(The Denver Post)

A novel, three magazines, two newspapers, an MP3 player and a bag of trail mix just fit into the seat pocket in front of me. I shoved my briefcase, which still contained a laptop, about 3 more pounds of work reading and a backup novel, under the seat with my foot.

A man came down the airplane aisle, motioned that he was in the window seat next to me and sat down. In his hands he carried nothing but a slim case with a set of headphones attached, and he spent the four-hour flight reading and listening.

Meanwhile, I shuffled and juggled my reading materials until the end of the trip, when I loaded it all back up again and lugged it all off the plane as he sauntered casually behind me, carrying what looked to be the weight of a half-pound cheeseburger — only much less messy.

And thus I experienced my first case of e-reader envy.

That was only the beginning, however, as it suddenly seemed as though everyone around me was buying an iPad or a Kindle. Things became even more confusing when the market suddenly flooded with options that resembled one or the other, but with highly touted variations.

Why did people pick this electronic book reader over that one, or a tablet-style personal computer instead — and what was the difference?

Obviously price had something to do with it, but beyond that there were arguments for both, and vehement ones at that.

The basic difference: A tablet is a mobile computing device. An e-reader is simply an electronic book.

The differences are getting murkier though, because people read on their tablets, and many e-readers have added Web browsers and color.

Either way, the advantages of both for the traveler are indisputable. It means consolidating all of your reading, which means less to carry on and around. Get beyond the load-lightening capabilities and into the video, photo and other applications available on more advanced units, and we're talking about meeting a lot of travelers' wants and needs.

(Cindy Enright, The Denver Post)

Still, as a lifelong book lover, I had to get over my initial resistance to the idea of an e-reader at all. I'm kind of embarrassed to say that it took about 20 minutes of holding a Kindle.

It was light — lighter than many novels — and much less cumbersome. You can hold most e-readers with one hand. It was easy to use and kind of fun to play with.

Then I got my hands on an iPad, and I almost didn't let go.

It may seem unfair to compare a computer here, but the reality is that many people who own an iPad read on it. While the Apple bookstore has only 60,000 titles, you can download the Kindle app to get more than 10 times that number. You can also download such delicious apps as epicurious.com, with its luscious photo-laden recipes, or road-map apps that get you where you want to go. It's a traveler's dream companion.

Newcomer Samsung Galaxy Tab also offers a tablet for a hundred bucks less at three-quarters of the weight. Unlike the iPad, it has cameras, and it has reinvigorated the debate over whether Apple will launch a 7-inch iPad, a topic about which the company remains silent.

I tested 15 models, including the Galaxy and the iPad, and several types of e-readers. Since I started last fall, several have been taken off the market, new ones have come out, and at least one, the Nook, launched a color version. I came up with 10 that I liked well enough to consider owning, and those are offered for comparison above.

What I realized, though, is that there isn't one perfect e-reader or tablet out there yet.

To me, the ideal e-reader/ tablet would have all the goodies from an iPad but be the height and weight of a Libre and the width of the Galaxy Tab. It would offer the easy-on-the-eyes E Ink features of the Kindle, but when you went to browse the Web, it would switch to a tab-like LCD screen. It would offer NextBook 2 videos and the Pandigital Novel night mode.

Newspapers and magazines would load their graphics, and you could doodle as on the Sony Reader Daily Edition. They would all come with a nice case, and the back would be the quilted rubber of the Kobo. You could always borrow from the library and share books with your friends.

And if it could dispense trail mix, so much the better.

