It's too bad that the Nook HD+ isn't selling better. The quality of the product doesn't belie the sales, in my opinion.
I really don't think that any tablets are that great of a value. In the end, people usually play some games on them, surf the web a bit and maybe, do some reading. For an additional $500-700 for an around 10" tablet on top of what you might have paid for a laptop or desktop computer, I'm not sure that is a good deal.
Don't get me wrong. I used my Nexus 10 quite a bit. But, it was always kind of annoying that when I wanted to do any real digital work (even considering the really good Zagg bluetooth keyboard that I bought), I'd default to a laptop to get that work done. It seemed to me that for $500 I should be able to do whatever I need with that device. And, don't get me wrong, I'm not really complaining about the hardware or the idea of a tablet, it's more the price point of the tablet that goads me on.
That issue doesn't exist with the Nook HD+. This is an almost high-end tablet for a low end price. At $270 for the 9" tablet, it really hits the spot of "value."
The Nook HD+ tablet is obviously intended as a reader tablet, not as a computer tablet. Not saying that it can't do some computing functions, but, ergonomically with size, weight and screen, it's great as a reading device and a little sluggish with other tasks.
It has good specs other than the processor (which, when you're just running the Nook version of Android, is quite good).
Nook HD+ Specs either 16 or 32GB onboard memory versions:
- 9" screen (you really can't tell that it's .1" larger than the Kindle Fire HD)
- 1920 x 1280 that yields 256PPI
- 515 grams
- Height: 240.3 mm
- Width: 162.8 mm
- Depth: 11.4 mm
- 1.5 GHz OMAP 4470 Dual-Core Processor
MicroSD card slot (the site says up to 32GB, but, folks are plugging in 64GB cards as well)
What's it missing?
No cameras. So, it's not about taking pictures or steaming video, etc.
Updates. It depends upon Barnes & Noble. And, since that, in and of itself, is in question, it's hard to say what will happen with improvements.
Apps. This is rough. There aren't many apps, and the ones that are on the BN appstore all, for the most part, cost money...even ones that are free on iOS or Android. That's a real bummer. And, again, with the fuzzy future of BN and the Nook group, I'd be willing to bet that developers aren't going to sink a lot of time into development for new apps, conversion, etc.
So, what's the bottom line? This is a really good tablet and a really good price. If you think that it does all you need right now, with a focus on reading books, magazines and comics, AND you aren't too worried about having every app under the sun, then this is a great buy for you. I would highly recommend it for it's ergonomics, screen quality and the MicroSD expansion slot that's disappearing or entirely gone with other tablets on the market.
However, if you think that your use tends to more computer like usage, I would say you have two options related to the Nook HD: 1) Don't buy it, buy another good reading tablet like the Nexus 10 or Asus Transformer Infinity. 2) Read my next article where I talk about my experience turning the Nook HD+ into a regular Android 4.1x tablet.
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