[vi-android] Barnes and Noble Nook: I am not? impressed? in, the, least!
- From: "Christopher-Mark Gilland" <cgwaxhawlover@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <vi-android@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 23 May 2014 22:54:58 -0400
So, I made a little extra money through my job, and figured therefore, I'd get
a Nook through my local B&N store. I mean, hey, it's running Android, it
supposedly has Talkback on it, right? Boy was I in for a disaster of a scandle!
So, before I went, I called Corporate, and asked them what the different models
were of the Nook. The lady I spoke with clamed to be a teer 2 technition, yet,
she had no clue about any of the models. She had to quote unquote, look up
everything I wanted to know online. So I figured well, these are some pretty
specific questions I'm asking, so maybe in her defense, she really? doesn't!
know. So, I let her look. For one, I told them I knew it had Talkback, but,
my experience would vary greatly depending on what version under the hood of
Android the unit was running. I explained I knew it had their own U I overlay,
version 2.2, but that wasn't the version of Android. After about 10 minutes of
trying to explain what I meant, the lady tells me it's on 4.1 Jellybean. So,
I'm thinking, ok, perfect! That'll work excellently! I'll have all my normal
gestures like flicking, double tapping, etc. I know I wouldn't have my two
context menus, but, whatever, it sucks, but I'll deal with it.
So, I get to the store, they tell me that all of the HD Plus models are
$179.99. Thus, I bought the 7 inch HD model instead, not to be confused with
the 9 inch HD Plus model. I get home, only then to find that not only did
Corporate tell me when calling on another issue I'll get to in a second, did
the local store actually have the HD Plus 16GB model in stock, where I was told
they didn't when I asked at the customer service desk, but it was even the same
price as the 16GB HD unit I wound up getting.
This means, I could have gotten the 9 inch for the cost I paid for the 7 inch.
Stupid idiots? Ooo! that pissed me off to no end! So I got the unit on for
the first time when I got home. First of all, the two finger hold on the
screen didn't work. We got Talkback turned on manually through the settings
with sighted help. Once on, I noticed that it behaved more like Talkback did
in I C S, 4.0. So I called the local store and got the guy on the horn that I
delt with today. I asked him why he told me on his end, when he looked that it
was running Android 4.3. So, Corp telsl me it's on 4.1, he! tells me it's on
4.3. The truth? Guess what! The specialist very conveniently forgot to
visually see the number 0 before the 3! OH? Joy! Yayayay! So, it's actually
on 4.0.3. Before anyone says, that's your own damn falt for not doing your
homework, you let me tell you all something busters! I did! my homework, thank
you. I called Corporet before buying, did I not? I told you before I actually
swyped my card at the desk, I asked the specialist what version it was running,
did I not? I may not a looked online, no, but I did! research things. I
finally found the truth through a wikipedia article. You can't imagine how
ticked I was when I read it had 4.o! point 3, not 4.3. Big? difference!
OK, so, I'm thinking, ok, this sucks, like, real bad, but! I can always route
it and put CyanogenMod on it with Clockworkmod. OK, that was a joke and a
half! So, up to x d A developers I went. I get the CM recovery for
Hummingbird which is the version for the HD. Just for your info, the HD Plus
is called Ovation. Anyway, I got that, along with CM 10.2, and the 10.2 Gapps
zip file to sideload. I'm thinking this is gonna be a breeze! You just wait,
and I'll have Jellybean in no time! So, I go to copy the zip files over to the
SD card with my SD card reader as instructed through
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2317500
Well, as soon as I tried copying over the files? Bwonk? You don't have
permission to write to this SD card, it's write protected or locked! I'm like,
what the heck!
So, I go up on Google uh? gan! to figure out what on earth to do. Loe and
behold! To unlock the card, you gotta have a regular sized SD card adapter.
On that thing, there is a switch to unlock the thing. The odd thing is, the
store tech told me that it was formatting correctly when he put it in the Nook,
and the Nook saw it correctly. Well, if that's the case, then it couldn't a
been write protected. You can't format a card that's write protected. Duh?
When I called back that 3rd! time, to ask the guy about this? issue, he tells
me, oh! I didn't think it came with an adapter, but maybe it fell out of the
plastic case the card was in when I tried openning it up in the store to help
you put the card in the unit. I asked him if they had an extra adapter, so I
could get that thing out of lock mode, he said, no, you'd have to buy a whole
nuððer card. When I said that was ridiculous! Why make me pay for a card when
it was their screw up for dropping the damn thing and not realizing it, he
said, hey! I don't make the rules, buddy! I'm sorry! It's quote unquote:
store? policy! When I said, well, you're store policy sucks! He just
shrugged, and said, I'm sorry Chris. What more can I do. I'm just followwing
guidelines. In his defense, I understand that, but the least he could a done
is checked with his manager which he refused to do.
So now, I have a busted... well ok, not busted... but non writable card, and
the only way to fix it's to get another card, or to buy an adapter. I
understand adapters probably are fairly dirt cheap, but that's not the point!
It's all about principle. They lost the thing, they should replace it, dawg
gawnit? Not! make me buy another one!
So now, I have no way to install CM, I have a busted $50 32GB micro SD card,
and! I have a Nook that doesn't hardly work well for my needs, and! I have
people in my local store who obviously don't know what they're doing, and
Ha-Beeve, from God knows India probably who can't hardly hobble english from
corporate teling me things about the device that I verified not to be true.
When I called corp back, they denied that they ever told me it had 4.1. When I
played them back the recording I made of my phone call to them this morning
where they told me so, they then hung up on me.
Suffice it to say, I will be returning this unit, getting a Kindle most likely,
and will be getting my money back both for that stupid Sandisk SD card, and for
the Nook. I plan to tell all blind people of this story to educate them and
make them aware. Bottom line, be tech smart, not dumb smart. Don't take
everyone's word for everything. Just cause a company tells you something,
don't believe it right away. Go online and look it up and get a second or 3rd
opinion. This way you're not cheated/ripped off as I was! Why the Nook broke
my sd card I'll never know. That may be irrellavent, I don't know, but after
all the other issues... I wonder.
Chris.
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- » [vi-android] Barnes and Noble Nook: I am not? impressed? in, the, least! - Christopher-Mark Gilland
