Ad:
NOOK Color video overview and review
#228 | 9:40 |
Monday April 11, 2011
Gadget TV
Monday April 11, 2011
As dedicated e-readers go, the NOOK Color is considerably less dedicated than most. That's a good thing. In addition to being a great way to take your bookshelves with you, it's also a fairly capable, though considerably simplified, tablet. Based on Android and with an LCD as opposed to eInk display, the NOOK Color is capable of displaying books, magazines and newspapers in living color. However, it's not as easy on the eyes for reading straight black text on a white page as eInk.
Download this episode now
Quicktime 
Windows Media 
Mobile Subscribe to this show 
iTunes Show Notes
NOOK Color from Barnes & Noble
$249
A capable dedicated eReader
Despite the fact that it doesn't use eInk and hence, reading black text on a white background can tire your eyes, we'd argue it's a worthwhile tradeoff for all but the most devout of book worms. In addition to letting you read books, the bright color screen opens up other reading possibilities including magazines and newspapers in living color.
The Nook Store on the device lets you buy books and in some cases, lend them to other Nook users. You can also load PDFs and read those, which means a whole world of public domain books, like those from Google Books can be read on the device.
The NOOK Color reads its own native eBook format well, as would be expected. More industry standard ePub and PDF files aren't handled as well, but are still perfectly readable.
More than a dedicated eReader
The NOOK Color runs a heavily skinned and modified version of Android. It's perfect for less savvy users in that it's easy to use and logical. It's highly hackable too, if you want to run an unadulterated version of Android and are comfortable rooting the device. We'll deal with that in a subsequent episode. This time, it's all about the stock NOOK Color.
NOOK Color Library
This is where you'll find all your books, magazines and newspapers. As your collection of books grows, you can also use virtual Shelves. Make shelves for fiction or non-fiction, favorites, study materials, a favorite author or whatever you like.
NOOK Color Shop
Here we browse or search for books. If you're looking for inspiration, tap on Browse and dig in. If you're looking for something specific, type a few keywords into the search bar.
NOOK Color Extras
A nice touch. Here you can find some small apps that make the NOOK Color a little more than just an eReader device. Play chess, Sudoko or do a crossword, listen to music on your device, check out pictures from your device.
NOOK Color Browser
This is where things get really interesting. It's not the most capable browser in the world. It's slow, Gmail looks weird (that's but one example) and you can't add on any missing extensions or plug-ins. However, you can do most of the things you want to do including read news, send and receive email and so on. No support for Flash or HTML5, alas, so no online video.
Bottom line
If you're looking for a dedicated eReader that can do a little more than it's eReading brethren, the NOOK Color is a great bet. If you're looking for a relatively inexpensive device that you can hack and turn in to a capable Android tablet, it's also a great bet.
Our favorite thing about the NOOK Color is that, where other inexpensive tablets often opt for crappy resistive touch screens of the sort that require a stylus or fingernail, the NOOK Color's screen is of the capacitive variety. That makes for a much better touch screen experience.
$249
A capable dedicated eReader
Despite the fact that it doesn't use eInk and hence, reading black text on a white background can tire your eyes, we'd argue it's a worthwhile tradeoff for all but the most devout of book worms. In addition to letting you read books, the bright color screen opens up other reading possibilities including magazines and newspapers in living color.
The Nook Store on the device lets you buy books and in some cases, lend them to other Nook users. You can also load PDFs and read those, which means a whole world of public domain books, like those from Google Books can be read on the device.
The NOOK Color reads its own native eBook format well, as would be expected. More industry standard ePub and PDF files aren't handled as well, but are still perfectly readable.
More than a dedicated eReader
The NOOK Color runs a heavily skinned and modified version of Android. It's perfect for less savvy users in that it's easy to use and logical. It's highly hackable too, if you want to run an unadulterated version of Android and are comfortable rooting the device. We'll deal with that in a subsequent episode. This time, it's all about the stock NOOK Color.
NOOK Color Library
This is where you'll find all your books, magazines and newspapers. As your collection of books grows, you can also use virtual Shelves. Make shelves for fiction or non-fiction, favorites, study materials, a favorite author or whatever you like.
NOOK Color Shop
Here we browse or search for books. If you're looking for inspiration, tap on Browse and dig in. If you're looking for something specific, type a few keywords into the search bar.
NOOK Color Extras
A nice touch. Here you can find some small apps that make the NOOK Color a little more than just an eReader device. Play chess, Sudoko or do a crossword, listen to music on your device, check out pictures from your device.
NOOK Color Browser
This is where things get really interesting. It's not the most capable browser in the world. It's slow, Gmail looks weird (that's but one example) and you can't add on any missing extensions or plug-ins. However, you can do most of the things you want to do including read news, send and receive email and so on. No support for Flash or HTML5, alas, so no online video.
Bottom line
If you're looking for a dedicated eReader that can do a little more than it's eReading brethren, the NOOK Color is a great bet. If you're looking for a relatively inexpensive device that you can hack and turn in to a capable Android tablet, it's also a great bet.
Our favorite thing about the NOOK Color is that, where other inexpensive tablets often opt for crappy resistive touch screens of the sort that require a stylus or fingernail, the NOOK Color's screen is of the capacitive variety. That makes for a much better touch screen experience.
App of the day
City Maps 2Go - Lite iPhone
Offline map app with one free download out of over 3,100 maps.
