We have the nook and really do like it. I still do like real books, but it is quite nice to not have to carry 5 or so books and then perhaps have to buy a book at the airport for the ride home.... We bought the "book cover" specially made for the Nook with a light built in for ours and that works well, much nicer than any other booklight I have tried (on real books). I was really bummed last year when 4 of the books I bought did not download properly and once overseas I was sunk. It was my own fault, I deleted the back up credit card {which was mine} when we put my hubby's CC info in, mostly to avoid getting double billed. Live and learn. We have tours downloaded, various documents, etc. and find having it all right there is something we like. They do need to work out the book borrowing/sharing aspect and clearly it would be quite beneficial for all if books could be purchased and downloaded anywhere in the world. With the library you normally are on a wait list so actually having the books for your travel can be iffy. For those of us that always found ourselves carting many books on travel, it is very nice and I would highly recommend. I do confess that at home it is the library and real books for me. Ahh, when you are old you are just set in your ways

Gosh you guys! --(Is that OMG)? Thank you again for all the great information. An especially good tip about having one book in the carry on. I had forgotten about having to turn off all electronic devices on planes. I find reading an engrossing book takes my mind off the fact that there is only thin air below the plane. Also loved the info on the free book sites. That will surely pay for another iced coffee in St. Marks Square!

The Chicago Tribune last year said that the Kindle is the only E reader that can download books all over the world compared to the others. I gave both of my kids them for Christmas two years ago-my son lives in London and my daughter works down in Antarctica and they have had NO problems using them wherever they are.
As an international flight attendant, I have had no problem using my IPHONE around the world however the roaming fees,etc. are what are gonna get you. ATT has a special "call home" Europe program for about $5.00 a month to discount the fees so check into that beforehand. Have a great trip!

What I didn't like about the Kindle 3g was the quality of the print (I had to use a huge font), the lack of backlight, but mostly how "dumb" it is, when you can get a laptop for under $300 -- why can't it "do" more things? And flipping backwards to re-read a section (like a description) was very difficult, although I hear that page numbers are now available. (It "disappeared" one day from my office...)

I especially hated that you can't share books with others, not to mention how expensive the non-free ones are.

That said, I'm heading abroad for a month and not taking a laptop. I'm trying to pack in only a carry-on so...

Does anyone have experience with using either of these for email?

Can any other old geezers like me comment on the ease of reading with the Nook and the ease of changing font size? Does the Nook have page numbers? Anyone know if it will read Amazon Books (the ones I already own... sigh).

Many thanks!

TF

I love my Nook. It does have page numbers, and I find it very easy to read with. The buttons on the side make it very easy to read one-handed. I haven't tried to change font sizes too much, but the few times I played with it it seemed intuitive. I haven't tried to do email or anything with it (I'm not even sure that the Simple Touch will do that).

Unfortunately, it will not read Amazon books. Amazon uses a proprietary format - Kindle books are the only ebook that will work on Kindles, and as far as I know no other reader can read Kindle books. The Nook and most other ereaders, I believe, use the epub format, which is more "open" - you can buy Nook books from B&N, Google Books, and independent bookstores.

Hi TravelinFeet,

I know the feeling, as I have built a sizeable library for my Sony Reader, which is incompatible with the Kindle. The e-readers are great for what they were designed for, but not so good for other things. Whichever format you choose, there will be compromises.

If I could travel with only one device, it would probably be my iPad. It has a Kindle app, so you may even be able to download and read the Amazon books you have already bought. It's easy to change font size with the "pinch gesture". The iPad is great for emails and web surfing, and if you have the 3G version you can make phone calls with the Skype app. There are lots of other apps useful for travellers.

I just posted a related question -- does anyone know if the Kindle will do web based email? (not the fire, I can practically buy an IPad for that much!)

http://www.fodors.com/community/trav...email-help.cfm

@TrevelinFeet - my Kindle does web based email. It's very basic and a bit of a pain (I have the third generation 3G with keyboard but no touch screen)because you have to used the D pad to navigate, but I have used it Internationally in a pinch. The web browser is in menu/expiramental.