So what's up with this tablet euphoria? Since the iPad, everyone is saying we are in the tablet era. Maybe most of who are saying it do not know that tablets have a long history. Anyway, it is good to see that a new gadget started quite a big revolution. I always considered myself not a tablet type guy. When the iPad came out I predicted a short life and no much interested to be generated. But maybe I just didn't count with how Apple promote their products.
With the way Android is doing, it was just a matter of time before we were flooded with many tablets running the Google OS. Maybe the most equipped of all those tablets is the Sammy Galaxy Tab. Getting one of those will take between $200 and$ 600 out of your pocket and a 2 year contract. For example, US Cellular offers the Tab for $200 but you need to pay $60 per month for 2 years. Are you willing to pay for another plan besides your cellphone? Why not just getting the Tab and use your mobile to tether and get internet in your tablet? In other cases like Verizon you need to pay $500 and you can optionally pay monthly for data usage. Bottom line, it takes some cash to have a Galaxy Tab. And on top of that we need to consider that Android is still not optimized for tablets. If we want an Android version optimized for tablets, we need to wait for the Motorola Tablet, Xoom maybe the name, to be released around March and sporting an Android 3.0 version. If what Andy Rubin showed in Dive Into Mobile is what we will get then I am willing to spend what the Tab costs right now.
So do we have any other option if we want an Android tablet? Yes, we have Archos tablets, the Viewsonic G Tablet and if we are willing to get our hands dirty, we have the Nook Color. I was in the market for an eReader and about to get a Kindle 3rd generation. From my point of view, the Kindle is the best eReader out there. But if you want to get something more than a reader then consider the Nook Color. What do we get with it? Well, Barnes and Noble has done a great job with the second generation of their eReader. The first thing you will notice will be the 7in screen with a 1024 x 600 resolution. Sounds fancy but is it that good? It is. It has the iPad resolution in a smaller screen which results in a higher pixel density (169 ppi). It also feels good in hand and built with high quality materials. By no means it is light but it is not as heavy as it looks. It is also thinner than the Galaxy Tab.
What do you need it to make it a real tablet? Well, as with any iOS and/or Android device you need to jailbreak/root it to get the most out of it. But do not be afraid. The process is really really simple. Maybe not as much as the Unrevoked one click root but still fairly simple. Basically you download a boot image that you will put into a SD card and use it to boot your NC. The only downside of the process is that while rooting the device, you do not have any feedback on the progress. You get kind of nervous when your brand new NC has a black screen for more than 2 minutes. But after it boots up, you get your reward.
The best thing about rooting your NC is that you do not lose any of the B&N software. Every application is there and if you like the homescreen that comes by default then you can still keep it. If you also want to install an alternative launcher like ADW of LauncherPro you can do it and then switch between the stock launcher and the one you installed. Maybe the biggest limitation you will find is the lack of physical keys. You do not have the regular 4 keys to navigate through the Android OS. This is greatly worked around by an application called Softkeys. It takes some time to get used to it and it is also buggier than you would like it to be. But if you are not a picky user then you will be fine.
The performance after rooting is somehow inconsistent. Some times it is really snappy but other times it has some problems handling some applications. Users who have rooted their NC have also noticed that after the root, it may reboot on itself while sleeping. I have seen this twice with my NC. I think all of these inconsistencies will be over once a custom ROM is released for it. We just need to be patient for someone to release it. I personally would love to see CyanogenMod running on this device but I guess it will not be soon. The CM team has been really busy with the Gingerbread release and all the devices that they support.
I have been using my NC for two weeks mainly for Google Books, Google Reader, Twitter, Last.fm and Gmail. I could not be happier. It is great to have a bigger screen (when compared to my Nexus One) to read on but at the same time portable enough to get it around the house. As a reader it behaves great and as a tablet you can install whatever Android app you can think about. That is my next point. Somehow I thought that its graphic processing power will not stand up for the big tasks. That opinion changed once I installed Dungeon Defenders: First Wave. This game was released on Dec 23 for Android devices. I loved the game. Graphically speaking it looks great and it is using the Unreal engine. However, the game has some minimum requirements to run. Two days ago I played it with a friend. He has a Sammy Epic and I can tell you there were some differences between the performance seen in the Nexus One and the one seen in the Epic. It runs much smoother on the Nexus. Maybe it is because of the GPU included in the Hummingbird processor. I decided to install the game on my NC to enjoy playing on a bigger screen. I can tell you that it works great. The performance is really good and the graphics look awesome.
Answering to the post title, is it any good as an Android Tablet? It is. For $250 it is the best Android tablet you can get and once we get a custom rom running on it this device will definitely rock.
No comments:
Post a Comment