Many thanks for that, Geco and rashkae. Very useful information!
I hadn't planned on buying a new ereader, but just recently my existing one simply stopped working. It was still under warranty, so I sent it away for repairs and the repair company claims it "must" have been user-inflicted damage (it wasn't!) and now wants more money than it cost at retail in the first place just to mend the thing. (I'm not impressed; can you tell?
)
Anyway, since they also want $100 (for "their time") just to send it back to me (
extortion is the word, I think), I decided to cut my losses and buy a new one.
Most of my must-haves are covered by most of the devices available for purchase here in Australia. They include ePub format, decent battery life, memory card expandability, a 6" eInk screen, reasonable document controls and the ability to load books from my PC without being tied to a specific retailer or "the cloud".
The bits I wasn't sure about, and came here to find out about, was the font capabilities (my previous ereader claimed features it turned out not to have!) and the ability to sort and manage books in categories (I know, unfortunately the Kobo can't offer that).
So all in all, the Kobo sounds like close to a complete solution for my specific needs.
(Particularly from what rashkae has just posted: am I correct in thinking that ereaders are a bit like browsers in the early days of HTML - with each of them interpreting "standards" in their own vested-interest way?)