Barnes & Noble NOOK Color 8GB, Wi-Fi, 7in - Black

I'm a big fan of Adobe's e-ink technology. In a lot of ways, I find it superior to any LCD display. But I gave my first eReader, the Barnes & Noble Nook, to my girlfriend & took the plunge & got a NookColor. I got to try one first at my local Barnes & Noble so I had an idea of what to expect. But trying a demo in the store is very different to actually owning one & having it with you daily. I've had it for over a month now and so far it has exceeded expectations!
So, yes, the screen is VERY different to an e-ink display. Just understand this and let's move on. I've heard a lot about glare in sunlight. First of all you should not have ANY electronics exposed to direct sunlight for long periods of time. The NookColor is very hard to read in direct sunlight and because it is encased in a dark graphite shell it gets VERY hot after a few minutes. When I realized this, I promptly found a TINY bit of shade. Problem solved. The screen was much more legible and I didn't feel like I was cooking it in my hands. The original Nook being a white device didn't have this problem as quickly but it eventually did get too hot to handle.
The responsiveness is not quite as smooth as an iPad, but at this point I am just nitpicking. I never found myself being annoyed because the screen lagged 0.000001 seconds more than an iPad. And the lag is only occasional. 90% of the time it's super smooth.
So, it's an eReader. Yes. But I find myself using the internet on it a great deal. The browser is very fast I've tried it at home, Starbucks, B&N and have had excellent connection. In fact I canceled my internet data plan on my phone and almost exclusively use my NookColor for web browsing on the go. (that's an extra $20 a month I can now put in my pocket, Thanks NookColor!)
FLASH player is not yet available but I heard that they are upgrading the software to accommodate FLASH websites. When this happens, it is going to have a major competitive advantage over the iPad.
I am not much of a magazine reader, but I LOVE reading magazines on this thing. The subscriptions are cheap and the magazines aren't in a box cluttering my garage. The photos are crisp and bright for the most part. I found that Newsweek for some reason isn't as HiRes as other magazines but it downloads faster so perhaps that is the reason.
The music player is great for my commute. I was able to import my entire iTunes library to it. I was not so successful with T.V. shows. A lot of the videos on iTunes are copy protected so I am not able to convert them into MP4s so I can watch on my NookColor. If anyone has any advice let me know ;)
I couldn't copy my iTunes T.V. shows but I was able to convert my DVDs at home, put them on a Micro SD card and stick it in my NookColor. Now I have 4 of my favorite movies ready to go on my next plane flight.
I feel like I should write a new review once the update gets released. At that point the NC will be more of a tablet and less of a reader. All in all, it is a good eReader, GREAT tablet, and a handy web browser to carry around the house or leave at your coffee table for quick reference.
Last but not least, I should point out that I am not a techno geek. There is a WEALTH of information on the internet about how to get the most out of your NookColor. Barnes & Noble's website and in-store support taught me a lot about how to use this thing.

The NookColor is a very capable device. It supports flash so you can watch netflix and youtube as well as read books, magazines, newspapers and play games. The size of the device is perfect to carry with you anywhere although it is slightly heavier then many of the same size devices I've held however that makes it feel very solid. The only problem that I've had with the device is the B&N charger is very easy to break and it is a well known problem with NookColors, it's almost gauranteed you will either have to buy a new charger at some point or use a cell phone wall charger although that takes longer to charge. There's various support sites available to help you get the most out of your NookColor and it's an over all solid device and a value for the money.

First of all, if you want to buy the Nook Color as an eBook reader only, you need to be living within USA. Activating the B&N account to buy form their library is only available within USA despite what the website might say. I live outside USA and I couldn’t activate the device in any way. But of course you still load your books manually to the device and read them unlike the famous Amazon Kindle.

But I still bought the device 'cause it's the cheapest "GOOD" full Android tab existing with high specs (high resolution, capacitive touch, 800MHz processor, motion sensor, etc.) and the device lives up to the high standards. I also liked its small (7") size of it as opposed to other (10") devices.

To summarize the pros and cons about it:

+ Low Price
+ High Resolution Screen
+ Fast Enough Processor
+ Motion Sensor Included
+ Capacitive Touch Screen
+ Developer Support ;-)
+ Arabic Support (in some mod ROMs)

- No GPU
- No 3G
- No GPS
- No Standard Buttons
- No Cameras (Both Front or Back)
- No Mic
- Build Quality (has some issues)
- No Full Functional Market
- Tiny WiFi issue
- The Nook (B&N Account) Activation Process

OS:

The device was among the first to have a taste of the new OS (Android 3.0) but as a review OS with some features missing.

The default OS is completely customized to do certain "few" functions only; thanks to some devs, the full Andorid OS (2.3) can be installed as a temporary solution on an SD card to keep the original OS, or as a default OS; and there a support for Arabic language.

Let-Downs:

It won't run most of the heavy games as it lacks a GPU, but the device can run almost all other games. Other things missing like mic and camera (for video chatting), standard buttons (instead there are soft buttons on the screen that are displayed all the time), GPS (not really required), BT (but it was activated on CyanoGen Mod 7 ROMs), 3G (WiFi can do the job indoor), light sensor (to auto adjust the brightness), etc.

Moreover, despite the Android App Market was installed, it didn't show all "FREE" applications for some reasons; most of the popular applications are not available; to install an application like Flash 10, I had to search through Google on all free file-hosting websites for the latest version of the application and download it to the device manually to install it; this works fine but it requires some times and effort, the full functional market would help a lot.

Another issue I noticed (although rarely happen) is that the WiFi sometimes connect to my router but not to the internet and I had to restart the device to re-connect successfully; this occurred in both original OS and a mod ROM.

Build Quality:

The design of the nook color is majestic, the colors are splendid and the back has a rubber like material. That’s being said, there are few let-downs on the design and build quality. The back cover feels a little bit wiggly on one side; the volume and power buttons are also wiggly and do not stand out, you need some times to feel them before you press them; the screen is very reflective and finger-print magnet, you need a screen protector; the micro USB and audio output are a bit loose, moving the cables accidently will cause them to unplug and plug-in again interrupting the data transfer; and finally, there is that wasted space under the screen that contains only one button, although the area can contain all the Android standard buttons.

Even though its just under a pound, you wouldn't think such a think and small device would actually be that heavy; not of a buzz kill for the product, but similar devices are noticeably lighter such as my blackberry playbook.

The OS is really limited and the browsing of the app market is horrible, but for the value, its bar the best bargain if you are looking for a simple color tablet/ereader. The display is very nice for such a cheap device and very bright! I like the expandable microSD card slot so that's a plus, but the bad speaker placement is what throws me off if you are looking to watch videos and other media without headphones. Sound quality is very lacking and I think my playbook does this best out of all tablets on the market.

Overall I like the product but this is my first purchase of a "tablet" like product. However there are two things I do not like. One, of the available 5G of user storage has only 1G is available for your personal download use. The other 4G is available for only your purchases made from B&N. If it were not for the fact you can add up to 32G of additional storage via a micro flash drive I would have returned it. Th other issue is the proprietary usb cable. For charging you have to use that cable and the cost is $15 for the cable or $25 for the cable and a wall or car charger. A normal USB cable will NOT work. I thought this was a poor excuse for the company to get extra $$. I do like the fact there are no advertisements. Also, the battery life is ok. It seems to last a few days with minimal use or a day with fairly heavy use.