gdgt

I had been wanting to try out Android, but I didn't want to spend $500 to "try it out". I bought a used nook color and rooted it. I'm running Cyanogenmod 7.1, overclocked to 1.1 Ghz. I'm having fun with it, and you can't beat the price. I specifically got the nook rather than the kindle fire because of the sd card slot.

I never thought I would want a 7" tablet.... too small, I thought. Now, I would use nothing else .Perfect size. But, that is not what you asked. What to buy?

This depends on your preferences. For instance, do you want/need HDMI output? If so, Kindle Fire and NookColor are out. Do you want Bluetooth Keyboard or other support? You are looking at a pricier tablet (unless the new NookTablet does bluetooth?) . Do you want lots of connections? Any of these needs are going to push you away from the Nook or the Kindle Fire.

However, the great thing about the Kindle Fire and the NookColor/NookTablet is that they are a whole lot of computing power for about half the price of those bigger names. Still, watch closely on various sites (such as NewDeals, etc) for slashing prices on big names like HTC Flyer and HTC View or Thrive or Iconia. For instance, the HTC View was being sold for 249. These type of prices are just great for consumers. So, the choices get even greater.

For me, the Thrive (10") is just far too thick... I haven't tried the 7 inch model, but just try it before you consider it. Some people, however, loved the full size connectors on the side of the Thrive.

My personal choice for now is the Kindle Fire. Why? Content and the Amazon world of resources. The cloud computing design means you don't need to have tons of storage on the unit. In addition, it is a 7" tablet that fits in your pant pocket (unfortunately, the Nook Color doesn't fit in a pants pocket due to the larger form factor (though screen size is exactly the same). Saying that, the Nook Color (and especially the NookTablet) have some definite pluses. And I don't think you would be disappointed with either. A huge plus is the Micro SD slot. This allows you to dual boot into a full ANdroid tablet when you want to without completely rooting the Nook. The Nook Tablet also has a microphone.

One other option (soon to be made available in the USA), the Ainol Novo 7... currently a Honeycomb tablet but soon to be IceCreamSandwhich! This little wonder will give you all the ports and pluses you want, without costing an arm and a leg. Only $99 plus shipping. From China, currently... but soon in USA. The money savings come from using a MIPS instead of an ARM processor (if I have that designation right), but the reviews have been very good. So, look for that (and more reviews) in the near future.

Much fun!
JJ

I was in Best Buy yesterday and got to play with the Acer Iconia a100 and it was really nice. Let's just say I was sorely tempted. :) The HTC Flyer was nice hardware but it was loaded up with the awful Sense UI. The good news is that there are now a good many options for those of us who think the 7" form factor is best.

If your comfortable with the Nook Tablet, I'd say go for it! I think it is a little better when it comes to glare on the screen. It also has more RAM and expandable/removable storage. I think that if you decided to ROM one of these two (Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet), I would definitely go with the Nook Tablet, it just depends on if your comfortable rooting it, or would prefer an experience that requires no hacking around.

I like the idea of getting a Kindle Fire and try to use it without ROM'n it, since it can side load APKs. If you are going to go the ROM route, you might want to wait and see which tablets get the best support for ROM-ing. Since the Kindle Fire is cheap and common, I imagine it will have good ROM support, but that is not necessarily the case.

Unless you are really set on one of the $500ish tablet's hardware, I would save your money and go with the $200 - $250 Nook Color, Nook Tablet, or Kindle Fire. To me, the other options are just not worth twice the price. I haven't looked into it recently but there was a bit of trouble with the new Nook Tablet's boot loader not being open like the original Nook Color, so I'd check on Cyanogenmod's progress on that front before necessarily going with that one.

But with that said, I've got CM 7 on my Nook Color and am anxiously awaiting an ICS release for it. Definitely a good way to spend $200.