[mikegetz]

I started out e-reading with MS Reader on an IBM convertible (x41t) w/ XP tablet ed., then w7 ... i had a large library of .lit files i had accumulated, and it worked out ok. I never read outdoors, mostly on the couch, and in bed.
that was a pain - i needed something to prop the tablet up or it would overheat, and it had to stay plugged in, or backlight would drop 60%, and due to the glass overlay on the screen (resistive Wacom digitizer) i needed ambient light, or turn backlight all the way down. and, if holding in hand to read, it was HEAVY, and hot.

I got my wife a kobo wifi for x-mas last year, converted my library to epub (that was a long weekend), and was suitably impressed. much lighter, great battery life (if you are used to 2 hours, tops), virtually no eyestrain.

I ended up picking up a pandigital novel personal (the linux based 6" sipex touchscreen one) for next to nothing off craigslist. I used that for a few months, glad to be rid of the tablet. however, i noticed that the page turns were slow compared to the kobo. very slow. if you have compared a kobo's page turns to the k3 or nook classic, imagine the same amount of difference, only worse. the touchscreen was, well, touchy. it didnt always register swipes to turn - i ended up sticking with the forward and back buttons. it seemed very prone to page corruption when an epub was poorly formatted. it definitely choked on imbedded images - one book i ended up reading on the PC because the reader would totally lock up. And, as the most annoying feature, it was way too light.

After 5 months of dealing with the issues on the PDNp, i stumbled upon someone that was willing to trade an old unused laptop i had for a nook classic (wifi only). immediately, i loved it. it has the heft of a proper book (medium thick trade paperback is how i describe it), page turn buttons are VERY well placed, and i found a black silicone skin on ebay that covers up all the white. page turns feel instantaneous compared to the PDNp, and about twice as fast as the kobo wifi. the only time it feels slow at all is when i have handled my mother in law's K3.

I wiped my IBM, and gave it to my father in law to play around with now that he is retired. I installed Calibre for him, and use it as an offsite backup of my library. maybe i accidentally converted the format to mobi, maybe not.

My wife is still happy with the kobo, and with the freshly emptied shelves in the hutch above the buffet. My little sister got my PDNp, loaded with most of my sci/fi and fantasy series. my mom has practically killed her kobo, but she reads a lot more than we do. i am considering rooting my nook, just for the cover flow and library management.

if i could have my ideal device - it would be a nook classic w/ wifi only, pre-rooted w/ proper library management, the same turn buttons and lcd strip (i like it. sue me.) of the nook, and the 9.7" screen of a DXG - with about the same weight. maybe a hair more weight. between the PDNp and my samsung smartphone, i see enough finger streaks. i don't want a touch reader.