Database Users

This or the nook tablet?

Looking for an inexpensive tablet, I'm looking at either this or the nook tablet. Seems the nook tablet has slightly better hardware specs (ram, SD slot, internal memory) but has a locked boot loader and a possible OTA that will break root. Where as the kindle boot loader I believe is unlocked and I saw that someone has cm7 booting.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

I am not a developer, but after I had a motorola milestone with a locked bootloader, now I ran far away from it. As they are sure about Nook tablet being locked I decided not to take the chance of getting the device and no one finding a workaround.

Yeah, the nook seems to have a slight hardware edge, but if the boot loader stays locked its never going to reach its potential. I'm thinking I'm getting a kindle today instead of the NT.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

Having owned both, I lean Kindle Fire.
CM7 force closed a lot for me and while it was nice and very versatile, many times I wanted a functional device, not just something to hack around on.
The Fire, while it doesn't have the same flexibility as a rooted nook, I find is much more stable with what does work right now. Hacking it was a breeze. I run my own launcher now, and most apps work fine. The ones that don't, just don't.
So if you want a functional device you can hack around on, get a Fire.

hariustrk said:
Having owned both, I lean Kindle Fire.
CM7 force closed a lot for me and while it was nice and very versatile, many times I wanted a functional device, not just something to hack around on.
The Fire, while it doesn't have the same flexibility as a rooted nook, I find is much more stable with what does work right now. Hacking it was a breeze. I run my own launcher now, and most apps work fine. The ones that don't, just don't.
So if you want a functional device you can hack around on, get a Fire.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you've owned both, can you comment on any possible difference in performance between the two? I got a Nook Tablet last week and I've been having fun with it, but now I'm starting to think about returning it for a Kindle Fire because of the greater potential with custom ROMs. But I'm concerned about the performance issues people have been talking about, and I'd rather have a fast device than custom ROMs.
The other thing I don't like about the Nook Tablet is the whole experience feels a little rough around the edges. There are theme elements that just look wrong like white-on-white or black-on-black text. It feels a lot like a hacked device. Is the Fire any better in this regard or are there little reminders that you're not using it as intended?

So I've had my Fire for about a week, last night I got a chance to play with a nook tablet. It was rooted, installed GO launcher and bunch of other apps. Here are some things I found out besides the HW specs differences.
1) Fire is much smoother. Hardware-wise, the surface of Fire is glass, while Nook's "feels like" plastic. Your finger can definitely feel the difference the moment you touch them. Software-wise, the browser on Fire scrolls better, esp. on some lengthy websites. (That's all done after it stopped loading, so Silk is not the reason.)
2) While nook has one more button than Fire's zero, Fire has three software button always there. Some apps like to use the back button as exit, which can be annoying on nook since you have to manually kill them in the launcher or nook home.
3) Nook has better compatibility with Android apps. On Fire, there is one video player crashes whenever I bring out the on-screen control. On Nook, it works just fine.
4) Pdf file shows better on Fire. I have a photography book (PDF) with some beautiful pictures. When viewed on nook, some of the color washed out, like on a 32k color screen. I tried different pdf reader ( build-in, adobe reader and one I can't remember, they are all the same. ) I don't think it's a hardware problem though, since JPEG pictures are almost identical on both devices, apart with a slightly different tint.

Fire all the way.
Sent from my Kindle Fire using xda premium

I guess my biggest concern is the reports of poor touchscreen responsiveness. I haven't had a single problem with the Nook Tablet in that regard and I think it would bug me if I switched to the KF only to be confronted with that issue.

Mama Luigi said:
Since you've owned both, can you comment on any possible difference in performance between the two? I got a Nook Tablet last week and I've been having fun with it, but now I'm starting to think about returning it for a Kindle Fire because of the greater potential with custom ROMs. But I'm concerned about the performance issues people have been talking about, and I'd rather have a fast device than custom ROMs.
The other thing I don't like about the Nook Tablet is the whole experience feels a little rough around the edges. There are theme elements that just look wrong like white-on-white or black-on-black text. It feels a lot like a hacked device. Is the Fire any better in this regard or are there little reminders that you're not using it as intended?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me, I like the Fire better. It feels more polished, and more responsive. To get around the same responsiveness you have to overclock the nook. This is easy, BUT it always felt like I got more force closes when I overclocked. I know overclocking is common these days, but there is usually a reason the processors are running at 800mhz instead of 1100, so I am always wary I am reducing the life span of the device.
I have yet to have a performance issue on my Fire. I've rooted it, installed a new launcher, the market, and a number of popular apps. I use dropbox, netflix, hulu, and amazons streamer with great success. I read everyday, either from the nook app or the Kindle app, and I find it suits my needs.
I have even installed DOSBOX on it and played alittle MOO2, just for fun. And it did fair running that old dos game.
The only two gripes I have with the Fire right now are:
1. I can't get Launcher Pro installed. It just force closes right away.
2. I can't do skype calls.
Beyond that, it's worth every penny to me.

Mama Luigi said:
I guess my biggest concern is the reports of poor touchscreen responsiveness. I haven't had a single problem with the Nook Tablet in that regard and I think it would bug me if I switched to the KF only to be confronted with that issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I almost returned it for that reason alone. The new 6.2 fw took care of that. It's much more responsive now.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1366813
Great software in this thread to resolve touchscreen issues.

hariustrk said:
For me, I like the Fire better. It feels more polished, and more responsive. To get around the same responsiveness you have to overclock the nook. This is easy, BUT it always felt like I got more force closes when I overclocked. I know overclocking is common these days, but there is usually a reason the processors are running at 800mhz instead of 1100, so I am always wary I am reducing the life span of the device.
I have yet to have a performance issue on my Fire. I've rooted it, installed a new launcher, the market, and a number of popular apps. I use dropbox, netflix, hulu, and amazons streamer with great success. I read everyday, either from the nook app or the Kindle app, and I find it suits my needs.
I have even installed DOSBOX on it and played alittle MOO2, just for fun. And it did fair running that old dos game.
The only two gripes I have with the Fire right now are:
1. I can't get Launcher Pro installed. It just force closes right away.
2. I can't do skype calls.
Beyond that, it's worth every penny to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also want to use launcher pro. but can't.
About skype there has been some people saying that if you have a phone+ mic on the same p2 it should work.

This morning I stopped in to Best Buy. Bought a Fire. Rooted it and played with it for a couple hours.
The Nook is going back tonight! My biggest concern was speed and responsiveness, but that hasn't been a problem at all. Maybe it helps that I installed 6.2 right off the bat. The only thing I like more on the Nook is that it feels more durable, with the thick padded bezel, but I'll just be extra careful.

Returned my Nexus 7 for a Fire HD

I just made the switch from the Nexus 7 to a Kindle Fire HD. I'm not totally sure it's the best decision, but so far I don't feel bad for making the switch.
I love the Nexus 7, it's speedy, feels great in my hand, and I just love having a stock Android tablet with Jelly Bean. But I'm disappointed with the hardware quality, after several RMAs I still have loose glass on the left side, washed out colors, the speaker is almost unusable in some situations, and the wifi isn't that good. ASUS says they had to rush to redesign this for Google and I feel like it shows. I'm pretty disappointed because I so wanted to love the tablet and there are not any other good true Android tablets in this price range (Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 is not an option because of it's 1024x600 resolution).
Google was kind enough to give me a refund. And I really appreciate that, because I bought the Nexus 7 two months ago. So I picked up a Kindle Fire HD today.
The main reason why I decided to give the Kindle Fire HD a chance is because I'm an Amazon Prime subscriber, I have bought quite a few ebooks from them, I use their Instant Video service, and I do a lot of other shopping with them. So I figure even if I don't really love it as a tablet, at least it'll hopefully be a nice device from finding new content on Amazon.
My first impressions of the Kindle Fire HD after a few hours of use...
The build quality just feels excellent. The glass is where it should be and isn't moving and that's always a good start. The back side feels slightly more premium. It's wider than my Nexus 7 so not as comfortable to hold like a giant cell phone like I do with the Nexus 7, but it has a wider bezel so easier to hold on one edge. Nexus 7 does win in comfort to hold though because of it's lighter weight as well. But the Fire HD is comfortable enough as well, so no complaints.
My next concern area was the display quality. The colors on the Fire HD are warmer and look much better. The screen also seems to be brighter, so that should help outdoors.
Wifi was not really a concern on my Nexus 7, but my signal strength was a bit weak when I was in the back yard, the wifi connection would drop to 2 bars and 13Mbps strength. The Fire HD remains at excellent strength 4 bars and 130Mbps. I love the dual band and MIMO on this.
Speakers are a vast improvement too. They are louder and clearer on the Fire HD. With my Nexus 7 when I watched YouTube podcasts I'd have to wear headphones because it was difficult to hear dialog clearly sometimes, but everything comes out loud and clear on the Fire HD. Heck I have to turn the volume down a bit even.
I miss having a real home screen, being able able to arrange icons and customize the look. But Kindle OS doesn't seem too bad. And since I'm an Amazon Prime customer, I do like the suggestions they present me with. The OS is where the Nexus 7 shines very brightly and the Fire HD doesn't as I expected. But the OS performance on the Fire HD actually seems pretty good so far.
I had no trouble side loading my favorite Android apps and YouTube. I'm not rooting and loading Google Play at this time. Just in case I decide to return it, I want to be able to return it to stock easily. YouTube runs fine and all my side loaded apps seem to be working. So it seems everything I'd been using my Nexus 7 for I should be able to do on the Fire HD.
In summary I'm happy with the Kindle Fire HD so far. The only nagging concern is should I stick with this 7.0 model or wait for the 8.9 inch model. I like the smaller size, but am missing out on higher DPI and a faster processor, it's pretty tempting.

Once(if) it gets a custom recovery and bootloader, and gets jellybean ROMs, its going to be awesome.
Sent from my Kindle Fire

:good: Good Decision

I also have a Nexus 7, last week it started having whiteout and washed out screen/collor issues. Its been over a month so not sure what to do with it now, but I have really been loving my rooted kindle fire hd with google play store and apps

Josepho1997 said:
Once(if) it gets a custom recovery and bootloader, and gets jellybean ROMs, its going to be awesome.
Sent from my Kindle Fire
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then I'm going to buy one

I sold my original Kindle Fire to get the Nexus 7. But after going through 2 units, I finally returned it due to hardware failure issues and decided to wait. When the new Kindle Fire HD was announced, I was so excited I ordered the 7 inch model even though I also ordered the 8.9 inch model. For some reason, possibly due to how well they are built, the Kindle Fires hold their value very well. I'm not worried at all about re selling the 7 once I get the 8.9.
Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk 2

Ravynmagi said:
I just made the switch from the Nexus 7 to a Kindle Fire HD. I'm not totally sure it's the best decision, but so far I don't feel bad for making the switch.
I love the Nexus 7, it's speedy, feels great in my hand, and I just love having a stock Android tablet with Jelly Bean. But I'm disappointed with the hardware quality, after several RMAs I still have loose glass on the left side, washed out colors, the speaker is almost unusable in some situations, and the wifi isn't that good. ASUS says they had to rush to redesign this for Google and I feel like it shows. I'm pretty disappointed because I so wanted to love the tablet and there are not any other good true Android tablets in this price range (Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 is not an option because of it's 1024x600 resolution).
Google was kind enough to give me a refund. And I really appreciate that, because I bought the Nexus 7 two months ago. So I picked up a Kindle Fire HD today.
The main reason why I decided to give the Kindle Fire HD a chance is because I'm an Amazon Prime subscriber, I have bought quite a few ebooks from them, I use their Instant Video service, and I do a lot of other shopping with them. So I figure even if I don't really love it as a tablet, at least it'll hopefully be a nice device from finding new content on Amazon.
My first impressions of the Kindle Fire HD after a few hours of use...
The build quality just feels excellent. The glass is where it should be and isn't moving and that's always a good start. The back side feels slightly more premium. It's wider than my Nexus 7 so not as comfortable to hold like a giant cell phone like I do with the Nexus 7, but it has a wider bezel so easier to hold on one edge. Nexus 7 does win in comfort to hold though because of it's lighter weight as well. But the Fire HD is comfortable enough as well, so no complaints.
My next concern area was the display quality. The colors on the Fire HD are warmer and look much better. The screen also seems to be brighter, so that should help outdoors.
Wifi was not really a concern on my Nexus 7, but my signal strength was a bit weak when I was in the back yard, the wifi connection would drop to 2 bars and 13Mbps strength. The Fire HD remains at excellent strength 4 bars and 130Mbps. I love the dual band and MIMO on this.
Speakers are a vast improvement too. They are louder and clearer on the Fire HD. With my Nexus 7 when I watched YouTube podcasts I'd have to wear headphones because it was difficult to hear dialog clearly sometimes, but everything comes out loud and clear on the Fire HD. Heck I have to turn the volume down a bit even.
I miss having a real home screen, being able able to arrange icons and customize the look. But Kindle OS doesn't seem too bad. And since I'm an Amazon Prime customer, I do like the suggestions they present me with. The OS is where the Nexus 7 shines very brightly and the Fire HD doesn't as I expected. But the OS performance on the Fire HD actually seems pretty good so far.
I had no trouble side loading my favorite Android apps and YouTube. I'm not rooting and loading Google Play at this time. Just in case I decide to return it, I want to be able to return it to stock easily. YouTube runs fine and all my side loaded apps seem to be working. So it seems everything I'd been using my Nexus 7 for I should be able to do on the Fire HD.
In summary I'm happy with the Kindle Fire HD so far. The only nagging concern is should I stick with this 7.0 model or wait for the 8.9 inch model. I like the smaller size, but am missing out on higher DPI and a faster processor, it's pretty tempting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This applies to me also. I just traded my Nexus 7 for an unopened Fire HD plus $40. My Nexus had similar issues to yours. So far I'm very pleased with my decision. You can have a home screen if you install ADW launcher. It's the only launcher I could get to work. If you hit the home button it does not give you the option to choose a new launcher, it defaults to the Amazon launcher. Also, the Kindle app won't open from ADW. I made ADW a favorite and avoid the home button unless I need to get to my Kindle App. Not the ideal situation but gives you the option to not use the carousel, change the wallpaper, use widgets, etc.
Once CM10 is out for the Fire HD it will make things even better.

vzwty said:
This applies to me also. I just traded my Nexus 7 for an unopened Fire HD plus $40. My Nexus had similar issues to yours. So far I'm very pleased with my decision. You can have a home screen if you install ADW launcher. It's the only launcher I could get to work. If you hit the home button it does not give you the option to choose a new launcher, it defaults to the Amazon launcher. Also, the Kindle app won't open from ADW. I made ADW a favorite and avoid the home button unless I need to get to my Kindle App. Not the ideal situation but gives you the option to not use the carousel, change the wallpaper, use widgets, etc.
Once CM10 is out for the Fire HD it will make things even better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good!

Thank you for your sharing, I need it!

Another thing I'm liking about the Kindle Fire HD is it's soft keys. I side loaded Dolphin and enabled full screen mode and I really have FULL SCREEN. I love how the soft keys minimize to a small little overlapping tab on the edge. I have so much screen space for viewing pages. The Nexus 7 has those huge honking ever present soft keys that rarely go away.

I am on the same boat. Nexus 7 would be awesome it it wasn't for the build quality. I am thinking about the nook HD+, it sounds awesome.

KFHD = locked. N7 = unlockable
Good luck with CM10 on the KFHD. The bootloader is locked. It's not necessarily impossible to work around it, but will be a major headache/inconvenience, and many CM folk I know are steering clear just on principal.

fattire said:
Good luck with CM10 on the KFHD. The bootloader is locked. It's not necessarily impossible to work around it, but will be a major headache/inconvenience, and many CM folk I know are steering clear just on principal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its not impossible for amazon to do it. But there's no chance they will.
Sent from my Kindle Fire

vzwty said:
This applies to me also. I just traded my Nexus 7 for an unopened Fire HD plus $40. My Nexus had similar issues to yours. So far I'm very pleased with my decision. You can have a home screen if you install ADW launcher. It's the only launcher I could get to work. If you hit the home button it does not give you the option to choose a new launcher, it defaults to the Amazon launcher. Also, the Kindle app won't open from ADW. I made ADW a favorite and avoid the home button unless I need to get to my Kindle App. Not the ideal situation but gives you the option to not use the carousel, change the wallpaper, use widgets, etc.
Once CM10 is out for the Fire HD it will make things even better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im trying to do something similar to what u did.is there a way i can side load google music w/o rooting?

Tswig said:
im trying to do something similar to what u did.is there a way i can side load google music w/o rooting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I backed up the Google Music app from my Nexus 7 using ES File Manager. Then copied it to my Fire HD and installed it. It seems to be working just fine, I'm streaming my music from Google.

I was on the same boat as you. After returning two nexus 7s due to raised screen, I was hoping for a better build 7 inch tablet. I end up buying an excite 7.7. I was able to get the excite for 360$. I think it is a good deal considering the superb screen, build quality and features....
Sent from my AT270 using xda app-developers app

Hi! I did get my KFHD a week ago. I wanted to buy Nexus 7, but Fire HD looks better for the same price. Rooted, G Play, all work awesome! The only problem is - I can't start any launcher from the google market. It is downloaded, installed, but there is NO open button and it doesn't show up in apps... What am i doing wrong?
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

Melodycd said:
Hi! I did get my KFHD a week ago. I wanted to buy Nexus 7, but Fire HD looks better for the same price. Rooted, G Play, all work awesome! The only problem is - I can't start any launcher from the google market. It is downloaded, installed, but there is NO open button and it doesn't show up in apps... What am i doing wrong?
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've heard only ADW Launcher seems to work. And if you press the Home button you'll go back to the Amazon launcher instead, so I guess you need to put ADW Launcher in your favorites and avoid hitting the home buttons. That sounds like a PITA to me, so I haven't messed with it myself.

Ravynmagi said:
I've heard only ADW Launcher seems to work. And if you press the Home button you'll go back to the Amazon launcher instead, so I guess you need to put ADW Launcher in your favorites and avoid hitting the home buttons. That sounds like a PITA to me, so I haven't messed with it myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you do root, you can put go launcher ex apk in the system/app folder, install and reboot. Go launcher will work and you can set it to default, the kindle will ask what you want to use when it boots from that restart. Then you'll be good to go. I had it working perfect on my KFHD but its back in the box and going to UPS tomorrow.

Ravynmagi said:
I've heard only ADW Launcher seems to work. And if you press the Home button you'll go back to the Amazon launcher instead, so I guess you need to put ADW Launcher in your favorites and avoid hitting the home buttons. That sounds like a PITA to me, so I haven't messed with it myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its really not that big of a pain
Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk 2

Nook HD+ review part 2: Actual performance

The other review was for the device in general. This gets into actual performance. I prefer that over synthetic benchmarks and not knowing what weight their parameters used to create a score. Real deal works for me
Video playback (Great): 4470 is robust for video support. As good as my Tegra 3 tabs. (Excite 7.7 & TF300)
Flash performance (Great): Creating a boot image and flashing the Rev3 zip enabled unknown source installs. Flash 11.1 works so good, it makes you wonder why Adobe caved on HTML 5. The 4470 handles Flash well.
Audio playback (Good): The audio playback is impacted due to low gain output. This was corrected by using Volume+ and adjusting the headset and also the speaker output. It now sounds as good as my other tabs.
Books & comics (Great): As good as my iPad4
Gaming (Great):
N64oid = A little faster than my Tegra 3 tabs
ePSX = Ditto
MAME4reloaded = Ditto
GTA & Vice City = Both play as good as my other tabs.
Modern Warfare 3 = Ditto
NOVA 3 = Ditto
Asphalt 7 = Ditto
Blitz Brigade = Ditto (BTW, please get this game!) Online play quality was fine.
House of the Dead = Ditto
I tested other games and same result- The Nook HD+ is as good as my other tablets, but a little faster with CPU hungry game emulators. Considering the pixels the 4470 gpu has to push is twice the other devices, that is IMO pretty good. I was surprised to notice the right corner got real warm, but not BAKING like the A500 would (I returned that due to heat and awful wifi range). I expected that due to the size and pixels being pushed it would get real hot.
Battery life is as good as my other tablets (good). As mentioned in the other review though, the battery bleed rate while in sleep mode is far and away the best of any Android device I have used. No comparison- just one percentage point over each night. The only tablet that trumps it I have used is the iPad 4, which use one point over several days.
The Nook HD+ is now my favorite tablet that I have used. I consider it to some degree, equal to my much higher cost iPad 4 (128gb). Considering what I paid for the iPad, I kind of feel sick..... Overall though, my iPad 4 is still the best- Faster with apps and amazing battery life. When considering cost though, the Nook HD+ even at $300 would be a great buy. Simply put, the Nook HD+ with Google Play and the few noted mods kicks some serious booty! :victory:

Huh? I had a Nexus 7 and have an iPad 4. My Nook HD+ is no where remotely comparable to those two tablets in performance. Are you running a stock Nook HD+ or is this with some custom ROM?
I think the Nook HD+ is an okay tablet for $180. But I find... mine at least... to be a bit slow.

2.1 stock. There is no magic bullet for the chipset. I find all Tegra 3 devices to perform similarly. The stock N7 is no better for games or emulators than any other I have tried, which is a lot.
I did not compare performance with the iPad and clearly state the iPad is faster than Android tablets.
Update to Rev,
I stand corrected. I see what you mean now. While the Nook does install and update apps far faster than any device I have owned and games tested play fine and emulators fast- the file system for actually starting apps seems slower. Especially large data apps. Not sure how I did not pick up on this before. I did not notice until I went below 3Gb and the device got VERY slow. Even after freeing more storage games load up slow and the UI like you said is slower. My focus was on game and Flash performance, so overlooked everything else. Still a great device for smaller data games, Flash web and video. Just big games seem a file access issue.

Did nova 3 have effects like on ios devices? Nook hd + is a good gaming tablet?

NOVA 3 plays smooth on the HD+. I have most recent CM 10.1 update and new gsx drivers Verygreen posted.
All games now work that I posted did not in the past. Also, the only game that loads slow is Asphalt 7 and turns out the most recent update is slow loading on all Android devices I have tested. I have it on the iPad as well, but loads much quicker on that.

Ravynmagi said:
Huh? I had a Nexus 7 and have an iPad 4. My Nook HD+ is no where remotely comparable to those two tablets in performance. Are you running a stock Nook HD+ or is this with some custom ROM?
I think the Nook HD+ is an okay tablet for $180. But I find... mine at least... to be a bit slow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's really getting there now. Use the latest carbon build and UI performance is not quite so sucky... Although much better without a high res wallpaper right now. It certainly gets used a lot more than my N7. The web browsing performance is very similar, but the big screen is much better.
Sent from my Nook HD+ using xda app-developers app

Nook HD+ - worth buying?

Hey,
Been looking into buying a tablet and the rcent price drop is making the Nook HD+ an attactive option. I want a stock android experience though, particularly looking for the functionality of multiple user accounts and HDMI outputing to a monitor. My big concern with the Nook is that it's not going to provide a fast, stable android experience (running from SD card must slow performance?).
I'm weighing this against the Sony Experia Z tablet, which is roughly twice the price... take away the great screen / price and I'm wondering if the Nook has anything else going for it? Thoughts?
My usage is mainly going to be watching Netflix, internet, using Evernote and other writing related apps (hence need to output to monitor for lengthy work / use a bluetooth keyboard). I'd have picked the Google Nexus 7 but no HDMI output kills it off, and the Nexus 10 doesn't seem to be widely available in the UK (I prefer to buy from places with exteneded warranties and the Nexus 10 only seems to be selling directly from Google).
Thanks.

Snoogy said:
Hey,
Been looking into buying a tablet and the rcent price drop is making the Nook HD+ an attactive option. I want a stock android experience though, particularly looking for the functionality of multiple user accounts and HDMI outputing to a monitor. My big concern with the Nook is that it's not going to provide a fast, stable android experience (running from SD card must slow performance?).
My usage is mainly going to be watching Netflix, internet, using Evernote and other writing related apps (hence need to output to monitor for lengthy work / use a bluetooth keyboard).
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am running CM10.1 on emmc and it is fast and 99% stable(no reboots so far but has some minor technical issues like random screen flickering in settings screen which does not always happen.) I would not pay full price for the device. However, if you can get it for around $145 to $179 USD it is hard to beat for the 1920x1280 display and reasonable amount of horsepower. I think for movies and simple apps--reading, writing and web browsing it's perfect. For gaming it is okay but still lag behind Nexus 7. HDMI is available but you need to buy a specialized adapter so it will add to your costs. I tried the CM10 and CM10.1 on an SD card as proof of concept but the web browsing performance sucked....
I did Vellamo HTML5 benchmark with CM10.1 on emmc and scored very impressive score of 1861.
I think I'll use Nexus 7 for my gaming needs (when it's not occupied by my kids) and Nook HD+ for web, movies, and books.
I have a free Kindle Fire HD for HDMI output...(when kids not using it...) The KFHD HDMI cable is cheaper..
But it's much harder to get "stock Android experience" with Kindle Fire HD.
Hope the above info helps.

View92612 said:
I am running CM10.1 on emmc and it is fast and 99% stable(no reboots so far but has some minor technical issues like random screen flickering in settings screen which does not always happen.) I would not pay full price for the device. However, if you can get it for around $145 to $179 USD it is hard to beat for the 1920x1280 display and reasonable amount of horsepower. I think for movies and simple apps--reading, writing and web browsing it's perfect. For gaming it is okay but still lag behind Nexus 7. HDMI is available but you need to buy a specialized adapter so it will add to your costs. I tried the CM10 and CM10.1 on an SD card as proof of concept but the web browsing performance sucked....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...to add to the above, the build quality is good, appears to be similar to my nook color which has held up very well. The stock rom is usable now that gApps and the play store is on it. The stock rom also has very good battery standby, like in the multiple days range. The negatives are no cameras or GPS but I've never really seen the utility in those if you already have a smart phone. The other negative is that stock rom is pretty customized towards being an E-reader and media consumption device with the B&N store baked into the UI. The big + is the uSD slot for expansion and the ability to boot off it & install CM

I have just got my second Nook HD+ 32GB from Game in the UK for £130 Used with 12 months warranty ( if they last that long Game that is )
Great tablet scores just over 3000 in quadrant the nexus 7 32gb is around 3600.
I have the Google Play store update and I have installed the Free version of the Apex Launcher, that makes it look like stock Android.
Only returned my Brand new one as had charging problem.
its not the fastest at loading web pages but it does work and I feel the screen size @ 9" is very good at Full HD res.
Around 28 GB left on the storage. but MicroSD slot so films etc can go on that. As it still will not allow apps to SD.
Some Popular Games do not install.
But for Web browsering its great and in the UK its only £189 at PC World with a £20 store credit
Games look great films do to.
I have used the N2A and I found it very buggy and slow, I installed in onto a Sd card make and speed they said and it kept slowing right down and hanging for a while.
Just install Apex and you should find it like most other Android Tablets.
CEX in the UK do the 32gb version around 120-145 still with 12 months warranty plus you can trade in too.
For the Money its a Very good by. The closest to it brand new for the money here is a Galaxy tab 2 7, which only has 4gb free memory. to what I payed for it used

Thanks for the info. So, in short, running Android from SD card won't provide smooth performance but installing to emmc (which will void warranty) turns it into a fine android tablet... alternatively, use a launcher app to make the stock rom look more android like (but some apps won't work with the nook os).
Went in store to look at one yesterday and the screen was great, but looking at the 10.1 inch tablets I think I'm going to get one of them instead. Either the Asus Memo Pad, Galaxy Note or Sony Experia. The Asus and Samsung screens are not as sharp but I didn't find the lower pixels per inch to be as obvious as I expected.
Still, the Nook price still makes it a really strong consideration...!

Now nook has google play and chrome etc in lastest update it is a andriod tablet, the nook default front end not good. But with apex it seem to work better.
I have had a number of tablets and not all of them can install all apps etc from google play.
I had the tegra 3 based memo 10.1 and the screen is only same res as the nexus 7 and its slower for some strange reason. Mine went back as it would not charge while turned off. As the makers said it should.
But the Nook hd + needs to be on while charging lol.
Like I said the 9" is a nice size to hold and its not that heavy.
But if you want to play high end games then get tegra 3 based tablet.
You cannot go wrong for the money.
Sent from my BNTV600 using xda app-developers app.
---------- Post added at 01:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:02 PM ----------
Also gta 3 and vice city do install
Sent from my BNTV600 using xda app-developers app
---------- Post added at 01:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:18 PM ----------
I have a review channel on youtube under atc9000 I can do a nook hd+ review in the next few days if that helps you ?
Sent from my BNTV600 using xda app-developers app

fantomv50 said:
Now nook has google play and chrome etc in lastest update it is a andriod tablet, the nook default front end not good. But with apex it seem to work better.
But if you want to play high end games then get tegra 3 based tablet.
You cannot go wrong for the money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried a different launcher with stock which helped a bit but still a few annoying things -- library syncing message while playing game, no standard 3 buttons,...,etc. Also system settings are very limited. CM10.1 RC1 and RC2 both ran very well on emmc...for warranty, it is good to have a backup to restore to stock if needed, or an image of stock rom will do.
Gaming performance - per Epic Citadel 3D benchmark it's about 20% FPS reduction from Nexus 7. But to be fair, Nexus 7 has a much lower resolution so it's not completely apple to apple comparison. Unfortunately the FPS is even worse if you lower the resolution on Nook HD+.
So gaming experience is definitely better on N7.
For web browsing I used Vellamo HTML5 benchmark. Stock has almost identical performance as Nexus 7. But with CM10.1, surprisingly out performed Nexus 7 stock by about 40%. Web browsing with CM10.1 works really well actually.
Finally, the deciding factor---#1 is the price. #2, I checked a few 10" tablets at Best Buy including iPad and Transformer Infinity, they are nice but noticeably heavier than Nook HD+. For the primary purpose I want to use a 10" tablet for---web, reading, movies, and light gaming, it is the right one for the right price. So it really depends on the use cases.
One difference using CM10.1 with Nook HD+ vs CM10.1 on a phone is that Nook HD+ has much less functionalities therefore easier to run a custom rom with. On a phone there are so many more functionalities and usually there is always a feature or two that you need to give up or may have issues when running a custom rom. (FM radio, Wi-Fi calling...,etc.)
Of course, that's also thanks to verygreen and other xda developers who did a tremendous job porting CM10.1 to Nook HD+.

Nook HD+ overall rocks for the price. I use it more now than my way more expensive iPad 4.....
Plays all of my media as good as my other tablets, Flash plays great and ditto for most games, beyond a few like Asphalt 7 and NFSMW that load unusually super slow (makes no sense, since no others tested seem to be as bad).
Plays all my emulators better than my other tablets and blue tooth gamepads work great as well. IMO, even at $300 this is a better buy than the TF700.

rushless said:
Nook HD+ overall rocks for the price. I use it more now than my way more expensive iPad 4.....
Plays all my emulators better than my other tablets and blue tooth gamepads work great as well. IMO, even at $300 this is a better buy than the TF700.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tf700 has stronger cpus but it's plagued by poor io. Xda members have reported Nook HD+ having as much as 3x better ios(on emmc) than tf700...Nook HD+ still has minor glitches once in a while(likely hardware related) but can be fixed by turning off and turning on the display.
But I agree it's better than tf700 because tf700 is somewhat buggy to the same extent. And the price is less than half of tf700.
There is just one thing other than the CPU that the tf700 is much better than Nook....that's the availability of official updates.
(less camera and gps which I don't need)
Asus is providing software updates much more often than B&N for sure and will likely continue to do so.
That's another good reason to use CM10.1 because stock almost has 0 possibility of getting even 4.1 update...

Snoogy said:
Hey,
Been looking into buying a tablet and the rcent price drop is making the Nook HD+ an attactive option. I want a stock android experience though, particularly looking for the functionality of multiple user accounts and HDMI outputing to a monitor.... My usage is mainly going to be watching Netflix....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not quite clear from your post if you want HDMI output for watching Netflix. If so, the video out is great, but, at least running CM10.1 on emmc, there is no audio out on the HDMI. So if you want to watch movies on your home theater system, the only sound you'll get is from the tiny nook speaker. That'll probably get cleared up as the Devs have time to figure it out, but, if you're still considering the nook, I wanted to point that out, since I hadn't seen in mentioned in any of the other replies.

View92612 said:
tf700 has stronger cpus but it's plagued by poor io. Xda members have reported Nook HD+ having as much as 3x better ios(on emmc) than tf700...Nook HD+ still has minor glitches once in a while(likely hardware related) but can be fixed by turning off and turning on the display.
But I agree it's better than tf700 because tf700 is somewhat buggy to the same extent. And the price is less than half of tf700.
There is just one thing other than the CPU that the tf700 is much better than Nook....that's the availability of official updates.
(less camera and gps which I don't need)
Asus is providing software updates much more often than B&N for sure and will likely continue to do so.
That's another good reason to use CM10.1 because stock almost has 0 possibility of getting even 4.1 update...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TF300 has the same issue, though not as burdened due to half the pixels for the GPU to push. I always thought it was the Tegra 3, but the Excite 7.7 has a Tegra 3 and is not laggy like the TF300 and is very fast. There is a Quake emulator called "Quake Touch" that was released and is great, BTW. The Open GL game plays perfectly & fast on the Excite, S3 and HD+, but is SLOOOOW on the TF300.
There is also a new app called Quake 2 Touch which is also great and works fine on the TF300 as well. The issue though is how the data is pulled for Quake 1. Very old school in that is pulls data bits and pieces. This would stick out on a device with i/o issues.
The HD+ plus though is not out of the woods, since the game loads up in two seconds or less on the Excite and S3, but a little slower on the TF300 and a LOT slower on the HD+. The slow file load issues like Quake 2, Asphalt 7 and NFSMW make no apparent sense. None the less, Quake 1 and 2 play better on the HD+ than the TF300.

Nook HD+ review with CM 10.1

First of all, Very and Leap- you two rock something fierce!
I did a review before of the HD+ with 2.1. I gave it a good review, but three things slowly eroded my opinion after time and I returned it.
1- Intermittent stutter that seemed to correlate with on the fly data loads and library sync. This stood out with games.
2- Games loading slow and some REAL sloooooow
3- Accumulative lag. Over a few days, the device got real slow and cache cleaning and restarts were hit and miss to fix it.
Best Buy had it on sale for $20 less this time ($180), so based on folks opinion of CM 10.1, I thought I would test it out again- due to the price and sweet display.
Where 2.1 was a big improvement over 2.0, the improvement from 2.1 to CM 10.1 is fluken' huge!
1- The intermittent stutter is gone along with library sync is gone.
2- Games load a LOT faster. I would not have thought the stock rom would be what was slowing it down, but I tested fresh installs two times with the same sloooow results with 2.1.
3- So far, the accumulated lag has not showed up.
4- Overall device is faster
I also added the "full screen" app to get rid of the navigation bar when I want. More just to test it out, but nice to have an iPad like full display view
Jeepers, it is wild how it is so easy to flash the device with 10.1 and equally wild to have the results of 10.1 with this hardware for the price. Superb so far
Of course, with anything in life comes the negatives:
1- exFAT worked with 2.1, but does not with CM 10.1. I had to transfer, format and recopy back to the sd card with FAT32. I wish there was a simple install fix using the boot card like the unknown sources fix for stock 2.1.
2- Buggy Blitz does not work. I love that game Ditto for Shine Runner. Same company.
3- I have had one instance so far where the device had charged and there was a flashing green light. The device would not wake up with neither home or power button. I had to hold the power down for a while and repeat that a few times. It would get stuck on the spinning boot-up ring. It would freeze up after after "several" seconds. Seems to be working now, but this never happened with stock 2.1 and used the device for a month. Fluke?
4- Quake 3 keeps expecting to see "sdcard" rather than "sdcard0". Touch Quake 1, 2 and Quake Arena mods work fine though. These are examples of games that loaded SLOW with stock 2.1, but are near instant with CM 10.1.
5- The CM 10.1 launcher was jittery and slow. I tried to get used to it, but went back to Nova, which is smooth and fast.
Folks, Nook HD+ plus CM 10.1 equals insane value for the price!

rushless said:
1- exFAT worked with 2.1, but does not with CM 10.1. I had to transfer, format and recopy back to the sd card with FAT32. I wish there was a simple install fix using the boot card like the unknown sources fix for stock 2.1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there's 3rd party zip you can flash that restores it somewhat..
I also plan to look into this eventually and use texera fat module from the stock rom.
2- Buggy Blitz does not work. I love that game
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That seems to be their bug related to new sgx drivers. Same crash happens on Kindle fire, for example. Nothing I can presently do about it.
3- I have had one instance so far where the device had charged and there was a flashing green light. The device would not wake up with neither home or power button. I had to hold the power down for a while and repeat that a few times. It would get stuck on the spinning boot-up ring. It would freeze up after after "several" seconds. Seems to be working now, but this never happened with stock 2.1 and used the device for a month. Fluke?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sore about not waking up - never saw that. But rare boot problems will be fixed in next release. (esp. those that produce garbage on screen).
Folks, Nook HD+ plus CM 10.1 equals insane value for the price!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still no camera, so it cannot serve as full TP replacement

No problem on the games not working, since works on my Excite 7.7 and S3!
Exfat and NTFS would be nice, down the road!
Thanks!

I think B&N could have done much better with this hardware if they hired someone like verygreen in the first place...
I still don't think this is a very good gaming device, though, especially for 3D.
But the screen is amazing and got me really spoiled. Now I look at Nexus 7 and feel the display is too cheap and low in quality. Comparing it with the TP in my opinion is a bit of an apple to orange comparison as it is mainly a media consumption device while TP's display quality is even worse than Nexus 7.
Someone was complaining the Nook being slow and laggy vs a $499 Galaxy Note 10.1 with 2GB ram, quad core and much lower resolution. That is just unfair. But I guess people are entitled to their opinions.
Honestly I would not have bought this without seeing the CM10 and CM10.1 ports in progress. B&N really owes verygreen a commission. I like this combo so much that I hardly touch my Nexus 7 now.
BTW, donation sent.

View92612 said:
Comparing it with the TP in my opinion is a bit of an apple to orange comparison as it is mainly a media consumption device while TP's display quality is even worse than Nexus 7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I somewhat agree here, in reality I distributed Touchpads to my relative and they use them for things like Skype.
Nook, having no camera, cannot replace them and would be useless for such purposes.

I agree that the Nook has deficiencies (proprietary ports are a downer). When it comes to cheap toys we pick our poison, eg Nexus w/ no SD slot. If I want a cam or HDMI, there are a flood of cheap 7" tabs that have both, but none of them has a really great 1080p screen in an IMO perfect size and weight for one-handed use. I don't see any tablet with comparable display quality under $400.
Display quality aside, as a reader my preference is for a 4:3 aspect, since I use the tab mostly in portrait mode. But outside of the iPads, most Android tabs hewed to 16:10, which makes the display smaller than their diagonal size would indicate. The HD+ is the only one to eschew the norm in going with 3:2. That's actually better than 4:3, because the present Android UI takes off a couple slices at top and bottom, so the remaining space comes out pretty close to 4:3.
Using the dpi calculator here,
http://members.ping.de/~sven/dpi.html
The 9" HD+ screen has a portrait width of 4.99". The 8.9" KF HD's is 4.72", or 0.27" smaller and not just 0.1" shorter diagonal. For tablet display size, every fraction of an inch is a big deal when you're squeezing a whole web page into portrait.
Some other display portrait widths, which I view as the tablet's true size measurement:
Code:
iPad Mini 4.71"
Nexus 7 3.71"
Galaxy Note 8 4.24"
Nexus 10 5.3"
iPad 5.82"

Oh yeah, e.mote: Thanks for the "dummies" thread!
True on the lack of camera, but I got it for books, comics (more than books) and games (mainly emulators). There are a few games that my Excite 7.7 plays smoother, but most play the same and game emulators like MAME and N64 are faster on the Nook HD+. Also, CM 10.1 closed the gap on the 3D games that are smoother on the Excite 7.7. GTA is a good example. It plays smooth now, where with 2.1, it did not. Asphalt 7 though is an example that plays smoother on the Excite. Asphalt 7 though is now very playable on the Nook HD+. The TF700 also struggles with some 3D games, BTW.
For game emulators. this thing rocks. $180 for a great display and plays emulators better than any other Android I have used- including the S4 and its quad Qualcomm. Bluetooth game pads work fine and no response lag noted so far and fits the iCade
Sad that we get the stock firmware we get when folks here do a better job for user experience. I appreciate the Nook was designed to be mainly a reader, but their premise was also part of their undoing and the convention of poor stock firmware goes way beyond the Nook.

>Thanks for the "dummies" thread!
I actually wrote that for myself, since I have a stack of HD+'s here that I'm retrofitting to pass along to the family. Credit where it is due, it's all a rehash of what leapinlar has written, but just a bit more digestible. And of course to verygreen that made this all possible.
Glad to hear Nook is good for games. I'm not a gamer, but other peeps in the household would be appreciative. Any good guides for emulators you can point to? How about some strategy/tactical games? I liked Call of Cthulhu and Rebuild.
BTW, little known factoid: The Nook's serial # is printed on the inside of the SD slot's rubber flap. I found that out when returning a HD+ for uneven backlighting.
>I appreciate the Nook was designed to be mainly a reader, but their premise was also part of their undoing and the convention of poor stock firmware goes way beyond the Nook.
I view it as a good-thing-bad-thing situation. If B&N had made a great Android tab, it wouldn't be holding a firesale to clear out the Nooks, and we wouldn't be here yakking away. So yes, I'm kinda glad the HD's didn't sell well (until now).

Very ironic.
As far as emulator guides, there is a very good one over at Phandroid forums. It is in the Android game forum.
This tablet is an old school gaming, comic reading, web and Flash slinging bargain.

rushless said:
Very ironic.
As far as emulator guides, there is a very good one over at Phandroid forums. It is in the Android game forum.
This tablet is an old school gaming, comic reading, web and Flash slinging bargain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally agree. What controller do you use for the emu, though?
I found it extremely difficult to trigger complex moves (in games that require those) using just touch control..... I'm sure it would not be an issue for games that do not require those.

I use a generic Android controller from Gamestop, two Nyko Android pads and iCade. All work fine.
I found another game that worked with 2.1 but not with CM. NBA 2013. Another of my favorites. What are the odds of that? It loads to the point of showing the team logos at start up and then crashes.
Also, most games like NFSMW that took a long time to load up with 2 .1 now load fast like other tablets. The only exception found so far is Asphalt 7. It still loads crazy slow. About two minutes or more per track. Should take about ten seconds. The London level just took over two minutes. Almost three.
The game plays good though. Much smoother (no stutter) than 2.1, but that is the case for all games so far. Odd how Asphalt 7 seems the only slow load hold out. I have tested a ton. A7 appears to be an anomaly.
CM 10.1 BTW also confirms to me the main stutter was not the gpu, but the stock rom. As per Anandtech, the 4470 is still a capable chipset.
I also compared A7 on the GS3. They appear to play very similarly as far as smoothness. GS3 might be a tad smoother, but does not stand out. The GS3 plays all of my games smooth, but the Nook smacks it down as far as MAME. 4470 appears to be a great emulator chipset.

I figured out why a few games do not work. Quake 3 need the files on the SD card and looks like NBA 2013 is trying to run the game from there too. It installs to internal, but installs a directory also in the SD with no files. I am going to move it to the SD and see what happens.
Update. Looks like ports like Quake 3 work fine, but commercial games do not work when moving the files.