Barnes & Noble Nook HD Review
Looking for a tablet and you don't know which one to choose? Well, it's understandable you're a little puzzled, given the many options you have nowadays. However, even though the market is flooded with plenty of models you don't quite understand too much about, no one said that there's no more room for another player. In this regard, the Barnes & Noble Nook HD is one of the most reliable and highest regarded tablets you'll ever use and this is not only due to its internals, but also because of its overall design, portability and features. Let's take a closer look in our Barnes & Noble Nook HD Review belowto see what this bad boy can do so that you understand why this is the number one tablet you should get.
Design
When you glance at the Nook HD one of the first things you notice is the fact it was designed to be held. Even though it might sound like a rather obvious property of any tablet, the subtle ridge on the back and the tactile rubberized finish mean it offer you great comfort when holding it and also plenty of grip so you don't accidentally find it slipping from your hands.
The company producing the tablet didn't seem to be for an edge to edge glass on the front for this particular model. Instead, they retained the bezel coming in a grey plastic which seems rather classy. The idea behind this design is to get a better grip on the tablet when you're on the move with it, without turning the pages by accident or leaving finger smears around the edges.
Design
When you glance at the Nook HD one of the first things you notice is the fact it was designed to be held. Even though it might sound like a rather obvious property of any tablet, the subtle ridge on the back and the tactile rubberized finish mean it offer you great comfort when holding it and also plenty of grip so you don't accidentally find it slipping from your hands.
The company producing the tablet didn't seem to be for an edge to edge glass on the front for this particular model. Instead, they retained the bezel coming in a grey plastic which seems rather classy. The idea behind this design is to get a better grip on the tablet when you're on the move with it, without turning the pages by accident or leaving finger smears around the edges.
Operating system
Because the tablet is aimed at competing with other similar tablets on the marketing, more importantly the iPad and the Nexus 7, Barnes & Noble had to step the game up in regards to their software offering. First of all there's a new app called the Nook Video for movies and this means that not only will you be able to read your favorite eBooks with this amazing device, but you'll also manage to delight yourself with crystal clear movie playback.
Not only that, but there are over 3 million apps, magazines and eBooks that you can download at any time to satisfy your thirst for information. The operating system is Android's Icecream Sandwich version 4.0 and it seems that Barnes & Noble have made plenty of changes in order to make this tablet stand on its own. Now you will be able to take advantage of tabbed browsing, which was something many users wanted to see. On top of that setting Nook profiles now is very simple and easy.
Product Specs
Barnes & Noble didn't wander too far with this model, but they went so far as to make it the best 7 inch model on the market in terms of display and they even stated this in one of their interviews. The Nook HD comes with a screen resolution of 1440 by 900 pixels, weighing only 11 oz and being just 11 thick. The viewing angles are excellent and the screen is crisp, vibrant and bright, allowing you to revel in a concert of very vivid looking media.
All of the tablet's power is offered by the 1.3 GHz dual core T1 OMAP 4 CPU, which is backed up by 1 GB of RAM, enough to allow for a smooth and seamless experience regardless of what you choose to do with your Nook HD tablet. In terms of storage, you can choose between 8 and 16 GB of memory, but with a memory expansion slot, the initial amount of space and be increased a few times more.
The display packs 243 pixels per inch and it supports 720p video playback. In terms of weight, you'll find this is the lightest tablet you can find, weighing just 315 grams, while at the same time being 127 millimeters in width. Because of these numbers, you're going to find that carrying your Nook HD with you is very easy and you won't get sore hands even after using it for prolonged periods of time. The micro USB port has been dropped, but instead you get a 30 pin connector found at the bottom of the tablet which can also be used as an HDMI out port, too. The volume button is placed on the right topside, while the power is on the left top side of the tablet.
Performance
As you've seen from the specs above, this tablet can handle a lot and there isn't basically anything that you'd want to throw at it and find it choking on that. Be it games, multiple tabs opened in your favorite browser, HD video playback and more, you will always get that same smooth experience with the B&N HD tablet. Being very portable and lightweight, it'll feel like having your own personal computer or laptop everywhere you go. There's nothing that can beat that feeling of power reduced to such a small size factor!
Conclusion
With that being said, it's obvious the Nook HD is one of the most potent competitors on the market today to some of the long time praised competitors. It's not only superior in terms of display, internals and size to many of them, but it's backed up by a design which is difficult to compete against!