So...does the Nook really not have landscape mode? And is the web browser not allowed to be used on 3G? Those seem like deal killers to me.
 
And does anyone have the new Nook color or have it ordered yet? It looks like that resolves both of those plus adds document viewing and Pandora, but at the cost of lcd instead of e-ink, and thus battery life in hours and not weeks, and is not available in 3G. Harumph.

Liese, the e-ink Nook does not have landscape mode, but I haven't missed it. I don't know about the browser not being usable with 3G, but it's a pretty crap browser anyway (though it's been upgraded; I just haven't used it since the first attempt at wandering). It did have a recent upgrade that resulted in much MUCH faster page turns, different ways of organizing your books, and, I hear, better battery use (haven't been able to judge that yet). The battery life is not weeks, for me, despite whatever they may say. One reviewer says it's because of the LCD screen taking too much, but if I'm on a reading binge, I have to recharge it every 24 hours with wifi connected. It still wins over the Kindle, for me, because of being able to check out library books, but I think the contrast is a bit better on the new Kindle. Kindle is supposed to be adding the same "lend me" feature as Nook has now, though I don't know if they'll ever support epub.

eta: Until Kindle supports Adobe epub/PDF/Digital Editions, they won't be able to support library books. The "Lend Me" feature, like with the Nook, only allows you to loan a book to one person for 14 days and then you can no longer lend it out.

Can any e-ink machine run a decent browser? I assumed the refresh rate with current e-ink is too slow for anything but extremely limited browsing. One reason Nook switched to LCD?

I haven't heard particularly good things about the Kindle browser, either. I don't know about the others. I like Borders comparison chart for figuring out what I'm looking for. [link] They used to include the Kindle and the Nook on the chart, but removed them. I can read books from BaM (which is also offering the Nook) Powells (except I'm not seeing ebooks on sale on their website anymore), or Borders on the Nook because they all support epub.

I played with a Sony E-Reader yesterday. For a dedicated-purpose reader, it was pretty friendly, and felt solidly-made (not true of most of the ones Borders had on hand).

Yeah, the epub is probably the biggest factor that eliminated the Kindle for me.

If the battery life needs recharged within a day either way then I guess lcd wouldn't be that big a deal. I like the idea of e-ink, but maybe the execution isn't worth it?

I really need the 3g because my regular connection can't bear any other traffic at all. So that's the deal-killer for color. I don't know. I suspect the product I need doesn't actually exist.

I have the Nook color and it has both landscape and portrait mode, Liese. it doesn't have 3G. just wifi at this point, for some reason.

I still need to get people's contact info so we can take advantage of the lend me feature. haven't gotten to use the library book function either because our local library sucks. trying to get a co-worker to let me use her card number for the huge public library.

I've not been particularly impressed with the browser in any of the e-readers. If browsing is important that's where the iPad starts to come into play as a good alternative. It can do Nook, Kindle, PDF, word .doc, ePub, iBook, etc etc.

From Best of Craigslist: [link]

Well, matt's phone went for a swim today. So assuming it is dead we may finally get new phones. It looks like our best deal is the iphone4 from a monthyly cost perspective and if he gets the 32 and I get the 16 phone price doesn't make much difference. However, we also looked at the droid 2 global -- and they said name your price and we will see what we can do. I know they want us to leave at&T. ( the only reason I care, At&t coverage is iffy at our house) But what does name your price mean in a practical sense?