nook color as android tablet

mgalusha · « **on:** 2 Apr 2011, 12:37 pm »

Has anyone here had a go at using the Barnes &Noble nook color as a general purpose android tablet?

After reading about this I decided to take the plunge as I wanted a tablet to use at home or in a hotel somewhere so didn't care about 3g connectivity and didn't want to spend much.

There are lots of sites devoted too rooting the nook but one can also run from a micro SD card and the orininal nook ROM is untouched. I decided to go the bootable SD card route and so far I like it though I just did this last night and I'm sure there is more tweaking to do.

Currently using CyanogenMod 7 RC4 (android 2.3, Gingerbread) and the Dolphin HD browser. Going to see about getting a foobar remote running today if I have time.

Not as fancy as an ipad or Zoom but so far plenty good for my needs and far less expensive.

Am posting this from the device.

Pez · « **Reply #1 on:** 2 Apr 2011, 02:35 pm »

I've heard good things about it's media capabilities as well. People say that it's screen is actually sharper than the iPads for watching movies. Mostly because of the higher pixel density, but I'm sure it looks great.

mgalusha · « **Reply #2 on:** 2 Apr 2011, 02:41 pm »

Funny you mention the video, just watched a couple HD YouTube clips and was pleasantly surprised. Not bad for a $250 gadget.

jqp · « **Reply #3 on:** 6 Apr 2011, 06:46 pm »

I read that Nook users get free access to the NY Times

jkelly · « **Reply #4 on:** 6 Apr 2011, 06:57 pm »

I have one rooted and overclocked. Love it.
I have also had a Archos 1011 and sold that for a Motorola Xoom
which is running 1.5 Dual Core Overclocked - SMOKING

Lots of info on the Nook at:

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

Good to have a extra sd card and adb running on your computer.

Jeff

jqp · « **Reply #5 on:** 8 Apr 2011, 12:27 am »

Quote from: jkelly on 6 Apr 2011, 06:57 pm

I have one rooted and overclocked. Love it.
I have also had a Archos 1011 and sold that for a Motorola Xoom
which is running 1.5 Dual Core Overclocked - SMOKING

Lots of info on the Nook at:

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

Good to have a extra sd card and adb running on your computer.

Jeff

OK I give up - what is "adb"?

mgalusha · « **Reply #6 on:** 8 Apr 2011, 02:08 am »

Adb stands for android debug bridge and is part if the sdk.

http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/adb.html

emac · « **Reply #7 on:** 8 Apr 2011, 02:31 am »

Rooted my Nook a couple of months back and really like it. Great for going on trips. Was the reason I got a Nook as opposed to a Kindle. And about 1/2 the price of any other tablet out there. Can't beat it.

mgalusha · « **Reply #8 on:** 11 Apr 2011, 10:51 pm »

CyanogenMod 7 was released today, I'll be updating the ROM into the next day or two. Want to give a little time for any dust to settle though rc4 has been pretty good overall.

WGH · « **Reply #9 on:** 24 May 2011, 10:15 pm »

I needed a new toy to hack so I picked up a Nook Color a couple of weeks ago, there certainly is a lot of fun packed into that 7" screen. I was at my local Barnes and Noble store last Sunday getting a cover and demoed my Android Nook for a customer, she wanted one.

Right now I'm running CM7 firmware using the 7.0.3-encore-signed build and find it very stable. I boosted the processor speed to 925Mhz to make it a little more responsive while I play with settings and programs.

The only glitch so far is a slow WiFi connection. I understand Market has slowdowns but the connection to the router (internet?) is slow too. Using the SpeedTest.net Mobile app I get between 936kbps - 1939kbps for down loads. Going to DSL Reports Mobile Browser Speed and Latency Test using Dolphin HD yields the same speed. So far I'm stumped but since these Android builds are a work in progress I expect a few quirks along the way.

The Linksys WRT54GL wireless router is 3' from the Nook while testing, my normal DSL speed is about 10.5Mbps, a wireless laptop will get about 7.13Mbps. Right now I'm using a 4GB Kingston class 4 micro sdhc, I'll be picking up a Sandisk card to see if that makes any difference. And I'm going to try different WiFi spots around town.

What are other users getting for download and up load speeds? I'm curious.

Wayne

eclein · « **Reply #10 on:** 24 May 2011, 11:33 pm »

Hey Wayne I'm considering buying either an ipad2 or an android tablet like maybe the new HTC one or Acer Iconia (if it was better received) and having an android phone has made me aware of the possibilities android offers so which android tablet would be your choice as of this point in time??

rif · « **Reply #11 on:** 24 May 2011, 11:49 pm »

Quote from: WGH on 24 May 2011, 10:15 pm

The only glitch so far is a slow WiFi connection. I understand Market has slowdowns but the connection to the router (internet?) is slow too. Using the SpeedTest.net Mobile app I get between 936kbps - 1939kbps for down loads. Going to DSL Reports Mobile Browser Speed and Latency Test using Dolphin HD yields the same speed. So far I'm stumped but since these Android builds are a work in progress I expect a few quirks along the way.

The Linksys WRT54GL wireless router is 3' from the Nook while testing, my normal DSL speed is about 10.5Mbps, a wireless laptop will get about 7.13Mbps. Right now I'm using a 4GB Kingston class 4 micro sdhc, I'll be picking up a Sandisk card to see if that makes any difference. And I'm going to try different WiFi spots around town.

What are other users getting for download and up load speeds? I'm curious.

Wayne

Hi Wayne

I can consistently get 20Mbit down speeds at speedtest.net. In fact there's no speed difference between my laptop on wifi and the NC. Try changing the server on speedtest.net -- it can make a big differences

BTW - I'm using the latest CM7, Dolphin HD, WPA2 security as well, but no overclocking...yet.

WGH · « **Reply #12 on:** 25 May 2011, 02:14 am »

Ed - the only tablet I have played with is the Nook so I don't know which "real" android tablet is best. Right now the Nook Color seems like a sweet deal, it does everything a $500 tablet does for $250. I like that the Nook in one of their leather covers is 5.75" x 8.75" and is the perfect size to carry around like a book.

There are also refurbished Nook Colors for $225 on the B&N website (1 year warranty, free shipping)
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/certified-pre-owned-nookcolor/379002680/

Speed Update: The neighborhood bookstore has free WiFi and I can get 6.3Mbps so it looks like my router needs to be tweaked.

Nice speed rif, I only have a 12Mbps DSL line so 10.5Mbps is usual allowing for overhead.

Wayne

eclein · « **Reply #13 on:** 25 May 2011, 02:29 am »

Thanks Wayne, I may do this, cost is nice and I like tweaking/hacking stuff...LOL...I'll start a "help me rook my nook thread"....lol, or something funnier I hope....but thanks!!!

WGH · « **Reply #14 on:** 25 May 2011, 05:27 am »

I'll certainly try to help if you decide to root your nook.

Speed Update: I changed the router wireless channel to 8 (from the default 6) and now Speedtest reports 9.24Mbps. That was painless.

So far both the stock browser and Dolphin HD browser are not quite ready for prime time. Both have real slow page loads, reminds me of my old dial-up. Everything else runs smoothly.

mgalusha · « **Reply #15 on:** 25 May 2011, 01:02 pm »

I'm actually pretty happy with Dolphin HD, however our dsl is only 1.5mbit, so nothing is fast.

Currently using CM7.0.3 running off San Disc sdmicro with only a few glitches.

Purchased swift key the other day for my phone but works well on the NC.

eclein · « **Reply #16 on:** 25 May 2011, 01:07 pm »

do the apps just transfer over from phone when you sign into ur google acct? I know they don't magically appear on the new hardware but for like paid apps are they downloadable to the new hardware or need to be purchased again?

WGH · « **Reply #17 on:** 26 May 2011, 03:28 am »

Browser Update:

I decided to go back and try the Nook's native browser so I took out the micro card and re-booted. The Nook Browser is fast and even does Flash, Barnes and Noble did something right with this bare bones browser.

Back in Android - I never warmed up the Dolphin HD so I'm giving the Firefox Mobil Browser a spin and I like it. It's still in Beta but I read it is now much smaller and faster than before (make sure you uninstall previous versions before trying out). On my Nook, Firefox is a lot quicker than Dolphin and it has over 100 mobile ad-ons ready to install; one of my favorites, Ad Block, is at the top of the list. YouTube works but no Flash yet but then Flash never worked in Dolphin either but I'm sure the Mozilla developers are working on it.

mgalusha · « **Reply #18 on:** 26 May 2011, 04:39 pm »

I'll have to give Firefox mobile a try, thanks. Flash does work in Dolphin HD, I think I had to install flash after Dolphin but I'm apparently losing my mind and don't remember for sure.

WGH · « **Reply #19 on:** 7 Jun 2011, 09:26 pm »

My Android Nook just got a whole lot faster. I had been using a 4GB Kingston SD card, it came with adapters and was cheap (Amazon). CM7 was always pokey at best, I figured it was a work in progress and the Nook has a slow processor. Since then I did more research and everyone recommends Sandisk and now I know why, it has to do with the small block random writes. Sandisk is 100 times faster the Kingston.

I picked up a 16GB Sandisk SD card from Radio Shack (SDSDQ-016G-A11M) for $29.99 and did a fresh install of the last stable CM7 Encore build and the Nook is a whole new animal. Everything is quicker from browsing to opening and closing apps, and apps are downloaded in a second instead of minutes, usually so fast I have to check to see if anything happened. The 16GB card does not have a class but it doesn't matter in this application. The card I have tested at 0.834 4 KB Random Write QD32(MB/s), not the fastest but it does all right.

The test thread is here, the first page is the most important:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1005633

And here are some numbers from the memory test thread, the important numbers are in bold:

__Test__________________Sandisk 8G Class 2_____Patriot 8G Class 10______Kingston Class4 4Gig
Sequential Read :____________10.871 MB/s___________20.036 MB/s_____________18.700 MB/s
Sequential Write :____________+6.659 MB/s___________13.660 MB/s______________4.277 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) :_____3.077 MB/s___________3.444 MB/s_______________2.088 MB/s
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) :__1.791 MB/s________0.038 MB/s____________0.016 MB/s

Wayne