Your key choice is e-ink or LCD. E-ink displays use much less battery, and can be read in direct sunlight, but they flash every time the page is turned, they're mono only (so far) and they're more dark-grey & light-grey than black & white (although the newer displays have higher contrast).
Personally, I can't stand the flash when the page is turned, and I prefer a book I can carry in a shirt pocket, so my main ereader is my iPhone.
If I were only going to get it for reading e-books and pdf articles that I could transfer myself, I'd probably go for the cheapest Kindle with wireless, but not 3g. But I tried their proprietary browser and couldn't get online to our campus proxy connection for the ebrary, so I am leaning towards an iPad. But I really think the kindle has a far better screen.
I love my new Kindle. You're not completely limited to Amazon for books - Baen and Project Gutenberg do Kindle versions, and the Kindle will read .pdf and text files. The Sony e-reader memory is expandable with a memory card, the Kindle is not - but Kindle has a larger 'native' memory.
eink or LCD, as dr P says. I thought the iPad would be a rather poor e-reader until I tried it, and now I just soak things up (I tend to sync bookmarks between the iPad and iPhone so that if I get really caught up with something on the iPad I can carry it with me). I have started to resent the purchase of physical books, which has slightly surprised me.
It rarely gets sunny enough in the UK that the iPad is not easily readable if you're say, sitting under a tree. But if you were somewhere really sunny then LCD might be difficult.
Various thoughts on the subject, not terribly well connected:
I love my iPad, but I do have to admit that if Kindle had done the Great Price Drop two weeks earlier, I probably would have bought one of those instead.
Color e-ink is coming; a color e-ink reader was just announced yesterday, though it's not a familiar brand.
Battery life is a lot less on the iPad than on the Kindle, but it's sufficiently long not to be an issue -- around 8 hours of actual use.
For the sort of reading that I do while standing in line or waiting at the doctor's office, neither the iPad or the Kindle would work, since I don't carry a purse. Right now, I read books on my Treo 680, and soon it'll be an iPhone -- my mother offered her iPhone 3 as a hand-me-down when she upgraded. I wouldn't read book on smartphones by preference, but it's certainly handy to have them.
I don't know if you read fan fiction, but if you do, there are a number of sites that let you download directly from the site to the Stanza app on my iPad. I love this feature.
Only this morning I was gifted with a Kindle from rdmaughan, so I'll let you know what I think after I've had a chance to play. :) I've been using the Stanza reader in my iPod Touch, but I read fast enough that I find it a hassle to have to flip pages so quickly.
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Personally, I can't stand the flash when the page is turned, and I prefer a book I can carry in a shirt pocket, so my main ereader is my iPhone.
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It rarely gets sunny enough in the UK that the iPad is not easily readable if you're say, sitting under a tree. But if you were somewhere really sunny then LCD might be difficult.
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I love my iPad, but I do have to admit that if Kindle had done the Great Price Drop two weeks earlier, I probably would have bought one of those instead.
Color e-ink is coming; a color e-ink reader was just announced yesterday, though it's not a familiar brand.
Battery life is a lot less on the iPad than on the Kindle, but it's sufficiently long not to be an issue -- around 8 hours of actual use.
For the sort of reading that I do while standing in line or waiting at the doctor's office, neither the iPad or the Kindle would work, since I don't carry a purse. Right now, I read books on my Treo 680, and soon it'll be an iPhone -- my mother offered her iPhone 3 as a hand-me-down when she upgraded. I wouldn't read book on smartphones by preference, but it's certainly handy to have them.
I don't know if you read fan fiction, but if you do, there are a number of sites that let you download directly from the site to the Stanza app on my iPad. I love this feature.
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