I'm an avid reader, and I find that downloading books is much more convient that trying to get them from the bookstore or library. However, I'm tired of sitting in front of a monitor to do my reading. I'm looking for a hand-held device to do my reading on, and I'm hoping the community has some suggestions.

It seems to me that most PDAs have too small of a screen for convenient reading, and a notebook / tablet computer is too big and bulky for this simple task. So, I've been looking at a few devices designed specifically for eBook reading (e.g. the RCA REB1100, the eBookwise-1150, etc.). These look more promising, but I was disappointed to discover that the RCA device ONLY reads an encrypted, propriety eBook format, making it essentially useless in my eyes. (Has anyone ever hacked one of these?) Also, I believe the RCA / GemStar device was discontinued (presumably because of the limited compatability). I've also read some articles about the problem with the industry due to DRM issues and the like.

I want a device that can read a variety of file formats, especially scanned, non-text PDFs. A large screen, long battery life, and good interface are other attributes I'm looking for. Any suggestions are much appreciated.