Curl up with a good e-book

We've all been there, trapped on a plane for hours with in-flight movies, TV reruns and music that's staler than week-old white bread. But there's a limit to how much reading material you can stuff inside your carry-on. Or is there? Portable devices for reading electronic books can pack in hundreds of books, newspapers and blogs, and lighten your load. A test of four models made a believer out of this bibliophile. But the devices have some drawbacks over a bound book: They shouldn't be read in the tub, spills may short them out, and if they are accidentally left behind, you are out a pile of money and a good read.

VERSATILITY'S THE WORD

First look: The iRex iLiad, a slim, black tablet about the size of a DVD case, is more than a reader; it's also a doodle pad. It has a stylus so you can write notes to yourself or draw stick figures, and you can read your own documents, books, blogs and newspapers. It's Wi-Fi capable. The base model comes with 256 megabytes of memory, expandable to 8 gigabytes. Books are downloadable from www.ereaderoutfitters.com, an iTunes-like site that has free books that are out of copyright and new bestsellers such as Alice Sebold's "The Almost Moon" for $16.99, and other sites. It weighs 14 1/2 ounces and has a dove-gray screen that measures 8 inches on the diagonal.

Likes and yikes: The iLiad, made by iRex Technologies of the Netherlands, carries the heftiest price tag of the four tested, but it is Mac-compatible and versatile. The writing was easy on the eyes and could be enlarged. I started reading "Dracula," stopped, bookmarked the spot and then picked up where I'd left off. I liked the long bar on the left to flip pages back and forth and the large screen. But paging through to the good parts wasn't as easy as flipping through a book. And it took 46 seconds to power up. It came without a jacket covering (that's extra, starting at $34.95).

The 411: $699 at (925) 600-0920, www.ereaderoutfitters.com.

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YOU GOTTA BE FAST

First look: Sony's Reader looks more like a slim volume or a notebook than the electronic tablet it is. That's because the device is stylishly minimalist, tucked inside a leather jacket. It's smaller (7 1/8 by 5 3/8 inches) and lighter (12 ounces with the cover) than the iLiad. The soft-gray screen is 6 inches on the diagonal. Buttons on the side operate the menu and turn pages.