Looking for an electronic device that best fits my needs. Do I need to use a kindle? iPad? Touchscreen laptop?

Nothing.

If you leave out #3, though, you can get a Kindle Touch.

But as far as I know there ain’t any e-ink devices that let you write on them with an electronic pen.

An iPad will work, but you will have to cough up some money (maybe $10) for a PDF reader app from the app store with more advanced annotation capabilities, and you can buy styluses that will work with the screen.

iOS doesn’t really have a filesystem, so when apps have to deal with files from computers, they usually use link up with free cloud services like Dropbox. Which is really sweet, you can just save a file on your desktop into your dropbox folder, pull it up on your ipad, do whatever you want to it, save it, and it will automatically sync back to your desktop or anywhere else you keep a linked dropbox folder.

The pen requirement rules out anything I know of. The other two requirements tell me a Nook Tablet or Nook Color, unless you need a bigger screen bad enough to pay twice as much for a 10” tablet that does more than you need.

@sinscriven I recommend EzPDF Reader; it is the best I have tried, and it does annotation. However, I don’t know of any good handwriting recognition software, especially if your handwriting isn’t perfect.

I own an ipad, and have a free version of the pdfnote app that allows me to write, highlight, and type notes on it. I think the only difference between the free and paid versions, is the advertisement banner on the free version which can sometimes be annoying. But I can open pdf files from my dropbox, my email, or webpage. It’s been awesome for classes (I’m in college). I can’t tell you about pens tho. I write with my finger. =]

Thanks all! Sounds like there is nothing like what I need. :)

When I was researching tablets prior to buying, I did come across two with stylus options.

Check out the HTC Flyer and the HTC Evo View.

If I remember correctly, I think the Flyer used to bundle the stylus with pad for total purchase price. I don’t know if any of those are still available.

I can’t really speak to cost issues but if you must have a stylus, check out the reviews for either of these.

I have an iPad. It does #1 and #2 perfectly. As for #3, I didn’t find it that great when I tested it with a stylus.

If you’re planning to get an iPad, I’d say wait 2 more months because that’s when the new iPad will be released.