You said — iPods are horrible, but I have a Sony Reader with e-ink technology (the same as in the Kindle and others). I would say I have less eye strain than with a standard book.
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My Apple laptop (happens to be an iBook, but am looking to get a Macbook Pro... :-) — is a greater reader device. I just kick back and prop it up and read stuff on there all the time...
An LCD screen causes a lot more eye-strain than an e-ink screen. I didn't even realize it until I had read a couple of novels on my Reader and didn't have the mild headache that I have come to expect when I read text on a screen. In fact, I didn't even know I had been having headaches from reading lots of text on LCD screens until I experienced the difference.