I find the kindle display to be very easy on the eyes - much easier on the eyes than even a good screen. I bought a case for it that has an on-board light (powered off the kindle) and I find that quite good (although the leather case doubles the weight but no more than a hardback). The battery (even with light) seems good. I usually charge it once per book although it's normally not below half-charged. Turning pages is fine (there are buttons for both left and right-handed page turning).

Things that I found frustrating were not being able to jump multiple pages at a time and not being able to go to a specific page. I've run into a few problems with special characters not rendering well, but on the whole the text is clear and easy to see. I'm having problems with the Kindle for PC free download so I've killed it and will see what else I can use. You don't actually need it - I've been dragging and dropping books directly into the document folder from my PC - but I'm looking around at alternatives.

In summary, not perfect, but pretty good. I'm reading SO much more than this time last year!

I don't want to sound like a shill, but I just wanted to say that while I don't have a Kindle, I picked up a refurbished one of these off eBay for about the same price as a Kindle and it's utterly fabulous - lots of formats, loooooooong battery life (I haven't charged it since...May?), great visibility (it really is just like paper - there's no backlight), super-portable; it even plays MP3s so I have some podcasts and music on there too (nice as I don't have an MP3 player).

The newer models are better, with touch screens and a go-to-this-page/search function, plus a couple other features. It also comes with an SD card slot so I've got enough room for zillions of files and books from all kinds of sources, and can trade/share with my friends - it just connects to a computer with a USB cable, like a digital camera, and shows up as a separate drive, so you can just drag things onto/off the device; I don't even use any additional software and have had no DRM issues.

I have mine in a bookish-looking leather cover thing kind of like this that makes it very easy to read, and a friend with a slightly newer model has a cover that stands up on its own like a sandwich board - great for tray tables on planes, trains, and buses! I imagine the Kindle would have a similar line of after-market case-things.

There's no wifi/3G, but other than that, it's perfect.

I like my Kindle but I wish there was an option for backlighting on it, so I could read it in the dark if I want to. I need to buy a booklight for it. No eye strain, though.

The battery life on it is great, I hardly ever have to charge it.

So far, none of the books I've read in it have page numbers, and I wish they did. They just tell you what percent of the book you have completed.

My biggest issue with it is that I took it to the beach last weekend (where it was in the high 90s), and the screen faded out. Like, it couldn't handle the heat. And they boast about how great it is on the beach! Sucked that I got there and had no book to read. And the same thing happened later in an air-conditioned car. Not sure what was up, but it hasn't happened indoors.

I love my Kindle. I like that when I'm wearing my contacts I can just increase the font size instead of getting my reading glasses out. I'm looking at a computer screen all day at work, but I find the Kindle quite easy on the eye, no matter how tired I am. Sometimes I'd deliberately not choose a paper book because the print was too small, but that's not an issue with the Kindle.

I also have a flip-over cover for it, which has a little press-tab which I can fasten at the back to make a kind of Kindle mitten that I can slide onto my hand and which allows me to read one-handed while I'm standing on the train.

Kindle is easy to read, but for pdfs, especially those with page numbers, changing the font size screws up the formatting. Also, pdfs usually can't keep track of your location like the fancier formats do. The battery life is long but is considerably shorter if you don't turn off the wireless/3g. Typing on it isn't fun (but no worse than similar products.) If you get one, don't pay full price! Shop around. If I had it to do over, I'd be more likely to get the sony reader that mdonley links to above.

I love the kindle especially the newest version. I had borrowed an earlier version and liked it but didn't like the button placement or the screen refresh but they've fixed both of those issues with v3. I love being able to up the font size and that it saves my place automatically. I like how it keeps itself synced up so that if I open a book on my phone, it's right at the same page that I left off on the physical kindle.

I love my kindle. For me, it's easier on the eyes than reading an actual book, and tons easier than reading a computer monitor.

Battery life is amazing.

If you read in the dark you'll need a light, but I don't, so it's not a negative.

I love my kindle, but I do need to buy a booklight. A friend of mine has the newest gen, and apparently the 'standard' case comes with a booklight built in. I think people have more or less hit on all the good things, but to be honest, I read SO MUCH MORE. I was sad for a long time that I'd stopped reading as much, but as soon as we got this kindle, I can read until I fall asleep (saves my place!). I don't have to find a particular book (it's all on the one device!). I don't have to go anywhere to get a new book (instant gratification!).

If you have a smartphone or a tablet, the syncing feature is really nice - so I take my tablet with me everywhere, and as long as my kindle is synced up, I can pick up where I left off if I'm waiting in line or whatever. It's pretty awesome.

Oh, and for PDF conversion we use Calibre.

I just started using my new Kindle at lunch yesterday. I actually set it down on the table at some point so that I could manually turn the page one-handed, then realized that it didn't have pages. I was a total skeptic on electronic books for a long time, but I'm really loving it.

If you haven't checked out the screens somewhere, you should (for any of the ereaders -- around here Barnes and Noble has their Nook on display in their stores, and I think Staples was displaying the Kindle). They really look like printed pages, not computer screens.

Our family has both a Kindle, and a Nook color. The Kindle is my wife's, and it's really great. Battery life is really long, and she uses the cover with the halogen light built in all the time. It's easy on the eyes too. I never thought I'd like reading on an e-reader, but the Kindle convinced me. The problem with it is it doesn't support the document format the library distributes books in. I've done all the python scripts out there, and get good PDFs, but PDFs don't allow you to change the font size elegantly. Yes, you can increase the font, but then the page doesn't fit the screen, and you end up scrolling. When you convert to one of the formats the Kindle uses, you end up with garbage breaking up the text occasionally. Distracting.

I have the Nook Color, and since I don't read outside, it works well for me, plus it has the added feature of being able to surf the internet through wifi. They're offering apps for it now, but their app store is nothing like the itunes app store. Kind of lame at this point, but it just opened. As mentioned, I read a LOT more than I used to now that I have my e-reader.

If you're looking for an e-ink reader, I'd definitely consider the new Nook. You can read library books, plus it has the advantage of being an e-ink reader, which I think is nicer than reading on an LCD screen. No problems in bright conditions (other than what was mentioned above, we've never seen that with ours), and long battery life.

I got a refurbished Kindle from Woot.com, (thanks JanetLand), and then I got a weird eBook/tablet "dualbook" (also off of Woot), which I haven't used much yet, beyond reading the manual from the ebook side.

I've read a lot from the Kindle, and it's really easy. It's really light, and I read in bed, holding the Kindle in either hand and I'm able to advance pages with one finger. I have a head lamp like this one that has a red LED that is less intense than white lights, and that serves as my book light, though I'm thinking about getting a little clip-on LED thing.

After the first charge, I left the 3G on without thinking about it, and the battery drained in a couple days. I was peeved, and thought it was an issue with the refurbished model. I recharged it, and turned the 3G off, and have charged it once since, after reading 10-30 minutes each night.

So far, none of the books I've read in it have page numbers, and I wish they did. They just tell you what percent of the book you have completed.

My understanding is because pages mean nothing when the text is "streaming" (no discernible breaks), and it means even less when you can increase and decrease the font size at will. The progress bar at the bottom is your best gauge of progress.

For me page numbers in "real" books are just a numerator in the calculation of what ratio of the book that I've read so I love that the kindle replaces them with the percent.

I've been using ereaders since the PRS 500 mdonley linked to. And I still have my PRS 500, if you'd like it. Just memail me your shipping address and I will route to you. The Sony Reader PRS 500 and 505 had the best, most book like page appearance ever. But -- the battery life and general functionality has not been the same since Sony stupidly insisted on taking them all back and updating their software. Mine is updated, sadly.

I also have my Sony Touch, which I never warmed to. The touch function kinda sucks. The reader does have some glare (nothing compared to a computer screen, though.) It does handle pdf very readily. You may have it instead if you'd like.

Now I have my Kindle, as well as a Kindle app on my Ipad2, and they are both great. Battery life is awesome on the Kindle, and readability is excellent. I read a lot of books on the Kindle or Kindle app, and it really is very like reading a regular book. Not exactly like, but very like. Having the ability to cart around a lot of wonderful books in a light portable package and download anything my heart desires makes up for the lack of actual pages to turn. I picked up a cover with a built in light (which draws power from the Kindle itself, ergo no battery replacement needed) and can read in any kind of light.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you want my PRS 500 or Touch. If I were you, I'd take a look at the Nook, but I'd suggest buying a Kindle.

Thanks for the replies. I'll look into everything mentioned. I am still somewhat leaning towards the Kindle but I can see it is lacking a few features that some of the others have. The fact that you can't use Amazon's huge library with other readers is a bit discouraging though. I can not buy one right now anyway so I'll have plenty of time to visit Best Buy and look at each of them.

I loved my kindle, until I got my iPad2 this summer. Books are amazing on the iPad. It looks like a book on the screen, complete with regular page numbers, and I just love turning pages with the flick of a finger (resist the urge to wet your finger). Getting the definition to any word with just a touch is fabulous, too. And in a book with endnotes, like Wallace's Infinite Jest, just touch the raised numeral and it jumps to the note. So cool. Maybe the nook, with its touch screen, has similar features? If you don't need all the bells and whistles of an iPad, the kindle or nook are a lot more affordable. I also don't mind reading on a backlit screen; you can change the brightness or change the page from white to sepia to soften the display. (I wonder why iPads don't have eInk.)

Anyway, once you go digital, you won't go back. It feels weird to hold a "real" book now.

I've been putting off getting a Kindle, but 1. the size of the books I've recently begun reading + 2. a Best Buy coupon I just got + 3. this thread, have all convinced me to buy today. Thanks!

Have a Kindle (3rd gen), love it. Am definitely reading more because of it. The screen is nothing like a computer screen. I was skeptical of the technology because you're giving up the built-in backlight of a LCD screen and the color capability, but it's definitely worth it to get the clarity and the glare-free aspect.