HEAVY was the number one thing I noticed about the
Nook I saw at a B&N store, though it otherwise impressed me. Yes, I'm a big strong guy, but holding that thing for hours would annoy me. So I decided to buy a
lightweight device that weighs no more than 8 oz. (227g).
It must also be
small enough to be convenient, and a narrower column of text is easier to read anyway, so it's got to be a 6" device. (Maybe 5", but that seems too small.)
I use
Fedora Linux on my PCs, so that must be supported. (I strongly dislike Windows.) But this isn't an issue since they all seem to support using the device as a USB drive, and AFAICS no one offers a Linux desktop app anyway. And the
Calibre software package which supports Linux looks like it will be all I need.
Price is less of an issue. I'm only planning to buy one, and hopefully I'll use it a lot. I want one that won't annoy me.
This site is
very helpful. I scoured through the
matrix of 6" devices and decided the
PocketBook 301+ is the very best: super lightweight, supports a long list of formats, even has an SDK for software development (though I haven't found it anywhere). The
Cool-er Classic also seems excellent.
But alas the Cool-er seems to be bankrupt and I'm a little leery of buying something like the PocketBook that seems foreign and I fear may not be well supported here. I just haven't seen much reference to it anywhere.
But now Borders has their
Kobo. Not as lightweight as some others, but 8oz. Nice design. It only supports a few file formats, but Calibre promises to be able to convert other formats. I'm thinking that may be the one.