Nook HD – Top 5 Features

The Nook HD is the brand new tablet device announces by the folks from Barnes and Noble and has been touted as a super-light HD device that offers quick speeds and an exceptional visual display. The Nook HD is on pre-order according to the announcement for $199 for the 8GB edition and ships for free. Other editions, for just $30 more, double the capacity of the Nook HD to 16GB and comes in two colors – Snow (white) and Smoke (grey) and is set for release on November 1, 2012. The device sports a dual-core 1.3GHz processor and 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity. We compiled a list of the Nook HD’s Top 5 Features and broke it down to see what makes this tablet so great.

If you are interested in reading more about small form factor tablets, check out the article What Everybody Ought to Know About the iPad Mini as well as our review of the Google Nexus 7.

#5 – Micro USB Port and an HDMI Port

The Nook HD is designed with an HDMI compatible port that will allow users to hook up their tablet to their HDTV with minimal hassle and watch movies in full 1080p. Videos can be streamed or downloaded from the NOOK store and are then displayed on whatever you connect via the HDMI port. By default, the Nook HD will play MP4, 3GP, WEBM and AVI movie types. The Micro USB port makes life easy for plugging in the device into a computer as it is not some proprietary, non-standard interface. Finding a Micro USB cable, in case you lose the one it comes with, should not be a hassle at all.

#4 – 10.5 Hours of Reading, 9 Hours of Video

Anyone that travels and uses a tablet on an airplane knows the value of a long battery life. Many business people joke that being stuck in an airport can be about the worst thing that can happen to someone in today’s society (especially at LAX), but the fact remains that we all hate to be bored. Having a device that can last through a long wait plus a long flight (like to Paris!) is golden. The nine hours of video time, considering the quality of the screen, is downright outrageous and the overall lifespan of the battery is extremely impressive.

#3 – The Screen is 1440×900 at 243 PPI (pixels per inch)

As compared to the Nexus 7, the Nook HD has a better resolution at 1440×900 as compared to 1280×800, plus it rates as having better PPI with 243 as compared to the other device at 216 PPI. The screen resolution by all the previewers out there (Gaming Illustrated will be providing a review near launch) so far have been singing the Nook HD display’s praises. By all accounts, from the previewers on hand at the announcement, to the mere specs given in the press release, the Nook HD looks like it’s a serious contender when it comes to having the sexiest display among all the small sized tablets on the market.

#2 – 8 or 16GB of Memory That Can Be Expanded via MicroSD Card

What the heck took so long for the industry to realize that 8 or 16GB doesn’t hold that much if you are going to use these devices for all the features they sell them for? If you think about the space that all those apps, movies, documents and books will take up, you quickly realize that 16GB could fill up quick and the ability for the Nook HD to expand with a card slot is absolutely brilliant. This is a huge competitive advantage for the product and something that no consumers out there looking for a mini tablet should overlook.

#1 – Weight is 11.1 oz and it is 0.47 Inches Thick

That’s right, the Nook HD is about 11 ounces in weight and if you don’t remember, there are 16 ounces in a pound, meaning that the Nook HD weighs a paltry 0.69 pounds. Yes, it weighs less than a pound, in fact much less. By comparison, the Google Nexus 7 weighs 0.75 pounds so the Nook HD is a shade lighter than “the lightest tablet” out there. While compared to the same device the Nook HD is in fact 0.06 inches thicker and we dare most people to spot the difference so we’ll call that one a virtual tie. The fact remains that this is right on par with the thinnest devices comparatively speaking and does come in a little lighter. For those of you that know late night reading, you know exactly how critical that can be for a tablet.

Stay tuned to Gaming Illustrated for the latest news on the Nook HD as it develops.