Welcome to MobileRead, tekhen!
You'll find extensive discussions of various e-reading solutions, and a lot of folks who agree with you that laptops just don't make it ... and a few that would say that they're fine, too.
I'd suggest that if you haven't already done so, the
E-Book Devices forum would be well worth looking at. You'll find a lot of good info there on e-ink devices that are making a very good case that the tech has caught up, now we just need the software and publishers to do the same.
