Son of Dead KIndle

So now I have 2 broken Kindles.  Notice that nice horizontal line across the top of my Kindle when turned off.

Everything else works fine.  I can watch the pointer line on the side go up and down when I restart or turn my Kindle on or off.  I can use the USB connection.  But the Kindle is dead.

So what does one do?

They want $180 to send me a refurbished Kindle, plus shipping.

I don't want to send them $180.  I've gone through two of them now in 15 months.

I don't want a Sony Reader. I don't like the screen and the glare and the note-taking isn't good and intuitive as I need it to be.  I like the wireless subscriptions on my Kindle.  And the other thing is that all of my problems have been with the screen, and all the screens on all the e-readers use the same basic E Ink technology so I'm not sure I trust any of them right now.

I don't want to go back to reading manuscripts on paper.

I didn't do anything to the Kindle yesterday.  It was fine in the morning when I turned it on to get my newspapers.  I just walked around with it some in my backpack.  And then this morning the screen is Dead Again.

I was planning to go away for the weekend but hoped to get some reading done while I was away.  I just don't want to  have 3 manuscripts to print out and cart around, not that I'd get to reading 3 but just in case I bail out of #1 there's got to be some backup.

I'm feeling terribly addicted right now, when I know I shouldn't spend money on something because it's going to be bad for me, and yet I'm not sure I can stop myself from it.

What I really want to do is find a class action attorney, I think, maybe talk to the one who's suing over the case cracking on the Kindle 2.

Update #1:  The $180 refurbished Kindle comes with but a 90-day warranty.  A used Kindle is available currently on Craig's List for $140-$150, in the low $200s for a Kindle 2.

Update #2:  I have downloaded the Stanza app for my iPhone, and I am busily transferring content to my iPod Touch.  This isn't as good as the Kindle, but maybe my iPod touch won't break every few months... 

Update #3:  A Washington Post subscription via Newspaper Direct if purchased in advance costs less than a Kindle subscription.  A Wall St. Journal subscription for a first-time subscriber can be nicely discounted for a whole year over the Kindle price.  I don't like being chained to my computer to look at them, but none of them require me to buy a $180 or $300 device that keeps breaking down, and which doesn't work so well in cold weather in NYC for six months of the year, and etc.