Sorry if this has been asked before…
As I watch mrs oldgrump piling up books to take on hols next week I've decided to surprise her (I know, I know) and buy her an e-reader.
So – any recommendations please? And I don't mean of the 'stick to real books' variety…………

iPad well someone had to say it.

Not at the mo thanks Drac.

I have the Sony E-reader and it's ace. Bit of a guddle getting it set up so don't buy it the night before the holiday, and make sure you get a mains charger.

Only good tho if she likes quite mainstream recent fiction, or alternatively books that are well out of copyright ! Can't really get niche stuff yet e.g. if she has a taste for 70s sci fi you are still looking at paperback.

hels – which version do you have?

My new Kindle arrived last night. First impressions are very good; small and light, was set up in seconds and downloaded all the stuff I'd bought from Amazon (a lot for free/pennies) last week. I bought it for similar reasons – fed up of lugging 4/5 books around on holiday.

Only £109 for the wi-fi version.

Might be too late to get one for next week, unless they've got more stock in. I was waiting about a month for mine.

Yup, stuffed if I go for the Kindle! B*gger.

I got the PRS 505 (I think – don't have it with me but it't the bigger one) still lighter than a book. A friend of mine has the pocket in girly pink. Just googled and they seem awfy expensive, I got mine for £160 as I got the last of one edition when they bought a new edition out. Was buying for convenience not to save money I do quite a lot of travelling.

I also have a PRS-505 and it is good.

The newer Sonys have touch screens which makes the screen more reflective and so they suffer glare more – which particularly won't be good on a holiday if used outdoors.

I got it because of the quality of the display, being almost easier to read than a book, but the touch screen versions seem a major step backwards – might as well use a netbook.

Beware that the iPad screen is very glossy, and so will have lots of glare.

Haven't seen a Kindle.

The new Samsung iPad type thing looks really bleedin good – I could be very very tempted by one when they're out (very soon) especially as they're going to be much cheaper than an iPad.
7" screen instead of 10" so it wont feel too big to carry round.

Kindle if you want to do any buying of recent books. The Sonys are OK if you want classics/out-of-copyright or if your local library does the EPUB lending service.

Got my Kindle last week and read a few books so far. It's ace.

Delivery issues aside, for anyone else looking at ereaders the new Kindle is ace – the one I ordered arrived last week. Don't get caught up in the whole 'buy an iPad/tablet' – the screen on a proper ereader is a world apart for actually reading.

I have just ordered a Kindle 3 with WiFi and 3G. Was a bit put off by the proprietary format but it seems ace value compared to the Sony Readers etc.

It offers free (very) basic Internet as well.

TBH if I was getting an ereader as a gift I would rather wait for a Kindle than have a Sony or similar now.

I am hoping that I will be able to use it to store large PDF documents such as Cisco design guides – anyone tried using the Kindle 3 for this?

I have never had trouble buying recent books for an e-reader, anything new and big selling comes out as an e-book, although I buy them from a US site I must admit.

Kindle. Don't forget to set your location on Amazon to "USA" for cheaper books.