The tablet market really hasn’t interested me to this point. But lately, I’ve started thinking a small “on immediately” device for browsing and reading in general would be nice. A stop at Best Buy revealed no shortage of options to select from; which was a surprise to me. My impressions from what I noted online was the options were pretty slim. I was clearly mistaken in the shear number sense. Although I wasn’t wrong in the cost sense- I think the least expensive tablet I looked at was $300+. A bit more than I’m willing to pay for how I see it being used.
Which brings me to the other tablet I looked at, the Nook Color. Overall, I had a very favorable impression. The interface was simple enough that in the short time I played with it at the demo counter, I felt pretty comfortable using it. Unlike a number of the other tablets I tried, there were no “hiccups” like trying to launch an app and nothing happening, or getting confused by the navigation buttons. The Nook a single hardware button a la the iPad/iPhone/iPod, and then a soft button that dead center on the screen just above that button. Using those two buttons, moving around is easy to figure out.
It had a nice heft to it and fit comfortably in my hand. I was a little surprised that it weighs under a pound, but that’s probably a good thing. The other thing I was pleasantly surprised by was the utility of the 7″ screen. Not having done any in-person research previously, I’d just assumed that the conventional wisdom about 7″ displays (too small) was correct. Having actually played with the Nook Color now, I’d say that assessment is incorrect. I had no trouble reading the display (even with small font sizes) with the device at arm’s length. The Color’s picture quality was excellent as well.
My only criticism would be there was a general sluggish feel to the operation, particularly the browser. The fella behind the counter felt the problem was the WiFi at the store. I’m not so sure about that assessment.
At $200, the Color was by far the best buy I saw out there for tablets. That said, I didn’t get one for the obvious reason- the Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet are yet to come out. If the Tablet is just a faster version of the Color, and based on the specs that seems likely, it just might be worth the extra $50. But I won’t know that until I get a chance to play with it.