[Yale]

Thanks to everybody for the comments and ideas, which have tempered the semi-official product reviews on line.

Garland: Too bad Sony crapped out on you. The same thing happened to me with one of the firm's portable DVD players. When I took it back, the store had three or four previous returns. Sony used to have impressive quality, and I see that some Forum members have had good luck with the brand, but finding that quality may be a crap shoot.

Darwin: If the geometric expansion of models continues, somebody may come out with a uinit such as you describe for just $150. But for now, manufacturers are relying on the novelty factor to keep prices high. Not even the priciest current models have all your features, yet they cost almost what a laptop does. As long as the device lets me carry around a library of several hundred books I enjoy, at little to no cost, I might not care about most features on your list.

Interim conclusion: If I had to buy an eReader today, it would be the Nook Glowlight -- many reviewers rave about its unlighted predecessor, and I really like the idea of reading in bed without disturbing my wife. Another important discovery is Calibre -- a free software download that converts among the various eBook formats. This means that the many eBooks you have in Format X should not force you to stick with that format forever.