Trying to explain eReaders once and for all. By Tana Kleitz

Barnes and Noble sells 3 kinds of nooks now.

#1 - The original nook. Sells for $149 (or there are refurbished ones on Ebay for $100 being sold by Barnes and Noble with warranty).
This nook has WIFI connection only. So you have to be either in a WIFI hotspot or have a wireless router connection in order to access the internet, order books, etc. The Internet is wonky on this if you ask me. I wouldn't recommend buying it with the intentions of being able to access Facebook or check email or anything. It works in a pinch, but is not really user friendly in my opinion. Now for doing what it was mainly meant for - reading books - I love it! It has the e-ink screen, which means it is not backlit for night reading. You have to attach a book light to be able to read in the dark. The touch screen at the bottom is backlight however.

#2 - The nook with 3G and Wifi sells for $199. This one has the exact same features as #1 with the only exception being the 3G network. This makes getting on line available from anywhere not just a wifi hotspot. This is good if you don't have wifi access. There again though, the internet connection is mainly for buying books, getting updates, daily newsletters, newspaper updates, etc. Wouldn't really recommend buying it for the use of the internet as you would on a PC.

#3 - This the new color touch screen and it sells for $249. It has all the bells and whistles you could want. Touch screen, backlit so you don't need an additional light, music, games and WIFI connections.
From what I see, you don't have the 3G capabilities on this one so you would have to be in a hotspot to use the Internet. It is much more user friendly as far as Internet usage goes.

NOW - let me explain about getting books for the nook...

You have a couple of options for books.

A - You can buy them :( If you are in a WIFI hotspot or have the 3G Nook you can go directly to Barnes and Noble's library and search and purchase a book. It will download directly to your nook within a couple of minutes. If you aren't in a WIFI hotspot, you can go online to Barnes and noble on your PC and purchase a book. Then plug your Nook into the computer via USB and side load the book directly to your Nook.

B. - You can borrow them from the library. You go to your local library website and set it up per their instructions. Mine uses Adobe Digital Editions, which I believe most use. You borrow the book and it is downloaded into the ADE either directly to your Nook or onto your PC. If it's to your PC you just plug in your Nook to the USB and drag the book from ADE to your nook and you are good to go.

C. - You can download free books online. Plenty of websites and authors offer free ebooks.

I promise you that you will feel like this is the best money you've ever spent once you get used to using the Nook.

The best feature is that you always have books with you as long as you carry your Nook with you. It can store up to 800 books and you can also add an SD card, which can store up to another 1500 depending on the size of the SD card.

I had a Kindle first and loved it, but you couldn't borrow books from the library and it's a little more difficult to download the freebies to a Kindle so I bought a Nook. My original intent was to keep both. BUT after having the Nook for about a month I realized that I hadn't picked up my Kindle since I had the Nook. I sold my Kindle and do not regret it one bit.