The exact opposite argument for this is the multiple times I have been caught in the airport without my book, or finishing a book due to IRROPS and being stuck in DFW without discount reading material or access to a half-price bookstore. In this case, you are stuck with a 16 or 25 dollar purchase. A free e-book or $9.99 new title will score you a $7 dollar ROI minimum. That justifies the Kindle or Nook in less than 40 books.

I've just taken the plunge and bought the Sony reader; after much deliberation and reviewing. I love it! I will still take a traditional paper book for take off and landing but it's going to be really useful for taking lots of different books and other documents such as pdf versions of magazines; and my flight details!

[QUOTE=RoninTech;12405576]I use my iPhone and wife uses her Touch. We both use Stanza as the reader. We read voraciously when on vacation and probably have dozens of books with us. Open source Calibre is a fantastic desktop library organizer. We also use these devices as our MP3 players, game players and website/email checkers. Very handy and small for traveling. Haven't gotten around to putting movies on them yet.

Cheers,
Paul[/QUOTE

I've been relying upon the iPod Touch with Stanza...works pretty well for me. And it slips into a jacket pocket. :)

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I was all set to buy the international Kindle when I noticed the Apple tablet is now looking reasonably imminent (end Jan launch, available Mar). I'm now stuck on whether to wait and see what Apple come up with as I'm a likely tablet purchaser and I don't want to carry around more devices than I need.
That said, however good the Apple product is, it's hard to see how an LCD screen will replicate e-ink (both readability and battery life) and as an international traveller, it's hard to see Apple being able to offer no added cost international downloading the way Amazon have.

Any views?

You pay for that download service. It's amortized into the price of the Kindle.

Since these things have large capacity, why is it a big deal when you should be able to download dozens of books from your computer before you leave?

All the download service does is point you at only Amazon whereas if you download to computer and transfer to the eReader, maybe you'd look at other sources.

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The download source is irrelevant, but as I travel a lot without a computer that I can sync a reader to (my work laptop is completely locked down), the ability to wirelessly access more content is very appealing.

I have a Sony reader and Kindle on the iPhone. I like the Sony Reader, but books are usually more expensive than the Kindle. So, I decide what format I really want. When I travel, I have my Sony reader, books on the iPhone and a real book or two. I like the ability to download on the go when I'm somewhere and decide I want to read something I don't have. I don't like the Kindle, though. It's really clunky compared to the Sony reader. The other advantage to the Sony is that I have back up on my computer for the books I've bought.

And, Sony has moved to ePub format and supposedly I can borrow ebooks from my library (not that my library has ebooks). I'm trying to persuade my son to give me his library card number so I can get books from his library. I haven't tried it so I don't know how it works. (I think library books will work on the Nook, too. but not Kindle.)

...and you can surf using the experimental browser FREE on Whispernet during IRROPS :D

I put the Kindle, Stanza and B&N software on my iPod Touch. Mostly have used the Kindle software and don't want to ever travel without it. I read quickly, so my finger gets tired of scrolling through, but the iPod fits into my pocket and can go everywhere.
No way do I want the bigger "real" Kindle or Nook.

I just got a kindle for X-Mas and I think that it is great. It is incredibly convenient and is nice not to have to carry multiple books on vacation. Or, two on a trip if one is almost finished.

I was under the impression you have to pay an extra $1.99 to download internationally on the Kindle? I just ordered one, and am planning to do all my downloading via the laptop, though it's nice to have the option if I were ever in a pinch. Having access to the English language books that I actually WANT to read is going to be awsome!

As far as the display, that's why I went ahead and bought the Kindle. I'll most likely be buying the 2nd generation version of the iPad anyway, but being able to read in sunlight is a major attraction for me and the iPad won't be delivering that.

I stopped by a B&N and played with a Nook a bit. Two gripes:

1) Scrolling through a list is awkward. You get one tap per page redraw, there's no typeahead. Since it's the slow e-ink pages this is annoying.

2) It's seriously lacking in the ability to handle a large amount of content. It's a simple list, that's it. You can only scroll an item or a page at a time. You want to look at book #1000? Advance the page 99 times and then the line 9 times.

Try the Sony store on 55th and Madison.

Anyone have any thoughts/recommendations on the current crop of e-readers, Kindle vs. Nook vs. Sony etc?

I will probably be going for a smaller form factor and have no need for color, so the basic Nooks/Kindles look fine, but wanted to check for opinions from current owners if there is any reason to go with one over the other.

Usage would mostly be in flight.

I went with the Nook primarily because it supports the ePub format. My local library introduced the ability to check out books using that format for up to 3 weeks. The Kindle does not support the ePub format. I have read a ton of books since then from my library and have not spent much on books from B&N or other sources.