Thank you all for your suggestions! I didn't even realize ebook readers existed (other than the Kindle) until a couple months ago. I'm thinking about checking more into the e-ink readers afterall, even though they're a lot bigger than my Palm and don't have backlighting. I suppose I could always increase the font size if I'm having difficulty reading, as long as there is a light near by. I think I have other questions but I'm so new to this I don't even know what to ask. And I don't want to sound dumb.
I'll be in a big city sometime in the next couple months so I will try to go to Barnes & Noble and look at the nook. My main concern with seeing it in the store is that the store lights will be so much brighter than anything I'll ever experience in real use, so I'm not sure if it will give me a good idea as to how easy it is to see the screen. I'll continue browsing these forums and learn all I can about ebook readers. I don't even really know what I need... at this point I'm happy reading free books I can download from Google Books and Gutenberg, so I'm hoping to find something that doesn't cost too much. I figure I'll spend at least $200, but I'm hoping if I wait a few months I won't need to go much over that.