I was going to deploy to my third deployment to Iraq in 2011 and I wanted some way to read all my books. As you may know, space is precious when you're talking about military gear. We were very strict on what we could or could not bring on the deployment. Also I need something that could go a long time on a single charge. None of the full tablets were going to cut it and than I discovered the paper white. It claims that you can go several weeks on a single charge (or was it months) I can't remember since it's been son long. There were times on my last deployments where we went almost a month without any electricity. After a successful deployment I can defiantly say that this nook proved it was up to the task. I don't think I charged it more than twice and the second charge was just because I had the time and means. The tablet was also very well built. As you may know, Iraq has lots of sand. There were even a few times where I dropped the tablet in the sand. The device kept on trucking and did not give up.