[hokiemule]

Sorry, I was trying to avoid posting yet another one of these, because I'll bet it can be tiring. I really need some advice, though, from the e-reader brain trust.

My needs:
Probably more than half the books I would purchase for reading on an e-reader will be business-type books (marketing, crisis communications, business, leadership, etc.). I did take some advice I read on here and looked up about 10 of the books on my Amazon wish list on Barnes & Noble, Borders and Amazon. For the most part, they were comparable, but B&N didn't have 2 of them and one or two others were a couple bucks more than Amazon. Borders seemed to be somewhat in the middle, maybe a bit closer to Amazon.

When I read these books in physical form, I highlight important phrases and then hand-type those into a Word doc. I need an e-reader that will allow me to highlight things - that's a non-negotiable demand. In an ideal world, I'd love to have one that would let me compile those highlights into a list or document - but is that possible with ANY of them?

I quickly looked at the Nook Color and the Kindle at a Best Buy store, but it's hard to really evaluate them because 1) the salespeople won't leave you alone, and they don't know enough about the devices to answer any questions that aren't very basic; 2) they've got the devices leashed down, and whenever I moved the Kindle, it set off an alarm; 3) they're in a place in the store that isn't well lit. I really liked the touch screen of the Nook Color, and I don't get a headache looking at a computer screen for a while. I don't need the apps they're promoting, though - I already have an Android smartphone. I looked at the Kindle next, and I must say that I kept wanting to touch the screen to do things. The keyboard seemed "outdated." As I said, though, I didn't use it much because of the alarm. The screen seemed a bit dim to me in the store, but I couldn't really assess it in different light because of the leash. I left there thinking I wanted the NC, but after thinking about it more, I'm still very unsure.

I worry about the Kobo because of Borders' financial troubles and I wonder what will happen to support when they completely tank. I originally thought I wouldn't want the Kindle because it's proprietary and you're locked into Amazon (I don't have a problem with Amazon, I just hate to be tied to one store) - but from friends and from reading this forum, that's actually not an issue.

I don't know how much reading I'd be doing outside. It would be nice to have that option, but it's not really a deal-breaker.

I have not looked at any of the other devices, but I'm open to considering them.

I'd appreciate any and all advice on this. Price is obviously a component of the overall package, but I'd weigh it against the other factors.

Thanks!
Kim