So, how much are paperbacks?

Why exactly is Staples a better fit than Target?

Another smart choice with the Kindle? Making it awesome.

I bought the Kobo reader back when it was released in June. It's a great, slim device with a very minimalist design. The software has some minor usability issues that they've been improving - though they missed the ball entirely on a big one. (The device used to have no "sleep" mode - just on or off. Now, it automatically sleeps after 15 minutes of no activity, then powers off after another 15. I can't disable this and I can just opt to have it stay in "sleep" mode for quick start-up times.) I'm also waiting to here back form support about why it suddenly stopped seeing my files on a particular SD card which is fine everywhere else.

In lieu of price cuts on the Kindle and Nook, I would have purchased one of those instead, but had the Kobo been cheaper, I much prefer it's clean look and feel and I have no interest in purchasing books over the airwaves or being locked to vendor-specific formats.

I'd like to point out that the Kindle is not compatible with the ebooks available for online check-out from the library. Compatible ebook readers are the nook, kobo reader and the sony readers. There's a great selection of ebooks available, and I don't want to limit myself from using that resource.

Then again, I'm fairly thrifty, and although I'm looking around at ebook readers, I still balk at the price. Also, I would really love to be able to comparison shop all of these with working models available at the same store--it's really important to feel the reader in your hands and see how heavy or bulky it is, or if it fits in my purses, how the screen looks, etc. Internet research can only do so much.

@5 that's because SPL is smart.