Thinking of a Color, need advice

[detayls]

If you are only buying your Nook Color to read books, then ignore all this stuff about rooting.

I seem to be one of those rare people who only wants to read books on my Nook Color. I bought it to read books with and it is fine for that.

Remember that the people who haunt these forums (fora?) tend to be nerds and geeks. Don't feel bad if you only need to use the Nook for its intended purpose.

[WillysJeepMan]

Originally Posted by detayls

If you are only buying your Nook Color to read books, then ignore all this stuff about rooting.

I seem to be one of those rare people who only wants to read books on my Nook Color. I bought it to read books with and it is fine for that.

That is generally true, however rooting a nook color also allows for installing additional apps for reading books/magazines. In particular comic books and magazines in the cbz/cbr format.

I download old issues of Life Magazine from Google Books and put them in cbz format. They look great on the nook color.

[detayls]

Originally Posted by WillysJeepMan

That is generally true, however rooting a nook color also allows for installing additional apps for reading books/magazines. In particular comic books and magazines in the cbz/cbr format.

I download old issues of Life Magazine from Google Books and put them in cbz format. They look great on the nook color.

I think you can be sure that these will arrive legitimately in the coming April Nook Color update. If you have any doubts hold off on rooting. You would just be placing yourself in a world of hurt for no real reason.

[techWHAM]

Originally Posted by boswd

Limited as to what? It's not intended to BE a full blown tablet. Just a dedicated ereader with some extra's. In fact when you compare it as an ereader in of itself, the eink ereaders are are quite limited in comparison to what you can do with the nook color due to using LCD technology.

Now if Barnes and Noble marketed this as a full blown tablet that was to compete with the Galaxy S Tab and the iPad you would have a very valid point. but its not.

but granted with a little "help" in can compare to the Galaxy S.

Limited compared to a full-blown tablet. It's not intended to be a full-blown tablet, but nonetheless, that's the big question.

[=X=]

You know your post kind of reminded me of the "Allegory of the Cave"

Originally Posted by detayls

If you are only buying your Nook Color to read books, then ignore all this stuff about rooting.

I seem to be one of those rare people who only wants to read books on my Nook Color. I bought it to read books with and it is fine for that.
<snip...>

No you're not it's the very reason why I rooted my device. I hated the software that came pre-installed. I did not like the B&N eReader (ironically the nook app in the Market is better than the one that comes pre-installed in the nook.)and hated QuickOffice PDF reader that came on the device. Plus a good of my books are in MOBI/Kindle format. If I hadn't rooted the nook I would have returned it and stayed with my Kindle.

Once rooted I was able to install REALLY GOOD apps that made eReading on the nook fantastic. Where talking about great ePUB readers, MOBI/Kindle books, and excellent PDF reader with annotations capability.

As an aside I ended up with an excellent tablet and the best eReader for only $250.

=X=

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by techWHAM

Limited compared to a full-blown tablet.

In what way?

[RAH]

Originally Posted by geertm

This is a known problem. Use the mobile/touch version of the website or change your browser settings from desktop to mobile. That should solve the problem.

Thanks for the tip, but I did try setting the Nook's browser setting to mobile and it didn't help (it seemed to make no difference at all). Meanwhile, 1and1.com charges money for the mobile upgrade (!).

[thorn]

silly question, but i'm just beginning my exploration of the device.

once you root, will the device continue to interact as normal with b&n, libraries, google books, etc.? that is, will the 'reader' firmware remain intact, so one can do both? or will one have to just download the android nook app? and if so, does one lose any functionality, like lending capability?

thanks all.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by thorn

silly question, but i'm just beginning my exploration of the device.

once you root, will the device continue to interact as normal with b&n, libraries, google books, etc.? that is, will the 'reader' firmware remain intact, so one can do both? or will one have to just download the android nook app? and if so, does one lose any functionality, like lending capability?

thanks all.

It basically functions like it would un-rooted, all the stock stuff is there and works fine but now you can add apps (Kindle, DropBox, etc.) which show up under extras in the nook interface.


If you load a custom ROM you'd basically be wiping the device and then need to add the nook app, etc.

[detayls]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

It basically functions like it would un-rooted, all the stock stuff is there and works fine but now you can add apps (Kindle, DropBox, etc.) which show up under extras in the nook interface.


If you load a custom ROM you'd basically be wiping the device and then need to add the nook app, etc.

Unless you need to call Barnes and Noble at which point they will discover that your Nook is rooted and that you have voided your warranty.

[Catsnkites]

Thank you for all the advice everyone has given us!

I borrowed a Nook Color from a friend and he's playing with it ... a bit bummed that I can't put the book he's reading on it ... but he's very impressed with the overall interface.

He found a couple of Android Apps at the Marketplace that he would like to use. If we root a NC, can we put on any Android Apps, or are we limited as far as functionality?

[Care]

I don't think all android apps work, but tons do (others will be able to answer this better as I never used many apps).

I bought a warranty from Square Trade and they do not care if your NC is rooted or not, they will honour the warranty regardless. And honestly, most of the B&N staff and/or customer service reps don't know much more than the basic stuff. any problems I had neither the staff or CS reps could help with. It was here at MR that I found my help.

[ballast]

Most Android apps run just fine, but there are some obvious things that won't run. Since the NC has no phone and no camera, apps that relate to those hardware functions will not work. I have found a few others, but nothing big (e.g. the Chase Banking app won't work, but I can use a browser to check my balances, etc, so it's no biggie). GPS related apps are crippled since there is no "real" GPS in the NC. But apps like Google Earth & Maps do a good job of pinpointing your location based on wifi locations - it locates my home about a half block from its physical location.

[CarolC]

Is there any way to get Sony ebooks on Nook Color?

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by CarolC

Is there any way to get Sony ebooks on Nook Color?

Yes! It's great and easy! I can use the same DRM'ed EPUB files on my NOOKcolor and my Sony ereaders. I rarely purchase any books from B&N. The majority of my EPUB's have come from the Sony ebookstore. I also have books from several other ebookstores like Kobo, Borders, booksonboards, etc. You just have to download Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) software and authorize the NOOKcolor to the same Adobe account that your Sony ereader is authorized to. You can transfer the Sony books to the NOOKcolor using the ADE software or just drag-and-drop them into the appropriate file folder on the NOOKcolor.