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Handhelds

Barnes & Noble Cuts Prices on Nook Color, Tablet 154

In perhaps one answer to the question of how tablet makers will react to a more crowded market for small screen tablets, the L.A. Times reports that Barnes and Noble is dropping the price on its Nook tablet by 10 percent, undercutting the Amazon Kindle Fire by $20. The company's Nook Color is also shedding $20, and will now cost $149. I'm glad to hear it; I've been using a Nexus 7 lately, and finding the size (like a trade paperback, including a protective case) far handier and more often used than any of the 10" tablets I've tried.
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Barnes & Noble Cuts Prices on Nook Color, Tablet

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  • Really? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Mitreya ( 579078 ) <mitreya.gmail@com> on Monday August 13, 2012 @01:23AM (#40970301)
    I have a pretty high tolerance for irrelevant articles, but really?
    An article about a 10% discount on a product? How low can /. go?
    • We can hope for the best that this thread becomes a discussion from people who have gotten their Nexus 7's.

      A roommate got one and the screen is exceptional. The hand picked extra apps are great too. As Timothy stated, the portability is a world of difference over 10", but I already knew this, having owned an HP Slate (8.9" device, size of a slender hardback).

      • One can compete in two manners ---

        On feature / service

        or

        On price

        I guess B&N understand that they have no chance to compete on feature on the Nooks (vs other Android tablets) that's why they decide on dropping the price
         

      • We can hope for the best that this thread becomes a discussion from people who have gotten their Nexus 7's

        I'll bite. I got mine. Now maybe a half dozen people who saw it are waiting for restocking so they can get theirs.

        • I love mine, and I've got three tablets in my house: my Nexus 7, my old Motorola Xoom, and my wife's original iPad. The smaller size and weight makes it better for reading, which is why my wife has borrowed my Nexus 7 twice already for two trips. The software and hardware upgrade from the Xoom is such that I have no interest in my $500 Xoom anymore. I've given it to the kids for games, but they keep stealing my Nexus 7. It's great for games, videos, Internet browsing, and e-books.

          The Nexus 7 is far ligh

      • by edremy ( 36408 )
        I got one and commented (favorably) in the other tablet thread, for which I was told that the iPad mini will blow away the Nexus 7 and that I sounded like a douche.

        Clearly you should avoid the Nexus 7

      • by mcgrew ( 92797 ) *

        Then submit a story about the Nexus 7. It's offtopic in this thread. A tablet is not an e-reader any more than a computer is a pocket calculator.

        Can you read that Nexus in the sun? You can read an ebook reader there. Can you go for a month without a charge? An e-reader can.

        As to the GP, if you don't like a story you see on the front page, just DON'T CLICK! What's interesting about the topic is that it could signal a price war. As someone who's baeen thinking semi-seriously (until this morning) abouot gettin

        • Can you read that Nexus in the sun? You can read an ebook reader there.

          Only at night. Otherwise it'll melt.

        • > Can you read that Nexus in the sun? You can read an ebook reader there. Can you go for a month without a charge? An e-reader can.

          The E-Ink nook (not mentioned in this) is the only nook that would qualify as a e-reader with that description.

          I own both the Nook Color, and the original Nook. The color nooks don't have any significant advantage in battery life/sun readability over the Nexus.

        • A tablet is not an e-reader any more than a computer is a pocket calculator.

          Huh? This article is about price cuts to Amazon and B&N's 7-inch tablets, which are sold as e-book readers. The Nexus 7 is better in every way than either of these devices. The price cuts are a direct response to the perceived lower value than the Nexus 7. The Nexus 7 is a better e-book reader than either the Fire or Nook Color, as it's much lighter and easier to hold in one hand for long periods of time. Discussion of all

    • Re:Really? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Tough Love ( 215404 ) on Monday August 13, 2012 @02:16AM (#40970613)

      Eh, it's a story about a snowballing price war, or don't you quite see that?

    • Re:Really? (Score:5, Informative)

      by gagol ( 583737 ) on Monday August 13, 2012 @02:33AM (#40970673)
      Feel free to rate articles in the recent link on the upper left of the website. This way you can help filter the crap out like I do. Whining will not stop the crap, rating articles do.
    • To be fair, the Nookcolor was fairly easy to hack and extend into a fairly functional low-cost android tablet. Considering it's low cost and Wifi/bluetooth capabilities, I imagine it would be fairly good for homebrew projects.
  • by MSRedfox ( 1043112 ) on Monday August 13, 2012 @01:33AM (#40970351)
    The e-ink models didn't drop any. And the regular nook tablets are just outdated tech that are really showing their age next to the Nexus 7; making it just standard price drops to clear out junk. Get back to me when they release a color e-ink reader.
    • by billstewart ( 78916 ) on Monday August 13, 2012 @01:54AM (#40970483) Journal

      E-Ink models had already dropped when the Kindle Fire came out. This is the Android models dropping in response to competition in that market.

      As far as I'm concerned, they're really different applications. E-Ink is wonderful for book reading, but I don't really get the 7" LCD tablet market. 10" is almost big enough to use instead of a laptop, but 7" just doesn't have enough pixels for general use, and is too big to fit in a pocket.

      • I personally find the 10" ones a bit heavy. I like the weight and the center of gravity of the 7" ones. My current setup is a desktop at work and home. A 11" netbook & a 7" tablet for commute and travel. A 4" phone for quick emails and navigation.

      • by Kazymyr ( 190114 )

        7" fits fine in my pockets. 10" doesn't. That's why I use a Nook Color under CM7 instead of a bigger tablet. In fact I just typed this whole reply on it.

        • Bloody hell you have enormous pockets! That's like claiming a readers digest fits right in your pocket.

          • by cduffy ( 652 )

            Bloody hell you have enormous pockets! That's like claiming a readers digest fits right in your pocket.

            I'd argue that you have tiny ones -- I have a Nexus 7 (in a case), and it fits into the pockets of my slacks -- snugly, but nonetheless. (The utilikilts, by contrast, it fits into easily -- but for a garment whose manufacturer boasts 20-beer-bottle cargo capacity on their premium line, that should hardly be a surprise).

            This definitely makes a big difference in terms of whether I'm going to have a device wi

            • A quick measure says the pockets on most of my jeans are about 12cm by 10cm, that's less than half the area a nexus 7 takes up, ignoring that it's not paper thin, I have several brands of jeans, all with very similarly sized pockets so I don't think this is unusual. Even with that in mind, it's already uncomfortable to put something that fills the pocket in –it stops you from sitting down reasonably as it sticks into you where you're trying to fold in half, and it tightens the leg sufficiently that i

            • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

              Do people glance down at your crotch and then look at you funny (NOT when you're wearing the kilt)?

              • by cduffy ( 652 )

                Do people glance down at your crotch and then look at you funny (NOT when you're wearing the kilt)?

                Well, it's pretty unusual for me not to be wearing a kilt, so yes. :)

                • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

                  I was out running with a friend once and watched (all 90 lbs of her) fit a Galaxy Note into her running pants pocket. It was entertaining.

                • For reference – I'm pretty sure a nexus 7 couldn't fit in my sporan either.

            • I have a pocket-less skirt, you insensitive clod!

            • They designed a 'utilikilt' for carrying stuff?! Isn't a sporran the place for concealing a Nexus 7?

              • by cduffy ( 652 )

                Isn't a sporran the place for concealing a Nexus 7?

                Can you store 20 bottles of beer in one? :)

                Traditional kilts have other downsides -- living in Texas, I'll take cotton over wool, thankyouverymuch.

          • by mcgrew ( 92797 ) *

            He's probably in New Zealand; it's winter there now. He's probably talking about a coat pocket. Or he could be wearing GI jungle fatigues, those things have huge pockets.

          • The size of these 7-inch tablets are meant to be similar to the size of a paper-back novel, which in turn was designed to fit in the pocket of a GI in WWII. I put my Nexus 7 in my pants pocket all the time. I wouldn't want to have it their for hours while sitting in a plane, but it's a convenient place to put it when I need my hands free to carry stuff.

      • 10" is almost big enough to use instead of a laptop, but 7" just doesn't have enough pixels for general use, and is too big to fit in a pocket.

        The number of pixels is independent of the screen dimensions. You can have exactly the same number of pixels on either. You can make them appear identical depending on what distance you hold them from your eyes. Also, saying 7" is too big to fit in a pocket is not a differentiation either since the 10" screen doesn't fit in your pocket either.

        Personally I find the 10" tablets moderately cumbersome to hold and carry. If it is going to be that large, given the way I work I may as well get an actual laptop

      • The 7" ones are designed not to hurt the woman, whereas the 10" ones often......

        Oh wait. We were discussing tablets. Um. Well the 7" tablets from B&N and Amazon are meant to be used for actual work. They are meant to be used like portable TVs to watch downloaded videos, read books, and some facebook & email on the side.

    • by dbIII ( 701233 )
      Colour eink is disappointing if you are getting the device for the colour alone (you get a Ectaco Jetbook for the software, size, whatever but not for the colour). The colour Mirasol stuff (never seen it in person) is available in the USA for about 3x what it is selling for in Korea - it looks like they have given up and are clearing it out.
    • by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 13, 2012 @02:48AM (#40970739)

      While you're waiting for a color e-ink reader to show up, if you are near a Target store check their e-reader case.
       
      They're pissed off at Amazon and clearing out the Kindle Fires for 30% off, but the real news is the Kobo. Target seems to have had a falling out with Kobo and recently started dumping their products. I picked up a couple Kobo Touch [kobobooks.com] units (touchscreen, wifi, e-ink pearl, web browser, runs linux, easily root-able if you're into that sort of thing) for $29.98 and a Kobo WiFi [kobobooks.com] (same as the touch, only no touchscreen, no web browsing, slower processor) for $20.98. Kobo sells these on their Web site for $99.99 and $69.99 respectively. For the price Target has them at, buy two, use one as a nice e-reader and use the other one for hardware/software tinkering. All the ones near me are now sold out, but you might still find some.

      The backstory on Target's falling out with Kobo has a bit to do with getting cozier with B&N's Nook, but also Kobo sold them a bunch of e-readers that display ads when they're turned off if you update the software to the latest version. Target says Kobo was playing dirty by slipping that in without labeling the products as such, Kobo says Target was well aware and agreed to label the boxes in the stores and insists Target was neglecting to inform consumers to sell more units. It's really not a huge deal, especially if you're getting a $100 e-reader for $30, and if you don't update the software, it'll never show ads anyway.

      • by pnot ( 96038 )

        Holy moley, I think it's finally time for me to buy an e-reader! If I had points, I'd mod you down to increase my chances of getting one before they run out...

      • They're pissed off at Amazon and clearing out the Kindle Fires for 30% off, but the real news is the Kobo. Target seems to have had a falling out with Kobo and recently started dumping their products.

        Target's also apparently pissed off at Brawny Paper Towels. This week they're shoving them out the door at a 30% discount!

  • by Animats ( 122034 ) on Monday August 13, 2012 @01:54AM (#40970481) Homepage

    Acer is begging Microsoft not to price the Microsoft Surface tablet at $199. [cnet.com] Acer would like to see it priced around $499-$599. Otherwise it will "seriously impact the existing PC ecosystem".

    Meanwhile, ARM tablets on Amazon start around $60, and ones with decent reviews start around $80. Most run the open source version of Android. Google's Nexus 7 costs $199, and that's the price point Microsoft will probably have to match, if not beat.

    From a marketing perspective, once the price of something drops below $100, sales go way up.

    • by Ambvai ( 1106941 )

      Hmm. I actually like the look of the Surface far more than that of the Nexus 7 and, if it actually comes in at 200$, with the keyboard-cover, that's quite the deal! Thanks for the heads-up about how low the pricing might dip on that.

      • by Tough Love ( 215404 ) on Monday August 13, 2012 @03:05AM (#40970813)

        I actually like the look of the Surface far more than that of the Nexus 7 and, if it actually comes in at 200$, with the keyboard-cover, that's quite the deal!

        Well, until you consider that you get to choose one of two models: A) the one running ARM that can't run standard Windows apps b) the one running Intel with 3 hour battery life.

        • Not being able to run Windows apps some might consider a feature. :)

          Further, the ARM version will have MS' locked down bootloader, so you won't be able to load Android nor Plasma Active.

          • you'll still run windows apps. only they're only going to be the metro variety and from the windows appstore.. quite how you consider that a feature in positive sense I don't get, least with android you can sideload without signing up as a dev..

            also the 200$ pricepoint is taken from out of thin air... personally I don't see them going that cheap.

            also, surface rt is 10 inches+. I'd expect the 64gb version to be somewhere around 500-600.. and bigger pro at 1000 bucks. plus tax. quite where the 7" inch 200$ su

            • I was considering the hardware from an OS-agnostic POV - a sleek tablet with a screen cover that doubles as a keyboard.

              For THAT price, you'd consider dual booting if someone 'jailbroke' it. But yes, the price does seem fanciful given what Asus Transformers retail for... Unless MS are prepared to make a substantial loss on each sale because (a) Android and iOS have the dominant market share (b) they believe they can recoup the money in apps.

  • by sapphire wyvern ( 1153271 ) on Monday August 13, 2012 @02:11AM (#40970575)

    I see a lot of praise for the "paperback" size 7" tablet form factor. I can see why it would be pretty awesome for reading novels etc, as well as the gameplaying/web/movies task load. Although if I had an unlimited gadget budget, if I wanted something to specifically to replace paperback books, I'd get a specialist device with an eInk screen.

    However, what I would personally love is a tablet with more than a 10" screen. I play a lot of tabletop RPGs, and the iPad 3 is fantastic for reading RPG-type PDFs. These are books laid out for printing in a 8.5x11 or A4 page size, with multi-column text layout, embedded illustrations, tables & charts, and often in full colour. I also read business documents with similar characteristics (design documents, specifications etc).

    On a 7" tablet, you would have your choice of unreadably small text or having to scroll within a page (urgh). The iPad 3's ridiculously awesome 2046x1536 screen has enough pixels that you can get a very readable full-page view of any single page of books with this kind of content. And the 4:3 aspect ratio fits very neatly in the gap between 8.5x11 aspect ratio and A4 aspect ratio, so there's very few wasted pixels for electronic versions of either common paper format. (Unlike the Android tablets, which are almost entirely 16:9, and therefore suck for paper-like layouts in portrait mode).

    However, the 10" diagonal measurement means that even though the text is quite sharp, it's still a little on the small side compared to a hardcopy of the same book. In landscape mode, viewing two pages at a time, the text is still incredibly sharp (I love that screen so much) but is basically too small to comfortably read at all. Since a 7" tablet is about half the size of the iPad, that means it's not gonna be very usable for reading full-page document layouts.

    I would absolutely jump at the chance to order a table with the same or better pixel count and 4:3 aspect ratio as the iPad 3, but with a diagonal measurement similar to a standard sheet of paper (say, approximately 13"-14"). That would be an awesome device. I know it's far too large for pocketability, but it would slip into a briefcase or carry bag very nicely since it would be the same size as standard documents. And if it ran Android 4+ rather than iOS.... it would be perfection. (iOS's approach to file management drives me f'in crazy.)

    • what I would personally love is a tablet with more than a 10" screen.

      I have both the Nexus 7 and a 10 inch Xoom and at the moment the Xoom gets most of the use, usually with the bluetooth keyboard. Maybe it's just familiarity. I'd snap up a 12 or 13 inch tablet right away. Basically the same use case as the Xoom - laptop replacement with longer battery life and crappier apps for now - but easier on the eyes.

    • by dbIII ( 701233 )
      I agree, since 10 inches is already awkward to carry around why not go for the full laptop sizes (13 or more)? I'd love a 17 inch B&W eink device but I doubt it would come in at a price where people would buy it, and 13-15 would be a bit more practical.
    • by aXis100 ( 690904 )

      7" is a convenient size, but unfortunately most of the cheap 7" tablets have far too small a resolution to make them practical. The pop-up keyboard and title bars on (earlier) android seem to be pixel based instead of a percentage, so take up far too much of the screen. At times you're left with 1/4 of the screen for content.

      I'm just about to change from a 7" Android 2.3 to 10" Android 4 and am expecting a huge boost in usability.

    • All the 10" Android tablets seem to be 4:3 aspect, it's only the 7" tablets which are "widescreen" - and that actually allows them to fit better in a pocket ... Looking online I do see some 10" widescreen and likewise 7" 4:3 tablets, but I'd venture the two common sizes will standardize on 10" 4:3 and 7" widescreen.

      (Very few widescreen tablets or monitors are actually 16:9. The 1280x800 ones are 16:10, the 1024x600 ones are 128:75 (16:9 would be 128:72).

      • Android tablets are mostly 16:10, unless you are talking about cheap chinese knock offs which frankly don't count. No one needs a tablet, there is absolutely no benefit to getting a barely functional knock off.

        The Microsoft Surface and other Windows 8 tablets are 16:9. I don't know why, it seems a stupid ratio for a tablet and an even stupider one for a tablet that is supposed to convert into a laptop. Hated 1366x768 on 15" laptops? Wait till you try it on a 10 inch laptop!

      • by Andy Dodd ( 701 )

        The only 10" tablet in 4:3 I am aware of is the iPad - definitively NOT an Android tablet.

        Touchpad may be 4:3 too but that only has Android on it unofficially though hacks.

        There is not a single mainstream Android 10" tablet I am aware of that is not widescreen... Or did you fall to Apple's photoshop shenanigans that altered the Tab 10.1's aspect ratio to make it look like it was 4:3 when it wasn't?

        • Apple's shenanigans?? Apple would make a competitor's tablet look better? Oh, you mean in court, sorry, never seen anything from the Apple/Samsung case(s).

          Actually no, I was thinking of the ones I've seen in Wal-mart, though checking now I see the Acer is really 1280x800 also ... though the Coby is 1024x768. (Not that I'd buy a 10" tablet with such low resolution, but I have seen it in the store.)

    • While I agree that when it comes to displays, bigger is generally better, until we have technology that makes a 13" tablet weigh about the same as current 7" tablets they just won't be practical. It's definitely coming, but it's going to take a few more years.

  • by FranTaylor ( 164577 ) on Monday August 13, 2012 @02:52AM (#40970773)

    I have both a Nook Color and a Nexus 7.

    It's not even close! If the Nexus 7 is $200, then the Nook is worth no more than $100.

    The Nook has no camera and no microphone, useless for video chat. Video chat is SO easy on the Nexus 7, even my mom can do it.

    Nexus 7 is much smaller and thinner and it's the same size screen.

    Performance: on this score the Nook is worth maybe $50 compared to the Nexus 7.

    The ONLY advantage of the Nook is the micro-SD card slot.

    • The MicroSD slot and the design and build quality. The Nook Color feels heay but I won't have it any other way, it's a study, beautiful gadget and doesn't feel plasticky though it probably is made of plastic. It's a reading device, it's awful at everything else, the browser is terrible.

      • It's a reading device, it's awful at everything else, the browser is terrible.

        $150-200 for a reading device that is terrible at everything else? No thanks. A tablet is a general purpose computer and I expect them to be more than a one trick pony no matter how well they do the one trick. The Kindle Fire and BN Nook are devices that weren't designed to be all they could be and I find that rather irritating. I buy from Amazon and B&N but I cannot conceive of a reason to buy an intentionally and unnecessarily limited device just so they can try to convince me to buy even more stu

        • Before the Nexus 7 it wasn't such a bad bargain compared to the junk you could get in the price range.

          • Before the Nexus 7 it wasn't such a bad bargain compared to the junk you could get in the price range.

            Granted but that's sort of damning with faint praise. A machine with ok hardware and crippled software being better than a machine with terrible hardware and crappy software. Not exactly the choices I'd hope for. Really the only reason those machines even sold as well as they did is because Apple left some oxygen at the low end of the market. If Apple comes out with a product that competes in that lower price tier (and I think they will) much of the reason to buy the Kindle Fire or B&N Nook disappea

            • The Nook Color wasn't just ok hardware, it is brilliant hardware for it's time. The screen density is higher than the iPad 2, the screen is less reflective, and it's a beautifully designed and built device, and an IPS screen at that. With crap software yes, but everything this side of the iPad had crap software back then. It ran Cyanogen mod 7 nicely and unlike the Nook Tablet, shipped with a completely unlocked bootloader, you just stick in an SD card and it booted from it, and didn't even touch the intern

              • The Nook Color wasn't just ok hardware, it is brilliant hardware for it's time.

                Ok, call it brilliant hardware but my point doesn't change. The software was handicapped when it didn't have to be and thus it became a pointless device. My smartphone is a computer that happens to be able to make calls. Devices that are capable of general purpose use should do so. A tablet that is only good for reading e-books is a waste of money when you can use the same hardware to read e-books plus a whole lot more. Same reason I hardly use my point and shoot camera anymore - my smartphone does the

                • You don't have a point. It's like picking up the original iPhone today and complaining about how crap it is compared to phones today. The Nook Color was first. The software didn't compare to a $500 device, but it wasn't a $500 device. It did at least one thing well, which a damn sight more than I can say about any device of that time. And no, people who read will happily pay for a device that is great for reading. You're happy with a smartphone because you're not a photographer. You don't read much so you'

                  • by sjbe ( 173966 )

                    You don't have a point. It's like picking up the original iPhone today and complaining about how crap it is compared to phones today.

                    The current Nook offerings share the exact same problem. They are good at reading and not so good at much else. They are intentionally (or incompetently) crippled in what they can do. I can forgive a first offering being flawed but they've had a long time to correct the problem and haven't. Google has now released a device that is more like what the Nook should have been. They cost similar amounts of money so B&N had better release something more capable soon or drop the prices rather significantly

                    • You're just being intentionally obtuse. I haven't denied that the Nook devices can't hold a candle to the Nexus 7. The present day comparison is completely irrelevant to the discussion. Your forgiveness is not of much concern to B&N, the Nook devices are not being improved because Microsoft has made a substantial investment into B&N and they are unlikely to release another Android device ever. What Google released two years after the Nook Color is irrelevant, two years is a lifetime in this industry

      • by Andy Dodd ( 701 )

        Nexus 7 has great design and build quality too. Only disadvantage is the lack of MicroSD... Which can be worked around using an OTG adapter cable.

      • Ironic-- my iPad is basically a portable Safari. Lately, I've been reading in bed, so kindle.app gets a lot of use, but for reading outside, my ordinary e-ink kindle keyboard 3g is more useful. The browser, though, is painful. Imagine lynx-- but without a decent keyboard.

  • if you want to put a 7" tablet in your pocket, but it does seem like a very nice size. It's small enough to use on a crowded train and it's big enough to read comfortably.

    My MacBook isn't that much bigger than an iPad and it's a much better experience for that size of machine.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday August 13, 2012 @04:43AM (#40971105)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Amazon just hacked and slashed their Kindle line up prices and availability, most likely to dump stock due to pending new models. I assume that Barns and Noble is adjusting their prices accordingly.

    Nothing of interest here, please move along.

  • The only tablet I'm buying is an Acer Iconia as it runs all of my current software and no, I'm not buying it as a media consumption device but to do the same kind of work that an Ultraportable laptop would do.

    • by Andy Dodd ( 701 )

      You'll be waiting a long time. Tablets like what you want have, historically, been consistent in the market as "complete and total failures".

      XP/Vista/Win7 tablets are nothing new. They're all niche products that are overpriced and barely staying in the market.

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