Comments on: Nook Color Hands-on: E-reader, Tablet, or Both?

By: Kevin C. Tofel

Kevin C. Tofel — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:49:44 +0000

Thanks all for the great comments on rooting. I’ll definitely give it a go provided I can undo it and return the device. I’ve slapped about 100 custom ROMs on my Galaxy Tab and Nexus One and totally agree that these activities can make a good device a great device!

By: John Gregory

John Gregory — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:37:37 +0000

I too have rooted and I am running a custom rom (Phiremod v6.1 – based on Cyanogenmod 7). You can overclock the processor, watch video, flash, play games, read books etc. I think its a fantastic little device that I will definitely be considering a 7 inch Honeycomb tablet when a reasonably priced one comes out.

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 12:22:50 +0000

I picked up the Nook Color when it was on sale for $199 through Barnes & Noble’s eBay store. The NC is more than just a supersized and dedicated version of the IPhone or Android app with a browser, email, and a few apps. It has features that the Android and IOS versions lack, making it an even better experience for its intended audience (I.e., tyise who love to read, but not a site like gigaom). Chief among those are Nook Kids and magazine support. Third party apps like the Graphicly, which adds support for comics, are a natural extension and add real value for that audience. Considered in this light, the stock browser is more than adequate as a portal to blogs, newspapers and magazines, and other written content the owner enjoys online.

Angry Birds and other apps are gravy, for Barnes & Noble, the developers, and the Nook Color owner. Despite the importance of apps in the general market, I know four Android phone and Palm Pre owners who haven’t installed a single one, except for those that I installed for them. I suspect that is not uncommon, especially among the Nook Color demographic. Barnes & Noble’s store looks accessible, easy to use, and well curated. The lack of thousands of junk apps is an advantage in this case. And to those without the expectation that everything should be 99¢ or free, $2.99 for Angry Birds probably sounds like a deal. I suspect B&N will do quite well.

My NC is rooted, but I’ll save my thoughts on that for your post on the subject.

Rob

By: Kyle

Kyle — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 02:31:26 +0000

Rooting and installing cm7 is the way to go. Improvement at every level and running every app I’ve thrown at it

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 01:11:39 +0000

Good review. Key point for rooting is the NC’s use of the SD card as the first boot point making it easy to root and restore. I suggest rooting and using the CM7 rom. Be sure to install the Nook reader software to the rooted device :)

By: Joel Ward

Joel Ward — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 23:00:16 +0000

I concur. I’ve had the NookColor since Christmas, and it’s a good little device.

Two reactions:

1) There are some free apps. Not a lot, but a few. You can sort the marketplace by price.

2) It works so so in sunlight. Just up the brightness and the screen is readable. One problem I had while reading poolside: wearing polarized sunglasses makes the display impossible to see in portrait mode. It’s viewable in landscape mode, but books can’t display in landscape mode.