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First at all, after almost 2 months of exhaustively daily use I got some conclusions about it.
I do have an Ipad 2 to compare with so I'm going to try to be objective here and realistic as well, i will refer to ipad 2 device as the "competition":
Pros
1. Hardware design, a big praising for asus attention to details.
2. Asus docking station is amazing, although I no longer use it.
3. ICS upgrade???
4. Open android ecosystem makes the TF101 stand out.
5. Very good software included with the TF101
6. Asus Mycloud service
7. 1 Gb RAM, sdhc expansion slot and by far better USB flash drives support than competition, this is actual a big advantage comparing to apple 2, where you have to spend big bucks to get units as kingston widrive and seagate goflex satellite drives(Bought them both)if you want to get additional storage and those are only useful if you have a fast internet connection(I have 24Mpbs at home w/ uverse).
Cons:
1.Quality Control, mine came with a loose power button(defective), a brand new sealed unit with a hardware issue(unbelievable) as a geek I spend lots of money buying gadgets, laptops and computer parts, I've never seen something like this specially coming from a $400 device.
2. Honeycomb interface is laggy and overall slow. I'll wait for ICS but android fragmentation market doesn't look good for the time being.
3. Video reproduction on tf101 is overall disappointing, the inability to reproduce simple 720p mkv and avi videos smoothly is a big drawback. I tried all the mayor software video player from market with no success. either tegra 2 has a poor video decoder functions or tegra 2 is simply a SoC underpowered.
4. Price, at $400 anybody would expect to get a better device, maybe is honeycomb to blame for. in contrast at $500 the ipad2 just works, even as a closed ecosystem and even after rooting, the ipad 2 simply delivers acceptable web browsing, video and music reproduction.
5. Web browsing on tf101(honeycomb) is terrible , despite the broad selection of browsers, most of them are useless, I have to keep at least 5 different ones to handle my different sites(ridiculous). Some of them will work fine with certain websites, some of will simply show the mobile version instead regular version ignoring custom browser settings.
6. General functionality became acceptable just after rooting the device, installing latest revolver rom and OC'd to 1.4Ghz(downgrade to 1.2Ghz later due instability issues)
7. Battery management feature still light years behind the infamous apple 2, I have to charge it on a daily basis, sometimes twice a day and my battery drops to almost 60% after playing plants vs zombies for 1 hour(just to mention an example).
Conclusion: I still prefer the form factor, usability and resolution from my tf101 against my expensive ipad 2 64. But seriously google needs to catch up with apple OS and release some universal API for video/gaming and force manufacturers to adopt it. It reminds me of early 1994 when every graphic card manufacturer from that time(S3, ATI, rendition, matrox, nvidia, 3Dfx) were pushing their own 3D API solution for gaming. it wasn't until the release of direct x 8.0 when things started to change. After the Best buy fiasco with my prime preorder I think will wait a few months until ICS becomes mature and new tegra 3 apps/games are released if any.
"I have to charge it on a daily basis, sometimes twice a day and my battery drops to almost 60% after playing plants vs zombies for 1 hour"
i watch 2 movies today 3 hours and serf the web for 1 hour and my battery is in 53%
transformer has an excellent battery...but if your cpu is 1,5 what you expect????
" Web browsing on tf101(honeycomb) is terrible" i use opera,a great browser
"Video reproduction on tf101 is overall disappointing, the inability to reproduce simple 720p mkv and avi videos smoothly is a big drawback" video 720p is great with mx video player
"Honeycomb interface is laggy and overall slow" ics is comming!!!
jrsalda said:
First at all, after almost 2 months of exhaustively daily use I got some conclusions about it.
I do have an Ipad 2 to compare with so I'm going to try to be objective here and realistic as well, i will refer to ipad 2 device as the "competition":
Pros
1. Hardware design, a big praising for asus attention to details.
2. Asus docking station is amazing, although I no longer use it.
3. ICS upgrade???
4. Open android ecosystem makes the TF101 stand out.
5. Very good software included with the TF101
6. Asus Mycloud service
7. 1 Gb RAM, sdhc expansion slot and by far better USB flash drives support than competition, this is actual a big advantage comparing to apple 2, where you have to spend big bucks to get units as kingston widrive and seagate goflex satellite drives(Bought them both)if you want to get additional storage and those are only useful if you have a fast internet connection(I have 24Mpbs at home w/ uverse).
Cons:
1.Quality Control, mine came with a loose power button(defective), a brand new sealed unit with a hardware issue(unbelievable) as a geek I spend lots of money buying gadgets, laptops and computer parts, I've never seen something like this specially coming from a $400 device.
2. Honeycomb interface is laggy and overall slow. I'll wait for ICS but android fragmentation market doesn't look good for the time being.
3. Video reproduction on tf101 is overall disappointing, the inability to reproduce simple 720p mkv and avi videos smoothly is a big drawback. I tried all the mayor software video player from market with no success. either tegra 2 has a poor video decoder functions or tegra 2 is simply a SoC underpowered.
4. Price, at $400 anybody would expect to get a better device, maybe is honeycomb to blame for. in contrast at $500 the ipad2 just works, even as a closed ecosystem and even after rooting, the ipad 2 simply delivers acceptable web browsing, video and music reproduction.
5. Web browsing on tf101(honeycomb) is terrible , despite the broad selection of browsers, most of them are useless, I have to keep at least 5 different ones to handle my different sites(ridiculous). Some of them will work fine with certain websites, some of will simply show the mobile version instead regular version ignoring custom browser settings.
6. General functionality became acceptable just after rooting the device, installing latest revolver rom and OC'd to 1.4Ghz(downgrade to 1.2Ghz later due instability issues)
7. Battery management feature still light years behind the infamous apple 2, I have to charge it on a daily basis, sometimes twice a day and my battery drops to almost 60% after playing plants vs zombies for 1 hour(just to mention an example).
Conclusion: I still prefer the form factor, usability and resolution from my tf101 against my expensive ipad 2 64. But seriously google needs to catch up with apple OS and release some universal API for video/gaming and force manufacturers to adopt it. It reminds me of early 1994 when every graphic card manufacturer from that time(S3, ATI, rendition, matrox, nvidia, 3Dfx) were pushing their own 3D API solution for gaming. it wasn't until the release of direct x 8.0 when things started to change. After the Best buy fiasco with my prime preorder I think will wait a few months until ICS becomes mature and new tegra 3 apps/games are released if any.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cool story bro
So, after an hour of playing the same game on the I pad, what is the battery at on the I pad?
same game,(plants vs zombies) ($6.99 from apple store vs $1.99 from android market), another big plus here for tf101, android apps are considerably cheaper, but after 90 minutes of playing, ipad 2 is only 92%, tf101 is almost 50%(without the dock of course, revolver ROM, Oc'd to 1.2 Ghz/312 cpu/gpu).
Don't see any of the points you mentioned with my Transformer or they are so small hat they can't be called a real issue imho. Plus I'm really interested in the ICS update which will make the whole thing better (but for me the performance is more than acceptable and also web browsing is absolutely smooth).
@OP I have had my tablet and dock for 4 months going on 5 (September, October, Novemeber, December, January) and share only one of your criticisms: Quality Control. That's just because of the issues I've read here, both by nit picking pricks and about serious issues, and expect the Prime to have more of the former. I have had no serious issues with my B50.
I use this thing excessively every day and it's arguably the best $500+$150 I've ever spent, that doesn't get me to and from work or go in the kitchen for helping food eventually reach my tummy.
I also think you should just sell yours on eBay and save up for the next model of iPad, you will enjoy it a lot more, but odds are there is nothing that WILL make you satisified and happy. At least not that will be produced in your life time.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
jrsalda said:
same game,(plants vs zombies) ($6.99 from apple store vs $1.99 from android market), another big plus here for tf101, android apps are considerably cheaper, but after 90 minutes of playing, ipad 2 is only 92%, tf101 is almost 50%(without the dock of course, revolver ROM, Oc'd to 1.2 Ghz/312 cpu/gpu).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm. You may have a battery problem. I have played many an hour of Plants vs Aliens, I would say I usually get 15% drain per hour. I'm running stock...
I would also recommend trying BS Player for your MKVs. It works really well with my MP4s. Agreed, that the Tegra 2 video decoding is underwhelming.
The browser issue is annoying, I've found FireFox to be the best. No Flash and the tab key doesn't work (I can verify they fixed tab in the latest Aurora release). I'm hoping ICS and the release of Chrome for Android will resolve it. Crossing fingers...
I generally have to agree that the Tegra 2 was not up to the Honeycomb challenge. It was passable, but not exceptional. If you look around, you can pick up a Transformer for $299-349 on sale, which is a value. If you want something that surpasses an iPad, buy a Prime (if you can find one).
Even Google admits Honeycomb was rushed. Further it's like 3-5% of their install base (based on the market numbers), so they probably aren't paying that much attention to it. Gingerbread is now king. ICS is their new flagship product, I suspect it will be better.
jrsalda said:
First at all, after almost 2 months of exhaustively daily use I got some conclusions about it.
I do have an Ipad 2 to compare with so I'm going to try to be objective here and realistic as well, i will refer to ipad 2 device as the "competition":
Pros
1. Hardware design, a big praising for asus attention to details.
2. Asus docking station is amazing, although I no longer use it.
3. ICS upgrade???
4. Open android ecosystem makes the TF101 stand out.
5. Very good software included with the TF101
6. Asus Mycloud service
7. 1 Gb RAM, sdhc expansion slot and by far better USB flash drives support than competition, this is actual a big advantage comparing to apple 2, where you have to spend big bucks to get units as kingston widrive and seagate goflex satellite drives(Bought them both)if you want to get additional storage and those are only useful if you have a fast internet connection(I have 24Mpbs at home w/ uverse).
Cons:
1.Quality Control, mine came with a loose power button(defective), a brand new sealed unit with a hardware issue(unbelievable) as a geek I spend lots of money buying gadgets, laptops and computer parts, I've never seen something like this specially coming from a $400 device.
2. Honeycomb interface is laggy and overall slow. I'll wait for ICS but android fragmentation market doesn't look good for the time being.
3. Video reproduction on tf101 is overall disappointing, the inability to reproduce simple 720p mkv and avi videos smoothly is a big drawback. I tried all the mayor software video player from market with no success. either tegra 2 has a poor video decoder functions or tegra 2 is simply a SoC underpowered.
4. Price, at $400 anybody would expect to get a better device, maybe is honeycomb to blame for. in contrast at $500 the ipad2 just works, even as a closed ecosystem and even after rooting, the ipad 2 simply delivers acceptable web browsing, video and music reproduction.
5. Web browsing on tf101(honeycomb) is terrible , despite the broad selection of browsers, most of them are useless, I have to keep at least 5 different ones to handle my different sites(ridiculous). Some of them will work fine with certain websites, some of will simply show the mobile version instead regular version ignoring custom browser settings.
6. General functionality became acceptable just after rooting the device, installing latest revolver rom and OC'd to 1.4Ghz(downgrade to 1.2Ghz later due instability issues)
7. Battery management feature still light years behind the infamous apple 2, I have to charge it on a daily basis, sometimes twice a day and my battery drops to almost 60% after playing plants vs zombies for 1 hour(just to mention an example).
Conclusion: I still prefer the form factor, usability and resolution from my tf101 against my expensive ipad 2 64. But seriously google needs to catch up with apple OS and release some universal API for video/gaming and force manufacturers to adopt it. It reminds me of early 1994 when every graphic card manufacturer from that time(S3, ATI, rendition, matrox, nvidia, 3Dfx) were pushing their own 3D API solution for gaming. it wasn't until the release of direct x 8.0 when things started to change. After the Best buy fiasco with my prime preorder I think will wait a few months until ICS becomes mature and new tegra 3 apps/games are released if any.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I logged in just to second this post as it follows my feelings exactly about the pros and cons of the tf101. I thought this was a very well thought out post and in my experence very accurate. I would keep my TF101 over an iPad but these issues definitely keep me from upgrading at this time to another asus or tegra device. Maybe ICS will fix some of the HC issues but it is not likely to fix the main issue I have with some video containers and codecs. I hope it fixes the browser issues because I too am tired of having to remember what browser to use for what site. I recieved my TF in the first batch released by Best Buy so I have had many months to use this thing. Its the perfect traveling device with the dock but it definitely has its issues.
jrsalda said:
Cons:
1.Quality Control, mine came with a loose power button(defective), a brand new sealed unit with a hardware issue(unbelievable) as a geek I spend lots of money buying gadgets, laptops and computer parts, I've never seen something like this specially coming from a $400 device.
2. Honeycomb interface is laggy and overall slow. I'll wait for ICS but android fragmentation market doesn't look good for the time being.
3. Video reproduction on tf101 is overall disappointing, the inability to reproduce simple 720p mkv and avi videos smoothly is a big drawback. I tried all the mayor software video player from market with no success. either tegra 2 has a poor video decoder functions or tegra 2 is simply a SoC underpowered.
4. Price, at $400 anybody would expect to get a better device, maybe is honeycomb to blame for. in contrast at $500 the ipad2 just works, even as a closed ecosystem and even after rooting, the ipad 2 simply delivers acceptable web browsing, video and music reproduction.
5. Web browsing on tf101(honeycomb) is terrible , despite the broad selection of browsers, most of them are useless, I have to keep at least 5 different ones to handle my different sites(ridiculous). Some of them will work fine with certain websites, some of will simply show the mobile version instead regular version ignoring custom browser settings.
6. General functionality became acceptable just after rooting the device, installing latest revolver rom and OC'd to 1.4Ghz(downgrade to 1.2Ghz later due instability issues)
7. Battery management feature still light years behind the infamous apple 2, I have to charge it on a daily basis, sometimes twice a day and my battery drops to almost 60% after playing plants vs zombies for 1 hour(just to mention an example).
Conclusion: I still prefer the form factor, usability and resolution from my tf101 against my expensive ipad 2 64. But seriously google needs to catch up with apple OS and release some universal API for video/gaming and force manufacturers to adopt it. It reminds me of early 1994 when every graphic card manufacturer from that time(S3, ATI, rendition, matrox, nvidia, 3Dfx) were pushing their own 3D API solution for gaming. it wasn't until the release of direct x 8.0 when things started to change. After the Best buy fiasco with my prime preorder I think will wait a few months until ICS becomes mature and new tegra 3 apps/games are released if any.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cons 1) had nopt quality control issues with my asus kit, you might want to check out the quality control issues compared to the ipad.
2) honeycomb interface is fast once you overclock- i see no performance difference to the ipad in this respect
3)video production can be fixed with OC and a decent player eg MX or Dice- both can play anything very well.
4) your view on price is skewed because you havent factored in the price of the external HD's for your ipad and the fact that the dock adds much more value than any combination of ipad peripherals eg how much would an extrnal hd and battery cost for the ipad compared to the dock, how much for an extra keyboard eh?
5)seriously, any of those browsers are better than an ipad browser that doesnt do flash and so doesnt actually show the internet as its supposed to be. i find Dolphin HD works well on my transformer with few perforamce issues.
6 &7) i agree, the transformer is much better after rooting etc but then so it the ipad, your battery issues are conderning though as i find the battery life while playing games on my transformer to be equal with apple stuff i have owned in the past.
i dont crave for any closed API system like you suggest where people are forced to make decisions and the choice provided is just a monetised illusion, been there and done that with apple im afraid..
at the end of the day its a personal choice but the fact that the ipad is such a closed system( no usb port ffs!!) is the exact reason i dont want anything to do with it.
I agree with the browser point.
I have 5 browsers installed and I use different ones for different sites.
The stock browser crashes too damn much as well.
I haven't used the ipad to know how good/ bad their browsers are.
iPad2 Camera resolution 750kp
Asus Transformer 5MP
Asus Transformer 30% screen resolution than iPad2.
Transformer: More ports, more slots, non-restrictive OS.
MOD EDIT: EVIDENTLY YOU HAVE ISSUES WITH SOMEONE DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT
This largely conflicts with my experience. When I first cracked open the box to my TF101 and fired it up... I was shocked at how much it crashed and lagged. Then I updated it. Then it was solid. I soon after rooted and installed the latest revolver rom.
I didn't overclock and I get amazing battery life. All weekend I watched about 8 episodes of TV shows (about 20 min each), surfed the net for probably an hour, played some games... all while wifi was connected for hours. My battery at the end of the weekend? 27%, from 100% on the friday.
I've used an iPad and the iPad _really_ does feel like a giant iPhone to me (I used to own one). Android on a tablet feels completely different to me and I love it.
So, just wondering, does the ipad play all types of video files, or are they converted by itunes to play on the ipad? --- sincere question.
Cons:
1.Quality Control, mine came with a loose power button(defective), a brand new sealed unit with a hardware issue(unbelievable) as a geek I spend lots of money buying gadgets, laptops and computer parts, I've never seen something like this specially coming from a $400 device.
2. Honeycomb interface is laggy and overall slow. I'll wait for ICS but android fragmentation market doesn't look good for the time being.
3. Video reproduction on tf101 is overall disappointing, the inability to reproduce simple 720p mkv and avi videos smoothly is a big drawback. I tried all the mayor software video player from market with no success. either tegra 2 has a poor video decoder functions or tegra 2 is simply a SoC underpowered.
4. Price, at $400 anybody would expect to get a better device, maybe is honeycomb to blame for. in contrast at $500 the ipad2 just works, even as a closed ecosystem and even after rooting, the ipad 2 simply delivers acceptable web browsing, video and music reproduction.
5. Web browsing on tf101(honeycomb) is terrible , despite the broad selection of browsers, most of them are useless, I have to keep at least 5 different ones to handle my different sites(ridiculous). Some of them will work fine with certain websites, some of will simply show the mobile version instead regular version ignoring custom browser settings.
6. General functionality became acceptable just after rooting the device, installing latest revolver rom and OC'd to 1.4Ghz(downgrade to 1.2Ghz later due instability issues)
7. Battery management feature still light years behind the infamous apple 2, I have to charge it on a daily basis, sometimes twice a day and my battery drops to almost 60% after playing plants vs zombies for 1 hour(just to mention an example).
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1.Quality control has always been a little up and down with ASUS. I have owned a Laptop/Netbook/Tablet from them with no problems but searching through their forums see tons of people with issues. Again no problems here.
2. ICS is definately coming to the TF101 one way or another. ASUS guaranteed it and even if they back down we already have a couple ports in the process of being made. But, to your actual point, I have seen very little lag in the Honeycomb interface and have had an iPad 2 side by side with the TF101 and couldn't tell the difference (I work in IT and would be able to tell if one was "Slower" than the other). You may have a bad app/setup causing this but don't blame the OS as stock it runs buttery smooth and rooting it should add to it's speed.
3. Again, never noticed any playback issues watching all different kinds of videos from different locations. I would check for a bad app or maybe you set something up wrong. The Tegra2 processor (Albeit old) still holds its own.
4. $400 is a steal for a device of this quality/specs. Looking at the specs of the iPad 2 vs the Transformer they are much of the same. Of course the TF101 has a better res screen, can capture 1080p video vs the iPad2's 720p, ability to add USB ports to the TF101.... I could go on. Also, noticing a reacurring theme of you blaming the OS, for the TF's shortcomings. Should have named this thread iOS vs Honeycomb.....
5. Again, web browsing corresponds to the OS not the device itself. But at least on android you have the ability to have multiple browsers (With flash support) compared to iOS. I would like to see you put some examples of websites that requires you to have these browsers on the TF.
6. Another OS issue.
7. Another bad app most likely.
Please come back with more valid points. As of right now you hate android not the tablet.
(6. If the device didn't work on stock the way you wanted it to then why didn't you return it? Personally the second I booted it up it blew me away with it's speed / functionality even coming from CM on my phone, and obviously it was still running stock non rooted.)
Quality control is the only issue I have had so far..first TF101 had light bleed, second one does too, just not as pronounced and I can ignore it, and the first dock I got squealed annoyingly when charging the TF, other than that, it seems to work a dream, and the dock-laptop hybrid blows any ipad out of the water- two full size USB ports and an SD card reader? Plus a multi-touch mouse/full keyboard!!?? Hands down- ipad can suck it lol speed and hardware aside, I'll take the TF for the dock alone any day (I mean the TF has to function of course! But as I have seen it is comparable in speed to ipad2, plus OC and UV kernals YAY)
BTW, I had over 36hours on a full charge, dock included, before I had to charge the TF again, and I decided to charge at 15%. so I could have had another hour+ if I had let it sleep..honestly, don't see how someone can play a game on the TF for a solid hour, but I watched 4+ hours of news last night via WiFi on autobright and it didn't drag my battery below 50% even..and I don't think it was on a full charge when I started..I should really test it out more thoroughly, but so far it's the best battery life of any device I have seen ANYWHERE.
miketoasty said:
vs the iPad2's 720p,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
720p from a 0.7MP camera.. (and 0.3MP front facing)... That's going to look REALLY crappy unless you are wearing your supplied Apple Rose Tinted Glasses.
My Nokia 6300 from 4 years ago has nearly 3x that resolution, and it's considered obsolete by now.
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/ipad-ipad2-tablet-ios,news-10393.html
I agree with the OPs criticisms pretty much 100 percent. Although my time with Android has been fun, unless the usability, speed, and stability blow me away compared to Honeycomb I will probably look to switching to a Windows 8 tablet or whatever iPad is available down the line instead of purchasing another Android tablet.
Reproduction of regular videos from youtube on the tf101 are fine, I'm talking about matroska mkv and AVI videos(720p) here, those can be played fine on my nettop devices with single core atom and dual core atom with broadcom decoder cards, I paid for those nettops ($189 and $289 respectively).
in comparison the ipad 2 can play those videos(w/ Cinexplayer, XBMC and even the discontinued VLC for ipad 2)absolutely perfect, I can play my mkv and avi 720p movies on the ipad 2 without any drop frames, getting consistent 30fps without any sync issues as I have them randomly on my tf101 all the time(below 25fps and out of sync audio/video issues). I have tried the mx video player pro on the tf101, still doesn't work smoothly enough, getting there but have to constantly be switching audio/video modes, and most of the time have to select the fast mode on 720p playing which has a highly noticeable lower quality detail, and sometimes don't get any sound, have to switch to another audio codec to make it work. It's worth to mention mx video player pro application looks very promising.
Again, I guess tegra 2 is an underpowered SoC.
I'll explain just one single issue here: Just for the record, I encode my own videos, have several years of experience working with video editing at professional level, I take my blu-rays movies and tv series(blu-ray) and encode them using a state of the art video PC workstation, I use the x264 codec and utilize open source and proprietary libraries(H.264/MPEG-4 AVC) for the encoding. Result is a 100% perfectly encoded mkv and avi file in 720p resolution that can be played smoothly on my slowest nettop device w/single core atom CPU at 1.0 Ghz and of course on the Ipad 2 as well, I mentioned the word "of course" just because the ipad 2 is a dual core device running at 900 Mhz with a monster Dual GPU. My nettops have ubuntu linux for netbook and windows 7 starter operating systems.
I don't even want to mention the hdmi to TV output limitation(for videos) on tf101, it's completely laggy and simply slow and unplayable, I have 2 LCD tv's at home, 47" and 70" screen size at 60hz and 240hz respectively, my ipad 2 and my nettops can handle it thru hdmi at 720p and even at 1080p on both tv's. My Oc'd tf101 cannot handle properly my movies, any movie not even a 360p youtube video on my tv's. I found out, my tf101 can handle an acceptable output experience on my Asus 24" LCD monitor , as long as you don't play videos.
tf101 has serious issues for video reproduction, you can blame honeycomb or asus, I'm encourage to accept this fact as a current limitation on tegra 2 devices, will see how it does perform on ICS, not having hopes for it either. I'm starting to believe tegra 2 SoC is a poor chip for video reproduction. I'm not going to tolerate that, video reproduction is suppose to be perfect(like watching a regular bluray or dvd movie at home), no more no less.
Well, guess I'm done here since you still haven't admitted that it may possibly be what you have running on your device or any number of other issues. Again, video's run fine on my device and I am able to game using MiniHDMI - HDMI on my 52" TV using an emulator. Lag would be extremely noticeable here and like I have said, I have seen.... none.
I'm now the proud owner of a Nook HD. It's my second android device (phone is a GS3) and my fourth device for which I have sought guidance in this incredible forum. After perusing the Nook section of this site, I felt like I needed to reflect on why I chose this device.
1. I need to read more...again. I used to read all of the time. I'm a high school English teacher, so I have a passion for reading. However, like so many of my teenage students, I am easily distracted. I thought that I would read on my iPad, but that didn't happen since there are so many great games out for tablets. As a father of a 3-year old, my time and energy has seemed to be more prone to go to a mindless video game for a few minutes of gameplay rather than delve deep into a classic from one of my favorite authors. So, I'm hoping my Nook HD is the answer I need for this. Since it is smaller, maybe I'll have it along with my more often so I can read more often. Also, since B&N doesn't seem to have any intention of competing with iOS on the scale of game offerings, I won't be tempted to play N.O.V.A. or Modern Combat over reading Eliot.
2. 7" seems to really be the perfect size for a reading tablet. Sorry HD+ owners, you're not going to like this point. If that HD+ is your first tablet, I hope you will at least heed or remember my thoughts here. My iPad (or any 10" screen) is too big to read on enjoyably. I've had an iPad for almost 2 years and I have spent many hours reading on it. It's an amazing device for things like producing writing, annotating essays, playing games, or watching movies, but the size of the blessed thing is just not ideal for reading*. Think about it, why are most paperbacks around 6-8" tall? I think it's because you naturally read faster and more easily when your eyes don't have to travel too far up an down the pages. A 7" tablet has the same effect. After reading on my HD for a while today, I can honestly say that the reading experience seems easier and more natural. Plus, being able to hold it with one hand makes it more convenient as well.
*I also looked at a couple magazines on my Nook HD and I will say the 10" screens are more suited for that. Looking at Entertainment Weekly caused some eyestrain. I suppose that's one reason B&N invented Article View.
So, that's my spiel. Feel free to concur or show obloquy as desired.
I got the HD because:
1) It had faster benchmarks than the Nexus 7
2) It had a better resolution and an overall better screen than the Nexus 7
3) It was rootable
4) I originally paid $180, but then returned it and got it for $149 at Staples
5) Nexus 7 16GB was not available anywhere.
Overall, I am very happy with the little tablet. I got my wife the HD+ at Staples for $199. She's not so happy with it, so I'll have two tablets and she'll end up getting the iPad Mini when the retina version comes out since her first gen iPad is getting outdated. Both the HD and HD+ were rooted but updated to 2.0.5, but Play still works. I was able to sideload Chrome since Play shows it incompatible. I also have them both booting to CM10 which has been pretty stable so far.
I agree about the 7" size. I have a 10" android tablet for playing games and surfing the web. I got the HD for reading. I rooted it to put other reading apps on it and so it can be more of an all-around device when necessary.
I get the HD+ for the size and resolution. I use the size for reading manga, smaller would just make it not very readable. Also I already have a Note II which is 5.5inches. So getting HD is kinda redundant. Also I found that using the HD+ connecting to my notebook using iDisplay to show my pictures when I'm working on them is quite useful.
Obviously 7inch and 9inch are aim at different type of consumers.
someone0 said:
I get the HD+ for the size and resolution. I use the size for reading manga, smaller would just make it not very readable. Also I already have a Note II which is 5.5inches. So getting HD is kinda redundant. Also I found that using the HD+ connecting to my notebook using iDisplay to show my pictures when I'm working on them is quite useful.
Obviously 7inch and 9inch are aim at different type of consumers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those are good points. Like I said in my op, magazines are a bit small on the HD, so I'm sure the HD+ is better for anything illustrated.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
Great briefing now there is thread to point out to confused potential buyers
Sent from a hybrid phablet !
The HD+ gives a quite nice two-column reading experience in landscape. I would have stuck with something smaller if comic books and magazines were lower on my priority list, but my old Nook Color always felt a bit cramped for those. I've honestly been on a comic book and audio book jag ever since I got the HD+ and not reading much in the way of straight text.
nikufellow said:
Great briefing now there is thread to point out to confused potential buyers
Sent from a hybrid phablet !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good idea. Title changed to help that type of buyer searching.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
Even if the title weren't change it just mean people would look at the remarks and can tell, that maybe there is something they want to do and HD isn't good at but HD+ does better. It's no confusing at all. Reasons to buy alone isn't very informative w/o reasons not to buy. Information is information, period.
I went from Sony Reader to Kindle 3 to Nook Tablet to Nook HD+.
Nook Tablet is perfect size for reading books and bringing along with me--I agree with you there.
I read lots of magazines in PDF format. That's the main reason I went with the bigger HD+. I've grown accustomed to the size now and like the bigger screen.
Hardback books are about the size of the HD+, and I have always liked Hardback covers over paperbacks. So my yin to your yang.
However I have yet to use this thing for anything but video and some light music.
migrax
Has anyone here tried the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 also?
I'm on the fence between a Kindle Fire HD 8.9 and a Nook HD+. I wasn't sure if I wanted a 7" or 9" at first but I think I need a 9" because I mostly will want to use it to look at PDF tech manuals and CAD schematic drawings when I'm on the go crawling around in areas where it is inconvenient to carry a laptop. Aside from that, its nice to have something to use on the plane or sitting around at the airport.
The main differences I see are:
Kindle: thinner (barely), has mimo wifi (don't know if its a real diff), camera (already have a phone camera), micro usb (don't have to buy proprietary connectors), ambient light sensor (might save some batt)
Nook: lighter (not by much), higher ppi (barely), external storage (although I'm not sure if I really need it)
Price is about the same if I look on ebay. Software is the same if I put on CM10, although I'm not sure if the kindle is as far along.
For me, seems like the biggest diff is the micro usb vs the external storage, and maybe the weight, hard to know how important 2.4oz is. I suspect that the external storage won't really be needed so if the weight isnt a big diff, I think I may lean towards the kindle.
I'd be interested in any other important differences people have noticed.
There is more difference between the Nook HD and Nexus 7 than some people think. The Nook HD provides the main essentials like good screen etc but has very limited sensors.
The nexus 7 is like a phone and has a full collection of sensors like an ambient light sensor, gyroscope, GPS, compass, proximity sensor, camera + more.
These sensors can be useful in some circumstances. Gyro is good for games and alot better than an accelerometer
sorrowuk said:
There is more difference between the Nook HD and Nexus 7 than some people think. The Nook HD provides the main essentials like good screen etc but has very limited sensors.
The nexus 7 is like a phone and has a full collection of sensors like an ambient light sensor, gyroscope, GPS, compass, proximity sensor, camera + more.
These sensors can be useful in some circumstances. Gyro is good for games and alot better than an accelerometer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, if you only have one tablet/smartphone device the choice is harder. However, I have a smartphone and a 10" android tablet. I wanted a light reader with added functionality. I fell in love with the nook HD screen as I am a screen-o-phile and can't go back to TN displays with poor color representation. The Nook HD has fantastic colors as well as a good resolution. Images just pop. I think it has over 90% adobe RGB gamut which is better than the nexus 7 (86% if I recall correctly) along with a better resolution.
Now resolution is not everything. The next gen ipad certainly has a ridiculous resolution that requires an overpowered GPU for most purposes ... that is all purposes except reading where every bit of resolution helps to discern text. Likewise, the extra bit of resolution on the Nook HD really makes it a good reader.
The Nook HD is also very light and has removable storage which is a HUGE plus for me. All the major tablet/phone manufacturers charge like 100-200 bucks more for pennies worth of Nand. 720p screens require at least 32gb to enjoy videos and media at that resolution IMO.
Overall, I am very happy with my purchase. B&N produced a quality product at a good price. They did shortchange in certain areas (no camera, no sensors), but I don't care about camera as almost all of them suck anyways in 7" tablets (especially the front ones) and the sensors are kind of a pain but I already have a smartphone so what do I care?
The Nook HD is a fantastic reader and secondary tablet. Hopefully with some more work on CM10/10.1, it will be a better primary one too.
Diogenes5 said:
720p screens require at least 32gb to enjoy videos and media at that resolution IMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you clarify what you mean by this?
a 720p video file certainly isnt 32gb. maybe 1gb per movie depending on quality
It may take more memory to play it but the memory has nothing to do with the 32gb storage.
As for sensors, I dont care about the camera. GPS would be nice but the kindle doesnt have it either.
I don't see the use of a proximity sensor. The gyro is needed for some games. and the light sensor is somewhat important to output the right amount of brightness.
enricong said:
Can you clarify what you mean by this?
a 720p video file certainly isnt 32gb. maybe 1gb per movie depending on quality
It may take more memory to play it but the memory has nothing to do with the 32gb storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A decently compressed feature-length 720p movie will range from 1.5-4GB depending on encoding, and a straight rip without decent compression might run 6-8GB or more. If you want to have more than one such movie on your tablet and maybe a couple of TV episodes as well as other media (magazines, PDFs, comics) it piles up fast. I don't even watch many videos on my tablet, and getting by on less than 32GB for what is essentially a media portal would be a pain.
Most 720p movies I've watched are in the 1-1.5 range. Beyond that I havent noticed alot of difference but maybe that's just me. Regardless, I don't see myself watching alot of movies on this and I wouldn't need to store more than one or two at a time. My primary purpose would be using it when it is inconvenient to carry my laptop like when I'm out in the field and need to pull up a pdf manual and/or cad drawings. This does not require much storage space.
It does sound like the trade is between the piece of mind of being able to upgrade storage and having a couple more sensors + the convenience of a microUSB.
i agree that 7" is a darn good size for reading and on hand holding, but i occasionally do things other than reading and 7" kinda limited me. i upgraded my galaxy tab 8.9 to this device. i do have a 10.1 galaxy note but do find that one too big for reading most of the times. it's not heavy, just awkward holding with one hand while laying down reading.
The 7" form factor is great, but even as much as I like expandable storage and getting every last possible pixel per inch, the Nook HD just doesn't stand up to the Nexus 7 in that market. The 32GB N7 is at least adequate in storage, and only $20 more than a 16GB Nook HD. The PPI difference is not that major, they're about the same weight with equally generic design, but the N7 has considerably more powerful innards, a full sensor array, and it's already a Nexus device: no hacking required. You'd have to really, really like the Nook HD display and see limited functionality as a positive thing--I could maybe see it if you were buying with young children in mind.
The HD+, on the other hand, has only one competitor within 30-40% of the asking price, and that one (the Kindle 8.9") is still asking more for less. Like the Nook Color when that device came out, the HD+ is the best screen for the money right now and also happens to have a distinctive design, not just because there's a hole in it but because it has a unified aesthetic other than "fat black bezel."
Taosaur said:
The 7" form factor is great, but even as much as I like expandable storage and getting every last possible pixel per inch, the Nook HD just doesn't stand up to the Nexus 7 in that market. The 32GB N7 is at least adequate in storage, and only $20 more than a 16GB Nook HD. The PPI difference is not that major, they're about the same weight with equally generic design, but the N7 has considerably more powerful innards, a full sensor array, and it's already a Nexus device: no hacking required. You'd have to really, really like the Nook HD display and see limited functionality as a positive thing--I could maybe see it if you were buying with young children in mind.
The HD+, on the other hand, has only one competitor within 30-40% of the asking price, and that one (the Kindle 8.9") is still asking more for less. Like the Nook Color when that device came out, the HD+ is the best screen for the money right now and also happens to have a distinctive design, not just because there's a hole in it but because it has a unified aesthetic other than "fat black bezel."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my Barnes & Noble Nook HD using Tapatalk HD
This had way top many overgeneralizations for me to ignore. For one, the storage difference is significant. For the same price I can get a nook HD with a 64gb micro SD card as a 32gb nexus.
The PPI difference is still significant. I compared both devices directly and the nook HD had better color accuracy and sharper text. 900p is actually over 25% more pixels than 800p. It is a huge difference for reading and text-based media consumption.
Weight is also very important for me at this form factor and given my usage patterns. The nook HD is the lightest device in its class and feels even lighter than my phone. I feel weight definitely matters especially for a device meant to be held and used as a replacement novel unlike say an iPad which can reasonably be expected to be laid down or held upright by a case instead.
Powerful is relative. The tegra 3 GPU is seriously underwhelming to adreno and mali. I know, I own a transformer infinity. For most virtually every process the nook HD is just as smooth as the nexus 7 which is all that really matters, not epeen statements about power. Devices need only be powerful enough for their intended use.
Nexus devices are definitely nice but so is cynmogen mod. Nook HD definitely takes more work to enjoy. Sensors are also irrelevant if you use them. How man people do you know actually use the cameras on their tablet for example. How about GPS? Having the option is definitely nice but irrelevant in most cases to the vast majority of people.
Its ironic that you mention the hd+ as being better. I found using it underwhelming. After having owned the infinity, I know how hard it is for current gen tech to power full HD displays. The nook HD+ was very slow at loading PDFs in store and kind of clunky in terms of performance. Understandable as even my infinity lags with an over clocked tegra 3. A nook HD was however completely smooth for me.
To each his own, but I think the nook HD is a much better device for me than a nexus 7. Even if I didn't ave a larger tablet, I would have gotten a nook.
In my opinion tablets are all about screen first, practicality second, and smoothness second. The nook HD does a better job at being a media consumption device than the nexus 7 across many metrics.
I need opinions on which tablet to buy. I want one with external card option so I've narrowed it down to these 2. The nook HD sounded impressive with a faster processor and higher resolution. Then I heard it stutters in games and some apps and it actually runs slower and less smooth then the galaxy tab 2 and also the speakers suck. I also like it has a regular OS. So is the Nook HD still slower with recent updates. Does it run any better with Cm10.1 running from a card instead of the proprietary Nook interface? Will movies look good on the galaxy tab 2 even though it's not HD? Most of the movies I watch will probably not be HD anyway but some games will be. TIA.
nobody knows of any stuttering or slowness issues? Or if it does does it run smoother with cm10?
Haven't seen any real lag issues on mine with stock or 10.1 run from the card (this does depend on the card). I wouldn't know if it runs slower then a Galaxy Tab 2 as I don't have one to compare to.
I personally made the decision to buy the Nook HD because of the screen resolution and the sdcard slot and I have not regretted the choice.
Thanks for the info. Looks like Im getting the Nook HD. The reviews that said it lagged a little in games were when it first launched. Possibly updates have corrected those issues.
blazingwolf said:
Haven't seen any real lag issues on mine with stock or 10.1 run from the card (this does depend on the card). I wouldn't know if it runs slower then a Galaxy Tab 2 as I don't have one to compare to.
I personally made the decision to buy the Nook HD because of the screen resolution and the sdcard slot and I have not regretted the choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine runs smoothly on cm10
Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2
So ist CM10 or CM 10.1 stable on the Nook HD+`? I'm a bit worried because of the small community
consti83 said:
So ist CM10 or CM 10.1 stable on the Nook HD+`? I'm a bit worried because of the small community
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the HD+, there is only one preliminary build of CM10.1. The CM10 build comes out regularly with improvements. I use CM10 as my daily driver, but it is still beta. So I guess it depends on your definition of stable.
Sent from my Nook HD+ running CM10 on Hybrid SD
Okay thanks for your response! Actually I don't care of it's CM10 or CM10.1 but my decision about buying the nook hd depends on the fact if there is any stable version ! I guess I will just go for it - why not
jamesban said:
I need opinions on which tablet to buy. I want one with external card option so I've narrowed it down to these 2. The nook HD sounded impressive with a faster processor and higher resolution. Then I heard it stutters in games and some apps and it actually runs slower and less smooth then the galaxy tab 2 and also the speakers suck. I also like it has a regular OS. So is the Nook HD still slower with recent updates. Does it run any better with Cm10.1 running from a card instead of the proprietary Nook interface? Will movies look good on the galaxy tab 2 even though it's not HD? Most of the movies I watch will probably not be HD anyway but some games will be. TIA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jamesban said:
nobody knows of any stuttering or slowness issues? Or if it does does it run smoother with cm10?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
consti83 said:
Okay thanks for your response! Actually I don't care of it's CM10 or CM10.1 but my decision about buying the nook hd depends on the fact if there is any stable version ! I guess I will just go for it - why not
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Initial reviews complained about stuttering. There is no way that the nook hd would stutter more than the galaxy tab 2 though. The galaxy 2 uses an omap processor a generation older that tops out at 1ghz. Maybe the nook hd+ as it has a very high-res screen that draws a lot of processing power. I got the nook HD because of the screen, the lightness, and it benchmarks about even with the Tegra 3 inside the nexus 7 (faster GPU for 3d, slightly slower for everything else). If someone were to unlock and overclock to 1.5 ghz, it would probably be faster but no real point in that. Very happy with the thing. Color accuracy is fantastic.
I'm having no issues with bokbokan latest build of 10.2 on my HD. I'm sure others here will build on leapinlar, bokbokan and verygreen's work - thanks to all you guys for your great work so far.
I would recommend the HD - great screen and snappy performance - even in the stock B&N rom which some people complained of as being laggy. I haven't experienced that. Battery life is excellent too.
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.
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.
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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
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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?
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.