Nook Color: Ten Things You Should Know

Nook, Nook Color, Nook Tablet. What's an e-reader fan to think of all these similarly named tablets that look so, well, similar? Here are ten things you need to know about the new and improved Nook Color. It's an e-reader, but it's in color. Seriously, Barnes & Noble have done a good job of creating a tablet computer and then making another tablet computer but only selling one of them as a tablet computer. And it's $50 more than the one that is also a tablet computer. Nook Color is a seven inch e-reader with access to the Internet and apps. It's $200, has Wi-Fi, gets up to eight hours of battery life, has no cameras or buttons on the touchscreen area and gains you easy access to the over 2.5 million magazine's, bestsellers and new-releases from Barnes & Noble booksellers.

The reason it isn't $250 and called the Nook Tablet is because it doesn't have a full gigabyte of memory or a dual-core processor build. Nook Color does have a memory slot that lets you add an extra 32 gigabytes of storage (via microSD card) for your music, books and videos. Furthermore, thanks to a recent software upgrade, you can watch Netflix on your Nook Color. The version 1.4.1 update will continue rolling out to Nook Color, but if you don't want to wait you can download the update from B&N. This update lets you watch Netflix, but it also gave B&N a chance to roll out some other goodies like the ability to gift apps and books to other Nook Color or Nook Tablet owners. You can buy an app or book for others right on your device and send it to others digitally.

The last thing you need to know about Nook Color is that some books have been specially formatted for the device, and they are under the PagePerfect Nook Books. These are books made to keep a similar look and feel of their print versions. You can zoom in on photography and graphics, look up words, and scroll through pages. Tell us in the comments if you are thinking of buying a tablet this holiday season.