[Elsi]

Hello Rveck & welcome to MobileRead. We have a couple of members who have visual limits and I'll let them respond to your questions with their own experiences.

Aside from the vision issues, one limitation of the current spate of electronic readers is the availability of textbooks in electronic format. The most likely format that you will find is PDF. Unfortunately, that introduces its own complications. The PDF file is likely produced with an expectation that the file will be printed on "standard" paper (US "letter" size or International A4). That page size is roughly 3-4 times the size of the typical electronic reader screen.

I doubt that the software in the reader is compatible with "zoomtext", but all the readers offer their own ability to enlarge the text. In general, this is sufficient to meet the equivalent of "Large Print" paper books or a bit larger. But, with PDF files, enlarging the font usually results in loss of formatting. Most fiction books are still readable with enlarged fonts, but technical books suffer quite a bit. A limited number of readers is programmable, so with one of those you might find an equivalent to "zoomtext". Many readers run a Linux core and some of these have been hacked to allow installation of additional programs - but I wouldn't bet on it. Also, if "zoomtext" is a program that magnifies a portion of the screen based on the cursor position, you should be aware that most readers don't have a typical cursor.

So, your challenges are:
* Pick a reader that supports PDF
* Pick a reader with the largest screen you can afford

My personal belief is that for academic purposes, your best bet is a computer of some sort. A netbook may be a good option for you. My recently purchased netbook runs for more than 7 hours on a single battery charge with the Wi-Fi active. It runs even longer if I turn off the Wi-Fi antenna. The power supply is fairly small and I just carry it along so that if I'm in any environment where there is a power outlet available, I'll take advantage of the opportunity to "top off" the battery.

Now to your question about backlight... The e-Ink screen cannot have a back light since it has an opaque stratum within the screen. E-Ink screens are more like paper than like a computer or PDA screen. Sony has experimented with built-in side lighting, but the reports have not be overwhelmingly positive.