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Topic: Tablets

Nook Tablet reserves only 1GB of space for non-B&N content

Summary: Although the Nook Tablet only offers 1GB of onboard space for non-Barnes & Noble purchases, that actually might not be too concerning.

Rachel King

By for Between the Lines |

One of the biggest selling points for the Nook Tablet is the surely the amount of storage space that it offers in comparison to the Kindle Fire.

Barnes & Noble's offering has 16GB of onboard memory with a microSD card slot that can handle up to 32GB more, while the Kindle Fire only has 8GB of onboard memory while Amazon relies heavily on the cloud.

See also: Nook Tablet ships with 'big order volume' but lacks numbers

But there's a curious catch to the Nook Tablet that was spotted upon launch time: the Nook Tablet only reserves 1GB of space for all content that doesn't come through Barnes & Noble.

After speaking with Barnes & Noble reps directly, here's the basic breakdown:

  • The Nook Tablet has 16GB of total storage space.
  • Approximately 3GB are reserved for the operating system and such, leaving 13GB leftover for the user.
  • Thus, 12GB is reserved for all content that comes from B&N's digital store, meaning books, magazines and apps -- at least for the time being.
  • 1GB can be for anything else the user wants to add (i.e. music, PDFs, etc.).

Much like Amazon is trying to do with the Kindle Fire, B&N is also using the Nook Tablet (maybe to a lesser extent) as a tool to draw consumers into its ecosystem.

To B&N's credit, there's a lot that a user could potentially consume from B&N's digital stores alone. Apps can sometimes take up to several hundred megabytes of space or more, and many children's books (one area where B&N really beats the competition right now) are deeply interactive with audio, video and animation -- thus taking up huge amounts of space. The same goes for some other B&N titles, notably cookbooks.

As an iPad owner as well, I know that magazines can take up a lot of room -- more than I would care to give away -- depending on the quality of the layouts.

At first, I was kind of blown away and disappointed by the 1GB factor. If you want to store anything beyond this, you'll need to pay for a microSD card. Those aren't that cheap either, typically costing between $30 to $50, which you might as well get anyway if you want to download a lot of digital entertainment content. That might be hard for some consumers to grapple with as the Nook Tablet itself already starts at $249.

But potential customers should know that B&N is planning to roll out a video service of its own next year, which will include rentals that can be downloaded to the Nook Tablet. Because these videos will come through an app, that multimedia will go to the B&N portion (meaning the 12GB side) of the storage space.

Thus, that taken into account with other apps might mean that the 12GB could fill up more quickly with B&N content than one could realize.

Related:

Topics: Tablets, Hardware

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20 comments
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  • RE: Nook Tablet reserves only 1GB of space for non-B&N content

    If this is true then this is a big disappointment. Whatever memory is left over after the OS and built-in applications are loaded should be made available to whatever the user needs it for. Reserving nearly all the built-in memory for B&N content only just doesn't sit right with me.
    ckantack@...
    Reply Vote

    • There goes the one benefit the Nook had over Kindle

      @ckantack@... Seems like such a foolish design choice...

      Although I guess you just install an SD card and use that.
      otaddy
      Reply Vote

    • Today you can buy a 16 Gb microSD card

      class 4 for <$13 in a very known "one deal per day" website.
      markbn
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Nook Tablet reserves only 1GB of space for non-B&N content

      @ckantack@... B&N sell a subsidised B&N media consumption device and limits the (default) storage of non-B&N media... Who'd of thunk it?
      wright_is
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Nook Tablet reserves only 1GB of space for non-B&N content

        @wright_is
        Who says the B&N tablets are subsidised? B&N and Amazon are making a profit on every device they sell. Latest estimates for BOM costs for the Kindle Fire are at around $143. No where have I read or heard that the Nook Color or Nook Tablet are being sold at or below cost.
        ckantack@...
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Nook Tablet reserves only 1GB of space for non-B&N content

        @ckantack BOM doesn't mean anything. You are forgetting: tooling, wages, warehousing, transport, R&D investment, admin costs, quality control, subventioning defective and damaged stock, etc.

        Until you take those into account, you can't say how much, as a percentage of the end product, the BOM makes...
        wright_is
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Nook Tablet reserves only 1GB of space for non-B&N content

      @ckantack@... I believe the author misunderstood B&N's specs and fine print. Here's the fine print fromm B&N: "Approximately 13GB available to store content, of which up to 12GB may be reserved for content purchased from the Barnes & Noble NOOK Store." Note the word "may". 13B is available for users and if you buy content, only 12gb are reserved for B&N but the full 13gb are available as well as expansion MicroSD.
      dlrand
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Nook Tablet reserves only 1GB of space for non-B&N content

      @ckantack@... My Nook Color currently has 6GB of stuff in internal memory; none of it came from the B&N store since I never even activated it. So I think this is a misinterpretation.
      terry flores
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Nook Tablet reserves only 1GB of space for non-B&N content

    When it comes to marketing, you've either got it - or you haven't. Amazon has a genuine empathy with the public, and generally gets it right - B&N seems to just miss the boat with unerring accuracy.
    Heenan73
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Nook Tablet reserves only 1GB of space for non-B&N content

      @Heenan73
      Overall I think B&N got it right with the Nook Tablet. It has expandable storage, a better screen (see ComputerWorld review for more details on the superior screen), longer battery life, lighter weight, and the extra 512mb fo RAM should provide for a performance edge over the Kindle Fire. But if this memory limitation is true, then most people are going to have to fork over more $$ for an SD card. I really hope this 1GB limitation is eliminated in a future update.
      ckantack@...
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Nook Tablet reserves only 1GB of space for non-B&N content

    You are paying way too much for mSD cards - subtract 30%.

    By the way, how much Kindle memory is reserved for Amazon content? What about Apple - how much non-Apple sourced content is provided for?
    And how much does it cost to add memory to either?
    Just asking...
    radleym
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Nook Tablet reserves only 1GB of space for non-B&N content

      @radleym <br>Don't know about the Kindle Fire but the iPad has no memory restrictions. In some ways, it seems the iPad is now the most "open" of (tablet) platforms. I can download and read Kindle, B&N, ePub, books and PDFs. Watch Netflix or dozen of other video sources, etc.
      ckantack@...
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Nook Tablet reserves only 1GB of space for non-B&N content

    is there a hack to fix this?
    pdowns
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Nook Tablet reserves only 1GB of space for non-B&N content

    It'll be hacked before you know it and the amount of storage will be up to you. The OS will be up to you (FY, GB, HC, ICS). The modded theme will be up to you. Because it boots off the SDcard any and all these changes can be made WITHOUT rooting in the classical sense. Just remove the SDcard and boot back into B&N stock OS. Don't want to do any hacking? Soon, you'll be able to buy preformatted SDcards with YOUR choice of OS. What could be more fun.
    dstarke1
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Nook Tablet reserves only 1GB of space for non-B&N content

    I'm finding 16GB micro SDHC cards on Amazon listed from $7.50 to $15.00, with an average price around $12.00. I think your estimates are too high.
    Unusual1
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Nook Tablet reserves only 1GB of space for non-B&N content

      @Unusual1
      No doubt, the SD slot on the B&H Nook Tablet is a huge plus in its favor. Anyone considering a Kindle Fire should seriously look at the Nook Tablet and Nook Color before making their purchasing decision.
      ckantack@...
      Reply Vote

  • Nook Tablet supports more formats than Kindle Fire

    I ordered a Nook Tablet, in part because it supports more formats than Kindle:
    ???Load EPUB (including Adobe DRM or DRM free) or PDF file types from your computer or microSD card
    ???Other documents: XLS, DOC, PPT, TXT, DOCM, XLSM, PPTM, PPSX, PPSM, DOCX, XLX, PPTX
    ???Watch videos in MP4, or Adobe Flash Player format, 3GP, 3G2 MKV, WEBM (Video Codecs: H.264, MPEG-4, H.263, VP8)
    ???Load photos and create personal wallpaper: JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP
    ???Play audio on built-in mono speaker: MP3, MP4, AAC, AMR, WAV, OGG (Audio Codecs MP3, AAC, AMR, LPCM, OGG Vorbis)
    While I am a little concerned about the 1GB limitation for my own content, I
    ll just install a 32GB SD card and I can load whatever I want on it. The 1GB limitation on the internal memory card will eventually be hacked, and if enough people complain to B&N, they might even eliminate that restriction.
    cjc5447
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Nook Tablet reserves only 1GB of space for non-B&N content

    I believe you may have misunderstood B&'s fine print regarding user storage on the Nook Tablet. The fine print said:"Approximately 13GB available to store content, of which up to 12GB may be reserved for content purchased from the Barnes & Noble NOOK Store." Note the word "may" in the prior sentence. ie.-12gb CAN be B&N content or a user can use up to 13gb.
    dlrand
    Reply Vote

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    bmakrekdw45-24378973917961018372615080380224
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Nook Tablet reserves only 1GB of space for non-B&N content

    Who wants to wait a year??? Why don't they have movies to rent NOW? Seems kind of stupid to release hardware a whole year before the whole package is put into place.
    Lilyputian
    Reply Vote
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