One e-Reader to Rule Them All (Or . . . Nook's Last Stand?)

For about two years I've been wielding a dual-solution to my e-reading needs. For text-only books, I've been using the Sony Pocket (blogged back here) with it's super-sharp e-ink screen. And for large-format/color PDFs and magazines, I was rocking with one of the original Nook Colors.

But in one week, Barnes and Noble announced that they were adding Google Play -- Android's biggest app store -- to the Nook HD and HD+ and cut the price of the HD+ by $90 for the week before Mothers Day. So I decided to jump on it.

With B&N's Nook business on shaky ground these days, this may be the beginning of the end of Nook as we know it, as rumors have swirled about Microsoft possibly buying up the business.

But no matter what happens next, I think I'm pretty darn happy. The Nook HD+ has a color screen that's not only larger than my previous two eReaders, but plenty sharp for text. Not only that, but by opening up app horizons with Google Play, I can see this device capturing a lot of use cases that used to be given to my Intel Atom-based Windows 7 netbook.

More impressions to come....