NOOK Tablet: more ereader than tablet but a winner all the same
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In a nutshell, Barnes & Noble's NOOK Tablet is designed for people who like to read, first and foremost, but occasionally want to be entertained by apps and multimedia.
Powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM, the NOOK Tablet can smoothly play HD-quality videos, browse the Web, and switch effortlessly between books, magazines, videos and apps.
Unlike the Kindle Fire, its arch rival, the NOOK tablet is designed for "side-loaded"content, meaning media files transferred from another computer and stored locally, not streamed directly from the cloud.
As such, the NOOK Tablet comes with 16GB of internal storage. Ah, but there's a catch. All but 1GB is reserved for the operating system or for storing content acquired from Barnes & Noble. Fortunately, the unit also has a MicroSD card slot that allows you to add up to 32GB of additional storage, so there is ample room to store a few movies for a road trip.
The tablet's VividView display employs full IPS (In-Plane Switching) and minimal air-gap lamination to reduce reflection and glare and offer extra-wide viewing angles. Weighing slightly more than 14 ounces, its thin, compact design features a soft-touch back that allows it to be held comfortably with one hand for extended periods.
The device also provides exceptional battery life, claiming 11.5 hours of reading time or nine hours of video viewing (approximately five, full-length movies). To view HD-quality videos, the NOOK Tablet includes pre-loaded apps for Netflix and Hulu Plus, which both offer free trials.
If you have a Barnes & Noble account, you can also shop for more than 2.5 million books, enhanced books, interactive magazines, newspapers, comic books and children’s books. An assortment of curated apps are also available. Content downloads usually require less than 10 seconds over Wi-Fi.
At $249, the NOOK Tablet is more expensive than a Kindle Fire, but if you have kids who like to read (Barnes & Noble's ebooks for children are multimedia masterpieces), you will most likely regard it as a must-have, particularly if you like dealing with a brick-and-mortar retailer more than one who's hitched its wagon to the cloud. For more information, visit the Barnes & Noble website.
The new Pantech Element, a water-resistant, 8-inch 4G LTE tablet, and the Pantech Burst, (right) a 4G LTE smart phone, sell individually for $300 and $50, respectively, on contract. For a limited time, however, AT&T retailers are selling the pair for $250 on contract.
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