NOOKcolor or Samsung Galaxy Tab?

[Care]

I am debating between the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the NOOKcolor. I really don't need much, but I am interested in the 3g access (which I might not need) and available apps for the Galaxy (but I don't even really know what is available for them either). But I would mostly use a tablet as a reader as I find I do most of my reading at night, so I would really like the NC for that. I know I can get a B&N app for Android for the Galaxy, but from what I hear the NC reader is hands down better for reading. I also have mostly sideloaded books and I don't want to have to use two different apps for reading my books. I want them all in one place if that makes any sense.

I wanted to know if, when using the browser (stock and installed browsers after rooting), you can access sites just as you would on your computer? Or are they like some of the mobile sites where you can't access some things? On my BB I can see most sites as I would on my computer, but I can't do paypal. I was wondering if I can access everything on the browser with the NC? Or are there paypal apps for android that work on a rooted NC? I am mostly interested in being able to process credit cards.

Also, is the Galaxy Tab locked into a carrier? Like if I go to the US and buy one, can I get a data plan here in Canada? I already have a Nook so I know how to get my NC to buy books here, and I know it doesn't have 3g (maybe a way to install a chip?), but I have access to wifi a lot so I might not need it.

I realize either might not do exactly what I need, but I don't want to carry around two devices. The ipad is way too big, so it is out of the running. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[boswd]

when comparing browsers the nook color's browsers brings you to the webpage's full website not the mobile. The Galaxy Tab brings you to the mobile site, unless of course the website does not have a mobile site.

the nook color as a reader is really fantastic. the samsung galaxy tab can have both the kindle and the nook app but its skin is for the Tablet as opposed to the nook color's "skin" is all about the ereader and provides more functionality that is not found on apps.

I like the galaxy tab but I hate contracts involved. even with the latest price drop by T mobile or Spirnt, down to $299 but it still requires a two year agreement. So at $35 a month, no thank you.

If you do want a tablet though, my advice would be to wait. the Samsung galaxy Tab right now is running Froyo, the newer Android Tablets will be running Honeycomb 3.0 which is a whole another universe. The apps and everything will be optimized for tablets. Also with some major players coming in, a price war will hopefully follow.
If you want 3G a contract will most likey be unavoidable. Wi Fi only hopefully will have some nice prices.

If you just want a tablet ereader, the nook color is a gem.

[jocampo]

Care, this could help:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...7&postcount=15
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...ght=nook+color

There is no contract needed! You don't have to pay for that, at least here in USA.

I had a Nook Color and there is no way to compare! The Galaxy works out of the box and do the same and more, besides is lighter!

The problem with Honeycomb is that most current applications have been written for Froyo, so if you get a device running Honeycomb you will have full Android Market maybe but you will NOT find your application. I now what I am talking about, I installed Honeycom on my cellphone.

For Os and software I never go 1st or at least, prefer to wait several months until everything is stable and developers start producing new apps. Too many bugs at initial stages and Os is so new that you will find compatibility issues (this is true for Linux, Windows, Oracle, MS-SQL, etc)

[Care]

Thanks for the input.

Jocampo, I have read your thread about the SGT and I did ask a question about how all of your books are laid out. Like are they all found in one place? Is there an app where you can read all of your books (like B&N and other epubs like Kobo)? I do remember your post when you tried the NC. I know it wasn't for you. It has some downsides and is not a tablet, but a lcd reader that does some tablet type things. I realize this, and I do really like the NC and would probably root it if I bought one just as I did that with my Nook Classic. I am still on the fence thought. The Tab is quite a bit more here and I don't really have $700 to throw down right now, so that is a minus for me on it.

So, the Galaxy Tab still goes to mobile sites? I can't process credit cards on mobile sites. The frakkin BB apps for this suck (if anybody knows of a good BB app for this, I would love to hear about it. I might even switch brands to iphone or android if they have a really good app for this). I was just hoping I could kill two birds with one stone.

Maybe the NC would work (if I had wifi available).

I really love the idea of the NC for reading, and I want to use this mainly for night time reading. Do they have wifi enabled on the NC testers at either B&N or Best Buy?

[boswd]

Originally Posted by Care

Thanks for the input.

So, the Galaxy Tab still goes to mobile sites? I can't process credit cards on mobile sites. The frakkin BB apps for this suck (if anybody knows of a good BB app for this, I would love to hear about it. I might even switch brands to iphone or android if they have a really good app for this). I was just hoping I could kill two birds with one stone.

Maybe the NC would work (if I had wifi available).

I really love the idea of the NC for reading, and I want to use this mainly for night time reading. Do they have wifi enabled on the NC testers at either B&N or Best Buy?

yeah they do, at least the BN in my neighborhood does. I don't see why that would be any different in other Barnes and Nobles.

I do love the fact the websites are the full one, in landscape mode the 7 inch form factor is great.

[Care]

Originally Posted by boswd

yeah they do, at least the BN in my neighborhood does. I don't see why that would be any different in other Barnes and Nobles.

I do love the fact the websites are the full one, in landscape mode the 7 inch form factor is great.

Oh, good. I am going down this weekend for a visit so I am going to go look at them again. I will probably look at the Tab as well, but I have a feeling it would be locked to a US carrier. I hear rooting the Tab is much more involved than doing the NC. I have done simple hacking to some of my old phones in the past, but I am not very experienced, so I wouldn't want to attempt to root a Tab.

[=X=]

I have a rooted nook and am quite happy with it

If you are comparing the devices as is without price into the equation. The Tab is a far superior device. It has a more modern OS 2.2 and is a full version, not stripped down (with the exception of phone features) and tailored for eReading. It has a faster processor and more ram memory. It has more inputs, it has a camera. The screen quality on both is about the same but the Samsung has Gorilla Glass(very scratch resistant screen). The screen sensitivity is better on the Samsung. It has a better graphics card. It has bluetooth enabled. Has WIFI and 3G. It has a working market and access to more apps than the rooted nook. The Tab is slightly bigger (same screen size though) but much lighter. Batter life on both is about the same. Samsung has a working Cut-n-Paste ... you never now how much you need this until it's missing.

The nookColor commnity has been working hard to add these features to the nook, some stuff is working great, some stuff is patch and others is work in progress.

For instance the market is fully working and so are most android apps. However for some reason not all the apps show up on the nook market.


Personally I'm not a fan of the B&N reader. I think the Moon+, and Aldiko 2.0 readers are much better readers than the B&N reader Aldiko also supports Adobe DRM. I also prefer the Kindle to the B&N reader, but that is because the default kindle layout is what I like. If I wanted to change the layout I would be out of luck on the kindle. That is not the case with Moon+ and Aldkio you have complete control over the margins, background color, font color, font size, margin. The B&N reader gives you the more options than the kindle but is very selective on the choices they give and for some odd reason their night mode has a gray background and gray fonts it makes it really hard to read at night.


If price is of concern and you don't mind tinkering with the nookColor then this device becomes much more attractive. As a surfing/reading device the nook is a great device. That is primary how I use it and love it for this. I'll admit when I'm trying to do productive work like write and multitask the nook often frustrates me. However when I'm just reading and surfing the web the nook is great.

I'm hoping that nookie (community developed OS based on Froyo 2.2) becomes stable enough to use real soon. At which that point I will format my existing NC to use that OS instead of the butchered nook os.

=X=

[Care]

Originally Posted by =X=

I have a rooted nook and am quite happy with it

If you are comparing the devices as is without price into the equation. The Tab is a far superior device. It has a more modern OS 2.2 and is a full version, not stripped down (with the exception of phone features) and tailored for eReading. It has a faster processor and more ram memory. It has more inputs, it has a camera. The screen quality on both is about the same but the Samsung has Gorilla Glass(very scratch resistant screen). The screen sensitivity is better on the Samsung. It has a better graphics card. It has bluetooth enabled. Has WIFI and 3G. It has a working market and access to more apps than the rooted nook. The Tab is slightly bigger (same screen size though) but much lighter. Batter life on both is about the same. Samsung has a working Cut-n-Paste ... you never now how much you need this until it's missing.

The nookColor commnity has been working hard to add these features to the nook, some stuff is working great, some stuff is patch and others is work in progress.

For instance the market is fully working and so are most android apps. However for some reason not all the apps show up on the nook market.


Personally I'm not a fan of the B&N reader. I think the Moon+, and Aldiko 2.0 readers are much better readers than the B&N reader Aldiko also supports Adobe DRM. I also prefer the Kindle to the B&N reader, but that is because the default kindle layout is what I like. If I wanted to change the layout I would be out of luck on the kindle. That is not the case with Moon+ and Aldkio you have complete control over the margins, background color, font color, font size, margin. The B&N reader gives you the more options than the kindle but is very selective on the choices they give and for some odd reason their night mode has a gray background and gray fonts it makes it really hard to read at night.


If price is of concern and you don't mind tinkering with the nookColor then this device becomes much more attractive. As a surfing/reading device the nook is a great device. That is primary how I use it and love it for this. I'll admit when I'm trying to do productive work like write and multitask the nook often frustrates me. However when I'm just reading and surfing the web the nook is great.

I'm hoping that nookie (community developed OS based on Froyo 2.2) becomes stable enough to use real soon. At which that point I will format my existing NC to use that OS instead of the butchered nook os.

=X=

So the Moon+ and aldkio are apps where I can read all of my books, sideloaded and B&N? Or would I have to use separate apps for different books. That is my main question as I would mostly use the device for reading, and use it occasionally for browsing, etc... I like it with a brown background and ivory font for night reading. Isn't that what the NC uses? I used to use those choices for my phone with the mobi app.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by Care

So the Moon+ and aldkio are apps where I can read all of my books, sideloaded and B&N? Or would I have to use separate apps for different books. That is my main question as I would mostly use the device for reading, and use it occasionally for browsing, etc... I like it with a brown background and ivory font for night reading. Isn't that what the NC uses? I used to use those choices for my phone with the mobi app.

the nook color offer's "sepia, mocha Gray, Butter, normal and night" for backgrounds.

I think the Sepia or Mocha is the brown you are referring to. That is nice, you put your brightness on about 10% at nightime and it's really gorgous to read on.

and oh the nook color also uses Gorilla Glass

[=X=]

Originally Posted by Care

Thanks for the input.

Jocampo, I have read your thread about the SGT and I did ask a question about how all of your books are laid out. Like are they all found in one place? Is there an app where you can read all of your books (like B&N and other epubs like Kobo)?

Yes if you standardized on one reader like Aldkio you could store all your books in one directory.
However most multi-format readers like Alkdio and Moon+ have the ability for you to navigate to a directory and import them into the reader.

I do remember your post when you tried the NC. I know it wasn't for you. It has some downsides and is not a tablet, but a lcd reader that does some tablet type things. I realize this, and I do really like the NC and would probably root it if I bought one just as I did that with my Nook Classic.

Originally Posted by Care

I am still on the fence thought. The Tab is quite a bit more here and I don't really have $700 to throw down right now, so that is a minus for me on it.

You can get the tab at Best Buy for $499 w/o contract. Also rumors have it that a WI-FI model is in the works. I'd imagine that device might be cheaper than the $499 3G model.

Originally Posted by Care

So, the Galaxy Tab still goes to mobile sites? I can't process credit cards on mobile sites. The frakkin BB apps for this suck (if anybody knows of a good BB app for this, I would love to hear about it. I might even switch brands to iphone or android if they have a really good app for this). I was just hoping I could kill two birds with one stone.

Maybe the NC would work (if I had wifi available).

I really love the idea of the NC for reading, and I want to use this mainly for night time reading. Do they have wifi enabled on the NC testers at either B&N or Best Buy?

Most mobile sites have a link at the bottom of the pages that say switch to full version.

However you can change the behavior of the android app to load the full site by default. Also what you can do is download the Dolphin HD browser which by default loads the full site and you can use the default browser to launch the mobile sites.

My personal preference is to load up the mobile sites, they are faster and have less "ads" than full fledged sites.

Apps like paypal are reported to work on both the NC and Samsung, however you cannot use the PIN features since neither of these phones have a phone number. (No loss really on my phone I do not user the pin feature because it's so easy to get your phone stolen/lost)

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Care

Thanks for the input.

Jocampo, I have read your thread about the SGT and I did ask a question about how all of your books are laid out. Like are they all found in one place? Is there an app where you can read all of your books (like B&N and other epubs like Kobo)? I do remember your post when you tried the NC. I know it wasn't for you. It has some downsides and is not a tablet, but a lcd reader that does some tablet type things. I realize this, and I do really like the NC and would probably root it if I bought one just as I did that with my Nook Classic. I am still on the fence thought. The Tab is quite a bit more here and I don't really have $700 to throw down right now, so that is a minus for me on it.

So, the Galaxy Tab still goes to mobile sites? I can't process credit cards on mobile sites. The frakkin BB apps for this suck (if anybody knows of a good BB app for this, I would love to hear about it. I might even switch brands to iphone or android if they have a really good app for this). I was just hoping I could kill two birds with one stone.

Maybe the NC would work (if I had wifi available).

I really love the idea of the NC for reading, and I want to use this mainly for night time reading. Do they have wifi enabled on the NC testers at either B&N or Best Buy?

Yes, with Galaxy Tab you basically have a small computer on your hands. The browser fully supports Flash and you can visit and use any site. I use it for my bank accounts here in USA and no problems so far. You can type or use the mobile version of a site or the regular one; Dolphine browser auto adjusts text and screen size and you can use gestures as well.

If you are planning to use any of those as an ereader, I would like to mention than Nookt Color does not provide landscape mode; Galaxy does, with its Nook Android app and Kindle. PDF experience is better with the Galaxy Tab; Nook Color does not save "last page read" when reading a PDF, annoying. You can use night reading mode on Galaxy, with Kindle and Nook apps.

Multitasking with the Galaxy Tab and switching apps is awesome.

If price is a concern and you are willing to root, go get the Nook Color. Of course, you will have to understand that you will be altering the original device and Os so any future B&N firmware upgrades can break it, unless you disable wifi.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by =X=

Apps like paypal are reported to work on both the NC and Samsung, however you cannot use the PIN features since neither of these phones have a phone number. (No loss really on my phone I do not user the pin feature because it's so easy to get your phone stolen/lost)

Hi X,

Yes, we do have phone number! I do have mine with my Galaxy Tab. Paypal confirms PIN features via text message, so that should not be a problem.

Originally Posted by =X=

My personal preference is to load up the mobile sites, they are faster and have less "ads" than full fledged sites.

True!

[boswd]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Yes, with Galaxy Tab you basically have a small computer on your hands. The browser fully supports Flash and you can visit and use any site. I use it for my bank accounts here in USA and no problems so far. You can type or use the mobile version of a site or the regular one; Dolphine browser auto adjusts text and screen size and you can use gestures as well.

If you are planning to use any of those as an ereader, I would like to mention than Nookt Color does not provide landscape mode; Galaxy does, with its Nook Android app and Kindle. PDF experience is better with the Galaxy Tab; Nook Color does not save "last page read" when reading a PDF, annoying. You can use night reading mode on Galaxy, with Kindle and Nook apps.

If price is a concern and you are willing to root, go get the Nook Color. Of course, you will have to understand that you will be altering the original device and Os so any future B&N firmware upgrades can break it, unless you disable wifi.

I'm looking at my nook color now and have my Droid X PDF manual on it and it reads in Landscape. Also the nook color can go into landscape mode when browsing the net.

it's only ePub books that can only be read in portrait mode, which basically is ok since reading a book in landscape mode on an 8 inch screen is rather annoying. But that is also a software fix, so It's not like it's going to be like this forever, it def. could be offered in the future.

but for everything else, magazines, PDF, web browing etc, Landscape mode DOES work.

soo let's keep this honest Joe OK

[Care]

Thank you guys for all the info! I don't really need all the extras of a tablet, but I would probably use them in the long run.

Does the Tab play mkv and divx? Or just mp4 like the NC? I wouldn't use the video myself, but it might be good for the kids. I do like the read to me books for the NC too. I already have 3 of them, but have nothing to use them on, lol.

I would only use landscape for GNs or comics. I could put them in pdf to do that, but if I did root a NC I could just install a good comic app (same with the Tab I assume).

The pinch and zoom doesn't work on pdfs, or does it (for the NC)?

[boswd]

Originally Posted by Care

Thank you guys for all the info! I don't really need all the extras of a tablet, but I would probably use them in the long run.

Does the Tab play mkv and divx? Or just mp4 like the NC? I wouldn't use the video myself, but it might be good for the kids. I do like the read to me books for the NC too. I already have 3 of them, but have nothing to use them on, lol.

I would only use landscape for GNs or comics. I could put them in pdf to do that, but if I did root a NC I could just install a good comic app (same with the Tab I assume).

The pinch and zoom doesn't work on pdfs, or does it (for the NC)?

pinch to zoom works really nice on the nook color for PDF's just tested it out right now in Landscape mode

its only the web browswer you have to double tap to zoom, odd but hopefully changed in the upcoming software update, but to answer your question yes it does pinch to zoom on PDF's landscape and portrait.