I actually REALLY enjoy reading on my iPad - I know you didn't ask but if you can find the original iPad at a great price - you get so much more than an eReader. May want to look at that option.
A kindle. It leads the market currently and BN is on the market to sale. Amazon is solid as a company whereas Barnes and Noble lies questionable in the future. That alone would put me off the Nook for now.
On the other hand, you can jailbreak the Nook quite easily and install the android application turning it into a Droid version of an IPad. That's what Spec uses.
NO questions asked NOOK Color, I just helped my co worker setup his like an Android, rooting it opens it up sooooo much its unreal.
1. IPAD
2. NOOK Color
3. stay with ur laptop
then again if u just want an ereader the kidle is JUST that, the Nook has apps and stuff, fo example my co worker now has an app to balance his personal and business account, he can do ALL the paperwork for our office, he loaded about 10 games for the kids on it, he has apps for 4 diferent email accounts, now he doesnt need to convert the format of the movies.
Plain bad arzzzzzzzzz if you ask me, I'm thinking of buying one myself now that we didnt blow his up hehe
I bought my wife a Kindle for her birthday. 2 weeks later she dropped it and broke it. I called Amazon and they replaced it under warranty no questions asked. Great customer service!!!
Kindle is great. It Also has a web browser, so it is not just an e-reader. I've had mine for three weeks now and read daily, my charge is still about half full. Great battery life.
+1 to what NOLA said - get the first edition ipad for 350 and never look back - why limit yourself to such a hindered platform - the kindle reads books thats it - the ipad will do 100 times more things
I have the Kindle and have had it for a year. Easy to use, easy to read on and in a pinch I can look up something on the net. Never had a problem with it. Just a few hours ago, purchased a IPad2 for the wife's birthday. Now she can read on her IPad and I can get my Kindle back from her.
She is playing with her new toy as we speak, big smile on her face. Priceless
I have used both, and I love love love my original nook (with 3G). Not only can I read, I can put any mp3 audio files on it as well. I much prefer it to an iPad because the screen doesn't hurt my eyes. The web browser is great for small things, but it can be hard to navigate. I have found that the books offered are a bit more expensive than Amazon books at times. Also, if you plan to read more "obscure" topic nonfiction books, the selection on Amazon is usually better. Barnes and Noble also have a pretty good collection of under $5 books. You can browse the ereader book selections online to see more of what I'm talking about. I even had an issue where the page turn button broke, but the company sent me a replacement with no questions. The kindle is great as well, however if you plan to put mp3 files on it (audiobooks, etc), they are hard to navigate. There is no real mp3 menu within the kindle, even though the files can go on it. The kindle does have a text to speech feature, but I find the robotic voice rather annoying. I would rather put audiobooks on the nook or an iPod. The touchscreen on the original nook is not up to par with anything from apple, but it works fine. I would choose the Nook if I had to buy again.
Nook and nook color. I have a nook color and the wife has the nook with 3G and wifi. Easy to use and you get free/discounted stuff while ur in barnes ad noble if u have ur nook on in the store
If you are just going to read books then go with the Kindle, which is what i was gonna go with. I ended up deciding on the Nook Color because of the different Android operating systems that are available.
Don't know much on the web browser on the kindle but the nook color works really well and has flash as well.
I have the Nook Color. I use it while I walk on the treadmill in the morning and to read in bed at night. You can change the page colors and I make the page black and print white when I read in bed or the car which is easier on the eye. Downloading books is quick and easy.
It has a wireless browser which is good for me as I work in 2 offices where it's my only internet access. Easier to read than my Blackberry.
The only downside to the Nook is that my daughter and I traded books a good bit and we can't do that anymore. There aren't many "Lend me" books on BN.com. Maybe Amazon's Kindle is better at lending but I didn't check. I know of 4 friends who always swapped books and they share a bn.com account and read books that way and split the account bill 4 ways.
I've used both and found the Kindle more intuitive but the Nook seemd to have more features including microSD card slot. Whichever you decide, get the 3G version since the 3G service is "free".