While I have been mostly silent, reader, I have not been idle! My personal life is once again interfering with my chance at good reading, but I am still keeping up with the trend in eReaders.

You may remember that in previous posts I denounced eReaders, expressed a large dose of skepticism, and probably started to imply that they were evil. In some measures these things are still true. Certainly, the eReader devices on the market will never duplicate the satisfaction of opening up a new paperback or replace the excitement of buying the latest book in hardcover. They do, however, have many notable advantages.

The first and most obvious advantage of an eReader is portability. As a woman whose criteria for any purse is: “Can I fit a book in it?”, the idea of carrying up to 1, 500 books in one device that will still fit in my purse has appeal. Almost all eReaders on the market also have custom-made cases in a wide variety of colors, styles, materials (and prices) so you don’t have to fuss over whether the keys, toothpicks, pens, or whatever-it-is that you drop in your purse, bag, or backpack will scratch the screen of your device.

Another advantage to the eReader is one that doesn’t come as readily to mind and that is this: the large amount of free books in the public domain which are already available online in eReader compatible formats. I have yet to run across a device that cannot read a .pdf file at minimum, and there is already a wealth of literature available online in this file format simply because it is A: in the public domain, and B: a work that many thousands, if not millions of people, enjoy reading without having to pay for a hard copy.

There are, of course, tons of new books out there that will cost you if you want them in ebook format. What about those? Well, if you’re looking for a bargain I think patience may be your best bet. There are several ebooks on the market that are under $5, some under $1, and my prediction is that the price on new ebooks – even newly released ebooks – will continue to steadily drop. The fact is, ebooks are only labor intensive in terms of composition by the author and formatting by the publisher. These things are worth money only in terms of mental effort and time put in by the artist creating them – outside of that consideration they’re not worth the paper they aren’t printed on. Certainly authors should be paid for their works, publishers should be compensated for their time and effort, but the price of the ebook is currently an arbitrary number. So, be patient. I don’t think it can sustain itself at the higher prices that are being asked for very much longer – especially since electronic copies of anything can be transmitted virally across the internet with little effort.

Now, after looking at a good many eReader devices I have come to the conclusion that, despite its shortcomings, the nook is currently the best device for its value on the market. Barnes & Noble created a firestorm when they introduced the Nook Wi-Fi and then dropped the price on the original Nook. The difference if you’re wondering, between the Nook Wi-Fi and the original Nook is simple: The “old” Nook has AT&T 3G + Wi-Fi and the “new” Nook does not have AT&T 3G. The 3G and Wi-Fi access are also unnecessary features. You can download ebooks, or magazines, newspapers, etc in electronic formats, from your computer onto the Nook – so the Wi-Fi is a luxury and the 3G network is only useful if you plan to download a new ebook while you’re roadtripping, via AT&T coverage rather than using a Wi-Fi hotspot (which is now available , in the US at least, at Barnes & Noble stores, Borders bookstores, Denny’s, coffee-shops, cafes, restaurants, and your neighbor’s unencrypted signal).

One advantage the Nook does have is that, unlike the Kobo and some others, it supports mp3 files so you can plug in a pair of headphones and listen to music while you read. The Nook also supports a wide array of file formats. There are some file formats still missing, but in my opinion this is not an obstacle since there is a dizzying array of free software out there which will convert your ebooks file into a nice .pdf, or .lit, or .epub file – the three most common formats for eReaders.

The Nook also features an approximately 6″ reading screen – a fairly standard size – bigger than the Sony Pocket Edition eReader. One feature that I can’t decide where I stand on is the touch screen on the Nook. Unlike the touch screen on the Sony Reader Touch Edition, or it’s pricey counterpart the Sony Reader 7, the Nook is not a full touch-screen device. Instead you have a small bar of screen at the bottom of the device in full color – the only color screen on the eReader market, diminutive though it may be – which is the “touchable” part of the Nook used to navigate. Unfortunately, Barnes & Noble brayed loudly about it’s color touchscreen, but failed to point out with equal volume that this touchscreen was not the same, full-size screen which we read from. That lack of information had me very disappointed in the Nook when it first came out, especially given the original price.

An advantage the Nook has over the Kindle (other than not being a Kindle) is its expandable storage. In fact, the Kindle seems to be the only device that hasn’t had the good sense to include an expandable storage slot. Maybe it is the fault of the designers, since the Kindle isn’t really sentient, but come on! No matter what your storage capacity is (and it’s not that great) expandable storage is vital. My phone has expandable storage!

Is there a device better than the Nook? In my opinion, yes. The new Sony Reader 7 – which I have only read about online since it’s only in one store I know of – is a fantastic eReader which combines almost every single feature that I would want in an eReader. Unfortunately it is now the most expensive device I’ve seen on the market, coming in at over $300.

The disadvantages of the Nook are:

1) It’s proprietary. You have to register the Nook with Barnes & Noble, with a credit card number. Ostensibly, the credit card is so that when you download media to the Nook you are paying for it without having to go through all the rigmarole online. It seems sensible since you can download anywhere with Wi-Fi (or 3G, depending on your Nook), but it is an unpleasant condition for consumers.

2) It’s color touch-screen is not so much. It’s handy, and it’s useful, it keeps you from getting fingerprints all over your reading screen, but it is not as nice as what you imagine when you hear it lauded by Barnes & Noble. Also, I think this eliminates the wonderful Sony Reader feature of being able to highlight, draw, and take notes in your ebook.

3) The file formats supported cover a pretty good range, but not all. It would be nice to see .txt, .doc, .docx, or other common formats supported. Geeks everywhere, and be thankful for them, are working on solutions to this limitation, but it is annoying. Not everyone who owns a Nook will want to spend time converting their files into a Nook-supported format, or finding ways to hack the Nook.

The advantages:

1) Touchscreen navigation. It’s not a small thing since the buttons on other devices can be slow to operate, confusing, or for aesthetic purposes, just plain ugly.

2) 6″ reading screen. This is pretty much a standard, but some devices for similar prices have a 5″ screen. That one inch doesn’t sound like much of a difference, but having handled the Nook and the Sony Reader Pocket Edition I can tell you it’s a world of difference!

3) Wi-Fi. It’s not necessary, but it is an advantage. The Kobo doesn’t have it. The Sony Reader Pocket and Sony Reader Touch don’t have it, and the Sony Reader Daily (or Sony Reader 7) is over $300.00!!!

4) Price. The Nook Wi-Fi is $149. The Sony Reader Daily is $349; the Sony Reader Touch is $199; the Sony Reader Pocket is $169. The Kindle is $189 and the Kindle DX is $489. The Kobo is $149 – the same price, but with less features. The Aluratek Libre is only $119 – but it is boxy, and again without the prized features an eReader should have. Other devices merit mention, but not just now.

5) It’s the first eReader with digital lending. That’s right, you can borrow Nook books. It’s probably not a perfect system, but it can be done. It’s the first one to offer it and it’s a good idea.

6) It supports audio files. The Sony Touch and Sony Daily do, too. So does the Kindle. It is a feature that breaks the deal for me on the Kobo and some other devices. I love to listen to music. It’s why I have a stereo, a cd player, a zune, and a great radio installed in my car. If my reader can’t support audio, I’m not interested.

7) It’s lightweight and smaller than some, though not all, devices on the market. Again, that portability factor. It’s a common eReader advantage, but not one that should be ignored.

8.) For those intent on individuality, the back of the Nook can be replaced with one that is more colorful. The screen saver can be customized from your own photos. There are also a variety of Nook covers available, including some expensive Kate Spade designs for those who are in a league of chic and money beyond what I want to contemplate.

All in all, not bad and great for the price. Which is what tipped the scale. Hate me all you want readers, but I’m getting a Nook.