I've done a lot of research on this, since I've been in the market for an e-reader for some time now. The kindle has one of the nicest screens (I haven't directly compared the two, but I've heard that it's slightly nicer than the Nook) out there, right up there with the newest generation of Sony readers.

As far as DRM goes, a quick google search will show you that it's not all that hard to strip it from just about any book. After that, a quick conversion with Calibre can make any book readable on any e-reader that you can think of.

Honestly, though, I'd also look into the Sony readers. The PRS 350 is really quite nice from what I've heard, excellent screen, and right now it's $10 cheaper than either one. No wireless, though, I don't think.

I guess the questions that you need to ask yourself are

1. Am I okay with stripping the DRM out of a book (ethically and timewise)?

2. Is how I get the book onto the e-reader important (like wireless, 3G, etc)?


Also, make sure to check out the Mobileread forums. They're very active, and everyone has made their case for just about every ebook reader on the planet there. Good information.