Nook or otherwise? Any ideas?

I'm thinking of buying myself a Nookcolor but I'm not liking the price too much. Im basically looking for a device that can surf the web with wifi, read books, and maybe play music. Ive been looking into the Nookcolor but like I said, the price is a bit high and Im definately not getting an overpriced Ipad. Does anyone have any suggestion on good devices for web browsing, occional reading and other features? Id like to keep it under $300 if possible. Or is the Nookcolor worth the $250 plus all the other stuff you gotta get with it? Is it gonna be a device i will use for a long time? In other words, will the Nookcolor pay for itself in the end? Thanks for any help ^_^