[Fayth]

As others have stated, fingerprints are not an issue at all. In store you have people with sweaty or dirty fingers touching the screen all day. When I use it there are essentially no fingerprints. If I look at the screen at really weird angles (not readable angles) I can sometimes see faint marks from swiping with my finger, but only at an angle I wouldn't be reading at anyway. Also, a couple swipes with the cloth I have for my glasses removes everything anyway.

I can't comment on the battery life because I have only had my Sony for about a week, but I read for 4 days, probably 3-5 hours each day and it stayed at 4 bars. It ended up recharging on friday while I added a bunch of books.

I had greatly considered getting a kindle, but I am Canadian and wanted to buy books through kobo. Now that I have my Sony, I'm not sure I could live without the touch screen, it is remarkably convenient.