Tablet Why Isn't Everyone Talking about the Nook Tablet??

[jocampo]

As most people know, I'm not a big fan or was not, of 1st Nook and I keep my position about it. However, played with new Nook Tablet few hours ago in a B&N store close to home with my wife, and we both are impressed.

I bought a Fire the day before thanks giving, and I've played a lot with it during these past holiday days. While not a bad device, I'm a bit disappointed. The UI and performance is not what I was expecting. But I must admit the price is right and the Amazon store gives you a better deal (more apps, more selection )

The Nook Tablet is very responsive and has brighter colors than Fire. I can confirm it, because I've really played with the Fire a few days.

As someone who use dedicated mp3 players for music, the Amazon music content does not play a huge role in a purchase decision, instead, Amazon computer books and selection.

I was able to install B&N app on Fire without rooting. I wonder if people can run Kindle ask or app on Nook Tablet without rooting as well .

[jasonkchapman]

Originally Posted by jocampo

I was able to install B&N app on Fire without rooting. I wonder if people can run Kindle ask or app on Nook Tablet without rooting as well .

You can. I currently have Kindle for Android and the Amazon app store installed on my nook Tablet without rooting. The key is enabling Android's "Allow installation of non-Market applications" setting.

[mohawk]

Originally Posted by jasonkchapman

You can. I currently have Kindle for Android and the Amazon app store installed on my nook Tablet without rooting. The key is enabling Android's "Allow installation of non-Market applications" setting.

This is true. I've got GO Launcher pro installed and ZDBox and they really open up the B&N Tablet. took me almost 45 minutes to open up the Nook to 3rd party downloads but then this is my first android device so I'm a little slow at this.

[eSheri]

Originally Posted by jasonkchapman

You can. I currently have Kindle for Android and the Amazon app store installed on my nook Tablet without rooting. The key is enabling Android's "Allow installation of non-Market applications" setting.

"Without rooting"! My favorite words! Rooting just makes me a little nervous as I had a bad experience with a piece of software some years ago; there was a backdoor and the author was getting a copy of every email that I sent. I haven't seen the NT in person yet. I thought the screen on the NC was awesome! How does the NT's screen compare?

[jasonkchapman]

I moved from the Color to the Tablet. (My wife moved from the Classic to my Color.) In my opinion, the screen on the tablet is noticeably better--both brighter and, to my eyes, sharper, but that could just be a case of "new car smell". The biggest difference I noticed, though, is that the performance on the UI is significantly snappier. It makes the thing a joy to use.

[dbeman]

Originally Posted by jocampo

I bought a Fire the day before thanks giving, and I've played a lot with it during these past holiday days. While not a bad device, I'm a bit disappointed. The UI and performance is not what I was expecting. But I must admit the price is right and the Amazon store gives you a better deal (more apps, more selection)

You hit the nail on the head by mentioning the price point. I think a lot of disappointment in these low cost tablets are that people are expecting them to be as responsive and peppy as an iPad or other higher cost tablets.

Perhaps the 3rd and 4th generation of nook and Kindle tablets will match the specs of the iPad or iPad2; of course by that point Apple will be streaming content directly into our brains...

[robertc88]

Everyone isn't going to talk about the NT because they have something else already.

BUT this device so far in the few days I've owned it and opened it up to the amazon app store and some other things is pretty nice. Maybe it will catch on some more in the near future but it appears the KF is what is hotter right now.

[redbees]

jasonkchapman (or anyone else),

Where is this setting for allowing outside apps located? I am searching in Settings, and looking in Apps, but I cannot find it anywhere! Please be explicit.

I was able to enable the installation of non-market apps on a Kindle Fire, and then sideload said apps, so I am somewhat familiar with this type of process, but I am lost on the Nook Tablet.

[Zoshka]

Originally Posted by jocampo

As most people know, I'm not a big fan or was not, of 1st Nook and I keep my position about it. However, played with new Nook Tablet few hours ago in a B&N store close to home with my wife, and we both are impressed.

I bought a Fire the day before thanks giving, and I've played a lot with it during these past holiday days. While not a bad device, I'm a bit disappointed. The UI and performance is not what I was expecting. But I must admit the price is right and the Amazon store gives you a better deal (more apps, more selection )

The Nook Tablet is very responsive and has brighter colors than Fire. I can confirm it, because I've really played with the Fire a few days.

As someone who use dedicated mp3 players for music, the Amazon music content does not play a huge role in a purchase decision, instead, Amazon computer books and selection.

I was able to install B&N app on Fire without rooting. I wonder if people can run Kindle ask or app on Nook Tablet without rooting as well .

I was also initially enthused about the Fire, but then was disappointed. It was too heavy to hold up comfortably with one hand, and the small bezel made it difficult to rest on my chest and view comfortably, particularly watching video in landscape. The email app is very ugly and not pleasant to use--not sure why they couldn't just use Google apps. Worst of all, it seemed to have more glare than the ipad, which is ironic, given their ipad-glare-bashing until they made their own tablet. The fingerprints also seem to be more visible and of course more concentrated on a 7" screen. In the end I agreed with an article I saw today, that the Fire is the netbook of tablets--people buy them because of the cheap price, but then have buyer's remorse when they realize they're so inferior to a full-powered machine and the price isn't worth the unpleasantness of actually using the thing.

I think I'm going to get a NT, though. With the membership and gift card discounts, the price will be much less, and I'd end up paying much more if I kept Amazon Prime anyway, since it inevitably leads to hundreds of dollars in impulse buying for me. The reviews seem to show an edge in Netflix sharpness for the NT, which is my main use of a tablet, and both the NT and Fire are supposedly getting a version of Scrabble (my favorite ipad app) with AI play soon, after a barrage of angry reviews from ripped-off customers used to the K3 and Apple Scrabble experience.

[robertc88]

Originally Posted by redbees

jasonkchapman (or anyone else),

Where is this setting for allowing outside apps located? I am searching in Settings, and looking in Apps, but I cannot find it anywhere! Please be explicit.

I was able to enable the installation of non-market apps on a Kindle Fire, and then sideload said apps, so I am somewhat familiar with this type of process, but I am lost on the Nook Tablet.

Here's how to do it with the NT.

http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...hack-required/

[Zoshka]

I picked one up at BN, getting 3 of the $100 gift cards giving an extra $10 each. I charged it up in the store and explored it. It has a much nicer feel (for me) than the Fire, with the wider bezels giving me a convenient thumb rest, and the larger lower area allows it to rest comfortably on my tummy. Despite my slow home wifi, I got a really nice picture for Netflix. I like the freedom for organizing apps and books on the 3 main pages, much nicer than the dreadful Fire carousel. I also really like having volume buttons and brightness controls while reading, both absent in the Fire. The little button to return to reading from anywhere is nice, as is the Pandora icon to get back to it from other programs. My only apps will be Scrabble, Bejewelled, and TuneIn Radio, so I don't mind paying $2-3 for them, and I read that they're working on an Overdrive app, so that should make library books easy to download, I hope. The read in store experience is also a nice bonus--while my NT was charging I read 50 pages of an ebook that I've been waiting months to borrow from the library.

I still love the Kindle 4 for eink reading and for simple library borrowing, but this will be my consumption device for Netflix, games, streaming music, and email/light surfing. I'm going to sell my ipad2, although I'll be sorely tempted by the supposed Retina display if the ipad 3 and if they provide a mini ipad or super-size ipod touch, but we'll see. All the messaging and notifications and cameras in the ios now is a little overwhelming, and I'm getting a little old for all the racing and shooting games, so I think the NT is a good fit for me now.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Zoshka

I was also initially enthused about the Fire, but then was disappointed. It was too heavy to hold up comfortably with one hand, and the small bezel made it difficult to rest on my chest and view comfortably, particularly watching video in landscape. The email app is very ugly and not pleasant to use--not sure why they couldn't just use Google apps.

That's interesting, they weight about the same. I read that and I know it because I still have both at home, about to return the Nook Tablet.

And I find both default email apps very basic, but the Fire better (in terms of functionality) You don't have landscape mode on the Nook Tablet, you do on the Kindle Fire.

Like I said, the Nook Tablet is a nice piece of hardware. If you can find your favorites books and magazines in the B&N app store, I believe is a better choice. However, and after several days of usage with both and testing, I find the variety on B&N app store very, very poor.

Another interesting point is that Fire upgrade 6.2 fixed lot of the minor issues with the screen response and other glitches. And the fact that they had delivered two firmware upgrades in such s short period of time, gives me a better feeling than B&N, which usually does not deliver patches so quick.

If you are a "neutral" user, do not care about one ebook store or the other, i would say Nook Tablet. Otherwise, your final choice will depend of the books you need and if you're willing to strip down DRM, etc, so it is easier if you continue using a device from same company or store, especially if you want to keep the syncing capabilities.

[mohawk]

Funny, I have landscape mode on my gmail account using the stock email reader on the Nook Fire. As far as B&N apps, I agree they are woefully short but it only takes about 15 minutes to install the Amazon App store and the Kindle Store on the B&N Nook Tablet so in the end, it's a wash. I kept the Tablet and returned the Fire.

[robertc88]

Mohawk,

I'm leaning towards keeping the NT and returning the KF.

What does ZDbox do? I noted you installed it on the NT.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by mohawk

Funny, I have landscape mode on my gmail account using the stock email reader on the Nook Fire. As far as B&N apps, I agree they are woefully short but it only takes about 15 minutes to install the Amazon App store and the Kindle Store on the B&N Nook Tablet so in the end, it's a wash. I kept the Tablet and returned the Fire.

I don't want to convert this thread on a tablet war kind of thread ... but the main idea of my post was to illustrate the differences, pros and cons, between both.

Like I said, the Nook Tablet is a nice piece of hardware but without a nice app store behind I don't think is a great choice anyway, unless you're planning to use the ebook store a lot. B&N ebook store (fiction and bestsellers) is not bad.

But hacking a device (either the Fire or the Nook Tablet) is not, in my opinion, a solution to get what you want from a tablet. Those workarounds will break sooner or later with coming patches and they are not certainly intended for the tablet. It's better to put pros and cons in a balance and buy the tablet from the same store or company that you prefer or like, since very beginning.

The Kindle apk, while runs on the Nook Tablet, gave me some problems. So I would not advice any one buying the Nook Tablet and thinking about side loading the Kindle app. It may not work or even worse, break after next B&N patch or release. If someone prefer Amazon bookstore, I think is better to get a Fire, period.

Now, you can watch Netflix on both. If you don't care about Amazon ebook store or you can find most of your titles on B&N, the Nook Tablet is the way to go. Just keep in mind that is most expensive, so with taxes and all that stuff, we're talking about 270 or 260 price tag.

Support and oncoming patches were two other factors that I considered prior keeping my Fire. In just a few weeks after release, Fire has received two new firmware upgrades which are not only very quick releases but to address most of the previously mentioned problems. B&N has not usually responded so fast when talking about firmware upgrades and hotfixes, they usually take months. And on my case, on site customer support has been unhelpful or really poor, with kids that don't really know what they are doing. During 10 years I've been with Amazon, they have fixed all my complains of just returned my money with no questions asked.

Both are nice, but the Fire is honestly a better deal, for the price. The Nook Tablet has better screen and colors and a more elegant (but more lock) UI.

At the end, is a personal decision I think and depends of what the person will do with the tablet and the kind of books he or she likes to read and buy.