Over 300 words and you pick on the smudging part. I think the main point of the Kindle versus iPad argument is twofold: 1) the e-ink is remarkably better to read and 2) the battery life allows for more reading than the iPad allows.
I have the nook and I cannot see myself without it. eBooks are great for people who want a device to read books on.
>Students at Reed College complained of the slow refresh rate of e-Ink displays, problematic input, inability to load PDFs over the network, and inability to view more than one text at a time as major sticking points. Reed faculty found converting documents to work well on the Kindle to be particularly difficult in most cases.
>Students participating in the test at Darden School of Business, while loving the Kindle for personal reading, overwhelmingly felt the Kindle didn't pass muster in its current state for academic use -- about 4 out of 5 would not recommend a Kindle DX to incoming MBA students.
I came to that exact conclusion after using a kindle DX for a few months. Additionally, battery life & weight don't really bother me. It's lighter than most textbooks, & I don't mind putting it to charge right before I go to sleep. I spend a lot of time looking at LCDs anyway, so that isn't a problem.
I have the nook and I cannot see myself without it. eBooks are great for people who want a device to read books on.