Since its debut last October, the Nook Color has received a lot of attention among modding communities. Hackers were quick to root the device's native Android environment, allowing users to run a standard version of Android 2.2 Froyo and 3.0 Honeycomb. Costing only $249, that poses an interesting value proposition for resourceful individuals looking to buy an entry-level Android slate.

For less than $250, a Nook Color running Honeycomb serves as a full-featured, albeit slower alternative to devices like the Xoom, which is currently available through Verizon for $800 contract-free. Naturally, that savings doesn't come without a catch. Getting Froyo or Honeycomb to run on the Nook Color requires some elbow grease and that typically intimidates inexperienced users.

Some modders have decided to cash in on that apprehension by selling microSD cards preloaded with everything you need to get a full version of Android on your Nook Color. Pricing depends on the capacity of the card and Android release. For instance, Android 2.2 is available on 2GB or 16GB cards for $30 and $80, while Android 3.0 comes on 4GB and 8GB cards for $60 and $100.

That's quite a tax over blank microSD cards, so a handful of modders are profiting on information freely available online. That's ticked off some Android enthusiasts such as Will Shanklin over at Android Police. Hoping to discourage people from buying the cards on eBay, Shanklin has provided a four-step procedure to create the same microSD cards being sold for $100 (Mac instructions):

  1. Download nookhoney04.img.zip
  2. Unzip the image onto your computer using WinRAR
  3. Get an SD card, at least 4GB. Using an SD card reader, insert it into your computer.
  4. Download WinImage, and under 'Disk' choose "Restore Virtual Image to Physical Drive." Choose your SD card reader's drive. Change the files shown at the bottom to "all files" and select the file.