I've tried reading e-books for several years now. The big problem has been the big computer. It doesn't go to where I like to read books, which is just about anywhere that I find myself. The Kindle seems to fit the bill, reading various reviews. It's the bill part that doesn't fit my wallet. $360 to $489, depending on size, is out of my league. But wait! There is a poor man's Kindle.

No, Dell isn't making a Kindle competitor.

It's my 9" Dell Mini. My gosh, the text is rotated 90 degrees! How is this done?

Transform any XP netbook into an e-book reader

"Among e-readers, the Kindle attracts the most attention due to its connection to Amazon for content and its easy-on-the-eyes E-Ink screen. But if you're already packing an XP-based netbook in a purse or briefcase, you can get much of the same functionality without carrying another device.
[...]

"Now wouldn't it be great if you could thumb through the pages vertically instead of scanning a squat, horizontal screen? You can. If your netbook has the Intel GMA Driver for Mobile Control Panel (most do), click the Display Settings tab, check Enable Rotation, and click the 270° radio button. Click Apply. Depending on your system, you might be able to press Ctrl-Alt-Right Arrow or Ctrl-Alt-Up Arrow to toggle between the normal and rotated orientations.

"If your machine doesn't have that video control panel or your key commands aren't working correctly -- mine didn't on an Acer Aspire One -- download EeeRotate. This free tool lets you easily toggle between the portrait and landscape orientations, using the same key commands noted above."

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And here is where you can get EeeRotate:

EeeRotate Program Gets You Disoriented

The program is for Acer netbooks but it works fine on my Dell Mini. Cost (if you already have a netbook): $0. This will work on larger laptops but is ideal for the tiny netbooks.

Where to get cheap E-books? Get thee to Project Gutenberg which has thousands of free books whose copyrights have expired. They are available in several formats. The book I'm reading, The Count of Monte Cristo, is in HTML so I read it in my browser. I go full screen to have only the text displayed. In Opera, my browser, you can change the size of the display from 20% to 1000%. I bumped up to size to 120% which works best for me. The Dell Mini is easy to carry around to any room I want and I can now read an e-book where ever and when ever I want.