What You’ll Gain (and Lose) by Rooting Your Nook

“Rooting” a tablet or smartphone means bypassing the restrictions the manufacturer places on what you can do with it. In the case of the Nook Color and Nook Tablet, the most common goal is to install a custom ROM — an alternative operating system, like the full and unmodified version of Android. Instructions for how to do so can be found all over the web, like in this tutorial for the Nook Color on the CyanogenMod wiki.

Because the Nook Color and Nook Tablet have a microSD card slot, it is possible to install the full Android OS on a memory card, and then use that while keeping the normal Nook OS around. It’s also possible to install a new launcher, or set of home screens, and switch back and forth between them, as in Review Horizon’s tutorial for the Nook Tablet.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison that shows the advantages of doing this, versus leaving your Nook the way it is:

Simple vs. Customizable

Normally, the Nook Color has only three home screens and a limited selection of things you can put on them. The full Android OS (or a new home screen launcher) bumps this number to five or more, and adds widgets, which give you at-a-glance info (like the status of your bank account) and let you do thinks like update Twitter without opening an app.

Likewise, the Nook’s built-in apps like the email and web browser are extremely simplified, but they lack a number of features found in full Android (like the ability to copy-and-paste into and out of text fields). The full Android OS offers you more options, but has a steeper learning curve.

The Nook Store vs. The Android Market

The Android Market is Google’s music, movie, and book store, which also has hundreds of thousands of apps … including the Barnes and Noble Nook app, which lets you read the books, magazines, and newspapers you already bought for your Nook.

If you’ve already bought apps from the Nook store, however, they won’t come with you. You’ll have to buy them again (or download free ad-supported versions) from the Android Market, or else switch back whenever you want to use them.

Barnes and Noble Support vs. Community Support

With a normal, unmodified Nook Color, you can contact Barnes and Noble for support if something goes wrong. If you install a custom ROM like CyanogenMod, however, it’s up to you and whoever you can get to help you to fix your Nook. Rooting it voids your warranty, and Barnes and Noble’s tech support won’t know what to make of full Android anyway.

It’s up to you

As the courts ruled in the iPhone’s case, rooting your Nook and flashing a custom ROM is completely legal, and there’s an enormous community of support out there to help you with it. It’s still largely for those who are technically inclined, though, and if you want a tablet that you don’t need to worry about breaking if you do something wrong you might ought to consider a “normal” Android tablet.