I recently decided to get the Barnes and Noble Nook.  The one and only reason that I even considered getting this thing was the book "48 Laws of Power".  It was my book of the month a few months ago but I couldn't get past the first few chapters.  Not because it wasn't interesting but because the book itself is big.  Not Encyclopedia big, but big enough that I didn't feel like carrying it everyday.  So it sat...in my closet...along with all the other "interesting but too big to carry everyday" books that I own.  So my search for an ebook reader began.  The obvious choice was the Amazon Kindle but after some research I found the Nook to be more of a fit for me, a few reasons why:  

-WiFi (this feature was recently added via a network update the day after I got my Nook)

-sd expansion for extra memory (the newest Kindle does not include this)

-color touch screen (usually I'm anti-touch screen but for an ebook it works out fine)

-Barnes and Noble back up system for all purchases (I read a few reviews that claimed Amazon did not offer this and if you lost your books for whatever reason there was no way to get them back.  Might be a rumor or a few odd ball cases but I didn't want to risk and find out).

So I carried my ass down to Barnes and Noble, paid the 300 and something dollars (OUCH) for it and honestly walked out a dissatisfied customer, at first.  Why?  Because I just spent 300 and change for an ebook reader!!! Just plain silly.  BUT I did have the 2 week return policy in my favor so I decided to give it a whirl, if i didn't like it i could always bring it back.

It's been 2 weeks, I still have the thing...AND I LOVE IT!

(I named it Nookie Bang Bang, HA)

If nothing else it's super convenient.  Think of it as an Ipod for books.  You can carry THOUSANDS of books around with you in one device. It's lightweight and thin (my Blackberry Bold is slightly thicker than the Nook). I've been carrying it around with me everyday for the past 2 weeks, sometimes forgetting that I have it with me in my bag.   The battery is pretty good as well.  I read it for about 2-3 hours a day per week on a single 4 hour charge before I got the low battery message. You can also customize it with different screen savers (my favs are the Brooklyn Spike Lee pic and of course my husband number 12 Lance Gross...don't judge).   

You can buy books at a discounted price (9.99 for new releases) and subscribe to newspapers and magazines.  There is a also a cool feature that lets you read any book while in Barnes and Nobel for free (for an hour at a time).  Not bad if you need to kill time somewhere and run into a B&N.

Another nice thing is the ability to download free ebooks that are public domain on various websites (you can do this without an ebook reader, just download it to your computer).  A lot of classic literature can be found online for free, sort of like the library on the net, without the late fee charges.  A book that I've been wanting to read for sometime is "1984", I downloaded it as a pdf for free from www.planetebook.com/.

So far the only problem that I have with it is the audio player.  I was very excited about this feature because as you know I love music but for whatever reason the audio player seems to play songs at a slower speed.  It's a very minute detail and I realize that this is an ebook reader first but it does piss me off slightly. 

I think the real treat will come when I start traveling this summer (oh yes, things have been booked already) and have the ability to buy and read damn near whatever I want while on the go.  Unlike the Kindle you can not purchase books outside of the US.  There are ways to get around this but I don't live outside of the US so I'm not concerned with it right now.  As long as you buy it here you can read it anywhere in the world.  

Of course I'll still buy regular books.  I'll probably end up doing what I did with the 48 Laws, buying the book just to have it and the ebook to actually read it. That can get pricey but you can't go wrong with a couple of good books.