[mark4asp]

Do not buy the Kobo touch. It looks nice but does not work very well.

I spent hours reading reviews on the web in preparation for a new reader (to replace my Kobo). Prior to the Kobo I used a Kindle. The Kindle worked well but the navigation keys broke.

The Sony ebook readers always get excellent reviews. The minuses are (1) only the Kindle can read Kindle format - but you can get a plugin for Calibre which will convert Kindle to mobi format and it works well, (2) the Sony e-reader is not the most attractive reader (3) it is one of the most expensive. [Sony PRS-T1]

The new Google 7" tablet looks very nice. It has more memory (8 or 16Gb) than e-readers. It can be used to watch videos, play music or games too.

For me, it's a straight fight between the Sony and the Google. I won't buy a Kindle because I disagree with their proprietary format and their refusal to support epub.

iPad? - it's far too large and expensive. We want to use 7" readers because they are easy to carry, and we don't want to spend much more than $200 on our readers. Oh, and the iPad is locked down so that users are forced to add content via the Apple store, so paying Apple their 33% tax. This tax is really unfair to content providers. It don't cost Apple very much to run the store but they insist on raking off huge profits on the backs of struggling publishers and startups. You can crack your iPad to make it easier to add content but that invalidates the guarantee. Don't support unethical capitalism - buy the google 7" instead (or the Sony - if you only want to read books).