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Root Dual boot Nook sounds too good to be true...

Thanks for your reply. Like you, I am thinking about buying a Nook Color and I was hoping to hear from somebody who has actually done this before buying one.

My wife just wants an eReader, but I would like an Android tablet and we cannot afford both right now. Being able to dual boot or boot to Android on an SD card sounded like a way to get both. But the articles I have read about running Android on the NC only explain how to do it. They don't talk about performance - which worries me.
 
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Thanks for your reply. Like you, I am thinking about buying a Nook Color and I was hoping to hear from somebody who has actually done this before buying one.

My wife just wants an eReader, but I would like an Android tablet and we cannot afford both right now. Being able to dual boot or boot to Android on an SD card sounded like a way to get both. But the articles I have read about running Android on the NC only explain how to do it. They don't talk about performance - which worries me.
 
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Thanks for your reply. Like you, I am thinking about buying a Nook Color and I was hoping to hear from somebody who has actually done this before buying one.

My wife just wants an eReader, but I would like an Android tablet and we cannot afford both right now. Being able to dual boot or boot to Android on an SD card sounded like a way to get both. But the articles I have read about running Android on the NC only explain how to do it. They don't talk about performance - which worries me.

*I* would say to root the NC, and then load a reader program for your wife to use (I prefer Aldiko, with Moon + as a close second). There is nothing that says she can't read 'her' books on 'your' tablet. That would also remove the need for each of you having to reboot the Nook if it's not in the correct ROM. (you have to reboot it if she used it last, she has to reboot it if you used it last).
 
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*I* would say to root the NC, and then load a reader program for your wife to use (I prefer Aldiko, with Moon + as a close second). There is nothing that says she can't read 'her' books on 'your' tablet. That would also remove the need for each of you having to reboot the Nook if it's not in the correct ROM. (you have to reboot it if she used it last, she has to reboot it if you used it last).
Actually there is.
While my wife can read 'her' books on any reader software, the BN reader that is stock on the NC also reads children's books. Many children's books on the NC are enhanced to allow extra features like Read-to-me and animations and interactivity. Some grown-up books are going this way as well, cookbooks for example may include video. I am not aware of any other reader, including nook for Android that can these file types, as they are likely proprietary to B&N. As of now, I have mine rooted with just stock, but if I press a couple of buttons, I am in Android tablet heaven, and a simple press of the home button sends me back into BN Launcher.
 
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My SD card contains CM7 and has a modified boot file (from XDA references) that allows me to select between CM7 on the card and stock NC internally when I turn off/on my Nook color.

I use stock to read, browse basic things like email and facebook, and play Angry Birds HD because I like the interface better. I use CM7 for everything else, including the Android and Amazon app markets. That "side" also has all my other game and productivity apps. Stock has all my books easily available, including my sideloaded books (I'm too lazy for Aldiko and Calibre), which sounds like just what your wife would want. CM7 will let you play to your heart's content.

There are lots of sets of directions available through XDA, through here, and even via You-Tube. It takes some time and patience but it can be done.
 
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... It would be HER Nook ...

'nuf said!!!

It's actually quite easy, but if you try and run Honeycomb, it can be a bit sluggish. Still, if you stick with a reasonable setup, and use CM7 or Phiremod, you should have a good experience, that is IF the wife ever stops reading long enough to let you have it ;)

My wife and I each have one because 1.) we're both pretty big readers and sharing wouldn't be practical and 2.) I don't touch her stuff upon pain of death ... or worse.
 
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I'm probably going to be the minority voice here, but here's what I did.

My wife uses the nook pretty much 50/50 between reading books purchased from B&N and as an Android tablet. She likes and is comfortable with the Nook stock interface for managing her books.

I just ManualNooter'd the NC. Still get the Nook stock OS for reading books and then I hit the N button and I'm in Android tablet mode with my custom launcher and any apps I need.

I guess CM7 might provide some more toys, but the solution I have is easy to use and provides the best of both worlds, I think.

I think this is the easiest/best setup for the non-techie who is going to use the NC a good portion of the time as a ereader.
 
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IF I had liked the Nook's stock EReader interface, I would have done what Lex suggests. However I've been reading my ebooks on Aldiko for so long that I missed not having it.

That said, my wife just bought a Nook Touch (their E-ink reader). She thinks the reader interface is OK (not wonderful, just OK), but she wouldn't use the tablet features enough to justify the extra $100 it would have cost to get an NC.

BTW, to clarify, I think reading a book on the stock reader is just fine, it does everything I'd want it to do. However the way it handles/organizes the books themselves is lacking.
 
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'nuf said!!!

It's actually quite easy, but if you try and run Honeycomb, it can be a bit sluggish. Still, if you stick with a reasonable setup, and use CM7 or Phiremod, you should have a good experience, that is IF the wife ever stops reading long enough to let you have it ;)

My wife and I each have one because 1.) we're both pretty big readers and sharing wouldn't be practical and 2.) I don't touch her stuff upon pain of death ... or worse.

My hope is that once she sees what I can do on her NC in Android then she will want that capability too. But even though she is fairly comfortable with technology that she is familiar with, she is NOT adventurous tech-wise.
 
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My hope is that once she sees what I can do on her NC in Android then she will want that capability too. But even though she is fairly comfortable with technology that she is familiar with, she is NOT adventurous tech-wise.

I've got mine setup like Lex. You may be content with that too. It gives you the Stock Nook interface plus a semi-full tablet experience.
 
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I just got my NC for Father's Day (I love my wife :)) and one of the first things I did was root it. I did what lexluthor suggested for a while, then I found this thread on XDA for setting up a partition and dual-booting off the eMMC. I set it up, moved the stock NC software to the DB partition and flashed Phiremod 6.3. It's running great, and I'm loving it. The only bad part is that I have to turn it off to access the other partition, but I can live with that. :)
 
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Does this mean that you can boot to stock 1.2 WITHOUT having to remove the card?

Yes. Assuming you get it set up right, you would boot into CM7 by rebooting normally without holding anything. If you want to boot into stock 1.2, you reboot while holding down the home (N) key. You can use your SD card just for storage and you don't have to change it out to run either ROM.

However, it appears that the OP from that thread is missing a download link for one of the necessary files, so you may want to hold off until that is sorted out.
 
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Yep, the process listed over at xda does work -- please note, however, that it's important that your Nook Color be partitioned the way the early NCs were partitioned (1GB data/5GB media). I had a "blue dot" newer NC (5GB data/1GB media) and repartitioned it a couple of weeks ago, but I used the "custom" repartition setting (2GB data/5GB media) and the dual boot from eMMC process wouldn't work for me. I had to repartition again this morning (I used these instructions: Nook Color: How to Repartition Blue Dot Nook Color|Maurice Mongeon) to 1GB data/5GB media and the process worked flawlessly.
 
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