my android phone vs nook color

[ianstarboarder]

Ok, so, after reading a few posts here I anticipate a nook color posse to come in full blast defending against what i say here. The fact is my phone has far more capabilities than the nook color. I do not recommend buying the nook color. There are too many reasons to list in one post, but i will write some. One real big reason: the app store. The app store is shamefully small. I can get TONS of apps on my crappy phone, almost none of which i can get on nook. There has been one game added to the app store since i got mine 5 months ago: angry birds space and you have to pay for it ( yes, i know HD Birds on big screen)...well, it should be free. B&N has the nook on lockdown, you cannot use it on other app sites or almost any site to download media other than B&N unless you hack it and void warranty. The touchscreen often seems haunted and at times over sensitive, while unresponsive at other times. The qwerty also isn't great if you write alot with it, there is no scroll if you make a mistake and it's a royal pain to try to touch back to a mis spelled word or to edit something you wrote. If you don not have a computer to sideload wanyed apps or updates DO NOT buy a nook, it cannot do alot of things withoit a computer's assistance. When i called customer service and told them i can't get ANY of the fun apps on my phone they told me i would have to sideload them (i don't know why my phone is capable of more than my nook on it's own). You can visit most websites on the nook, but no more than a smartphone and many times you are limited on what you can do on sites just like a smartphone). It seems like the app store just kind of gave up updating or adding new apps directly after christmas ended. The books are WAY too expensive. My buddy has a kindle and has no problem getting free apps from multiple sites and cheap books. I now wish i had one instead. Also, just now i went to watch a few tutorial videos on this site and it plays the video with a notice in front of it saying "sorry, this video cannot be played" while it is playing the video...on their own website! This huge paragraph is only a few problems i have encountered..

[bobstro]

Root the NC or load up alternate firmware and you can go nuts with the apps in the Google Play Store. It won't gain GPS, bluetooth or a camera, of course, but it makes a nice $170 tablet.

With the new tablets coming out for $200-250, the NC (and NT) value proposition is changing. They're not the bargains they were a year ago. Still, you get a lot of bang for the buck, and outstanding hardware.

[compulsiveread…]

Sorry...I'm not really believing that you are an NC owner. Because some of your complaints don't make a lot of sense to me.

I really don't have much patience with people who complain that NC is not a tablet. When NC came out, tablets cost a few hundred dollars more and the KF AND the NT were a year away. NC WAS the best option as an ereader on the market at that point. Prices have come down on tablets since then, the NT has been out as well as the Kindle Fire. Do I wish I had the NT 16 gig now? Sure...but I've gotten more than a year of great service with my NC and am content. There will ALWAYS be something newer, better, faster coming out on the market so there's no point whining about what you bought is no longer the newest, best or fastest. And if you bought that NC recently, then you chose NOT to buy the newest, fastest on the market.

The best thing to do is

1) do your homework and research.

2) Know in advance that something new, faster, cheaper will be coming out on the market soon.

3) Make the decision to to be happy with what you buy knowing full well that you'll be green with envy when that newer, faster, cheaper, better gadget comes out (because it will) because $200+ is a still a lot of money to invest on gadget.

4) If you aren't sure that what you buy today is something you'll be happy with next year...then don't buy it.

Apps aside, my mind boggles at the idea that typing on the 7" screen of an NC is more difficult than my tiny IPhone. And as an EReader? Which is what the NC IS and the phone is NOT? No question there either. And suggesting that the NC operates on an proprietary ecosystem and the Fire does not?

ARE YOU SURE YOU HAVE AN NC or just here to raise hell?

[ianstarboarder]

You don't believe i have a nook color? It is what i wrote this post with and what i am currently typing with right now. I could care less what you have patience for. The topic is my phone is more capable than this expensive gadget. I can get tons of apps and games on my phone as well as books for free and cheap, but the screen is small. The only reason i use my nook instead of my phone is the screen. I wish it could do the things my phone does. I said NOTHING about my nook being a tablet, what does that haveto do with anything? My phone isn't a tablet either, it's a crappy bottom of the barrel droid and it does way more than my NC. If the NC is merely an e reader then why have apps at all? The NC has a more sophisticated droid operating system than my phone yet can't support any of the apps unless i hack it. The app store for NC is terrible. So 1) seems like you wanted to bitch at me for stating my opinion. 2) you never addressed my concerns, just basically threw out veiled insults. 3) you said nothing helpful or informative. 4) you are the one who seems to want to raise hell for me stating my opinion. 5) how could i not be sure i have a nook color? I would have to be insane or the dumbest person on the planet to create an account on B&N, go to the NC discussion board and start a thread spefically to express my concerns about the NC to not be sure what device i own. Thanks for nothing.

[ianstarboarder]

Thanks for the input bobstro. If i root my NC does that not void my warranty? I have been living in areas that are very remote for the last few years and have fallen a little behind in the tech field. Most places did not even have internet access wifi or otherwise. I do not need gps, a cam or bluetooth, i have all that on my phone. I mostly have my nook for entertainment, but i find myself on my phone alot more playing games and mostly only use my nook for reading which is becoming very expensive. I usually buy books used and spent very little on reading considering how often i read. My buddies have the kindle and a few have tablets (which were far cheaper than the NC) and havetons of games and apps. While they pull out their device to play games or search the web or whatever, i normally pull out my phone to do those things. Seems like a shame and frankly i feel ripped off (well, the NC was a gift, but i could've returned it and got something better). Guess i will have to look into rooting it.

[jlhatch]

No, you don't void your warranty rooting your NC. It boots off of the memory card first before internal memory, so if you put the latest version of android on a memory card you can make your NC into a 7" Android tablet. That will even turn on your Bluetooth. So you can get the NC apps, the Android apps, the Amazon apps - seems you have a lot of choices there.

And have you tried to read on your phone? I do it sometimes, but it's not my preferred method - I love reading on my NC, which is why I bought it. Perfect size and weight. By the way, the sensitiveness of the screen is because you've gotten it wet or humid - it reacts to moisture, so just keep it dry. That oversensitivity is the flip side to it having a really great sensitivity to touch that is one of its hallmarks.

And your smart phone cost $200+ to purchase, and costs probably $50-60/month to get those websites, apps, etc. to use, whereas your NC cost you $249, which this Mother's Day weekend is now just $149. Over the course of a year you will be paying a minimum of 4x what you spent on your NC, and more as the years roll by. 

So root your Nook, enjoy the apps, enjoy reading on its big, sensitive, beautiful screen, and remember you're not paying per month to use it. What a sweet deal!

[TnTexas]

compulsivereader: Apps aside, my mind boggles at the idea that typing on the 7" screen of an NC is more difficult than my tiny IPhone.

Typing is easier on my smartphone than the Nook Color or Tablet mainly because I was able to install a keyboard that allows me to slide from letter to letter instead of having to tap each one. I would love to have a keyboard like that for my Tablet.

And suggesting that the NC operates on an proprietary ecosystem and the Fire does not?

Both operate on a proprietary system; but as far as I know, the Fire does still allow the user to install apps from outside sources whereas the Color and Tablet don't. So if apps are a big deal to someone, I can see where the Fire might be more appealing.

[TnTexas]

jhatch: No, you don't void your warranty rooting your NC. It boots off of the memory card first before internal memory, so if you put the latest version of android on a memory card you can make your NC into a 7" Android tablet.

What you're describing is not rooting the NC; it's simply using an n2a-type card. The term "rooting" refers to messing with the internal coding of the device and that will definitely void the warranty. Using an n2a-type card is what you've described and it's simply running the device off an operating system that's been programmed onto a memory card. Doing that does not void the warranty because nothing on the device itself is changed and when you remove the card, you're back to your original Nook. 

[bobstro]

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ianstarboarder wrote:
[...] If i root my NC does that not void my warranty?

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If they find out, yes. With a bit of caution, there's not much risk. The NC can be brought back to stock condition from nearly any software-induced state. They're very tough to kill or permanently brick through software. If you don't like the device, the warrantly really isn't important. Either sell the device, (probably for a good chunk less than was paid) or make it into the device you really want. A device under warranty stuck in a drawer doesn't do you much good.

As TnTexas pointed out, there is a difference between "rooting" (gaining access to root on the B&N firmware) and booting alternative firmware (either booting from uSD card, or over-writing the B&N firmware). Each approach has pros and cons. My main point is that, if you're dissatisfied with the B&N "experience", you can escape it by several different means.

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[...] I mostly have my nook for entertainment, but i find myself on my phone alot more playing games and mostly only use my nook for reading which is becoming very expensive. I usually buy books used and spent very little on reading considering how often i read.

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Either root or boot alternate firmware, and you'll have an overwhelming assortment of entertainment to choose from. You can be cautious and go the bootable uSD route, though that's not without annoyances. I've bought quite a few productivity apps from the Google Play Store, but I check the Amazon App Store regularly for their free app of the day, and have accumulated quite a few game titles that I "own" (am registered for, but don't necessarily have installed) as a result. More than I can possibly play. Most work quite well on the NC.

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My buddies have the kindle and a few have tablets (which were far cheaper than the NC) and havetons of games and apps. While they pull out their device to play games or search the web or whatever, i normally pull out my phone to do those things. Seems like a shame and frankly i feel ripped off (well, the NC was a gift, but i could've returned it and got something better). Guess i will have to look into rooting it.

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I've pretty well given up on the B&N firmware for my NC. I've over-written the eMMC (internal) memory with CyanogenMod 7.2 (a great example alternative firmware) which lets me both undervolt and overclock to get better performance without giving up battery life. My NC is quite snappy, though of course, it's not comparing so well against the latest inexpensive tablets. Still, it's a great "bargain tablet" for the price, even more so at the recent pricing. The little thing is rugged enough that I've gone back and forth between firmware versions several times. If it breaks now, it's out of warranty anyhow.

[tuck229]

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ianstarboarder wrote:
The topic is my phone is more capable than this expensive gadget.

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So how much did you pay for your "inexpensive" phone?  I'm assuming you bought it by signing a service contract, which costs you a lot more than the "price" of the phone upon signing on the dotted line. 

[roustabout]

If you're worried about voiding the warranty, make yourself a bootable SD card with Cyanogen on it.

Google for verygreen xda nook color cm7 

Booting from that card will give you a full unlocked android without touching the innards and voiding your warranty.

Or just root it and have done with it.  Restore it to stock if you need to return it for service (and indeed, wiping and restoring to stock may fix your problem) because the hardware acts up.  

My guide to rooting is up at

http://nookworks.blogspot.com/2011/05/i-want-to-root-my-nc.html

Although the steps are correct, depending on which version of the Nook OS you have you may need a different Manual Nooter to root with - I've kept my device at either 1.2 or 1.3 (I think 1.2)  and the nooter has evolved with each OS release.