Why buy a Kindle at that point? I have a Likebook Mars that has an SD card slot that I use to load books on to it, which I have never connected to the internet.
Out of curiosity, do you have ghosting problems with the Mars? You can also connect a kindle to USB and use the internal flash without ever connecting it to the internet.
In general, I find that Kindle has the best backlight, is fastest, and has a generally very smooth UI. Now, I haven't used the latest version of the OS, so that might have changed, but in general all the non-Kindle E-Ink devices I've used, I've wished it were a Kindle without the spy stuff.
