Cheap tablet = Nook Color + Honeycomb?

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lanken123

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I'm looking for a cheap web tablet to replace my netbook. The Nook Color goes for around $300 here in Canada which seems like a much cheaper alternative to big name brands like the Motorola Zoom and BB Playbook.

I'd like some input from those who are currently running honeycomb on there rooted Nook Color.

1) hows the performance? I've check out some online vids and noticed a very very slight lag when swiping to another menu and some choppiness while surfing.

2) hows the battery life? I get around 2 hours of use with my HP mini 310 which is terrible. crossing my fingers for at least 5 hours.

3) How well does flash work? is it strictly youtube or would other flash based video players work such as dailymotion etc?


thanks for the help!
 
While I still haven't been able to afford a NOOKColor, my experience with using ones that belong to friends would say:

1) Honeycomb is going to be "unfinished" on the NOOKColor until Google actually does release the source code, which may not happen for months if even that soon. For now, all Honeycomb builds/ROMs have the same performance issues and they're not going to be resolved until that full sources becomes available.

2) Typical battery life with a decent Android build/ROM (not Honeycomb) on the NOOKColor should give you at least 8-10 hours of usage. If you get SetCPU working properly (some of them come with it preinstalled but you still need to set it up correctly for the device), you should be able to manage 12 hours or more with moderate brightness.

3) With Android 2.2 on the NOOKColor, Flash works as well as expected. It's not "ultrahellasupercoolwickedfast" but it's never like that on any device anyway. :) You can play Flash games without problems, at least in my experience. Stuff like Angry Birds plays just fine full screen without issues.

The NOOKColor is damned tough to beat for the cost, even in Canuckian bucks. :D
 
I ran Phiremod and it worked fine. Honeycomb builds were too slow for my taste.

Another cheap tablet is the Viewsonic G-Tablet which runs a Tegra2 and can be had for ~$300 USD. The screen sucks compared to the Nook, but it is much faster and should be ready for Honeycomb as soon as the source code is released.
 
On the stock rom and nookie froyo you will get 8-10 hours actual use and about a week standby time. When the screen on the nook goes off it goes into a deep sleep and gets wicked battery life. On CM7 it does not go into that deep sleep (Yet, its nearly fixed) but you still get the 8-10 hours with it overclocked. CM7 is much further along than the rest and is FAST. The stock rom is pretty much shit if you dont read a lot on it, its slow as hell.

If you plan on doing any reading this is the obvious choice, the Gtab is a solid option but the screen really is bad. So it all comes down to screen quality and cheap vs speed. Considering the hardware in the Gtab its something to seriously consider.
 
Disposed said:
Not going to happen.
Click to expand...

It will happen in the XDA community...just not as an official Viewsonic update. The Tap n Touch interface is ridiculous anyway along with the gimped market via Handango. TNT Lite is the best thing for that tablet as it is mostly stock without the nonsense and a full market and root access.

That being said, the screen was so terrible I couldn't stand using it. Off to eBay it goes.

I might get another Nook Color. It's obviously slower, but I kind of liked the 7" screen better anyway. Easier to hold.
 
kirbyrj said:
It will happen in the XDA community...just not as an official Viewsonic update. The Tap n Touch interface is ridiculous anyway along with the gimped market via Handango. TNT Lite is the best thing for that tablet as it is mostly stock without the nonsense and a full market and root access.

That being said, the screen was so terrible I couldn't stand using it. Off to eBay it goes.

I might get another Nook Color. It's obviously slower, but I kind of liked the 7" screen better anyway. Easier to hold.
Click to expand...

No they are not releasing hc source code so there will be no good hc roms.
 
Disposed said:
No they are not releasing hc source code anytime soon so there will be no good hc roms.
Click to expand...

There you go, I fixed it for you. :p Google will eventually release the source code.

They are just trying to figure out how to release it so manufacturers don't put it on phones since it's a tablet optimized OS.

What about the Asus Transformer? It's supposedly going to be $400 according to BestBuy and Newegg's leaked product page. It's not as cheap as the Nook Color or Viewsonic's G-Tablet, but it will come with Honeycomb (you can disable the Asus launcher to make it look like the stock HoneyComb according to some people that already have it on xda). It's rumored to come out later this month in USA.

Not cheap as you want, but it's the cheapest Honeycomb tablet so far.
 
Thanks for the input guys, Sorry for not responding sooner. I've checked out some e-retailers and online BST forums and it's pretty difficult to find a NookColor in Canada. I'm thinking I should just wait for the Blackberry Playbook since it seems pretty cool despite the price tag.
 
DKYang said:
There you go, I fixed it for you. :p Google will eventually release the source code.
Click to expand...

Google said they are NOT releasing the HC source code. It is 100% impossible to release the source in a way that manufacturers and hackers cannot put it on a phone.

Do you know what the source code is??
 
Disposed said:
Google said they are NOT releasing the HC source code. It is 100% impossible to release the source in a way that manufacturers and hackers cannot put it on a phone.

Do you know what the source code is??
Click to expand...

http://www.ciol.com/Developer/Opera...-source-Honeycombs-source-code-soon/148563/0/

To put an end to on going coverage in the media, Andy Rubin, VP of engineering wrote a post on the Android Developers blog, which said, "Finally, we continue to be an open source platform and will continue releasing source code when it is ready."
Click to expand...

They will release the Honeycomb source code when they're ready to release it. Not one time has Google ever publicly stated or put out any press release that flat out says "We will never release the Honeycomb source code, ever."

Rubin himself is quoted (not just by that article but by dozens of sources) as saying precisely what's quoted: They'll release it when it's ready, which is going to be sometime soon.

There realistically is no way they can continue to call Android "open source" if they don't release the source code, it's really that simple. And since Rubin himself continues to proclaim that Google will continue to push Android as an open source project, then yes, soon we'll see the Honeycomb source code, and when that's finally out, talented folk over at XDA-Developers will tear into it and create a build for the NOOKColor (several I'm sure, at the bare minimum) and it'll perform wonderfully.

The G-Tablet too, I suspect, and many other devices as well.

Not once has Google stated "you're never getting the source for Honeycomb." All they've stated is that they're holding on to it a bit longer until THEY consider it ready for distribution, and nothing else has ever been stated.

It'll be out soon enough...
 
I just ordered up a Creative Labs Ziio 7" Android 2.1 (2.2 is already out, just have to upgrade it when I get it). I'm getting it mainly to listen to music and watch videos. $269.99.

I think the main problem is that it uses a resistive screen, instead of a capacitive screen. I'm personally fine with that, as a stylus can make surfing the web easier. I use an HP TM2T tablet and I have to pull out the digitizer pen quite a bit for some of my regular sites, as the links can be extremely small. Like HardForum's threads, when they're are a lot of pages.

I was looking at the Viewsonic G Tablet, but decided on the Ziio, cause of the X-Fi capability on it. Music and videos is my main concern first, the rest is just secondary.
 
Damn slow ass Afghanistan connection, causing double posts.
 
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IMO the Nook color is still the tablet to beat as far as bang/buck. I'm still on rooted 1.0.0 B&N firmware.

The wi-fi Galaxy tab is $349 though (came out today). IMO that's the 2nd best bargain.
 
GreenMonkey said:
IMO the Nook color is still the tablet to beat as far as bang/buck. I'm still on rooted 1.0.0 B&N firmware.

The wi-fi Galaxy tab is $349 though (came out today). IMO that's the 2nd best bargain.
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Nah gtab over galaxy tab imo. Screen sucks but then again the screen on the galaxy tab is nothing to write home about.
 
Disposed said:
Nah gtab over galaxy tab imo. Screen sucks but then again the screen on the galaxy tab is nothing to write home about.
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That's saying something because the screen was so bad on the Gtab, I got rid of it. I thought the Nook was great, I should have kept that.
 
Im typing this on my nookcolor with CyanogenMod7 Final on it. Seriously its the best @$250 bucks I've ever spent. I get 12hrs of actual usage, its fast, play videos, YouTube, read kindle/nook/Google ebooks on it everynight and the screen is as good as my HTC Thunderbolt.

There is seriously nothing wrong, no down side to the NC at all. Friend has the gTablet and the screen is horrifyingly bad on that, how could someone sign off on using that screen. He hates it but it was free, so he doesn't complain ha.
 
Does the nook use a resistive or capacitive screen? For me stylus > fingers, when it comes to surfing the web.
 
Tahoe916 said:
Im typing this on my nookcolor with CyanogenMod7 Final on it. Seriously its the best @$250 bucks I've ever spent. I get 12hrs of actual usage, its fast, play videos, YouTube, read kindle/nook/Google ebooks on it everynight and the screen is as good as my HTC Thunderbolt.

There is seriously nothing wrong, no down side to the NC at all. Friend has the gTablet and the screen is horrifyingly bad on that, how could someone sign off on using that screen. He hates it but it was free, so he doesn't complain ha.
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I find it handy while playing RPGs...easy to go quickly look something up on the internet while you're playing. It's basically become my quick internet device around the house.

I tried to put D. Simpson's multi-hundred page Baldur's Gate 2 GameFAQ on it though and it choked under OpenOffice. Need to find an app that does better. It worked decently on DolphinHD (but harder to search for stuff).
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitive_stylus

It's been fast enough for me, but so far I've just used it to watch videos, listen to music, and read some ebooks. At the stock clock of 800Mhz on Froyo it can be a little sluggish transitioning(it's jerky, doesn't seem to slow things down, just looks like it skips frames). I usually overclock it to 1Ghz - 1.2Ghz and then it's great. Haven't tried out CM7 yet. Going to wait until it's done to put it on, but I expect that will speed things up more.
 
krotch said:
Except the fact that a stylus doesn't work on a capacitive screen.
Click to expand...

Except they make capacitive capable stylus(es? i? what is the plural?). They're not as accurate, but that's not the stylus or even the technology's fault, but the resolution and responsiveness of the touch screen. Since most capacitive screens are made for a finger, a low res "touch area" is all that's needed. So a precise stylus won't work.

Just google "iPad Stylus".

Poster above beat me to it... :( :D
 
I didn't even know there was capacitive styli now. Maybe I'll grab one and test it out on my phone.
 
co-worker has a nookColor w honeycomb running off an SD card.

Gingerbeard runs smoother IMO. I noticed a lot of app crashes on his honeycomb install and gingerbread just seems to be running with more stability.
 
As noted, the issue with Honeycomb builds on the NOOKColor is caused by the developers of the builds not having the full source code. They're basically porting ROMs from other current Honeycomb devices (from the factory) and making adjustments on those builds to get them functional on the NOOKColor, so it's completely expected that the performance will never be able to match the other builds with Gingerbread and Froyo since the source for those versions has been available for a long time now.

Once Google does release the Honeycomb source - I'd say within the next 45-60 days most likely - we'll see proper Honeycomb builds appear for all devices including the NOOKColor (even in spite of it not being an optimal device for Honeycomb which really does look and work best on a display that's at least 1280 pixels wide) that will perform significantly better.

There's nothing wrong with the Gingerbread builds at this point, they work fantastic, especially the CyanogenMod 7 ones that just appeared in the past 2 days or so, with exceptional battery life too.
 
If you want a cheapish tablet, get the wifi galaxy tab. For the incremental $100 over the Nook Color, it's vastly superior in every way. I had them both (along with the viewsonic gtab). I think the galaxy tab is the best of all of them.

The Nook Color's screen is nice, but it's painfully, painfully slow compared to the galaxy tab.
 
verylostindeed said:
If you want a cheapish tablet, get the wifi galaxy tab. For the incremental $100 over the Nook Color, it's vastly superior in every way. I had them both (along with the viewsonic gtab). I think the galaxy tab is the best of all of them.

The Nook Color's screen is nice, but it's painfully, painfully slow compared to the galaxy tab.
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Its only superior to the nook stock. Rooted with an overclock and CM7 and the nook is better in just about every way. Speed is about the same with the nook overclocked. The big difference is the screen, had samsung used the super amoleds instead of a generic screen in the tab it would be different but the IPS display on the nook is so much better.
 
Disposed said:
Its only superior to the nook stock. Rooted with an overclock and CM7 and the nook is better in just about every way. Speed is about the same with the nook overclocked. The big difference is the screen, had samsung used the super amoleds instead of a generic screen in the tab it would be different but the IPS display on the nook is so much better.
Click to expand...

First off, the galaxy tab's screen is IPS as well. Second, no, really -- they're not even remotely close in speed, regardless of what rom/overlocking you're doing to the Nook. Don't get me wrong, the Nook is a fine device, but if you honestly think it's as fast as the tab (particularly when you overclock the tab as well), I don't know what to say. Use them both side by side (as I have repeatedly). The tab is much, much, much faster.
 
I don't know how it could run THAT much different seeing as they are both Cortex A8 processors with PowerVR SGX GPU's (530 in Nook vs. 540 in Tab). If anything, the physical buttons on the Tab would be nice, but I don't know if buttons and a slightly better graphics processor are worth $100.

If the Tab came in around $250, I'd buy it over the Nook, but not at $350.
 
kirbyrj said:
I don't know how it could run THAT much different seeing as they are both Cortex A8 processors with PowerVR SGX GPU's (530 in Nook vs. 540 in Tab). If anything, the physical buttons on the Tab would be nice, but I don't know if buttons and a slightly better graphics processor are worth $100.

If the Tab came in around $250, I'd buy it over the Nook, but not at $350.
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Dunno what to tell you, but it does. And it's not like -- "oh, hey, the Tab is noticeably faster." It's more like: "You're kidding me by comparing these, right?" That was my experience, anyway. I tried the three devices -- galaxy tab, gtab, and nook color -- all at the same time to compare. The gtab was the fastest, but I wasn't crazy about the size, honestly, and the deal-breaker was the awful screen. I like the size and price of the Nook, but the horrific speed (plus lack of android buttons) was the deal-breaker there. So I ended up with the galaxy tab, which fits somewhere in between those two.
 
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verylostindeed said:
Dunno what to tell you, but it does. And it's not like -- "oh, hey, the Tab is noticeably faster." It's more like: "You're kidding me by comparing these, right?" That was my experience, anyway. I tried the three devices -- galaxy tab, gtab, and nook color -- all at the same time to compare. The gtab was the fastest, but I wasn't crazy about the size, honestly, and the deal-breaker was the awful screen. I like the size and price of the Nook, but the horrific speed (plus lack of android buttons) was the deal-breaker there. So I ended up with the galaxy tab, which fits somewhere in between those two.
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I had a Nook and a Gtab. The Gtab was much faster, but the screen killed it (and I kind of like the 7" size over the 10"). If the Galaxy tab came in at less than the price of the Gtab for a Wifi only model, I'd buy it. But the pricing is hard to justify, for me anyway.
 
kirbyrj said:
I had a Nook and a Gtab. The Gtab was much faster, but the screen killed it (and I kind of like the 7" size over the 10"). If the Galaxy tab came in at less than the price of the Gtab for a Wifi only model, I'd buy it. But the pricing is hard to justify, for me anyway.
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Hey, if the Nook gets the job done for you, that's great. Like I said, I'm not knocking it or anything. I agree that the galaxy tab has been overpriced egregiously in the past. $350 is closer to a better deal, but at this point given the competition out there, it should be cheaper still.
 
verylostindeed said:
First off, the galaxy tab's screen is IPS as well. Second, no, really -- they're not even remotely close in speed, regardless of what rom/overlocking you're doing to the Nook. Don't get me wrong, the Nook is a fine device, but if you honestly think it's as fast as the tab (particularly when you overclock the tab as well), I don't know what to say. Use them both side by side (as I have repeatedly). The tab is much, much, much faster.
Click to expand...

Stock Nook comes with Android 2.1. Stock tab comes with 2.2. Google added a JIT in 2.2, which had a *huge* impact on performance. Running a Froyo or Gingerbread ROM on the Nook does wonders for performance.

Joe Average said:
As noted, the issue with Honeycomb builds on the NOOKColor is caused by the developers of the builds not having the full source code. They're basically porting ROMs from other current Honeycomb devices (from the factory) and making adjustments on those builds to get them functional on the NOOKColor, so it's completely expected that the performance will never be able to match the other builds with Gingerbread and Froyo since the source for those versions has been available for a long time now.
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It's actually even worse than that. They are taking the *emulator* image from the SDK and booting that on the NC. Which means no hardware acceleration, general/old ARM code (no NEON), etc...

Disposed said:
On the stock rom and nookie froyo you will get 8-10 hours actual use and about a week standby time. When the screen on the nook goes off it goes into a deep sleep and gets wicked battery life.
Click to expand...

Much longer than a week of standby, actually. I left my in standby for about a month and battery life only went down by ~5%. It'll last a *looooong* time in standby.
 
verylostindeed said:
First off, the galaxy tab's screen is IPS as well.
Click to expand...

Wrong, its a basic run of the mill TFT lcd. What gave you the idea its an IPS?

verylostindeed said:
Second, no, really -- they're not even remotely close in speed, regardless of what rom/overlocking you're doing to the Nook. Don't get me wrong, the Nook is a fine device, but if you honestly think it's as fast as the tab (particularly when you overclock the tab as well), I don't know what to say. Use them both side by side (as I have repeatedly). The tab is much, much, much faster.
Click to expand...

You didnt have your nook set up right or something because i have used them side by side and overclocked with CM7 the nook is faster.
 
Disposed said:
Wrong, its a basic run of the mill TFT lcd. What gave you the idea its an IPS
Click to expand...

Yes. The Galaxy LCD is pretty decent - but it's not IPS. That's why I think the Nook is the low cost device to beat. Screen matters A LOT in a tablet IMO
 
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verylostindeed said:
I tried the three devices -- galaxy tab, gtab, and nook color -- all at the same time to compare..
Click to expand...

You tried all three devices at the same time and couldn't tell a difference between the Galaxy Tab screen and the Nook Color screen?

I'm calling either B.S. or you got a REALLY crappy Nook Color.
 
there are two ads I noticed on Craigslist, one for $150 and one for $175, I assume these are really good prices for these things and I am very interested in buying at either price. My only concern is I highly doubt either one will include the original purchase receipt, so will that mean no warranty? Or do they do things by serial #?
 
BETA. said:
there are two ads I noticed on Craigslist, one for $150 and one for $175, I assume these are really good prices for these things and I am very interested in buying at either price. My only concern is I highly doubt either one will include the original purchase receipt, so will that mean no warranty? Or do they do things by serial #?
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Its a one year warranty anyway. If the device works i would jump on it. $150 is a steal.
 
krotch said:
I didn't even know there was capacitive styli now. Maybe I'll grab one and test it out on my phone.
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Ones that's I've tried for the iPhone/iPad tend to work pretty well for a capacitive sausage, the ones I've tried all sucked on my Tablet PCs, not that I really needed them on a digital pen enabled TPC, just tried out of curiosity.
 
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