Plenty of opinions here--so I figure I'll offer mine as well.
I have both a Sony 650 and a nook wifi--I by far prefer the Sony. Don't get me wrong the nook is a great reader, but for my needs the Sony is superior. I don't miss the wifi at all when using my Sony. I load books from my computer at home--I use Calibre with both the Sony and the nook.
I find the Sony with the touchscreen much more intuitive and easy to use than the LCD touchscreen at the bottom of the nook. The Sony has the same size e-ink screen as the nook, but it is much lighter, smaller, and has much better battery life. IMO, the only down side to the Sony is the price--but for my needs and usage it's worth the premium price.
We recently purchased a Sony 350 for my 70yo mother in law who isn't tech savvy at all. And she loves it. She's an avid reader and has read quite a few books on it already. Now, we did pre-load a bunch of books on it for her, so she hasn't had to hook it up to her computer to transfer more books to it yet, but she is having no problem at all finding her way around on the device itself.
I think your best bet is to go to a store and try both the nook and the Sony. Then you can decide which device would work better for your wife.
Good luck!
dordale
