nook HD 7 review

   The following is going to be my review of the nook HD 7. But before I do that, I must say I don't use a tablet everyday. some weeks I don't even use it at all. I love the bigger screen size of a tablet but there's really nothing I do on a tablet that I can't accomplish equally as well on a phone. Since I have 2 phones, and 2 phones fit in my pockets better then 1 tablet...... Well you see what I mean. However 2 handed typing is much better on a tablet. In fact I'm typing this on the nook right now. A feat I'd have never attempted on my phones.
   The nook was actually given to me for free. My fiance ended up with  galaxy tab 3 7.0 and the nook HD and since it was a bit redundant to have both, she gave me the nook. I've been using it regularly for about 5 months or so now and for as cheap as these things are new and even cheaper used, I've been relatively impressed. Although the tablet is definitely not without its faults.
   From a hardware stand point its pretty much what you'd expect. All plastic body, no cameras, 7 inch screen, power button  on the upper left side. Volume on the upper right. The "n"shaped emblem front and center is actually the home key. The thick side bezels and black margins above and below the screen are both a gift and a curse. They make holding it easier but they also make the tablet larger then it really needs to be. The screen is pretty good considering the price. Its not HD but in day to day use you'll be hard pressed to notice. The matte finish across the back along with an over all thin profile make for a solid tablet that I have yet to drop. The next hardware item I will touch on is the speakers. Im not an audiophile so i cant really comment on quality, but they are definitely loud enough. There placement on the back at the bottom is less then ideal though. It does have a proprietary charging/sync port and charger which I'm not crazy about and among the 2 nook hd's in our family, we've had to replace each charger cable atleast once as they seem to wear out. But otherwise they seem to charge at an average rate I suppose.
   Then there's the software, yes....well. Stock it just plain sucks. Maybe if youre a heavy nook/ b&n user with no other use for this device it might work fine but anyone who is used to a more run of the mill android expirience wont be impressed. I believe the stock launcher lasted all of about 5 minutes before I installed nova launcher. Another sticking point for me is the recent apps screen only seems to display apps downloaded from the b&n app store. Most of which suck and lag way behind their play store countetparts. It does come with google apps which is a plus. Although i had issues with gmail and some of the other google apps crashing, sometimes even when i wasnt using them. The one gig of ram doesnt do my usage patterns any justice either. I do read ebooks using play books and as you might assume from a nook.....it does that quite well indeed. Most popular mainstream games will work just fine on here with little to no issue.
   So over all whats the verdict? Well over all its really not terrible and undermost casual circumstances is actually quite usable. If your in the market for an ereader that will double as a casual tablet then this could be a great option. However, if your looking more for something a bit more on the tablet side with plans to message, video chat, game, and stream media......well you would probably do better to get something else.