Hacktastic Android Tablet

[Peter.Steele]

Okay, so I'm an iPhone convert, and I'm not planning to go Android for my phone anytime soon. (Ever, actually.)

BUT I do have an Android tablet now. And I'm finding it to be a fun little toy.

I picked up a Barnes & Noble Nook Color last week, got an N2A card for it. Lots of fun, so far, and a lot cheaper than most of the Android tablets out there with similar quality hardware.

(Of course, I'm kicking myself for not waiting for HP to cancel the Touchpad and dump them on the market for next to nothing ... but then, on Monday who would have expected that to happen?)

Anyway, the Nook Color seems to have plenty of horsepower to handle most anything I've thrown at it. Hulu streams nicely. Web browsing is quick. Haven't hacked up Netflix on it yet. It turns out to even have Bluetooth, so at some point I'm going to get a portable keyboard, or a keyboard case maybe.

And of course, most importantly, Angry Birds is pretty awesome.

[QuarterBoreGunner]

Bluetooth? Are you sure? I have a Nook Color (un-rooted) and I don't have Bluetooth.

[Peter.Steele]

Bluetooth? Are you sure? I have a Nook Color (un-rooted) and I don't have Bluetooth.

Chances are very good that you actually do have it, it's just not enabled by B&N's software. It's cheaper to have a chipset that incorporates both WiFi and BT than it is to get the one that only has WiFi. Whether it's enabled for the end user, that's another story entirely. Change the software, and it's enabled.

Check out the website: http://www.n2acards.com/

I bought the 16GB card from them. It's really pretty awesome, doesn't void the warrantee like traditional rooting methods would, and you can dual-boot between Nook and Android. Pull the card, and you're back to being a straight Nook.

[NorCal Einstein]

(Of course, I'm kicking myself for not waiting for HP to cancel the Touchpad and dump them on the market for next to nothing ... but then, on Monday who would have expected that to happen?)

If you went the HP route, you would have been stuck with a WebOS tablet and forced to wait awhile while Android gets ported to it. I can see developers getting an initial port up soon (mainly to claim monetary bounties set), but it would be awhile until it could be stable. The Nook already had a ton of Android goodies ported over, and everyone I know with a NC loves running CM7 on it (although they didn't buy a N2A card).

Enjoy your tablet, welcome to the dark side.

[kpinole]

Interesting...so just buy the Nook Color on B&N for $250 and add any of those N2A cards? Sounds too easy...

[Peter.Steele]

Interesting...so just buy the Nook Color on B&N for $250 and add any of those N2A cards? Sounds too easy...

Yeah, that's all there is to it. It really is just that simple. And it works great. I'm having a blast with this thing.

[cowboy777]

You should root it and load the miui rom on it. Then it will look and feel similar to your iPhone while still having the openess of android.

[2DoorImpala]

Root it, Put rom manger premium and have fun with messing with diffrent roms

[Aspec5vz]

Interesting...I may have to look into this. How does the Nook perform as a full fledged tablet?

[CHS]

Interesting...I may have to look into this. How does the Nook perform as a full fledged tablet?

Power-wise, the Nook Color works great. And the screen is BEAUTIFUL. Seriously, it has one of the best screens on any tablet I've seen. Period. I also own a Samsung Galaxy Tab, which has the same size and resolution screen as the Nook Color, but the Nook Color beats it hands-down.

The form factor of the Nook is fantastic as well. It "feels right" in the hands.

Down sides to the Nook Color:

No GPS.
Bluetooth is there in the chipset, but from what I've read they either didn't include an antenna or the antenna is just terrible so it has almost no range.
No 3G/4G. I use my Galaxy tab in my truck for podcasts, maps, navigation, music, etc. I need the internet everywhere I go.
Wifi works great, but will not connect to "ad-hoc" networks. This means that you will not be able to tether the Nook Color to MOST Android phones. There is a working hack out there that does let you do this, but it has some downsides (wifi must be powered off and on every time you turn off the screen, for example).

If you're just looking for a wifi tablet for home or work use and you don't care about GPS, you cannot go wrong with the Nook Color.

[gorn5150]

I bought my wife a nook color back in June I think. I rooted it and found that it ran as an android tablet without a hitch. My wife uses the nook enough that I just broke down and bought an Acer Iconia tablet to play with android more. I just haven't spent enough time playing with the Acer to get used to android yet, but it appears to be a decent OS. Now I just need to pick up a Windows 7 tablet to see how they do.

[Aspec5vz]

Do you find the lack of internal storage to be an issue at all?

[CHS]

Do you find the lack of internal storage to be an issue at all?

The Nook Color has 4GB of internal storage (only 1GB with the 1.2 software though), and a Micro-SD slot.

Currently mine has a 16GB Micro-SD card in it.

[Aspec5vz]

Do they have emulators that'll run on android? Everytime I hack a portable device I always load up my Genesis emulator!

[QuarterBoreGunner]

Currently mine has a 16GB Micro-SD card in it.

I have an 8GB in mine; still kind of boggles the mind that this:



equals *thousands* of these:




I love living in the future.