Thanks for all the replies so far. I'll see if I can respond to everyone!
The Kindle... I think the 2 off putting points on this are the physical design and just how tied into Amazon it is. I know the format is really just tweaked mobipocket and I'm fairly confident I *could* make mobipocket files work on the kindle if I don't mind converting against the EULA/TOS/etc. As for the design, yes I've read countless user reviews that say it's really great when you actually have it in hand and are using it instead of just looking at pics online, but I'm just not sure about it.
I stopped by a Borders yesterday for my first hands-on time with any of these ebook systems - the Sony 505 - and loved it. I went from pretty interested to gotta freakin' have one soon.
What the 505 quickly taught me is that I really, really like how incredibly thin these can be - again not sure if the Kindle would fit the bill for me. I figure the screen on the 505 should be pretty much the same as any of the other e-ink devices (iLiad is probably a different beast though.) So I got a good feel for what I can expect out of e-ink - both the pros and cons. The flash as you change pages doesn't bother me at all so luckily I no longer have any worries there.
Ok I'm starting to get off track here. I'm just not sure about the physical design of the Kindle *except* that it looks like it's probably the easiest of the bunch to navigate, both in menus and while actually reading books. I don't honestly need many of the features the Kindle touts as selling points, e.g. qwerty, EVDO, etc. Sure if I have 'em I'll use 'em because, well, why not?
Of course thinking about it all again today kinda points out just how close in price the Cybook and Kindle are in which case... I dunno! The Cybook is so light weight and thin, but seems a bit buggy.
I'll keep mulling it over through the rest of the weekend and see if I come to any decision by Monday. Keep the advice coming! Great stuff.
EDIT: Oh yeah, one other thing I *really* love about the Cybook is that you can load any TTF font you want and inherently get I believe it's 12 different font sizes. Now that's just slick.