I recently bought the Barnes & Noble Nook. Since I am constantly studying, reading and doing so much travel, I knew a tablet or some sort of e-reader would be very useful. I have a lot of pdf’s (NIST, DoD regulations, federal policies) so I needed something that would allow me to read those documents. I considered the ipad, ipad2, the Xoom and others but didn’t want to spend more than about $200. When I saw the Nook online with the latest version of Android 3.0 (honeycomb), it was love at first site. The Nook color is $250, it looks great, and most importantly it can be hacked easily. The Nook actually run on top of Android, however Barnes & Nobles puts their own bastardized reader interface over the OS. Barnes & Nobles has an application market and does allow you to read PDFs organize books, shop for discounted books and some other things. The Nook interface does not even come close to the usefulness of Android. Once you install Android, you can use the Android market (which includes the Nook App, btw).

There are two ways to install the Android over the Nook abomination:
1) Install directly to the internal hard drive (voids the warranty)
2) Install onto an sd micro card and boot from the card

For me the best option was to install the Android OS to the sd micro. I first installed Honeycomb but had some issues with the usability of the OS on the Nook. I decided to go for a more stable OS, Android 2.x and it works great!

The install is very easy and literally only takes a few minutes if you do everything right the first time:

Resources you need – nook color, sd card micro (sanDisk – at least 4GB), a computer (in this case a Windows system)

1) Get the following software – WinImage, Installer Image (generic-sdcard), Nook Color CM7 build, Google Apps Pack

2) Install WinImage

3) Format the sd card (use FAT)

4) Burn the Installer Image (generic-sdcard) on to the sd card using the WinImage software

5) Copy Nook Color CM7 (cm_encore_full-XXX.zip) & Google Apps (gapps-gb-XXXX-signed) to the sd Card (do not unzip)

6) Put the sd card in the Nook and turn it on. You will need to turn the system back on after the Installer is complete.

You are done!! Configure your Google apps. enjoy
There are some prerequisites for

nook android 3.0

You can do all of the steps above using Android 3.0 (honeycomb). Android 3.0 was actually the first think I tried. The organization of the OS is beautifully done, however I found some issues with the functionality of the build. The touch screen was sluggish, sometimes the browser would not respond to touch and I had trouble getting the Google Apps on the Nook. Maybe you will have better luck. I may do it when its a little more stable.

Here is a great site to implement Android 3.x on your Nook: http://www.the-ebook-reader.com/nook-color-honeycomb.html

On my search for the most cost effective tablet/e-reader, I found the Nook. You can buy the Nook at Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Office Max, Office Depot, Walmart and of course, online. The best thing about the Nook (aside from the ability to hack the tablet) is that Barnes & Nobles has more than 2 million books. It can also access the Amazon Kindle market.

Beware of this man by the name David Mark a man of 54 he lives in San Jose, has a son by the name sean, he told me he loved me on the first email and that his wife died and was looking for a good woman. He said he was christian, self employed. A week later he tells me that he is going to nigeria with his son to design and build solar energy. three days in nigeria he tells me he has a crisis his son sean is in hospital and he needs money to pay for surgery. i already suspected something was wrong with this guy he insisted i was his soul mate and he loved me. I didn’t send him any money and he started calling me names and saying i was selfish because i didn’t help him. ladies be careful of davidmark9022@yahoo.com i met him on WAYN. this guys are ruthless and their english is bad half the time they can’t make out what you are saying.

The Nook is an e-reader (also known as an electronic book or tablet) from Barnes & Noble. It is a computer that uses the Android operating system. It has on board internal flash memory, accepts microSD flash memory cards, rechargeable, and replaceable lithium-ion polymer batteries. The screen and connectivity depend on the type of device:

-Nook Wifi
-Nook Color
-Nook Simple Touch

Nook Review

There are many types of ebook readers. If you are wondering where the Nook ranks among its peers, you’ll find it is top 10 in many of the most respected tech sites:
6th on ZD Net Top 10 tablets
4 out of 5 stars from CNET’s review of only 5 Android based tablets deemed the best
2nd among 5 Top e-Readers on PCWorld

The Nook is definitely not the most powerful e-reader on the market, but is arguably the best for the price you pay.

a nook

for everyone!! So far, I love the Nook. I take it everywhere.

If you didn’t know, you can also hack

the Nook Color

without voiding the warranty!! Basically, you put and Android image on an sd Card and boot the nook from the card. This allows you to go beyond the limited Nook app market that has just started and get full access to the Android App market on your Nook Color. The Android app market is set to become the largest in the world (2011). You can still use the Nook Color App once you are on Android. Its a Nook Reader app that has the same features as the default Nook application that the Nook Color comes with.

more on how to boot into Android on the nook color.

nook ebooks

Nook allows you to read pdfs gives access to discounted Barnes & Nobles ebooks as well as Kindle and google ebooks. This puts literally millions of ebooks within your reach. These days I only go into book stores and libraries to see what ebooks I should get for my Nook. Publishing has changed forever.