Reader for field work...suggestions?

[OnwardAhead]

Hello fellow reading-junkies.

Am hoping to get some feedback from the good folk here before delving into my first eReader purchase. I've scanned the forums here for the past few days and collected a number of thoughts based on the items I'm looking at. What I wanted to see if I could lay out the type of things that I'm looking for (and the things I can compromise on) and see what sort of recommendations/clarifications the experts here in the forum can make.

First off, quick backgrounder. I work with an aid organization, and end up doing a lot of work in the field under conditions that are not necessarily 'easy'. The idea of packing light with whatever books/reading material I have, but also to carry work documents along to flip through without firing up a laptop (particularly in places without regular electricity sources) makes this a worthwhile venture for me. But after doing some reading here, I'm struggling with making a pick and basically haven't ruled out anything yet (except the Kindle, and perhaps the iRex Digital reader due to its size, but not entirely ruling that one out either).

So going through my checklist of thoughts and preferences, here's how I'd rank, in descending order:

Durability: Obviously I know care is needed, but durability is priority-1 for me, and I need to know that a unit holds up in the elements well (heat, cold, sand, humidity, etc. etc.). I've seen a few people make notes of screens that would start spazzing out or that developed hairline cracks which would later render the unit useless. I'd like to get people's opinions regarding which ones seem the most durable. It's like laptops for me, certain laptops I would never consider bringing out into the field (VAIO) and some are ugly but handle travel conditions better (ThinkPad).

Formats: PDF is a must for me. I don't imagine any of these can handle Word Docs or OpenDocument ODT, but correct me if I'm wrong. Font resizing would be great for embedded fonts, but less of a priority. I also have accumulated a number of MOBI formatted ebooks, though I suppose they can ultimately be converted, so I'm less concerned about that.

Annotations: In the same vein, PDF annotations would be a fantastic feature, which is why I really like the idea of the iRex, though undetermined on size choices. Are there no other units that can handle annotations, be it handwritten or typed? How is the annotation response-time on the Sony 700?

Price: The other problem with the iRex Digital Reader is it's just too expensive: in one sense it's the one that makes sense on features but in the other it's a bit out of reach at the EUR 585. For this reason I'm looking heavily also on the Cybook or Bebook, but don't know just yet on how they measure up on the durability scale. Further info would be much appreciated.

Multi-language: Specifically within PDF, so I'm assuming that it's OK with handling complex alphabets. In addition to the standard expectations of Russian/Chinese/Japanese, I'd be curious to know users experiences with RTL fonts (Arabic, Farsi) or Asian complex fonts (Thai, Burmese, Khmer, where vowels may be written above/below consonants). This is less of a priority for me if I really have to sacrifice, but the idea of being about to spot-check translations in documents with colleagues would be a bonus.

Battery: Would expect most of these to do pretty well on this front, but am curious to know experiences with the Sony 700 backlight, and/or iRex with Wifi. And which units have replaceable batteries? It's a pet peeve of mine to have a device without replaceable battery but I can get over that.

Wifi: Less a priority with me, but certainly is a nice feature. While it would be great to be able to pull RSS directly, I cam across Mobipocket software and that seems to do just fine with syncing and loading news for my needs.

Perhaps being too demanding in things, but at this rate am only asking for input and user experiences. Hopefully I'll be able to narrow down the list within a week's time, and who knows, possibly pull the trigger on buying one that fits.

Thanks for a great forum, and being a great source of information.

[thibaulthalpern]

Hmm...I don't exactly know the kinds of field situations you're in but seriously consider if a digital reader is going to hamper or actually help with your work in these cases. It's not very easy to flip through documents with a digital reader. If flipping and scanning isn't part of what you need to do, then don't worry about not having that.

If the digital reader is mostly for leisure reading, then go ahead and do consider getting one.

If the digital reader is used primarily to read work documents in PDF formats where you won't need to flip around and make annotations, then you might do alright with a digital reader.

The Sony PRS-700 handles PDFs quite well (I have one and use it for reading PDFs too), and it has annotation ability although not as good as annotating with pen and paper.

How often do you need to access your reader? Is it going to be used several hours a day? If so, you're likely going to have to plug it in much more frequently.

I would say this: consider seriously if the digital reader is going to help or hamper your work. In humid and rough environments, a digital reader may not be the best thing to carry around if you really need to seriously depend on your digital reader. If it's not entirely a serious item for your field work, then get one if you like.

[Ervserver]

I don't think there is a reader built for those conditions, get one of those military grade laptops from Toshiba