Nook Color - just for basic tablet Email & Browser

[ps56k]

I had been interested in the NC for awhile, mostly from the technical point of rooting it and having an Android tablet to play with.  Even showed my wife the new Touch and the NC, since we already have two Kindles in the house... K1 and K3.

Well - received the NC for fathers day, and have been playing with it a lot since then.... also have a SD card installed.  Just to see how everything worked, bought a book, a magazine issue, a newspaper issue, a couple apps, a kids enhanced book, etc....

But mostly - just using it to check email (POP3) and do some browsing - to Yahoo financial sites.

Just took it along on a recent vacation up and down Michigan - instead of the laptop & power brick - and the Nook Color worked great for keeping in touch when WiFi was avail at the hotels.

SO - anyone else just using the NC as a very basic tablet ?

[MatthewH]

Yes, I have been using my NC for reading, Web access, and email. Also a great way to read PDF files for work, but I very much prefer EzPdfReader to the stock reader. B&N should just license this app -- and then hire somebody to write some documentation for it! Its authors are Koreans who apparently know very little English...

It is great for travel, much more convenient than my laptop. For net access where there is no wifi, I got a little Virgin Mobile mifi device (gizmo the size of a deck of playing cards that uses the Sprint 3G network to create a hotspot to which my NC can connect by wifi).

[alporks]

Yep, I just read and browse the web. Ok, I admit it, I have Angry Birds also, but really don't play it to often. Glad you like your NC!

[BFCoughlin]

Yes...and mine's not even rooted.  I haven't opened my lap top since I got i the NC in early March.  I'm not a gamer, and my Life (contacts, to-dos, calendar) is all on my iPhone  If I need to do word processing, I use my desktop.   So all I need it a reader and a basic web browser in a small convenient package.  The NC fills that niche.  I may never root it, but I love that I can if choose to do so. 

[jscott004]

I use mine to surf the web. However, I've encountered one major issue with my NookColor. There have been two software updates since I got mine and after each update my web bookmarks stop working and I have to reset to factory settings. No one at B&N has been able to tell me why. The only thing I've ever heard is "We are aware of the issue and we are working on it" I've also recently encountered disappearing web windows. All but one web window will close for no apparent reason.

[Mindtoi]

Have done the CM7 sdcard to see how much better I like more of a tablet experience on the Nook. But, I think I have decided to just stick with stock. Besides a few inconveniences, the stock Nook allows me to check email, surf the Internet, and do some basic editing of documents. If better file management, a few more nice productivity apps, and better video support, even Netflix could be added, stock would really fit the bill for me. Can't really beat the stock book and magazine interface.

[beeyebickiebuy]

Add me to the list who is satisfied with the stock NC, as it does everything for which I purchased it. i.e., reading and occassional Web access.

[Alcoholcenter]

My stock NC fits my "needs" - Read to me books for grandaughter, e-pub reader for me, e-mail, occasional web browsing. Did the SD CM7 trick and found it "interesting" but not enough to keep the SD card in. So I'm sticking with the stock NC and using it wherever I go (Belize was my last point outside the USA).

[ps56k]

I guess my continued usage is JUST for email & browsing - as a very basic tablet appliance.

In my case, BN is not getting any additional revenue pull through from me on an ongoing basis to buy books for the NC.

SO - are they losing money overall for those of us that are just using the NC as an inexpensive email/browser tablet ?   In the scheme of things, we are probably a very tiny percentage of NC users, and it's more like the classic razor blade story (or cellphones) - sell the "handle" for a lot less, and make it up on the sale of "blades".

[mogulman]

I have been back and forth on this.  I like the NC form factor.  If I need to respond to an email I cannot use a soft keyboard to save my life.  If it is a real short response I will attempt it.  My Windows Phone 7 does better since it has a good autocorrect capability.  I prefer my netbook (HP dm1z) for responding to email.  As far browsing I have a problem with it locking up from time to time and it does not handle some flash items.  It stutters on some flash videos.  If I am doing any serious browsing or searching I prefer the netbook.   I have all my videos on my home server setup for streaming.  With NC v1.1 it worked great for watching movies.  With v1.2 it has a bad stuttering problem so again I changed to watching on my netbook.

For reading nothing beats the NC. 

[Radecliffe]

That's pretty much what I use mine for.  But I also have a 1E Nook and plan on getting a 2E Nook later this year for actual book reading.  

[LuberLou]

I have a desktop, a laptop and the Nook.  My "go to" is the desk top.  The Nook is in last place.  I'm 77 and need something of size to see.  I enjoy music when I surf & the desktop has good speakers.  Not so the Nook. I wear hearing aids so listening with earphones is not convenient.  When I'm on the road and motel hopping every night the Nook is my weapon of choice because of it's size and ease of packing.  The Nook goes anyplace where I think I have to sit, Doctor, car service anywhere the time might drag.  I can do most anything on the Nook I can do on the other computers, it's just easier and faster on the larger machine.  My daughter has a I Pad, nice but BIG to carry around.  The nook is not rooted.  I have diddled with modifying it in the past but need something that is straight-up reliable.  Factory settings seem to do the trick.  Not the first thing I reach for but I would not like to do without it.

[mariusMB]

Seldom use my laptop anymore. I use NC (cm7 sdcard) TO browse the web, email,pay bills, games, movies (NETFLIX), music. I,m now attempting to remote in to work. Did I mention reading as well with the NOOK APP.

[JinSC]

Count me in as a reader primarily and tablet user second.  I love my NC for reading, though like many DTB readers I wasn't sure initially that I would.  But now I wouldn't go back.  I like the fact that if I'm reading in bed, with just a few touches of a button I can check this board, my e-mail, and then go back to reading without getting up and booting up my laptop.  If I had time, perhaps I would find more ways to use the tablet functions, but so far it does what I need.

Jeremy

[stolenmoment]

I bought mine to replace decades(!) of Palm Pilots, most recently a TX, and it does that job admirably, plus I can read books and magazines on a big screen!  Zero wasted waiting time.

After doing (minor) development on Palms for a while, fiddling with Android (as a system) is great fun.

CM7, emmc, OC kernel.  BeyondPod, K-9, Enjoy Sudoku, Nook app, eReader, Alkido.

[Sandan53]

I use my NC primary for reading, but I also use it for the web and some games. I am an IT guy, I have an iPad, Asus tranformer 10 in tabet, various computers, and a Blackberry Playbook.

[GameAmour]

NookColor is great for sofa web surfing, email and even gaming!

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Game Amour - Nook Apps developer and publisher.

[dfehling]

If I had to make a pie chart of my NookColor usage - about 50% would be reading, 30% web browsing and 20% of misc stuff such as email, Facebook, Twitter, and other apps. It would be interesting to see a survey of all NC users and how they use their Nooks.

I did the CM7 sd card boot thing too, but found I really like the stock better. It has everything I need and I like the way it functions better. I have a desktop, laptop, netbook, Kindle, Nook 3G, NookColor and a Droid2 Global phone. I spend most of my day on my desktop doing web development work, but ALL my playtime is on my NookColor! I have used my NC instead of my laptop on many occasions including a recent computer conference and two vacations. About the only thing I prefer on my phone now (other than making phone calls of course) is the Friendcaster Facebook app because it has the chat function and for some weird reason the version on the NC doesn't.

The NookColor is a great little tablet and an amazing ereader. I feel like I've got the best of both worlds!