Unboxed: Barnes & Noble NOOK Tablet + Elsa Cover in Black

With numerous tablet PCs popping up all over the market in the recent 2 years, tech-savvy consumers now have an array of products to look into - from the expensive Apple iPad 2 to cheap China-made ones. Some may prefer a device which works right out of the box, others may be more adventurous and try to turn some really high specifications e-book readers into full fledged tablet PCs. Notable few such readers include the Amazon Kindle Fire, Barnes & Noble NOOK Color and the newly introduced NOOK Tablet.

Here I have, the Barnes & Noble NOOK Tablet + Elsa Cover in Black which I got off BN's website.

Delivered by DHL Express via comGateway.

Barnes & Noble NOOK Tablet + Elsa Cover in Black.

Specifications are listed on the back.

Unboxed the NOOK Tablet first.

Content of the box.
Top left: 2 pin power adapter
Top right: NOOK Tablet-specific USB cable
Bottom: NOOK Tablet
Not shown: User guide

The out-of-the-box NOOK Tablet.

Staring at it, straight on.

On the top left, the power button.

On the top right, the volume control buttons and 3.5mm earphone jack.

At the bottom, the USB input.

And to the back, the speaker port + microSD card expansion slot underneath the 'NOOK' rubber flap.

Next, we have the Elsa Cover in Black:

Looks like a book!

'The art of reading', with proper rails to hold the tablet in place.

Flip the cover to its back, here is the signature 'n' logo.

The NOOK Tablet sits snugly in the cover.

Size comparison:

The NOOK Tablet in its Elsa Cover, with a Sanyo Eneloop AA battery in the middle.

In case you are still wondering if I am going to use the NOOK Tablet as an e-book reader, my direct answer is - no. I am going to turn it into a full fledged tablet PC like I first mentioned in this post. The NOOK Tablet runs on open-source Android Operating System, which means a huge user base over at XDA-Developers forums. Rooting, the Apple equivalent of Jail-breaking, has never been easier with step-by-step written/video guides.

Do stay tune for my user review of this awesome tablet!