Reading in the dark

[sraun]

Yeah, I know - it's a silly subject. But it's a serious question.

I recently got a Kindle. I've been trying to decide if I want the Amazon Deluxe Case with Built-In LED Light, or something cheaper. And I've been thinking about my reading habits. I haven't read by anything other than ambient light since I was in elementary school, reading by flashlight under the covers when I was supposed to be sleeping.

My options:
1) Get the fancy Amazon cover - pros: all in one, only one thing to carry; cons: all in one, more expensive, heavier
2) Get a plainer cover and an external light - pros: possibly cheaper, possibly lighter; cons: adds another thing to my 'carry around' pile
3) Get a plainer cover: pros: probably cheaper, probably lighter, only one thing to carry, can upgrade to option 2 at my convenience; cons: can't read in the dark

So, here's the question: if you own an eInk-based ereader - Kindle, non-color Nook, some Sony devices - how often do you read on it using a booklight or other light source that just illuminates the device? Is this more or less frequently than you read dead tree books by booklight or similar illumination?

If you have an opinion - regardless of whether or not you own a relevant ereader - which of my options would you go for, and why?

ETA: FYI, part of what's going on here is I'm trying to convince myself that I'd actually find the light useful. So I'm likely to be poking fairly hard at some of the 'yes' entries, to try to figure out if they really apply to me.

Comments

[jimtbari.livejournal.com]

I've had a Kindle DX for about a year and a half and don't use a light with it. But I don't travel much. And when I rarely do want to read in the dark, I'll read on my plugged-in-with-a-nice-long-cord phone instead, which may not be an option for you.

Knowing me, I would probably buy the deluxe case and never use the light. :-)

More seriously (and I think you may have said this), the questions I personally would ask are about the weight and price differences between this case and the case that you'd otherwise get. I do not in fact ever take my Kindle out of its bought-from-Amazon-for-$50 case. Except when I got a (free-due-to-warranty) replacement Kindle because I cracked the plastic from trying too many times to open the back of the leather case. (I see the new case is designed to prevent that.)