Ok, so I'm finally coming around on this (you were worried, I know). I spent a lot of time yesterday playing with this, downloading a crapload from the market and just making the look and feel of it seem more tablet like than e-reader like. There is still a heck of a lot more to do with it, but now I at least feel excited to use it and will look to it before my phone. Couple of notable discoveries/questions:
- The GMote app allows you to both control your computer from your Nook and more importantly stream content from your PC to the Nook itself. My internet was spotty last night so I don't know how great it will work, but it was pretty cool to start.
- This thing looks gorgeous when you put a nice wallpaper on it. Doesn't change anything functionally, but just makes it feel like a much cooler device.
- This thing is amazing to read magazines on. The selection in the B+N store is pretty limited, but there are a couple on there I am subscribing to (BusinessWeek, Car+Driver...Good Housekeeping) and I really look forward to reading the magazines on it going forward. If they can upgrade the selection that would be a huge win. Do we know if there's any other way to get magazines other than through the B+N market?
- Battery life is still so-so. At times it will be great and barely drain, other times it will drop like a rock. Overall I used it pretty heavily for about 4-5 hours last night and the battery went from full to 50%. Not great, but certainly nothing to complain about compared to my laptop or phone. I'm really having to manage a lot of my tasks as a bunch seem to pop up that are unrelated, and somehow I think the device is looking for a cell signal. Is there any way to really monitor what's necessary and auto-kill certain tasks? Any other battery saving tips (my screen brightness is all the way down)?
- The fact that I was able to play NHL 94 on it last night was very very cool. There are a ton of things I want to explore, mainly ways to stream video both over my network and from other sources over the internet, but the "this is really cool" factor has definitely gone up for me.
Also, the updates on new OS versions are apreciated. I've finally got mine to a place where I don't feel like I'm using an e-reader anymore but getting Froyo or HoneyComb on it will be great for speed improvements.