Lately I’ve been getting tired of posting about all of Barnes and Noble’s various Nook sales and promotions every week, but this one is too good to pass up.
Through Mother’s Day, May 12th, Barnes and Noble is selling the 7-inch Nook HD tablet for $149 and the 9-inch Nook HD+ tablet for $179 both online at Nook.com and in B&N retail stores. That’s $50 off the regular price of the Nook HD and $90 off the price of the HD+.
Last week I wouldn’t have thought that it was the greatest deal and probably wouldn’t have dedicated a blog post to it, but now that Barnes and Noble has added support for the Google Play store and Google apps, the deal is looking a lot more enticing.
There aren’t many options out there for 7-inch tablets with high resolution screens under $150, and finding a larger 9-inch tablet with over 250 dpi for $180 is unheard of.
The Nooks have a few shortcomings compared to similar tablets, like the lack of cameras, the need for a special and pricey adapter to connect to a TV, and the quirks of B&N’s modified operating system, but they do have really nice high resolution IPS screens for a good reading experience, a microSD card slot, and Bluetooth.
Now that B&N has added Google Play access the Nook isn’t confined to just Barnes and Noble for content. You can get apps, movies, music, and ebooks from Google, and you can even install alternate reading apps like Kindle and Kobo if you so choose. You can also install different Android launchers to change the homescreen.
I’ll be posting a review of the new and improved Nook HD+ shortly so stay tuned for a closer in-depth look. In the meantime you can check my original review of the Nook HD+ for a look at all of its features minus Google Play.
It’s even cheaper at BAM for the 32gb model.
Good find!. Booksamillion does indeed have the 32GB Nook HD+ for $199, $10 less than Barnes and Noble.
Nathan,
Is it true that the Nook won’t function unless it is activated by B&N, and that in order to do that they have a credit card # on file? Or am I mistaken?
Doug
I think a Barnes and Noble account is required to activate it, but there are probably ways around having to use a credit card. I’m not entirely sure on that one.
Hi Doug, just my 2cents:
Your Nook will function without a credit/debit card you just wont be able to access the B&N store for books and such. So it would be very limiting without a B&N account.
Once you create an account and a credit or debit card, just make sure you have a u.s.a address (any address will do) and that’s pretty much it.
Or at least this is my experience on the Nook Color (I have yet to get my hands on a the HD+ but I doubt that aspect has changed).
Hope it helps n_n
Just my luck, I bought a Nook HD yesterday.
I’m sure you could go back to B&N and get the difference. If not just return it and re-buy it :).
I did that as well. As soon as I saw it had Google added it was much more attractive to me. I went and bought on Saturday. I found the sale today and took my receipt to the store where they honored the sale price for me. They issued my gift card which I used to buy a second one for my daughter.
I just bought the HD version for $149 at Target, minus 5% for the Target Red card. Best Buy supposedly has them on sale for the same price, so you can choose which option gives you the best price/rewards/availability.
“the quirks of B&N’s modified operating system”
I sold my HD+ because the “quirks” of the skinned OS were absolutely intolerable. Constant app crashes, glitches, bugs, slow loads, and everything else that could bother you when using a tablet. This seemed to occur about 60% of the time when I used this device. Not everyone has this experience, but I have seen enough complaints on various forums to let me know that it isn’t exactly a rare issue with the HD+. Perhaps the 7″ tablet functions a little better? Remember, though, if you do get a dud you can always send it back for a new one.
I love the HD+’s hardware. The display is quite good (not quite as good as the Nexus 10), and it is the perfect size for reading epubs, magazines, or PDFs.
It is so startling to see the Kindle reading app on a B&N tablet! I bet a few people in marketing/management had a hard time coming to terms with that. I’m sure some were not pleased.
I bought my Nook HD+ a few weeks ago, before the Play update, so no chance of getting this deal for me. I’m seriously thinking about getting a backup tablet though, since this pricing is just unbelievable and I’m typically hard on hardware.
I like the Nook OS. After I rooted it to install Google Play I had a few forced restarts, but no serious issues otherwise. And I’m pretty sure the forced resets were due to the root, it’s one of the potential side effects of rooting the Nook. The latest update seems a little faster and more stable than before – I haven’t had a forced restart once. It did break an app I use, but I think that’s probably because I already had Play installed and the app was conflicting.
Can you use a Bluetooth keyboard with the 9-inch Nook HD? If so, can you provide a link to one that you’ve used yourself?
Can you use a Bluetooth mouse with the 9-inch Nook HD? If so, can you provide a link to one that you’ve used yourself?
Thanks!
I have Bluetooth headphones and they work well with the HD+ but I don’t have a keyboard. There’s this Bluetooth keyboard discussion that talks about some working and some not working.
Ken, I bought the Poetic Keyboard For Nook HD+ 9 inch with auto sleep/wake function with a 3 year warranty from Amazon. It is currently selling for $28.95. I also paired it with my Acer 500. Hope this helps.
If you have a public library card, you can load the OverDrive app and access thousands of titles free via library exchange. Via OverDrive, you can also access the Gutenberg Project — simply AMAZING! No credit card needed. My pub lib has about 5,000 titles and Gutenberg is up to around 40-50,000 English volumes.
I am currently looking for a suitable BlueTooth keyboard. The B&N store employees know nothing about them; and you can’t go by the manufacturers’ specs for “Android” – looks like you have to bring the Nook to the store and TRY BEFORE YOU BUY!
Miss Lisa, see my entry above yours about Poetic bluetooth keyboard/case from Amazon for Nook HD+. They also had some for the Nook HD 7 inch. Hint: make sure the overview says bluetoom and NOT USB. Hope this helps.
Hi Nathan Just a FYI I received a coupon from Barnes and Noble today with a coupon good until June 20th for Nook Hd for 125 and Nook HD + for 145
Wow that’s a crazy good deal now that they have Google Play.
Hi Nathan,
Well, my wife bought me the HD+ for my birthday, but I can’t even get into the computer without agreeing to their terms, which are too intrusive, or setting up an account with a credit card, which I’m not going to do either. Is there any work-around that you know of to make this tablet function as a tablet and not a B&N marketing tool? If not, I’m taking it back.
Thanks,
Doug
You could use an N2A card or CM10 card to bypass B&N’s system entirely. Not sure if there’s a way around their TOS but there probably is. You don’t have to use a c.c. by the way.
Thanks Nathan.
I’m in the process of rooting using CM10.1 Hybrid — reading the instruction carefully and trying to decipher all the acronyms! 😉