[ab10]

I am trying to figure out which eReader would work best for me. I'd love to hear some feedback on the readers. I'm actually testing out a friend's Kindle right now and have questions about it, as well as the Sony. Here is a little summary of my opinions as of now:

Sony Touch:
The biggest pros for this are the touch screen and the multiple book formats (you can get them from the Reader store, Google books, and public libraries). I'm worried about the continued complaints about the software problems, as well as some glitches mentioned in some reviews.

Kindle:
People seem to love the Kindle. Is it because it was the first? Who knows. The wireless and 3G are great pros, as well as the Google and Wikipedia search functions. I'm worried about the limited resources for books.

Some of my main questions/concerns:

1. I will be traveling to/living in South Korea next year. Will both of these eReaders have a large amount of books available there? I've heard that a lot of Sony's books are now USA only, while the Kindle seems to have 3G throughout the entire country.

2. Screen quality. The Kindle I'm trying out doesn't seem to have any glare and is very clear. Is there a significant difference between it and the Sony? Also, there is not much delay in switching pages on the Kindle, but it does go black to change it. Does the Sony do anything like this?

3. The touch feature on the Sony seems like it would make it a lot quicker and easier to use the Reader, but don't mind taking a few extra seconds to push a button to flip the page or type in a note. The main attraction to the Sony Touch is the ability to write notes, but how well does that work? Is it just a scribble down a quick note type feature, or can I use it to take notes in classes? Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.

4. Downloading books from libraries. Do these ebooks expire? Do I have to delete one before downloading another? Is there a limited amount of books I can download in a certain amount of time?

I keep finding myself flipping back and forth between the two, sometimes coming to a conclusion, then forgetting why I got there, or what the conclusion was just minutes later.

I am afraid that I'm making choices for the wrong reasons. I think the Kindle seems to be more internationally friendly and readily able to download books at any time, but I don't think I would mind all that much to download in bulk and just try really hard not to get caught without a book to read (I do it with syncing my iPod). The Sony looks pretty and seems "cooler" with being a touch screen but that isn't any reason to spend so much money on something when it may not be the best option. But the Sony does have more options of places to get books, but how realistic is it that I will be downloading ebooks from libraries (you have to be a member of these libraries and I live in a pretty rural area, so I'm not sure how readily available ebooks will be at my library).

Any input, advice, or opinions would be greatly appreciated!