The Nook HD+ is one of the best large-screen tablets on the market thanks to its 1920 x 1280 high resolution screen and relatively low price, and it just got a whole lot better with the release of N2A cards to give it Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
I’ve reviewed N2A cards in the past for the Nook Color and Nook Tablet. If you haven’t heard of them before, N2A cards are microSD cards that you put into the Nook’s microSD card slot to run alternate and complete versions of Android.
This way you have the option to either boot the Nook’s regular internal operating system that B&N provides, or an entirely different one (in this case Android 4.1 Jelly Bean) from a memory card.
The beauty of using an N2A card or other ROM is that all you have to do is shut down the Nook and then remove the card to boot the regular operating system. It doesn’t alter the Nook in any way and requires no hacks whatsoever, leaving your Nook’s warranty valid.
N2A cards are relatively inexpensive. Instant downloads cost $19.99 and preloaded Sandisk cards start at $29.99. The email I received contains a 15% off code F6Qvk2DD that expires on 1/1/13. Not sure on the particulars. Update: If that code doesn’t work this one will: theebookreader
Like always there are directions to create your own card for free at XDA if you are familiar with the process. Right now it’s a little more complicated than usual (that’s why I haven’t tried it), but easier methods should evolve in time.
My Nook HD+ has been sitting neglected on the shelf for the past couple of weeks because B&N’s software is just too restrictive for my taste, but now it’s going to get a second chance with an Android 4.1 N2A card (review forthcoming).
Add to this that on can get HD+ from Staples for only $200 (plus tax) as part of their 30% off Nooks sale. You end up with a great tablet (specs wise notwithstanding lack of camera) and proper software to match it.
Wow, thanks for the heads-up! That’s a great deal on the Nook HD+, and the HD is only $150 and the Nook Touch is only $59. Here’s the link for anyone that’s interested: http://www.staples.com/nook/directory_nook
I may have to hold off getting the Kindle fire HD now since the NOOk HD supposedly gets its N2A card in January. Hopefully, battery life isn’t compromised.
On the other hand speakers suppose to better on the Kindle and Kindle HD has hdmi. May still have to go with Kindle fire HD.
No biggie. You can always install Android 4.1 on the Kindle Fire HD too if you want :).
Well I can say I was quite taken with the B & N hd+ when I was considering which tablet to get, but the fact that their content was so much less than Amazon’s helped me decide on the KFHD 7″. I might have waited had I known B&N was going to give such a great option! I wonder if I could justify purchasing a second tablet?!!
Interesting…. I don’t suppose this will work with the 7″ Nook HD. Hopefully they will support that soon too.
It won’t work with the HD but there’s supposed to be cards coming for it in January.
Keep in mind that the n2a software are often found for free on the XDA forum. So you should be able to do this for free if you are willing to follow the instruction carefully. Though it do seem like the XDA N2A software is not released just yet.
The price make sense for preloaded SD memory card but NOT for the instant download due to this.
The HD+ has the best resolution screen out there. It is absolutely beautiful. I knew all along that the N2A card was coming so there was never a decision to go with anything else. I have the Nook tablet with a 16gb N2A card and it has worked like a dream. My boys play the games on it and I use it to read. My reason for upgrading to the HD+ is primarily for the High Res screen and I’ll be watching more Netflix movies on it and surfing the web. Yay N2A.
Oh and can’t wait to see your review. You always do a great job.
Do the N2A cards let you see/use the onboard storage? In other words: does a 32GB HD+ with a 32GB card have around 60GB total storage to play with or just 28GB or so in the card?
(For that matter, does the Native environment see any data on the card?
I don’t know. This doesn’t make any sense to me. I’m using a 32GB card and going to storage in settings it says there’s about 5GB of total internal storage space available and 9GB of total space on the SD card. Something is not adding up….
Sounds like it might be running solely off the SD card and using a part of the SD card as the “internal storage”.
A test might be to run a file manager app and see what volumes it sees. Whether it sees any Nook environment data or only sees the N2A environment.
I’m pretty sure there’s no way to access the internal storage. For one none of the items I’ve downloaded using the stock OS are accessible, but there should be a lot more than 14GB. I’m going to need to dig into this a little more…
Hello Nathan,
It seems like you have been testing with N2A card on the HD+. Can you tell us if it is a good decision to get the N2A card to install Jelly Bean (or purchase the download on a micro SD card)?
I read the forum in N2A site. There are successufl and unsucessful stories with HD+ and the N2A card. As a result, I still don’t know if I should get the N2A card. I just bought the HD+ this week.
Thank you!
My take so far is that it definitely has some bugs and I certainly wouldn’t recommend spending a lot for one of the cards, but the download option is pretty cheap at like $17 with the coupon code if you already have a spare microSD card handy. I’ll try and post a review and video after a few more days of testing. So far I haven’t been able to get Bluetooth to work, screen rotation is slow, and adjusting volume is wonky. Otherwise it’s been fairly smooth.
Got my HD+ and N2A card for Christmas and it’s working like a charm. No complaints here. I upgraded from the Nook tablet with an N2A card and the screen on this is just beautiful. Thanks Santa.