# In defense of the nookcolor.



## monkeyluis

http://www.wordsfinest.com/2010/10/in-defense-of-new-nook.html

Thought this was a good article.


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## Ann in Arlington

Well, he's probably right in that the color nook will do just fine.  But I think he has the reasons wrong.  I don't think folks who read A LOT are going to go for a backlit screen -- the Kindle took off precisely because it manages to pretty will mimic a paper page which is what people who read A LOT like about it.

But the device looks to be great for kids books and other content that work best in color.  I'm not sure it'll really take off as a device for kids though until the price comes down.  Still, kudos for them trying to tap a mostly untapped market.

Still, I don't think the e-ink market is "dying". . . though it is, perhaps a niche market.  The color nook means to fill a different niche.

And I thought it a bit disingenuous that the only illustration of the Kindle is a 1st Generation device. . . . .


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## monkeyluis

I agree that the kindle is a niche market & people just don't get it as well as some of us. But I think for the vast majority of consumers it will be appealing. Someone walks into B&N they see nookcolor and think "oh, pretty screen" & whip out their card. We'll see. I truly wish them luck. I may be partial to certain gadgets but I love competition because it drives innovation. I don't want them to fail. I want someone to now make something just as good as this, whether it be amazon, apple, borders, whoever.


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## mlewis78

I know a lot of people who wouldn't even shell out money for a kindle, let alone a $250 color device.


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## Will Write for Gruel

mlewis78 said:


> I know a lot of people who wouldn't even shell out money for a kindle, let alone a $250 color device.


Yeah, and who is going to spend $500-700 for a tablet PC that doesn't even have a conventional keyboard when you can get a netbook PC for under $400? Apparently about a million people a month or something crazy like that, according Apple.

My friend is probably getting one. Once I told her about checking out ebooks from the library, she got very interested in ebook readers since she always returns books late. And she loves the idea of a device that her daughter can use to read kids books with color illustrations. The touchscreen stuff is nice too, since her daughter always borrows her iPhone to play games and is familiar with that interface.

I like e-ink too, but I borrowed an iPad once and read about 30 pages of a novel on it. It was a pleasant reading experience. And the Nook has something on the iPad, too -- it's lighter and easier to hold.


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## David Derrico

As a low-cost, more portable iPad competitor, it might be a good device. But I was hoping for an e-reader, something non-backlit that had some innovative new features, something that pushed the e-reader envelope forward and forced Amazon to keep working hard advancing the Kindle. I was hoping for a Nook 2 with e-Ink Pearl, and some new killer features to match or beat the K3.

Instead, B&N seems to be saying, "OK, Amazon, we can't beat you at this e-reader thing, the K3 owns that market, so we're gonna try something else." It might or might not make great business sense for B&N, but my concern is for the future of e-readers. B&N might as well have come out with a new, more profitable flavor of coffee in their cafes instead as far as I'm concerned, since I have no interest in the Nook Color. In fact, this is worse, since it seems to be feeding the perception that backlit LCD = e-reader, and I for one hope they do NOT go in that direction.


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## monkeyluis

But as an author David does it matter as long as they are reading your book?

I do agree with some of hour points though like an updated eink screen. This is a more direct competitor to the iPad rather than the kindle.


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## Will Write for Gruel

What's the problem with backlit LCD if someone prefers that? It's not like e-ink is going away. 

I think what is more likely to happen is that we get color e-ink readers soon. And we also get easier to read LCD screens.


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## David Derrico

Sure, as long as people are reading, I think that's a good thing. (EVEN IF they have the audacity to read something _other_ than my books!)   But I just don't see too many people reading much on LCD screens. I think LCD screens are much better for web surfing and games and magazines and etc., not fiction novels -- and I think most people buying LCD-based devices will end up doing those things over reading. But if some readers prefer LCD, more power to them. I just think the evidence is pretty clear that most fiction readers prefer e-Ink over LCD right now.

Selfishly, as a reader, *I* also prefer e-Ink, and was hoping for a Nook 2 with features that I found compelling, something to make the Kindle 4 even better.


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## Meemo

David Derrico said:


> Selfishly, as a reader, *I* also prefer e-Ink, and was hoping for a Nook 2 with features that I found compelling, something to make the Kindle 4 even better.


I prefer eInk too - but I see the market for the NOOKColor among people who want to read magazines, newspapers, textbooks, non-fiction books (that include pictures) & kids' books on it in addition to fiction.

But there's nothing to say that there isn't a nook 2 coming at some point. Some of what I don't like about my nook could probably be fixed with software updates (and there's one coming later this month that will allow for organization and faster page turns, both of which it needs IMO), and as a device I much prefer my K2. I'd like my nook a lot more if they could streamline a lot of the functions through more software updates (if possible). A thinner, lighter nook would be even better, especially now that it's competing with the K3.


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## Maria Romana

Ann in Arlington said:


> Still, I don't think the e-ink market is "dying". . . though it is, perhaps a niche market. The color nook means to fill a different niche.


Yes, I think this is exactly the point the writer was trying to make. B&N chose to fight a different battle--one in which they are currently the only combatants--rather than continue to go head-to-head with a competitor who already has an enormous edge. It seems a wise business decision from a company that hasn't been making a lot of those lately.


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## Will Write for Gruel

David Derrico said:


> Sure, as long as people are reading, I think that's a good thing. (EVEN IF they have the audacity to read something _other_ than my books!)   But I just don't see too many people reading much on LCD screens. I think LCD screens are much better for web surfing and games and magazines and etc., not fiction novels -- and I think most people buying LCD-based devices will end up doing those things over reading. But if some readers prefer LCD, more power to them. I just think the evidence is pretty clear that most fiction readers prefer e-Ink over LCD right now.
> 
> Selfishly, as a reader, *I* also prefer e-Ink, and was hoping for a Nook 2 with features that I found compelling, something to make the Kindle 4 even better.


Yeah, I agree with you, but there are a lot of people reading books on their iPhones. I couldn't do that but a number of people are enjoying books this way. And then there's the iPad....

I think Amazon will eventually come out with color e-ink. There are too many people who want color. Amazon has to get color onto the Kindle to tap into the magazine market, kids books, etc.


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## David Derrico

Mark Asher said:


> Yeah, I agree with you, but there are a lot of people reading books on their iPhones. I couldn't do that but a number of people are enjoying books this way. And then there's the iPad....
> 
> I think Amazon will eventually come out with color e-ink. There are too many people who want color. Amazon has to get color onto the Kindle to tap into the magazine market, kids books, etc.


Yeah, I'm sure color e-Ink / Mirasol / Pixel Qi or some other color, non-backlit, bi-stable, low power technology will come out and be used in the K5 or K8 or whatever. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind color, if just for book covers or using color labels for books or folders or whatever. But the other benefits of e-Ink (easy on the eyes, battery life, etc.) outweigh the need for color for me right now, since it's currently a trade-off and we can't yet get the best of both worlds.


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## Indy

My daughter might use a color reader, however, she has a laptop that does every conceivable thing she could want it to do, and she is less of a reader than a viewer/listener.  So I won't be shelling out that kind of money for that gadget, thanks.  

I do think it would appeal to people who want to read magazines, comics, and illustrated content.  I like a good magazine once in a while, it's nice to just mindlessly look at the pictures... of course there is this big ole thing called the internet for that.


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## KevinMcLaughlin

Pretty much every major electronics company out there has plans to launch their own version of the colorNook in Q1 or Q2 next year...  Android based, these color LCD 5-10" tablets should be able to run the Nook and Kindle software on the same device.  Pretty much android-based iPads.  Mobile internet dealers (Verizon, Sprint, AT&T) will be offering big discounts on some of these devices with 2-year contracts.

By sometime in 2012, we'll probably be seeing some of these mobile internet tablets being offered for free with a contract, same way we see free smartphones and blackberries right now.  I don't think eInk is going to go away, but it's going to be a niche product in a sea of multipurpose LCD devices that are usable as readers for books from more than one retailer.


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## Will Write for Gruel

Black and white e-ink will likely become a niche product. If they get color e-ink going, that technology could still power the dedicated e-readers. 

Consumers like color. Just go to a Barnes and Noble now that they have the color Nook and b&w Nook side by side. The color Nook is simply flashier. It also does more -- plays music, lets you access the web, plays audio books, etc. For a consumer looking to purchase a first e-reader, seeing color next to black and white really sells the color.


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## Maria Romana

Mark Asher said:


> Consumers like color. Just go to a Barnes and Noble now that they have the color Nook and b&w Nook side by side. The color Nook is simply flashier. It also does more -- plays music, lets you access the web, plays audio books, etc. For a consumer looking to purchase a first e-reader, seeing color next to black and white really sells the color.


Yes, I think you are right--especially with a side-by-side display. The consumer who has never used an ereader isn't thinking about the potential downsides of the non-e-ink reader. They aren't thinking about eye strain, battery power, or reading in outdoor light; they just see the cool, vibrant colors on the screen. It would be like choosing between a newspaper and a magazine; the newspaper might have higher quality content, but the magazine just looks better.

--Maria


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## Will Write for Gruel

meromana said:


> Yes, I think you are right--especially with a side-by-side display. The consumer who has never used an ereader isn't thinking about the potential downsides of the non-e-ink reader. They aren't thinking about eye strain, battery power, or reading in outdoor light; they just see the cool, vibrant colors on the screen. It would be like choosing between a newspaper and a magazine; the newspaper might have higher quality content, but the magazine just looks better.
> 
> --Maria


Unless they have done their homework, they won't know about eyestrain. And frankly, unless they plan on reading on their color Nook for 2+ hours a day, they may never even experience eyestrain. Most of us are used to staring at backlit screens by now. E-ink without back-lighting is really designed for the avid reader who wants to replicate the paper book experience as closely as possible. For others, the backlit screen may be preferable.

And don't underestimate the intuitive power of the touchscreen interface. It's nicer than buttons. It just is.

I have a friend picking up her color Nook on December 3rd. The thing that sold her on a Nook over a Kindle was library ebooks. The thing that sold her on the color vs. the black and white was the backlit screen. She likes the idea of reading in bed and not worrying about having a light on. (Ok, she wants to let her kid use it for reading too and thinks the color will encourage that.)

I looked at both the black and white and color Nook side by side at B&N. I know all the plusses of the black and white version. I know the minuses of the color Nook. Even knowing all that, the color Nook seemed really cool and if someone offered me either at the same price, I'd take the color.


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## Selcien

Personally, I think the device will defend itself just fine 'cause using one has made me appreciate just how different backlit screens can be, I can only wish that my desktop monitor was as easy on my eyes as this nook color screen is (seriously, this forum comes in much cleaner on my nook color than it does on my desktop monitor).


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## Will Write for Gruel

My friend was able to pick up her color Nook today instead of December 3, so I got a chance to play with it quite a bit. It really is nice. One fun thing you can do is use the built-in Pandora internet radio station to listen to commercial-free music while you read. The built-in speakers are poor, but if you are reading you may not care that much about the fidelity of the music, and if you do, there is a headphone jack. 

The touchscreen interface is really nice. Page turns are fast too. It's a really fun and attractive device to use. For less than avid readers, I can't imagine people not going for something like this if the cost was closer to the e-ink reader cost. It's not, though, so that may hold it up a bit. If it was $139 for this and the Kindle 3, the color Nook would win handily I think.


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## 911jason

Mark Asher said:


> Page turns are fast too.


Hmmm... really? A friend at work let me play with his the other day and I was surprised at how laggy the page turns were. I was really prepared to like it and came away pretty unimpressed. The slow and stuttering page turns I saw may have been due to the content, which was a color magazine, but to me that shouldn't make a difference since that's what it's being advertised for.

He had problems with the charger not fitting securely in the port on the nook and returned it only to have the same problem with the replacement. He has now returned that one too and has ordered a K3.


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## EllisonJames

I've been fairly impressed by the new NookColor commercials and ads they have on the B & N sight. I also really like that they are trying to offer a low cost version of an Ipad (as a reader) but the one thing I wonder about is this. Do any of the people testing this thing actually have children? Will the Nook Color hold up to the abuse a child will spill forth upon it as they read interactive childrens books?

I only hope the product can hold up. The interactive childrens books was something that impressed me most, but I worry about the most as well.


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## Will Write for Gruel

911jason said:


> Hmmm... really? A friend at work let me play with his the other day and I was surprised at how laggy the page turns were. I was really prepared to like it and came away pretty unimpressed. The slow and stuttering page turns I saw may have been due to the content, which was a color magazine, but to me that shouldn't make a difference since that's what it's being advertised for.
> 
> He had problems with the charger not fitting securely in the port on the nook and returned it only to have the same problem with the replacement. He has now returned that one too and has ordered a K3.


I didn't look at magazines. I was looking at books. Page turns were fine for me. The charger so far hasn't been an issue, either. I set it up for my friend so I had to use the charger.

I will say that listening to Pandora radio and reading a book at the same time like she wants to do will suck the juice out of the battery pretty quickly. I would guess it went from full charge to a low charge in about four hours of use like this. Her nine year old daughter was playing with it too, though, and she had the screen on full brightness for some reason -- kids these days, they're blind! 

Oh, and we had wifi on the whole time too. We were downloading free books and samples. So yeah, we put it through its paces.


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## Selcien

911jason said:


> The slow and stuttering page turns I saw may have been due to the content, which was a color magazine, but to me that shouldn't make a difference since that's what it's being advertised for.


I haven't read any magazines on my nook color but I do have a PDF. It's "Machine of Death", it's a freebie that can be found in the last post, second page, of the "free book finds" thread. The first page takes a half minute to a minute to load, that's not just when you first open it, but even when you go back to it. There are several other images at the beginning that take a couple of seconds or so to load, the other images I've seen load faster than the pages of text, but those pages of text load up faster in the zoomed in landscape mode than full page portrait mode. In contrast my text only ePubs have extremely quick page turns. So yeah, the content does make a difference.

As for the "shouldn't make a difference" bit, advertising it's ability to be used to read magazines does not negate the fact that larger amounts of data take longer to load than smaller amounts of data regardless of what hardware you are using.

I do not know what you're comparing the nook color too but it certainly seems like you have unreasonable expectations.



911jason said:


> He had problems with the charger not fitting securely in the port on the nook and returned it only to have the same problem with the replacement. He has now returned that one too and has ordered a K3.


My charger fits quite securely, the problem that I have is that the touchscreen is practically worthless while it's being charged, the downside is that I cannot use the web feature while it's charging as it's much too spastic, the upside is that it makes it very clear that it's time for me to stop playing around and get some reading done.

At any rate, I do hope that your friend has better luck with the K3.


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## 911jason

I don't think it's unrealistic to expect a device that is positioned as a color reader to be able to read color content smoothly. Yes, I would expect it to take longer to "load" larger content if it was downloading it while I was reading it... but when the content is saved on the device, it shouldn't take significantly longer to turn the page. That's what a cache is for. I'm sure they can address this issue with a future firmware update though.

Like I said, I WANTED to like it... my current favorite time sucker is my android phone. I think it's great that B&N went with Android for the nookcolor and I hope they'll continue to improve the device.


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## Selcien

911jason said:


> I don't think it's unrealistic to expect a device that is positioned as a color reader to be able to read color content smoothly. Yes, I would expect it to take longer to "load" larger content if it was downloading it while I was reading it... but when the content is saved on the device, it shouldn't take significantly longer to turn the page. That's what a cache is for. I'm sure they can address this issue with a future firmware update though.
> 
> Like I said, I WANTED to like it... my current favorite time sucker is my android phone. I think it's great that B&N went with Android for the nookcolor and I hope they'll continue to improve the device.


I hadn't planned on reading any magazines on this because I normally do not read them, however, for the sake of trying to understand where you're coming from I decided to get a free trial of National Geographic, and I think that you're going to cost me money... 

Okay. Some of the pages had a smooth page turn, some had a slight bit of lag, and some just popped in after a slightly longer lag, thing is, if you use that one mode where all the pages appear smaller sized at the bottom of the screen you can flow through *all* of the pages smoothly. Maybe it's different with different magazines but my impression is that it's awesome. The complaint that I have is that the index in the magazine is not accurate, the page number for the last article that I looked at was off by twenty some pages.

Based on the one magazine I cannot at all understand why you'd complain about "slow" page turns. Okay, I have never used an android device before but it still seems to be hella great for one that was only just released, and especially considering it's low price tag.


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## 911jason

Hmmm... interesting. I wonder if different magazines "perform" differently. I would think NG would be particularly slow since it's pic-heavy. I think the magazine I looked at on my friend's nook was either PC World or PC Magazine. Regardless, I'm glad to hear that it's apparently not a system deficiency since you didn't see the same thing I saw. You'd know if you had. Then again, maybe he had an early production model which might also explain his a/c adapter problems.

I'll check one out in a few months and see what's up. I really would like to pick one up at some point if I'll be able to root it and play around with themes and customization. I'm having a blast with my Android phone doing all that!


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## Selcien

I think it's worth noting that my comments about page turns only aplies when using landscape mode and only when turning the pages as fast as possible, when I paused a second or two to look at the page before turning all of the page turns went smoothly, and there was no pop in at all. In portrait mode page turns are smooth even when I turned the pages as fast as I could. The only long pause I see, maybe around two seconds, is when shifting from portrait to landscape, shifting from landscape to portrait goes smoothly.

I've tried two other magazines so far, Maxim and Spin, and didn't notice anything different with the page turns, and it turns out that it is extremely easy to cancel and delete magazines you don't want, which is what I did with Maxim and Spin. I am so keeping National Geographic though.

I'll be trying out more magazines as I feel inclined to take advantage of their 14 day free trials, I'll post here should I run across any problems.

I hope that they get this thing rooted quickly so you can get one sooner rather than later, it's aces. And thanks, it's because of you that I tried the magazines and found another feature that makes me very happy with my NC.


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## 911jason

This would probably be a good thread to keep your eye on... I haven't read it yet, but it's got 350+ posts with 60,000+ views. So there is definitely interest in rooting it.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=825174

XDA is an awesome place for info on modding Android and Windows Mobile devices. They've got more than a million registered users.


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## mlewis78

I would not be interested in this device for reading books, but I'm curious as to whether it is good for internet browsing, email and games.  I will probably take a look at it in the store.


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## Will Write for Gruel

mlewis78 said:


> I would not be interested in this device for reading books, but I'm curious as to whether it is good for internet browsing, email and games. I will probably take a look at it in the store.


Haven't tried games, really, but I've spent some time browsing the web. It's like a tablet. So as long as you tap the correct hyperlink, it's very nice. If you're used to a smartphone, the color Nook should be a snap. If you're used to an iPad, the color Nook is a smaller screen so you have to be more precise.

Email? If you don't mind pecking out messages on a smartphone I don't see how the color Nook would be a problem.

Not sure why you wouldn't want to read a book on it because I don't see buying a color Nook as a cheaper iPad. I'd wait six months and see what other tablet PCs are released. There's a flood of them coming.


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## Selcien

911jason,

I appreciate the link but I'm not at all interested in rooting it, not only because I think I will have a hard time of it, but because I will not want to take any kind of risk that might brick it, and I'm quite sure that the apps that B&N will offer will be enough for me.



mlewis78 said:


> I would not be interested in this device for reading books, but I'm curious as to whether it is good for internet browsing, email and games. I will probably take a look at it in the store.


So far I've only ran into one problem that I couldn't get around, and it was on B&Ns site. I was trying to post to their forum and I couldn't create a pen name, I had to make one on my PC. Posting there would also be a huge problem since the cursor doesn't show up, I've gone back there hoping it wouldn't happen again and it did, so I have to assume it's the way that they have it set up that is causing the problem. Speaking of cursors, putting it exactly where you want can be problematic.

Beyond that I checked out the most sluggish website I know of, IGN. It handled it better than the netbook I tried, speed wise, and once loaded the pages actually scroll a bit faster on the NC than they usually do on my PC.

Based on my overall use, the speed seems reasonable, rarely ever notice anything feeling like it's taking too long. I am quite content to use it instead of my PC.

As for the email. I use yahoo mail, I tried it once and didn't bother to see if I could get it to work until your post. It was just a matter of switching to the classic version, and now it works. I haven't used it enough yet to see if there's going to be problems but it works fine so far.

I also got a couple of youtube videos to work on it, was just a matter of switching over to the mobile version.

As for games... what games? Seriously.


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## Selcien

911jason,

This is about page turns again. Is there any chance that you were turning pages while in the article view mode? I just tried it and it was noticeably sluggish, some major pop in, and a couple of times where a page stayed blank until I exited the article view and opened it again.


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## mlewis78

Mark Asher said:


> Not sure why you wouldn't want to read a book on it because I don't see buying a color Nook as a cheaper iPad. I'd wait six months and see what other tablet PCs are released. There's a flood of them coming.


I don't want an LCD back-lit screen for reading books. Probably this just isn't for me.


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## 911jason

Selcien said:


> 911jason,
> 
> This is about page turns again. Is there any chance that you were turning pages while in the article view mode? I just tried it and it was noticeably sluggish, some major pop in, and a couple of times where a page stayed blank until I exited the article view and opened it again.


I'm not sure Selcien, my time with it was brief. I just touched the magazine cover icon that was on the desktop and then flipped through the pages. I'm guessing whatever the default mode is set to is what I was using unless my friend had changed it.


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## Selcien

911jason said:


> I'm not sure Selcien, my time with it was brief. I just touched the magazine cover icon that was on the desktop and then flipped through the pages. I'm guessing whatever the default mode is set to is what I was using unless my friend had changed it.


The default view has the layout that paper magazines do, pictures and what not. The article view has one small pic and the rest is text. If you saw sluggishness in the default view the article view would have been really bad (it's slower in article view because it opens on top of the magazine, and when you turn the pages in article view the pages of the magazine turn to match.)


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## 911jason

Oh okay, well then it was default view that I was browsing.


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## 911jason

Let the fun begin... XDA has successfully rooted the nookColor.










It's still in the early stages of development, but the fact that they were successful virtually insures that there will be an easy root solution available shortly.


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## Will Write for Gruel

If I had a Nook color I'd be a bit scared to do that to it, but it is interesting. That means the full range of android apps will be available to put on it,, right?


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## 911jason

Yes, sir.. including the Kindle app!


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## 911jason

So it's been about six weeks... I am now very close to selling my Kindle to finance my purchase of a Nook Color.

Not positive I'm going to do it, but I'm definitely leaning that way. It's easy to root, has a much better screen than most Android Tablets in regards to viewing angle since it has an IPS screen. Once rooted, I can install the Kindle for Android app to maintain access to all of my Kindle purchases.

The funny thing is that while I've always said eInk is superior to a backlit LCD, that's the main reason I'm leaning towards the NC. The great bulk of my reading is done at work on the graveyard shift, it's very dim in my work environment and I constantly find myself contorting my body to find a good angle to put light on the Kindle's screen. I've tried the Kandle and a few other reading lights and haven't liked them. I also don't read for such extended periods of time that the LCD would bother my eyes... I don't think. 

Of course, I have also become addicted to Android hacking, so that's a small factor as well! 

For anyone interested in "freeing" a Nook Color and converting it into an Android Tablet, here are a few good links:

http://www.nookcolormods.com/

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=860


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## The Hooded Claw

Good luck with the project, it does indeed look like Nook Color is a very cool tablet.  But sad to see that you are considering selling your Kindle!


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## caracara

From my 15 minutes in the story with the NC:

It was "cool".  Ive messed with iThings plenty and found the NC easy to navigate.
In my opinion it's a iThing with only one app.
It's decent, I do like navigating with touchscreen.

I will stick with my e-ink, though. And my KCS!


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## 911jason

Bought a NookColor yesterday morning. Immediately rooted it and have it running now as a full-featured Android Tablet. In my opinion, it's an absolute iPad killer... for those of us willing to hack it, at least. Kindle will probably be gone tonight, depending on whether my co-worker is willing to meet my price. I HIGHLY recommend the NookColor to anyone willing to do some modifications to the OS.


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## HappyGuy

Where are you getting your apps for the "modified" Nook?


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## 911jason

The regular android market is installed as part of the rooting process. There are still some missing apps from the market due to the way the Nook identifies itself, but you can always sideload the apk files you have (from your phone or elsewhere).

Sidenote, the team of devs at CyanogenMod already have Gingerbread (Android 2.3) booting and running on the NookColor, so it will not be long before we can install that! =)


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## markbeyer

The subject of — and difference between — NookColor and other color-based e-readers is really a matter of preference. Ultimately, how YOU feel it reads and its options is how you need to decide on which to purchase. 

I love my Nook!


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## planet_janet

911jason said:


> Sidenote, the team of devs at CyanogenMod already have Gingerbread (Android 2.3) booting and running on the NookColor, so it will not be long before we can install that! =)


Now _that_ is cool.

My mom got a NookColor for Christmas, but considering that she calls me (someone who does not own any kind of Nook and has never used one) for guidance every time she tries to do anything with it, I don't think she'll be rooting hers.


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## The Hooded Claw

Supposedly BN has pulled all Nooks from the shelves. It is speculated that this was to modify then to make therm more difficult to root. If you want to root a Nook Color, I'd head to Best Buy and get one.

Sent from my Sprint EVO using Tapatalk


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## 911jason

They're still available at Walmart... and short of removing the SD card slot, I don't think there is much they can do that would not be undoable.


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## The Hooded Claw

911jason said:


> They're still available at Walmart... and short of removing the SD card slot, I don't think there is much they can do that would not be undoable.


I've no doubt that if the motive _IS_ to make it less hackable, the hacker community will overcome. Though I'm sure BN can make hacking harder if they choose to, and I suspect that might be the result. There are some suggestions that this is to deal with a problem with USB ports or even to convert the devices to a more current version of Android. In other words, nobody outside BN and perhaps their business partners knows for sure! I can certainly conceive that B&N resents the repurposing of their devices, and Corporations sometimes do weird stuff to try to keep control (see "Apple").

I don't need a Nook Color, though the Geek in me finds having a hacked one appealing. But I'm being strong about it!


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## KindleChickie

After reading this thread earlier this morning, I went out to Walmart and purchased a Nook Color (wanting to get one before they disabled the hacking ability).  I just got it home and it is marked "not for resale" "functional display unit".  I called around to a few close Walmarts and they all only have the display units left, which they are not supposed to sell.

So now I have to decide if I should keep this unit and do the hacking or just take it back and wait.


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## 911jason

How weird is that!? Wonder why they sold it to you then? From what I've read today, the rumor that they were altering the stock to make them harder to root has already been denied by B&N. It was due to some bug in their stock system.


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## The Hooded Claw

KC, you might check Best Buy also.  If your display unit is in good shape and you really want an NC, then this might be your best option.  Depending on what your return period is, you might want to hold the one you have till the NC if returned to shelves and we find out what happened. Supposedly this will be for a periods of two weeks, though I doubt that is written in stone. But BN has an incentive to get theseback on sale asap so it shouldn't be to toolong.
Sent from my Sprint EVO using Tapatalk


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## The Hooded Claw

http://phandroid.com/2011/02/03/source-nookcolor-shipments-stopped-due-to-inventory-software-bug-not-hackers/

For anyone interested, this is threes report Jason referred to. I faced no idea of the truth, though I must about that pulling devices of the shelf to mod them with anti hacking seems excessively paranoid.

Sent from my Sprint EVO using Tapatalk


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## The Hooded Claw

Wow, Swype let me down on that last post!

Sent from my Sprint EVO using Tapatalk


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## *DrDLN* (dr.s.dhillon)

I think color is important not just for magazines but many of the nonfiction books.  I have pictures and graphs that work better with color screen. Wish you all the best.


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## KindleChickie

Yeah, color is important for some books.  I mentioned earlier that I was sold a demo model.  Some of the book samples that were on it, yeah....that color is important.  LOL  I have to assume it was teenagers who looked at it mostly because most of the samples are about a certain body part and Lady Gaga.  And I have no idea how to delete samples.  It is truly embarassing to let someone play with it.  It is going back.


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## Meemo

KindleChickie said:


> Yeah, color is important for some books. I mentioned earlier that I was sold a demo model. Some of the book samples that were on it, yeah....that color is important. LOL I have to assume it was teenagers who looked at it mostly because most of the samples are about a certain body part and Lady Gaga. And I have no idea how to delete samples. It is truly embarassing to let someone play with it. It is going back.


I think to delete samples you have to do it through the B&N site - go into your library on the website, delete samples (and anything else you don't want), then on the NC turn on wireless and do a sync/search for new items. They should be deleted then. (At least that's how it works with the eInk nook.)

Yet another of the things that's WAY simpler to do on a Kindle.


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## KindleChickie

Yeah, this one is still registered to the walmart account.


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