Hi Stratagemo,
See a fair number of Sony responses so I thought I'd add my 2 cents. I started with a Iliad as I wanted to use something I could also makes notes with. I find the Iliad fantastic for what I need and I do like the slightly larger screen.
Having got the Iliad, I had to prise it from my wife's hands...... so after getting some advice from the group, and a demo from cbell (thanks cbell)..... I got my wife a Bookeen as it is compatible with Iliad. I was a bit concerned about sharing books between Iliad and Sony. My wife has since discovered that she can now read faster as she doesn't need to flip the pages
The only thing you may want to consider is after sales support?
All the best....from Melbourne
Ndb