janewilliams20

I actually want more than just an e-reader, I think, so this doesn't help me directly, but here's a review that compares two e-readers.
http://www.computing.co.uk/v3-uk/review/2110424/amazon-kindle-wi-vs-sony-reader-wi-prs-t1-head-head-review
From the look of that, if an e-reader and surfer was what I was after, I'd be going for the Sony.

Found a few things out today, so let's make some notes.
What am I missing?
The netbook is good, well worth the cash, but not really ideal for my original purpose. It's too big and heavy to go in a handbag, and doesn't have a dongle, so can only go online where I can plug it in or use WIFI - handy in the kitchen, but not on a train. It doesn't really replace the laptop as a PC on holiday, as the screen isn't big enough for sensible photo-editing. It won't run the latest version of Yahoo Webmail due to screen size limitations. It will do document editing for me. It's a semi-laptop replacement for holidays where I'm limited in luggage weight, and handy around the (Wifi-enabled) house, but that's it.

The phone is great as a phone/diary (syncs with Google Calendar without me even having to tell it! perfect!), and as a mapping/GPS device (though not as good as real sat-nav). It isn't up to the job as a means of reading PDFs, as the screen is too small, and a combination of small screen and on-screen keyboard means I can't use it for writing. The mobile version of YMail doesn't let me reply to group mails (it sends to "from", not to "reply to"). It can do most web browsing, but not all - small screen, and only one window (mainly due to screen size). It's a good music player: I drop files to it, it plays them. The camera is adequate for happy-snappy.

Some sort of e-reader would let me read my PDFs and other e-documents, but not write to them. A Kindle, for instance - Amazon have them, they're beautifully light and easy to read. But I still don't get mobile writing ability, and that would be very handy when on the train, or in cafes when touring. It does its one job very well indeed, but misses a few others. Apparently the more expensive version (£152 rather than £111) has 3G, and will to some extent web-browse as well as download more books to read - and the data connection comes as part of the price!
247g, 190*123*85mm, for future reference, and micro-USB, so same cable as everything else.

Today I met someone with an iPad. Physically, it does look slim and light, and not a bad screen at all. So far, so good. I'd been told elsewhere that Apple have improved their devices and all the problems with them had gone - too vague a statement to be useful, and their website is useless (Apple, I don't CARE if it's "cool", or what colour it is, I want to know what it can DO!). So. How do I get my existing PDFs and MP3s on there? Previously the reason I stopped using the iPod as a music player was that it would not let me simply copy files on, it insisted on holding a complete copy of the iPod content on one PC, and "synching" with that - this meant all the files were duplicated for no reason, and it would only let me "sync" with one PC, not the three, or four, or just "the nearest" I actually needed. Almost entirely useless. Does it still do this? Yes, apparently it does. Same idiotic limitations. The iPad is bigger than the iPod, or any phone - how about an SD-card slot? No. I'm told they may consider it for the next version (or they may not). The netbook lets me plug in my portabel hard drive, with all the files on, or a USB stick - no, you guessed it, I can't do that,  either. So, that's a tablet-style device that won't let me put the files on there that are its entire purpose for existence....  very clever! I can download (and pay for) whatever limited selection of things they deign to supply on their iShop (whatever it's called), but using my own files - no. Price - starting at £399. OK.... but the base version has no 3G!  Wifi, yes, but.... so we have a supposedly mobile device that can't under normal mobile circumstances go online??? They won't admit to a price above that "from" one, and want me to choose colour before amount of memory. I haven't yet checked out whether it can usefully browse the web (yes, obviously this includes being able to run Flash), but since it fails on the basic functionality so far, it hardly matters.
edit: from comments from an iPad user on LJ, no, it won't usefully browse the web. It can't handle scrolling down in a text entry box.

Next up will be to investigate the various other tablets and e-readers: Android, maybe the latest Windows offerings. But not today.