# THC's first-blush comments on the Nook Color



## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

The Nook Color has been discussed and reviewed extensively, but I can't resist adding my impressions of the device after using it for a few hours.  The whole world needs to know what I think of this device, right?  


Overall, I really like it, and I think I'm going to be happier with the device for travel than I am with my iPad (because of weight, and because it cost "only" $200 compared to $700 or whatever the iPad cost).

Other observations, good and bad:

It is well-sized for one-handed use, something definitely not true of the iPad.  I certainly wouldn't want the NC to be any heavier or any bigger, but it works for me one-handed as is.

I like to use the Nook "naked" without a cover of any type, and I Like to web browse with it in landscape mode.  Unfortunately the volume buttons are placed so that they are MADDENING when I hold the Nook Color.  I can't help hitting them when I grasp the NC, and they make a little popup window telling of the volume adjustment that totally disrupts my concentration.  I'm going to be seeking out a way to disable these buttons, better to have to use the menu controls to adjust sound than to put up with this!  I've tried flipping the NC over so the buttons are on the other side from my hand that is holding the device, but I still occasionally switch hands and then it happens all over again!  This is my biggest gripe by far with the device.

I went to a B&N store and tried out the in-store features.  They didn't offer me a free Espresso as I've heard about, but I was able to browse an ebook as promised for an hour, which is a nice feature, much better than the samples from Amazon and Nook that often are dominated by Tables of Contents and Introductions.  It worked perfectly.

While at the B&N, I bought a "official" B&N Nook Color Sleeve.  I like to hold my NC in my hands bare while in use, but for storage and travel I wanted something to provide a little bit of protection.  I'm tolerably pleased with it, but it isn't as nice or well-done as the Belkin sleeve I had for My Kindle 2 (I put my Kindle 3 in one of the Amazon lighted covers, so no sleeve for it).  It's also cheaper than the K2 sleeve, so I have no legitimate complaint!

I was concerned by online reports by some people that they were having trouble formatting videos to play on the NC.  This is an important use for me while traveling, so I was nervous.  But videos formatted for my iPad work perfectly on the Nook Color.  And the screen is great, much nicer for video watching than even the big 4.3 inch screen on my EVO phone.  The provided video player is basic, but good enough.

Internet surfing works well enough, though the browser isn't as smooth as on my iPad or on my EVO.  In particular pinching and zooming is much inferior.  The +/- soft button works better, but I don't feel like I have as much control as I have with two-hand gesturing to zoom in and out.  Other than pinching and zooming, web surfing is excellent on the NC.

As advertised, the NC comes with a separate cable that looks like, but apparently is not a standard micro USB cable.  I swore recently that I'd never again buy a device that depended on anything but a standard micro USB cable, but I'm doing a crummy job of keeping my promise!  I was disappointed to see that the manual says NOT to connect the device to a computer with a standard USB cable, which I'd hoped might be possible.  Having a unique custom cable is an annoying failure point.  By the way, the manual says that the NC does not charge when connected to a computer, even when their custom cable is used.  I'm not sure if this is literally true, or if it is like the iPad 1, a trickle charge that is very slow and doesn't activate the "charging" icon.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to root this thing, if only to get a better browser (mainly) and a better video player, as well as to use other applications.  I don't have a lengthy trip planned till May, so I'm probably going to wait and see if in the interim the geniuses at XDA come out with a way to boot the production version of Honeycomb off of the SD card.  I am not that interested in rooting to pre-Honeycomb versions of Android, and I don't want to deal with the pre-production Honeycomb that is now available if I don't have to.  Of course, it is possible that B&N will come out with a wonderful app store that will take care of everything I want.  I'm not counting on it, but it could happen!  Speaking of apps, Pandora works fabulously!

I'd read of problems with wifi connections, and I dreaded that after initial troubles with iPad, but with my home wifi network and with the wifi at B&N, hookup was smooth and easy.

I'll write more as I have more to say....


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## mtdewlarissa (Apr 17, 2010)

i too got the nc last week.  two things, i miss that the books rotate when you change while reading like my kindle.  i also tend to change the pages while holding the nc and not touching the screen.  i don't have a case for it and i may be putting to much pressure on the plastic while reading.  i got it for library books.


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## gadgetgirl003 (Mar 22, 2009)

THC,
Thanks for your review of your Nook Color.I put the Honeycomb preview and the Google Android Market on a micro sd card, so now I have several android apps on my Nook Color when I want to boot from the micro sd card instead of the internal drive. It was really easy to put the Honeycomb preview rom on the micro sd and I really wanted to play with it and see how I liked it. It works pretty well. I have a class 6 micro sd card. So far I have only put the Kindle app, Words With Friends, Solitaire, Easy Note, Aldiko, Flood It, Angry Birds and Youtube on it. The youtube app has not worked for me thus far, but that is okay. I like that I can play the same game of WWF on my iPad, Android phone or my Nook Color. I also like that I can download my Kindle books to the Nook Color. I still don't know how I am planning to use my Nook Color, but I like the flexibility that I have with it. I may download more apps tomorrow. I love the fact that I can keep the internal drive of the Nook Color in the stock operating system and use the Honeycomb rom booting off the micro sd card when I want the extra features of an Android tablet. I use mine without a case just as you do. So far, I haven't really had a problem with touching the volume buttons by mistake.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

I received my class VI microsd card today and couldn't resist trying to install Honeycomb even in the prerlease version.  I've downloaded ARAR and got it working, but the image of Honeycomb for the sd card seems to go to lala land when I download, isn't in my downloads folder and the name doesn't show up in a file search.  I'll try again tomorrow...


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## gadgetgirl003 (Mar 22, 2009)

The Hooded Claw said:


> the image of Honeycomb for the sd card seems to go to lala land when I download, isn't in my downloads folder and the name doesn't show up in a file search. I'll try again tomorrow...


That's odd. I'm sorry. I know how frustrating that can be. Mine downloaded to my download folder with no problem. I used Winimage to write it to the sd card. Once it is written to the sd card, the sd drive disappears and the card is ready to be inserted into your Nook Color. Did you by any chance click "open with" instead of "save" when downloading?


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