The NOOK Tablet is sporting a 7″ VividView color touchscreen, with a resolution of 1025 X 600 at 169 pixels PPI. Size wise it is 8.1″ X 5.0″ X 0.48″  and weighs in at only 14.1 ounces.  Packing in a 1GHz TI OMAP4 (dual-core) processor with 1GB RAM is going to make this tablet scream. Their is 16GB of internal memory built in with a MicroSD slot with support for up to another 32GB of storage. Battery life is expected to provide you with 11.5 hours worth of reading time and approximately 9 hours worth of movie playback time. Charging from a wall outlet will only take 3 hours to get you back to a ful charge.

As with all tablets from any manufacturer or carrier you can expect to find some bloatware. Not that all bloatware is bad, I think the NOOK Tablet at least has some apps that most of us would install anyways. The re-loaded list will include Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora, Chess, Crossword, Soduko, Media Gallery Nook Friends, Email and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Not to terribly over done if you ask me.

To top it all off, they have included the usual built in WiFi (802.11b/g/n). Along with 8 text sizes and 6 font styles for your reading pleasure. Not to mention the ability to alter the background color and line and margin spacing. Another addition to this awesome little tablet is the built in microphone. Although it is not designed for making and receiving calls, I am sure you still could via VoIP services. The mic is more for increasing the tablets useability for your kids. Along you to ‘Read and Record’ books for your children to play back. This is really awesome for those parents that might not always be around to read their kids bedtime stories every night.

As you can see in the following photos, B&N didn’t stray from the design of the original in the slightest. Making certain that you won’t be picking up the new version and feeling lost or uncomfortable.

So what is the new NT going to set you back? The same price you paid for the old NOOK Color, $249.99. In conjunction with the release of the NT, the NOOK Color is also dropping in price slightly down to $199.99. The NOOK Tablet is available for pre-order starting today and is scheduled to available on November 17th

All the positives are certainly sounding pretty good so far. What about the negatives? Well, the UI is a heavily modified version on Gingerbread 2.3 and it doesn’t have access to the Android market. Not like that has ever stopped us before though. I am certain that the new NOOK Tablet will fall to the likes of CM7 shortly after it becomes available. I guess we will have to wait and see what our community can do with this thing.

If the Kindle Fire is on your list of potential holiday gifts, I would highly recommend you check out the nifty comparison that B&N set up. You will easily see why a mere $50 more will benefit you in the long run.

Source: Barnes & Noble