A funny thing happened to me a few weeks ago. I walked into my local Barnes & Noble store to redeem a $30 gift card…and walked out with a brand-new Nook e-reader.

Now, this purchase wasn’t a total surprise. I had been following the e-reader market for some time and was intrigued by the idea of packing books into a small electronic tablet, particularly since I read a lot on airplanes (or sleep). I find it difficult to use notebook computers during flights, and don’t have a need to blast music into my ears for hours on end.

Reading has been one of my great pleasures ever since I was in grade school. I grew up in a family of prodigious readers — my parents would often check out eight to ten books at a time out of the library and read all of them in a month. I was always several grade levels ahead of my class in the SRA curriculum (old-time readers may remember that).

So it was only a matter of time before I invested in an e-reader. But which one? The Sony product seemed too limited in scope and operation, while the Kindle was tightly bound to Amazon’s retail platform.

When the first stories about the Nook came out, I was intrigued. My wife and I were already B&N customers, so setting up an online account was a piece of cake. And the Nook library is enormous. Plus, it can read any document in PDF format. Since I use Acrobat Professional to export PDFs of everything from Powerpoints to Word and Excel documents, this was a real bonus.

As luck would have it, not two weeks after I bought my Nook, Barnes & Noble released a beta version of the Nook Web browser — something that increases the appeal and functionality of the Nook tenfold. Yes, more than one associate has told me I should have purchased an iPad instead. And yes, I know the main display is monochrome. But I knew exactly what I was buying with the Nook.

So, here are some of my observations about this product. First off, I was offered a $70 extended warranty at purchase, which I elected to take. It covers damage to the Nook for ANY reason and full replacement for two years. That seemed smart, considering how much traveling I do.

Next, I picked up a 4GB Micro SD expansion memory card ($29), which is easily installed by popping the back cover off. I can also change the battery myself when it starts to wear out, something users of Kindles and Sony Readers can’t do at home. (Those require a factory visit.)

The Nook comes with a combination AC adaptor / USB cable. Plug it into a desktop PC, and the Nook folder automatically shows up. You can’t use the Nook when connected through USB unless you eject the drive and simply let it charge. But it’s easy to drag-and-drop files from your desktop or notebook to the various Nook sub-folders. (PDF files must go into the My Documents area, whereas e-books are stored in the My B&N Downloads section.)

You can also load up the Nook with MP3 files (My Music) and audiobooks (My Audiobooks), as well as Adobe Digital Editions of books. In theory, you can buy any of these items through your B&N account by accessing the B&N Web site from the Nook or computer.

In practice, I logged on from my desktop and made my purchases, then tried to download them from "My Digital Downloads" on the B&N site. No luck! I tried this several times, and then went back on the desktop PC, plugged in the Nook, and downloaded directly into the appropriate folder. I’m not sure what I was doing wrong, and will investigate that for a future DD.

Before the Web browser was installed, the Nook could only go directly to the B&N Web site. Now, I can travel anywhere on the Web, although page content is not formatted for the 600×800 pixel display. Instead, the active section of the page being viewed shows up in the smaller, full-color 144×480-pixel TFT LCD touchscreen display. This active area is also shown on the e-ink screen by a black outline around the part of the page being viewed.

Using the up/down slider on the touchscreen, you can navigate columns of text; while the Nook’s left/right tactile keys move you across rows. It’s not a very efficient way to read an online newspaper or other text, but it works. For short stories or excerpts (and checking the score of last night’s Yankees game), it works fine.

The LCD touch screen is also where you navigate through the different folders, select books from your library, and choose type fonts and sizes. In addition, it controls the built-in MP3 player. Your finger works fine for this function, but I recommend a small capacitive-touch stylus that’s made for the iPod Touch and iPhone (Pogo, sells for about $15).

The Nook can be set up to actively look for and make WiFi connections, but also has an Airplane mode which stretches battery life to the maximum. It also has an efficient sleep mode which kicks in after a moderate period of inactivity. (B&N recommends not turning the Nook off, but just letting it go to sleep and charging it as necessary.)

That’s all for now. I’ll report back in a future Display Daily with more details, such as (1) using the Nook to review Powerpoint presentations (yes, it works) and (2) using it as an electronic planner and appointment book (works great for that, too!).