Android device that I've owned that rivals the smoothness and responsiveness that I've come to expect from iOS devices.

Installing apps from Google Play works fine. Though I may need to tweak things to allow installs from the Amazon app store.

The nook HD UI is actually not bad. It is pleasing to the eye and offers the ability to place app shortcuts on the desktop. Although I can install an alternative launcher and have it fully functional, I don't think that I will (at least not yet).

I think that B&N struck a nice balance between wanting their own UI experience and not straight-jacketing users. Compare that to Amazon's KF UI.

Wanted to share this experience in case there were some who are considering the HD as well, or maybe forgotten that these things are still around.

booklover6 · 02-03-2014, 01:42 PM

I agree. We absolutely love ours. We have one 16gb HD and two 8gb HD (though I should have gotten a 2nd 16gb instead, as my 8yo has maxed it out with her games). It does have a better screen than the original Nexus, it was better than all the other 2012 Android tablets. It feels great to hold, as well. My girls like the stock home screen but also use a launcher. Mine is on adw launcher at all times. And with having Google Play, it is so easy to get the apps you want. (We have the Amazon app store on all ours, too). We love changing our wallpapers.

It is a fine piece of hardware. All of ours have 32gb SD cards in them, though that is way more than we need. So the SD card slot and the customization + high quality hardware, do make it superior to the Kindle Fire. Although we have some of those, too.

I use my 8gb one mainly for reading, and that is plenty of storage space, even if I wasn't using the SD card.

booklover6 · 02-04-2014, 08:27 AM

Just bought another one, 16gb, to replace my daughter's 8gb. I think I will give the extra 8gb to my MIL (I was going to give her a 2013 Fire HD 8gb, but I really want to keep that for myself).

WillysJeepMan · 02-04-2014, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by booklover6

Just bought another one, 16gb, to replace my daughter's 8gb. I think I will give the extra 8gb to my MIL (I was going to give her a 2013 Fire HD 8gb, but I really want to keep that for myself).

ha! nice.

I find the KFHD a bit limiting compared to the nook HD but it is nice to have different devices. I don't think I could part with my KFHD.

booklover6 · 02-11-2014, 01:54 PM

The new Nook HD 16gb arrived. The owner had already put cyanogen mod rom on the internal. So it's a really super nice android tablet on Nook hardware. We love it!

WillysJeepMan · 02-11-2014, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by booklover6

The new Nook HD 16gb arrived. The owner had already put cyanogen mod rom on the internal. So it's a really super nice android tablet on Nook hardware. We love it!

Nice! How optimized is cyanogenmod for the nook HD? I never ran a version that ran as well as the stock firmware. Sleep issues and little annoyances that never quite got addressed.

Besides, I actually enjoy the stock nook HD interface. (I never thought I'd say that about any custom UI)

booklover6 · 02-11-2014, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillysJeepMan

Nice! How optimized is cyanogenmod for the nook HD? I never ran a version that ran as well as the stock firmware. Sleep issues and little annoyances that never quite got addressed.

Besides, I actually enjoy the stock nook HD interface. (I never thought I'd say that about any custom UI)

I don't really know, as I haven't ever had that rom on a device before. Seems fine, though. I use a launcher on my Nook HD, so I never see the BN interface. But it is a nice interface, the one I want to give to my MIL is the stock UI, which should be simple enough for her to use.

WillysJeepMan · 02-18-2014, 01:22 PM

Had some time this weekend to sideload some .cbz and .pdf scans of vintage catalogs (Radio Shack catalogs from the late '70s and early '80s and Starlog magazines).

I'm very impressed with how the nook HD handled these files and how crisp the scans were displayed. I still believe that a 10" tablet is preferable for these, but the nook HD made things a bit more enjoyable than I've experienced with the Kindle Fire HD 7", Samsung GTab 2 7.0, or the Panasonic Android tablets.

Difflugia · 02-19-2014, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillysJeepMan

Nice! How optimized is cyanogenmod for the nook HD? I never ran a version that ran as well as the stock firmware. Sleep issues and little annoyances that never quite got addressed.

Besides, I actually enjoy the stock nook HD interface. (I never thought I'd say that about any custom UI)

I use CyanogenMod 10.1 on an 8GB NOOK HD and boot from a 32GB SD Card. I haven't noticed any performance issues. I use it mainly as an ereader (with Mantano Lite) and might not notice something that would bother you, but I haven't had any problems with sleep/resume or anything. When I want to boot back to stock, I can pop the card.

This is the build I'm using.

booklover6 · 02-19-2014, 04:43 PM

Mine has 10.1.3-hummingbird, android 4.2.2 running in EMMC. It seems to be running fine, though a couple of times, it has shut down for no reason.

02-03-2014, 11:30 AM	#1
WillysJeepMan Guru Posts: 655 Karma: 2877892 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kobo Touch, KFHD7, GTab 8.4 Pro, iPadAir 2	nook hd (return to nookland) I bought the first nook color, when it came out, rooted it, and used it as an Android tablet until I was given a good trade-in value toward the purchase of a Kindle Fire. I haven't used a nook device in a few years. Recently however, I was looking to get a high quality 7" Android tablet. Although I have a Kindle Fire HD 7 and Samsung GTab 2 7.0, they both felt just short of what I was planning for. There was an update to the GTab that helped things a bit. I then rooted it and removed much of the bloatware from it. It made a significant difference. And the microSD slot has proven time and time again to be a necessity for me. But I had been reading how the nook HD (w/Google Play) rivaled (and in many ways exceeded) the first gen Nexus 7 (which received unanimously high praise for performance). Just as I had decided to settle on the GTab I ran across an ebay auction by a liquidator that was selling factory overstock nook hd units for $89 w/free shipping. I had to buy one. It arrived Saturday. From everything I could see, this thing was brand new. Got it all set up and configured with the apps that I typically use on my Android devices. The screen... wow the screen! Absolutely beautiful. Video, reading, image viewing, just stunning. I don't fall for the ppi numbers game but I'm impressed with the pixel density. (not that the GTab and KFHD were bad, just that the HD is noticeably better) Performance is as impressive. This is the first Android device that I've owned that rivals the smoothness and responsiveness that I've come to expect from iOS devices. Installing apps from Google Play works fine. Though I may need to tweak things to allow installs from the Amazon app store. The nook HD UI is actually not bad. It is pleasing to the eye and offers the ability to place app shortcuts on the desktop. Although I can install an alternative launcher and have it fully functional, I don't think that I will (at least not yet). I think that B&N struck a nice balance between wanting their own UI experience and not straight-jacketing users. Compare that to Amazon's KF UI. Wanted to share this experience in case there were some who are considering the HD as well, or maybe forgotten that these things are still around.

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02-03-2014, 01:42 PM	#2
booklover6 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,533 Karma: 14008730 Join Date: May 2008 Location: PA (USA) Device: Kobo Clara, 2E, Libre, PW4, PW5, 2022 Kindle	I agree. We absolutely love ours. We have one 16gb HD and two 8gb HD (though I should have gotten a 2nd 16gb instead, as my 8yo has maxed it out with her games). It does have a better screen than the original Nexus, it was better than all the other 2012 Android tablets. It feels great to hold, as well. My girls like the stock home screen but also use a launcher. Mine is on adw launcher at all times. And with having Google Play, it is so easy to get the apps you want. (We have the Amazon app store on all ours, too). We love changing our wallpapers. It is a fine piece of hardware. All of ours have 32gb SD cards in them, though that is way more than we need. So the SD card slot and the customization + high quality hardware, do make it superior to the Kindle Fire. Although we have some of those, too. I use my 8gb one mainly for reading, and that is plenty of storage space, even if I wasn't using the SD card.

02-04-2014, 08:27 AM	#3
booklover6 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,533 Karma: 14008730 Join Date: May 2008 Location: PA (USA) Device: Kobo Clara, 2E, Libre, PW4, PW5, 2022 Kindle	Just bought another one, 16gb, to replace my daughter's 8gb. I think I will give the extra 8gb to my MIL (I was going to give her a 2013 Fire HD 8gb, but I really want to keep that for myself).

02-11-2014, 01:54 PM	#5
booklover6 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,533 Karma: 14008730 Join Date: May 2008 Location: PA (USA) Device: Kobo Clara, 2E, Libre, PW4, PW5, 2022 Kindle	The new Nook HD 16gb arrived. The owner had already put cyanogen mod rom on the internal. So it's a really super nice android tablet on Nook hardware. We love it!

02-18-2014, 01:22 PM	#8
WillysJeepMan Guru Posts: 655 Karma: 2877892 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kobo Touch, KFHD7, GTab 8.4 Pro, iPadAir 2	Had some time this weekend to sideload some .cbz and .pdf scans of vintage catalogs (Radio Shack catalogs from the late '70s and early '80s and Starlog magazines). I'm very impressed with how the nook HD handled these files and how crisp the scans were displayed. I still believe that a 10" tablet is preferable for these, but the nook HD made things a bit more enjoyable than I've experienced with the Kindle Fire HD 7", Samsung GTab 2 7.0, or the Panasonic Android tablets.

02-19-2014, 04:43 PM	#10
booklover6 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,533 Karma: 14008730 Join Date: May 2008 Location: PA (USA) Device: Kobo Clara, 2E, Libre, PW4, PW5, 2022 Kindle	Mine has 10.1.3-hummingbird, android 4.2.2 running in EMMC. It seems to be running fine, though a couple of times, it has shut down for no reason.