[richman]

I'm thinking netbook is the way to go for your situation.
I have medical pdf's and that is the best way for me, I have the prs-505 I bought a few weeks ago and I love it, and I have an acer 8.9 netbook I bought a month ago. I'm in same situation and use pdf advanced stuff. So my prs-505 is for my pdf's that I can convert to epub or sony format , which works for me. What I love about the prs-505 is calibre free software , so I can make default font size 20 and the zoom 3x that on any of my stuff.
Like you I didn't want to spend 400-500 dollars for these ebook readers if I could pick up a netbook for 200 dollars! So I got the sony for 200 from borders and I liked it so much, I picked up another from sony deal for 150.
The Screen on prs-505 is so nice, and it takes 1/2 second to turn on and I'm reading lots more than with my netbook. Some of my tech stuff can be used on prs-505 , but for all the graphic intensive stuff I use my netbook or notebook for.
The prs-505 has double the forum posts of all the other ebooks on this board, probably because some of us picked it up cheaper then the other brands and it is made solid and looks good. Screen is very nice.
Iliad sounds like cool device but for 500-600 hundred dollars , it is more expensive and I could pick up 3 netbooks for that price and they seem sold out on their website.
Maybe stuff coming out the next few months will fit the bill for you, but then again the PRICE will be High because it is new. The prs-505 has been out for longer time so price came down.