OK for reading; can't run most Android apps; buggy; klutzy interface

It's OK, but barely so.

The GOOD: Price, form factor, battery life. You can certainly read books!

The BAD: Very slow connectivity, even in my hotsy-totsy wireless environment; Klutzy interface... there is really no notion of "Go back"... it's been replaced by "Start over from scratch". Much of the time, you can't go back to a prior screen.

The DOWNRIGHT UGLY: Its sole purpose is to so unabashedly sell trendy books. movies, and magazines that it smacks you across the face. It's like an auto manufacturer saying, "Hey - it DRIVES. You want AIR CONDITIONING, TOO??"

This is an Android machine... sort-of. There are tens of thousands of Android apps out there, but don't worry none... you can't get most of 'em. You can only get what B&N wants you to have, and that's books, books, books... that they sell... oh, and music and video that they sell. And the occasional app that helps you buy more books, music, and movies that they sell.

Skype? Fuggedaboudit. YouTube [except on the browser]? Silly question. FAA Instrument approach chart / real-time weather apps? Silly boy! CPA Prep courses available on all of Android's other, "real", franchises? I laugh on you! Stanza [app for open source classical literature]? Huh? Nevah hoid ofit.

Then there are the bugs. I'll mention the top 3, to save space.

1) The roulette wheel tap of death... about 5% of the time [a huge number] a tap will take you ANYWHERE you want to go except where you expect. Pretty annoying after you've just typed in a long password for your bank access, and you suddenly get into the MOVIES menu!

2) Highlight hijinks... I'm studying to renew my flight instructor certificate. I laboriously downloaded the FAA Practical Test Guide to my desktop, then schlepped it over as a PDF [you can't do this natively], then tried to highlight. YES - you can highlight. NO - you can't highlight what you WANT. It randomly changes the highlight boundaries AFTER you take your fingers off! I gave up after 10 minutes.

3) Email adventures... I created an email account, downloaded from my server, deleted the junk, went to TRASH, deleted again, then went back to my IN box. The screen strobed 11 times, then all the junk was back in my IN box again! Four tries later, I guessed it was there to stay. This does NOT happen on my desktop, laptop, or iPhone, and it did NOT happen on my old company iPad. So email is largely useless on the Nook.

I "get it" about needing to make money, and I applaud B&N for trying to keep the stockholders happy. I also "get it" that they are historically a bookseller with no real corporate clues about this whole 21st Century thing. But come on, guys - there is a lot of marketing talent out there, and a few recent Wharton MBAs could have fixed you up over lunch! Nobody would accuse Steve Jobs of having shirked the whole money thing, for example. He opened his iPad up to all the apps that wouldn't crash it, and made a gazillion dollars selling iPads anyway!

You see, it's like this... if you LOOK like a smartypants innovator, people LIKE that, and then they don't feel so bad about buying your overpriced music. On the other hand, if you LOOK like a sleazy used car salesman, then the only diehard supporters you'll get are the ones for whom that makes no difference.

Yes, I know... for $200, you don't get phone, camera, magnetometer, aneroid sensor, or other infrastructure needed for some of the snarkiest Android apps. But I think they could have done MUCH, MUCH better!

Good hardware device - a e-reader with a few additional features

I have the 512MB RAM version of tablet and got it for around $150. At this price point this is a very good device.

I was looking for a tablet which is not priced abnormally high (like the iPad) or whose future was questionable (like Blackberry) or who's OS app ecosystem was not working out (many others). Also compared to the Kindle this appeared to be a better device, even though Amazon's marketplace is better and more free stuff -- I prefer a better device anytime.

B&N has some staying power, Android's future looks pretty bright and the Android marketplace has really taken off. So the chance of getting a good Andriod app on the Nook Tablet in due course is a possibility. The possibility is of 'course colored by B&N's capacity to endorse the device's ecosystem wholeheartedly. At this point it appears to me that they are not -- they are in this market because they are compelled to be in it. Amazon has a leg up because Amazon is a technology company that sells books -- B&N is a book-seller pure and simple. It appears to me that B&N looks at this as a slightly extended e-book reader and that can get frustrating after a certain point and there is a chance that more devices at this price point may make this device obsolete.

The good points:
Nice form factor and light weight
Pretty good for reading books
Good battery life
Make is solid
Nice screen
My internet works pretty well
The browser that comes with Android is pretty good
Netflix runs very well
Most of the apps I downloaded work well and are stable
Can extend memory with external SD card upto 32GB


The bad points:
Even though Android, cannot install Android apps
Free apps are almost non-existent
Good free books are few and far in between
Lots of completely crappy apps
Angry birds is more expensive than other ecosystems
Apps are added at a glacial pace
No camera
Locks up sometimes and need to be hard-booted

Caveat is: I really have not run out of memory space and have not tried stuff like "sideloading" -- method by which B&N's content can be backed-up in a computer.

I think that for reading books this has just the features needed, so the design is good. This is available for something like $200, but $150 would be a extremely good price.

So far my experience has been very positive and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quality device with features for reading books, browsing the internet, watching movies or playing a few games.

ONLY buy if you're needs are modest!

Hardware spec wise, this is a nice tablet! HOWEVER, there's couple of things buyers need to be fully aware of before buying.
1. Although this unit is advertised as having 16 gb of internal memory, Barnes and Noble LOCKS the avaiable memory space for your own downloads to ONLY 1 gb. In other words, the storage space is basically useless UNLESS you download stuff you buy from B&N.
2. Severely restricted access to Android applications.

All this is ok IF you root the system with an Android root kit that's readily available - which allows you full access to Android. The root kit varies from $25 to over $50 depending on the memory size od the SD card it comes on.
So, if you consider the additional cost of getting full android experience than this tablet is NOT worth paying the full retail price for, ESPECIALLY with new tablets coming out almost every month and the impending release of Win 8 tablets. Also consider that you don't get bluetooth, camera, nor GPS which is pretty standard for every other "name brand" tablets now (except for Kindle Fire which I consider a piece of kaka for the price you have to pay).

I cannot recommend the stock model BUT if you can pick up a nice "rooted" unit for below $140, than it may be worth it for a SHORT TIME - remember GOOGLE tablet is coming out at any minute now for about the same price new as this.

In the final analysis - this tablet is already "near obsolete" - ONLY buy if you're needs are modest, or you're a novice to the tablet world and don't want to pay a high price to try!

Solid and dependable internet and Android 2.3 tablet and eBook reader

The Nook 16gb tablet is a great value! The display is excellent, and while it's no longer state-of-the-art, it outperforms the original Kindle Fire from a hardware standpoint. Reading eBooks on it is fantastic! and there is a wide selection of apps available - although not as wide as that found in the Google Play store.

Build quality of the Nook table is very good. Battery life is good, although you have to put it in "Power Save" mode and turn on the WIFI only when you need it to get the "9 to 11 hours" of battery life on a single charge that is advertised.

With WIFI turned on all the time for internet access and not in Power Save mode, run time is only about 5 to 7 hours in my experience, of course the exact numbers will depend on how you are using it and will vary accordingly.

The Nook 16gb tablet doesn't have access to all Android apps since it is limited to the proprietary B&N Android 2.3 OS. I haven't found that to be an issue, except for minor things such as missing one or two of my favorite Android games, like Ruzzle.

I am pleased with my choice and would buy one again at the price point that I paid.

get the sd card, screen cover and case. Great Deal!!!

I love the product because I can easily transport it. I have all the books to read I want. I can play angry birds. There are quite an abundant of apps you can download from B&N. At first I was disgusted at how long it takes to load when turning on (3 mins?). After doing some research I realized most nook readers just put the beast to sleep instead of turning off. Problem solved. Make sure you buy an additional warranty coverage, the basic Nook one does not cover dropping. And you will drop it. It is one slickier bugger. Get a cover to protect it, and a cover shield for the front. You will be happy you did.
I do wish that the Nook Tablet screen was larger. Also some formats don't always work. Or you have to download them to your pc, unzip, then load to the Nook. Which is ok if you remember to purchase the tablet and the mini sd card. The picture is good, sound is great on some, not on others. There is only so much volume the little guy can muster but overall a very satisfying piece of technology.
On going back to previous. There is a back arrow option if you are in bookmarks, or the web, but it you want to go from on app on top of another, no go. You can play music and read or play games which it amazes my daughter.
The plug in to charge is designed a bit poorly. The plug in is very possible to move or bend. I had to replace my cord, which thanks to the warranty was easily replaced. When I want to read I don't care if I have to be plugged to the wall. We bought EXTRA warranty and it worked out great because my husband dropped it on the floor as well.
I love it and would purchase it again. I may have to because I can barely keep it out of my kids and my husband's hands. You can use great apps like dropbox, netflix, loseit, angry birds, cut the rope. A lot of the apps are free or a few dollars. You also can order magazines online, newspapers etc. The website works fine for our house. We have a wifi modem and don't seem to have too many problems.