HDTV Expert - The Front Line: Four From Pepcom — Community

#1 Nov 20, 2012 at 12:21 am

One of the best tabletop CE product shows makes a return visit to New York.

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#2 Nov 26, 2012 at 5:24 am

Pete, thanks for the interesting report.

Re: the new Nook HD's,

"The B&N Nook HD+ adds to an already overcrowded market for tablets, but is competitively priced."

is a caption under a picture of the 7" Nook HD, not the 9" HD+.

"The Nook HD+ ... employs the same processor and OS as the 7-inch tablet and has similar battery life."

True, but it clocks it a bit faster, at 1.4 GHz, vs. 1.3.

"I found both tablets very bright and contrasty under the overhead spotlights used in the ballroom, and reflection from the LCD screen was minimal."

Which is pretty unique amongst the tablet options, most of which are mirror-like.

"Alas; there’s still no place to make an external display connection like there is on the iPads."

Actually, there IS such a place! It's the multi-pin docking connector at the bottom. However the interface cable that enables its use (connects to HDMI) is not yet available, AFAIK.

- Tim

#3 Nov 26, 2012 at 4:20 pm

Actually, there IS such a place! It's the multi-pin docking connector at the bottom. However the interface cable that enables its use (connects to HDMI) is not yet available, AFAIK.

- Tim

Tim,

If you are referring to the iPad multipin to HDMI that connector is available.

Best Regards,

Rodolfo La Maestra

#4 Nov 26, 2012 at 5:47 pm

Rodolfo,

> If you are referring to the iPad multipin to HDMI that connector is available. <

No, I wasn't referring to that. Pete and I were already aware of those adaptors.

Pete indicated that there is no such connector on the new Nook HD models. He would have been right about the older Nook Tablet and Nook Color, but the HD and HD+ do support HDMI out to an external monitor. However it does require an adapter cable, which AFAIKnew was not available yet.

I went back to double check, and what I thought was a cable is something they call a dongle. It looks more like a small module to me, and an actual adapter cable would probably have put less stress on the tablet connector (the cable acting as a strain-relief to some extent).

http://liliputing.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/nookhdmi.jpg

In any case, it accepts a full-size HDMI cable, so you can play games, watch HD movies, etc. from your NookHD's on a huge screen, if you like. The HDMI dongles are, in fact, delayed, with no specific ETA announced, but could arrive at any time.

It turns out I was incorrect about one thing though. I characterized the CPU speed difference between the two models as 1.3/1.4 GHz, and it's really 1.3/1.5 GHz. My apology for going by memory without checking. Too many new offerings this fall to get away with that. Thanks for giving me a reason to go back and check my data.

- Tim

[a somewhat larger picture of the dongle that shows it's size in hand is available here: http://img.digitaltrends.com/image/p9253841-600x415]