Rapid changes in tablets are bringing more
choices, new features, and better prices. Here’s a rundown based on our initial
tests (we’ll fully test all of them soon):
Apple squeezed its highly successful iPad
into a more affordable and smaller package, the iPad Mini. Our tests found
Apple’s new tablet as good as its larger siblings in almost every respect. We
also found it more convenient for reading because it’s smaller and lighter. For
details, see the facing page.
Our
tests found Apple’s new tablet as good as its larger siblings in almost every
respect. We also found it more convenient for reading because it’s smaller and
lighter.
Microsoft finally entered the market with a
serious competitor to the iPad and Android tablets – the Surface with Windows
RT (the new operating system for tablets based on Windows 8). Larger than most
tablets, the Surface is a fine piece of hardware, with a built-in stand, great
add-on keyboards, and an excellent display. It runs versions of classic Office
applications. But Microsoft has a ways to go on its app store.
The Barnes & Noble Nook got a major
update with the 7-inch Nook HD and 9-inch Nook HD+. The Nook HD has the highest
screen resolution among smaller tablets, and Barnes & Noble keep the
starting price at $200, a true bargain. It also improved the shopping
experience and added other innovative features, such as user profiles. The Nook
HD+ starts at $270.
As
with other tablets, if you also want a physical keyboard, you must pay extra.
These new tablets lived up to expectations
in many ways, our preliminary tests showed. But as with other tablets, if you
also want a physical keyboard, you must pay extra.
The Nook HD delivers on its display
The Barnes & Noble Nook HD is the
highest-resolution tablet of its size. Priced at $200 for 8GB ($230 for 16GB),
it has a screen whose resolution is 243 pixels per inch. That’s not much less
than the 264 pixels per inch on the third-and fourth –generation iPad with
Retina display. Here’s how it stacked up in our preliminary tests:
The
Nook HD and HD+ nearly match the resolution of the Apple Retina display.
Images
and text look great.
Its 7-inch screen lived up to expectations,
delivering images that nearly equaled those of the Apple iPad Retina screens.
Viewing angles were similar to the iPad’s, as was the ability to read in bright
light. We did find that colors weren’t quite up to iPad standards, thanks to
slightly yellow, less-saturated colors. And we found the text on the Nook HD
almost as crisp as the iPad’s.
Magazines
are strength.
At 0.7 pounds, the Nook HD is among the
lightest tablets and narrows enough to fit in one hand. So it almost feels as
if you’re holding a small magazine. It’s certainly better for reading one than
the previous Nook, which squeezed text into a narrow column. On the Nook HD,
text fills the entire screen. Scrolling is smooth and magazine pages curl as
you turn.
If you’re an avid magazine reader, however,
you’ll probably prefer the Nook HD+, whose display is larger and has a slightly
squarer shape, making it better suited to publications. It can accommodate an
entire page of type without forcing you to clumsily scroll around the page as
you read. It wasn’t available to test at press time.
If
you’re an avid magazine reader, however, you’ll probably prefer the Nook HD+,
whose display is larger and has a slightly squarer shape, making it better
suited to publications.
Video
and audio were fine.
Streaming video appeared quite good on the
Nook HD. Sound was less tinny than you’d expect on a device this size, but
still not as loud as on the new iPad Mini. Touch response was also fine, and
games that require swiping were easy to play. But photos that you view in
landscape mode have black task and status bars above and below the shot,
shrinking it.
Unique
features are helpful.
Both Nooks have features that distinguish
them from other tablets we’ve seen. For example, you can set up as many as six
personalized accounts on a single device.
You
can set up as many as six personalized accounts on a single device.
You select an account by dragging its icon
to open up the associated user’s profile, which constrains that user’s books,
magazines, apps, and scrapbooks. With parental controls, you can set up
children’s accounts that restrict their ability to browse, shop, or access
files in the device’s library.
Scrapbooks are another useful feature. When
reading a magazine or catalog, you can clip a page and add it to a scrapbook by
dragging two fingers down the side of a page or by using a n onscreen scissor
icon that you summon with a touch.
Bottom
line.
If you’re looking for a small tablet, the
Nook HD is a fine choice at an excellent price. It’s qute portable, even
compared with other 7-inch tablets. The sharp text that the high-resolution
display renders should especially please readers.
While the selection of content and
“curated” apps is more limited than the iPad’s or even those in a number of
other Android stores, it’s enough for most people, especially given its broad
selection of magazines.
