I'm looking at purchasing one as a Christmas gift. Anyone have one? My biggest question is regarding how well you can see it in the dark. Specifically, on airplanes.

I know it's not backlit, does that mean you need decent light?

Thanks...

bastet has the Sony... I will tell her to chime in.

You need light to see the screen....

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The last flight I was on had this cool new feature:

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That's what I was afraid of. Although it appears that the contrast is even better than an actual book, so perhaps low light is sufficient. The other advantages (size, battery life, etc) seem to be in the Kindle's favor (over a tablet PC).

Bastet?

Not to mention price.

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True dat. But it's for mom, so money is no object after what she has had to put up with

I still prefer the ole paper back .. I don't have to wait till we reach 10000 ft to read it. But aside from that it looks pretty neat. Seeing them more and more

Daughter and SIL will be buying or have bought the Nook for our oldest granddaughter. It's backlit and color. They are roughly the same price as the Kindle. Buy them at Barnes and Noble.

I did quite a bit of research when looking for mine.

Your question about lighting, yes, they are not backlit and that's on purpose. It actually allows for longer reading like you can with a book. The eInk technology is more similar to reading a book than reading something on screen so you have less eye strain. Kevin's hairy lightbulb is a good idea on plane, or I have a protective cover with a light built in. For regular use, whatever light I would need to read a regular book is fine for reading the Sony Reader. I'm curious about the technology used on the Nook if it's backlit - I wonder how eyestrain would be. Folks who are using iPads as eReaders (being multifunctional and all) are finding that eyestrain is an issue for continuous reading.

My negatives about the Kindle. It's an Amazon product, and they are using a special format. All of the other e-readers use the more generic PDF or ePub formats. I can check out ebooks from the library for free, at the time I was shopping (this spring), you could only use Kindle ebooks on the Kindle. This caused problems for some Kindle owners who upgraded devices but could no longer player prior version of their books that they already paid for. Also, the kindle has a much bigger footprint than the Sony Reader, B&N Nook, and kobo. I wanted something small that I could easily carry in my purse, and still have a fairly large screen. The kindle has a keyboard. My purpose is to buy it to read, not type, so I thought that was a waste of space. BUT, the biggest reason I did not get a Kindle...okay, so you buy a regular book, and it goes out of print. Doesn't matter, it's already on your bookshelf. If you buy a Kindle-book, it's on your ebookshelf. If the publisher takes it out of print, they pull it from your ebookshelf - even though you've paid for it! I think that's seriously wrong.

I have not handled a Nook so don't know what they're like, but the kobo at Borders is made of plastic and feels really cheap. I'm super happy with my Sony Reader. I also use it to transport work reference documents since I can read PDFs super easy on it.

The main reason I got an eReader is that my hands are prone to cramping so holding a book open got to be painful. Just a thought if you know anyone who is arthritic - this might be a great solution for them. I've got tons of free classics, and as mentioned, have read several ebooks from the library (all found and downloaded via the internet).

Any other questions?

Oh, battery life - I haven't had any trouble with mine. The one things that was annoying was that it came with a miniUSB to download and power via my PC, but no AC plug. Not a problem, though, I bought an aftermarket kit that include AC wall and car chargers, protective case, and an extra PC USB cable.

I've also bought ebooks from Borders.com and the Sony Reader Store, easy peasy.

I think all of them have adjustable font sizes, so she can set it to what's best for her. I have found that different books have slightly different settings (based on the publisher), so I might read a Medium in one, and then a Large in another.

Oh, back to my hands, I also bought a simple $2 decorative plate stand-thing from Jo-Anns to serve as a stand for my Reader.

If your mom isn't super tech savvy, you may need to get started with setting up her digital library. If you go Kindle, I think all of that is handled via Amazon's website and they have the push feature via WiFi, which is also why they can take it away.

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you really need to stop spending all that money on them expensive airlines...

The last time I flew, they were kind enough to loan one of these for $5.00.

I have A Sony Reader works great! Like Tamiza fits in my purse and seems to be pretty bullet proof. Its been dropped a couple of times, no ill effects. I even left it in my super hot interior last fall, didn't phase it at all.

Totally - the neoprene sleeve that it comes with does a great job of protection, too. That's what I always have it wrapped in unless I know I need the extra light case. Even with the neoprene sleve, it fits perfectly in the side pocket on my purse. And fits better in the pocket on the plane seat than a book does.

From a totally aesthetic perspective, I love the the shiney red color of my Reader Touch Edition.

Jon - I got mine on sale at Best Buy, so do a little shopping before buying - whichever model you decide on.

I purchase mine from Best Buy also. I love it. Makes those lonely flights from the west coast to Ohare airport a little less stressful.

Neoprene sleeve protects from nail polish leaks, key scratches and high heel marks when I stuff my shoes in the bag at the airport while going through security.

So how much does it cost per book downloaded? How many books can the memory hold

I didn't even know about the Sony reader. I will investigate. Mom does audio books already in her Garmin, so she can handle the technical aspects. I didn't like that you can't "check out" library books on the kindle, perhaps that is the edge for the ereader. Everything else about the kindle seems in line with what I need.

I spent some time with a friend's iPad yesterday. It's an impressive machine (and I HATE Apple) but not right for this purpose.

It appears that the Sony doesn't support wifi or 3G. That's a major drawback. Is there a version that does? I couldn't find one...

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There is a reader on QVC made by Panmedia I think that is wifi, and internet ready. I don't know of anyone that has it.
I think when people buy the Sony Reader or any comparable type device, they want to read and relax and not be bother with the stuff it can do. I like electronic gadets so if I had one that could all this stuff I probably wouldn't get much reading done.

So I guess mobile internet would be nice for downloading books anywhere... but then don't you have to pay a monthly fee or find a place with free internet? Screw that.

I think the Sony Daily Edition has some type of WiFi or 3G connection because it's designed for newspapers etc. Kindle is WiFi - they have this big deal about being able to order your book and start reading in seconds. But you can do that tethered, too.

Being connected wasn't essential to me at all. I bought it for books, and I can plan ahead and load 30 books on my Reader and decide later. I use my phone (smartphone) for my other needs.

Question from above - different devices have different memory sizes, but I think most of them can store hundreds of books at a minimum (the Sony Reader is estimated at 1200 books), plus mine (and some of the others) have additonal slots for memory cards.

eBooks range in price from free to up to over $30, however I cannot imagine downloading a book costing that much at all!

There are a lot of eReaders out there now. Does anyone have experience with using any of the others?

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I know that the kindle does not require any additional fee. You pay an extra $50 for the functionality and then it's free to access thier bookstore anytime and anywhere you can get 3G.

The standard model does the same thing with WiFi, which is obviously good enough for 99% of users. The only reason I even am considering the 3G is because they spend significant amount of time in the car driving.

it looks like the new Sony "dailyreader" seres has 3G. But it's $100 more.

I'm getting an Ipad Monday...don't know why necessarily, but we are getting them through a grant at school. We go pick them up and learn how to use them and how they can be used in our class areas. We'll see how it all turns out. I'm not sure which model we are getting, the 3G one would be nice, but I doubt those are the ones we are getting.

Grab an extra for me

Just got this in my email inbox from Amazon. Have you seen it yet?

All New Kingle 3G