I'm a die-hard book lover, and I swore I'd never read a book electronically, but I started to open to the idea on my last airline flight. I usually travel with a 2-inch stack of printed-out pdf files, 2 or 3 magazines, and a few books not to mention my reading light, highlighters, and sticky notes. It's too much trouble to lug it all around, and now we have to pay for overweight luggage, so having one small tablet loaded with books makes sense.
I've been looking at the iPad, but decided that it was too big, too expensive, and too fancy, plus I can't bear the thought of another monthly phone bill. I primarily need to have quick access to reference materials that I have on Word and .pdf files as well as books, and occasional web access. After a lot of research and playing with various devices, I decided that the Nook Color was the best product for me. I have been extremely happy with it -- reading from the Nook Color is a much better experience than I thought it would be.
I'm very pleased with how well my Word and pdf files transferred. Accessing and reading them from the Nook is easy -- I read them in landscape so I can make the print bigger. You cannot make changes to these files from the Nook, and you can't highlight or write notes as you can with a book, but when the apps come out I won't be surprised if someone makes a note-taking app like "stickies" for these files.
Reading on this is a pleasure. I thought it would be horrible, but in many ways it's actually easier than holding a book. I don't have to try to hold a large book with two hands and keep the page open at the same time. I can indeed curl up with it -- I rest it on my legs and don't have to hold it at all. If I'm working at a table, I can put it on a stand or leave it flat. (The box it comes in is a stand too.) I have no problems with glare -- it's comfortable to read. If I need to, I can make the print larger! Reading in bed at night while my husband is sleeping is a much better experience with the Nook Color -- It's back-lit so I don't need a book light and I can adjust brightness. The whole page is lit up instead of a tiny spotlight that I have to keep moving around as with a regular book light. I don't make noise turning the page or taking notes. The highlighter and notes are built in, so I don't need to scramble around looking for my pens and sticky notes. And the best part is that it will show all of my highlighted notes in one list so I don't have to flip through all of the pages to review my notes. That is VERY handy as I do a lot of studying. It also has a built-in dictionary so you can look up words instantly. The only thing I have to give up is reading in the bathtub.
I love it -- downloading books is easy and fast, ditto for the New York Times. I'm saving some trees, and my house might even start looking neater with less books and papers strewn all over the place. I've completely converted to the other side!