Thanks for your thoughts. I like the occasional free day Amazon has on some books. I've missed a few good deals because of no real way to read them. I have the converter on my desktop (now) but prefer not to sit there to read.

From what I gather:
-eReaders, Kindle, etc.: Pretty much just for reading books. Battery can last more than a week. $70-$150

-Kindle Fire: OK for reading including my local paper, online browsing, movie watching (I'm not really a movie watcher) but not really a PC. Rather it's a limited tablet using an older but custom version of Android. Battery lasts a day. $159-$500

-tablets: some approach the functionality of a small laptop but the cost is greater. Pretty much stick with name brands (ASUS, Samsung, Apple) to get something reliable. Battery lasts a day. Start at $250

Still looking.