Consumer Reports:

I just bought a Nook Color and I love it.

I was kinda hesitant to buy an ereader, but I finally decided to. Now I adore my Nook. I have the Nook Color and I honestly couldn't do anything that was just black and white. It is a little on the heavy side, but very worth the value, especially with the apps. It was nice going to the beach this summer and taking that (which has nearly 300 books) as opposed to lugging around 10 paperbacks.

My husband bought me a Nook Color last Christmas and I absolutly love it. I don't know what I would do without it. Yes it is heavy and the battery has to be charged quite frequently but those are my only complaints about it.

It might be a nicer eReader.  But the customer service is horrid.

The Nook Color is not an ereader, it is a tablet that can read ebooks.

The Nook Color is not an ereader, it is a tablet that can read ebooks.

It is an eReader that happens to be able to be used as a tablet.

That's what it was advertised and originally sold as. It was first hacked to get it usable as a tablet by others, then instead of closing the loophole in programing they jumped on the bandwagon and included the change in a later update.

To say it's not an ereader isn't correct. It is.

But B&N don't market it as ereader NOW, do they?

Now they call it The Reader's Tablet.

But B&N don't market it as ereader NOW, do they?

Making it a table doesn't take it out of the eReader catagory just because it can do more. It's just not a Dedicated eReader.

But very few eReaders only open and close books anymore. They've done other things for a while.

Being an eReader isn't an insult. It's just what it is, plus more.

Folks, it was the Nook Touch that beat the Kindle.  Not the Nook Color.

I don't have a nook, I got a kindle, simply because I couldn't get the Nook for free.  Whichever was free for me is going to get my vote...lol. ETA  Well, I spoke too soon.  I didn't realize that Amazon sold Nooks.

The Nook Touch is simply unbelievable. It's so amazing! The battery life is seriously the best I've seen in an electronic device. I can see how it beat out the kindle.

Colleen, that's great! For people who are looking for an e-ink touch screen from a major company, can't go wrong with that one or the Kobo Touch. I don't know that I'd want a touch reader, though my old fictionwise ebookwise (which is backlit) is a touch screen, has a stylus, and I always liked that about it. Can you use a stylus on the Nook touch or the Kobo touch, I wonder? That would be cool.

I'm sure you can Anne.  I have a Sony Touch and it has a stylus to use if you want to.  Or you can use your fingers.

That's nice, about the Sony. I think all touch screen devices should come with those. Then instead of people complaining about finger prints, they'd complain about lost styluses!

On the other hand, now that I think of it, the kids DS lite screen is pretty scratched up from the stylus. But a 4 year old can be pretty vicious stabbing at the thing (she may have even used it at 3....she used it more than the other kids did). I don't think my ebookwise screen is marked up at all (its actually my 8 yo daughter's now).

Nate's remarks on that CR report

I bought the Nook Touch (my first e-reader) a week after they came out, and I can well believe that it beats out the existing Kindle and other competition.  I was a bit wary of the touch screen, but the improved e-ink and pearl screen and improved page turn and battery life sold me.   I thought I might want to find a stylus for it, but it's completely unnecessary.  I put an anti-glare screen on it and I have no trouble with fingerprints, and no trouble with "fat finger" syndrome, either.   I love it.  So much so that I'm tempted to buy new keeper books twice, once for my keeper shelf, and again for Nook, because I SO prefer reading the Nook over the paper book.  Never thought that would be the case, but it is.

Me too Sharla, love to read on my ereader SO much more than in print. I'm glad to hear you like the Nook Touch so much. I think (as a non-user) it is a huge improvement over the previous Nooks.