And the cool part is they just dropped the prices on the HD+ to $140-something for the 16gb and 179 for the 32gb. Target, walmart, bestbuy and B&N direct are selling at this price.
They're getting out of the hardware/tablet business and tried to sell the entire nook division to Microsoft, who curiously grew a brain and didn't buy the money loser.
But the good news is there is a whole hacking world behind the nooks. I've used a 7" nook tablet for almost a year now, hacked with the latest android release, for which I paid a whopping $80. My eyes needed something bigger though, so this 9" tab with a 1920x1080 res and a 1.5GHz dual core cpu fits the bill quite nicely for half its original price.
If you're not hacking inclined, you can download a microsd card image of the newest android, stick it in and boot it. If you're really not technically inclined at all, you can buy the microsd card with the software already on it.
Beautiful high def screen, nice form factor, no cameras or gps in it though, but my phone suffices for those needs nicely.
Staples is also clearancing all their nook accessories like cases and chargers...just a few bucks each although many of the stores are well picked over at this point.
Nice tab for the kids even with the stock nook ice cream sandwich and the play store, or for couch surfing.