Ah…
Another opportunity to tinker and delve into the Android world of Administrative Privileges. I’m not the first here to write about this; we have the posts and pics to prove it.
I consider myself an experienced, uh, rooter.
HTC Hero and EVO have received Matrix-like awakenings at my hands. Why? Well, there is an element of “just because I can” in my tech engraved heart. I like to customize, and I like to increase my options. Rooting is not just a hobby for me; it is something I need to do.
My latest project was more noble. If I am going to be honest (and I know I’ll be forced to give up my techie card with this admission), I am a bit bearish on tablets. I like em fine, but I consider them a tab overpriced, and not as mobile as I would like. The seem to be novelty items that are hard to justify. They are pricey toys.
In other words, I really, really want one. But… we are back to price. I’d love an iPad. The size doesn’t bother me, and if I am going to be honest, I doubt that I I would need it out of the house. I’d have apps that would increase my productivity. But then, the scary entity euphemistically known as iTunes would be inadvertently allowed back into my life. And price.
Despite my love of Android devices, I am not completely sold on Honeycomb, and I also figure that use of Android apps across devices is still not smooth. And, we still have price.
The BB Playbook truly, truly intrigues. I love the specs, and love BBX/QNX, but the dismal app library kills the vibe.
Oh yeah… and price.
So, I had a major problem.
I would love to get a tablet, but I was being cheap and I failed epically to land an HP Touchpad. I tried to satiate my need with a budget Android tablet from Archos, but my fingers still hurt from that horrible experience.
And then, on horseback, galloping in to save me from my techno-doldrums, was Barnes and Noble.
When B&N released the Nook Color, they inadvertently created a budget tablet monster that opened up a world of pseudo-tabs to people scarred by the Archos like me. The original Nook Color was meant to be a souped-up e-reader with web browsing functionality that happened to have Android as the base OS. Of course, in the hands of the Android Development community, the Nook Color quickly shed the reader label and became a lean, mean tablet machine.
Out of the box, the Nook Color is no slouch. It comes with wi-fi connectivity, a decent browser, an okay processor, expandable memory and even a suite of overpriced (IMHO) apps. For most people, the Nook Color is great as-is. The price ($199) is not bad, and the refurbs are dirt cheap.
So why root?
Well, for one, to be cool. My wife wanted it rooted, and I wanted to flex my techno muscle.
But more importantly, rooting allowed one to add most of the full power of the Android ecosystem. You really want to get the Android Market, as there is so much that is opened up beyond B&N’s limited library of applications. Amazon Music, Titanium Backup, launchers, word processors, App 2 SD… yes… Rooting even activates the limited bluetooth functionality on the Nook.
There are two fairly quick ways to get the Android Market. You can load a third party ROM onto an SD card and dual boot, which could be likened to multibooting Windows and ubuntu. You don’t gain administrative rights, and you don’t deal with losing warranty.
The other option, especially tailored to Rambo Geeks, is to root, which gets “S” off (unlocked NAND). Of course, it was option for me. I researched it tirelessly, got an SD card and loaded the rooting programs and images onto the SD card. It was a bit more involved than any other rooting process I had initiated previously on other devices. After about an hour of obsessive reading three guides simultaneously, the Nook Color was rooted!
Of course, after loading the Android Market, the first app loaded was, well, Angry Birds.
Yep. There is something about flinging avian projectiles on a 7-inch screen. In short order, Pandora, YouVersion, Dropbox, Swype and more were up and running. Books for kids, learning aids and Netflix found a home on the newly-minted tablet.
And then, disaster struck.
The NC started the feared boot loop, when a device never finished booting and gets stuck on the splash screen. Fortunately, I had kept the root files, and reloaded them to SD card. After factory resetting the device, I re-rooted it again, and killed the auto-update for Flash.
The device has been flawless since.
All in all, my wife is happy with her device. It is the perfect bridge device. She feels blessed to have it, and for such a low, low cost. As for me, I think there is a perverse joy to be had from using the Kindle app on a Nook device, but I find pleasure in simple things.
Now… was that an Amazon Fire I saw, or was it a Nook Color II?
I need rehab…
[…] shown enviable discipline in saving enough money to purchase one outright. But, after checking out her mom’s Nook Color and weighing the additional costs of purchasing games in addition to the device itself, she […]