Love my nook!!

Barnes&Noble Nook and Industriell Easel cover

I've been trying to decide what to review and have settled on one of my current favorite posessions - my NOOK.  If you're not familiar with it, the nook is Barnes&Noble's electronic reading device.  My wonderful husband ordered one for me for Christmas (actually, he had me order it, but he paid for it).  Unfortunately, since they were a new device that came out just before Christmas 2009, they were backordered and I didn't receive mine until the beginning of February.  That looooonnnnggg period of waiting was definitely a chanllenge for me :P 

Let's get to some details!
Name:  NOOK
Made by:  Barnes & Noble
Availability:  Can be ordered at www.barnesandnoble.com and I believe it is now available in some stores.
Cost:  Nook with Wi-Fi only - $149
           Nook with 3G+Wi-Fi - $199

Highlights: 
My favorite thing about my nook is that I have my books at my fingertips.  One of my new author's has a new book out?  All I have to do is pull up the shopping screen, search for the book and download it directly to my nook, no matter where I am.  When I got my nook, only the 3G+Wi-Fi model was available.  When I'm home, I use our network because it's sligtly faster, but when I'm not at home, I simply use the 3G network.  There is no monthly cost for having 3G access.  Another thing I like is the touch navagation screen that changes based on what you need - chose an option from the main screen and go from there.  If you need to search, it turns into a keyboard.  Want to play sudoku?  It will show whatever squares you're solving.  I also love my nook case.  That's not technically a highlight of the device, but I'll include it anyway :)  I have the Industriell Easel cover and I love it!  It sets the nook up like it's on an easel and I can read hands free.  This is great for me because I like to read while I eat lunch and with the nook and the easel cover, I don't have to try to hold onto my book while I eat.  One of the best things is that it feels like I'm reading an actual page of a book.  Computer screens wear out my eyes, but I can read my nook as long as I would read a regular book without my eyes getting tired.

What's not so great:
In order to have a screen that is comfortable to read, they have to use eInk instead of an LCD screen, so it's impossible to have a backlit screen and you have to use a book light to read at night.  I'll take that tradeoff though because, as I said, I love that the eInk screen is comfortable to read.  My biggest complaint (which, btw, would be the same no matter what ereader I was using) is that not all books are available in ebook format.  Most of the current authors I read are now releasing in ebook format and most classics are available.  Unfortunately, some of what I call "in between authors" are not available.  By "in between" I mean authors that are no longer living or with books that are no longer in production and whoever holds the rights to the books hasn't released the electronic rights.  On a side note, it's hugely disappointing to me that JK Rowling still refuses to release the electronic rights to the Harry Potter books.  From what I've read, she thinks ebooks increase the risk of pirating, but I would think that her refusing fans access to the books in an electronic format would do more to promote pirating.  Somebody will always find a way to get the books out there illegally as long as she keeps refusing to release the electronic rights. That was not really on topic, but oh well!

Things to consider if you are thinking of getting a nook or another brand of ereader:
First, go online and find out if the authors you like to read have books available in ebook format.  With the nook, you can go on the Barnes&Noble website and they have an ebook tab where you can search for specific titles and authors.  There's not much reason to spend the money on an ereader if you're just going to have to continue buying most of your books from the book store.  Second, go to a store where you can try out the ereader you're thinking of buying and see if you can find somebody who owns it and see what they think of it before you buy.

My rating:  I give the nook 4.5 out of 5 stars.  I love it!  Of course there are improvements that could be made, but that's the same with pretty much any electronic device.
Would I recommend the nook to a friend:  Definitely!