Help - best note taking/rooted e ink reader?

[teknicoloringrey]

Hello! So, I'm starting school soon and as an English major, decided that an e-book reader would probably save some space (and my back). I've been looking at all the different options, and to be honest I'm kind of overwhelmed, and would LOVE if I could get some help and turn into

Okay! Here are my priorities of what I need/am looking for.
1. I'm a student, and would like to take notes, highlight, quote, etc. and then be able to search through and/or import/export them to my computer [preferable all in one file].

2. Rooting would be cool. I understand the Nook color and touch can be rooted (any others?) - &&& I THINK then I could load some sort of notating app onto it and be able to take notes/highlight/annotate directly in the text that way? Is that right? Or is it only that you can load Kindle's software [which has better notetaking [?]] onto the nook? [kinda confused as to capabilities here] OH! Does rooting void warranty?

I'd like to try to get something for 100-200$...the cheaper the better obviously. A variety of supported formats would be nice, but I can convert most stuff via Calibre yes? A long battery life would be good - something to last through a single day at least. 3G isn't necessary, wi-fi would be cool but I can live without it. I'd prefer e-ink over lcd (I'm on my computer all day and need a break). I don't really need any games or social stuff or anything like that.

What I'm leaning towards now is the Nook Touch [140$] because of it's rooting capability, e-ink screen. The Entourage Edge looks great, but the fact that the company went out of business is kind of discouraging. I honestly haven't looked into the Sony too much, so I don't know much about it.
I'm sorry if this was confusing, there's just so many options!

IF there aren't any really great e-readers that you can take notes in comparable to the way you can in a real book, then I was just thinking of going with the Aluratek Libre - it's only 80$ and has the basic functionality I want....reading.

Also, side-note and kind of random....how do these things hold up to rain? I live in a very rainy place and am kind of nervous about a few drops of water breaking my new toy.

Thank you so very much for reading through this rambling cry for help

[teknicoloringrey]

Oh! and I'm in the U.S., and don't plan on traveling anywhere in the near future. Expandable memory would be pretty cool too [microsd] but I'm willing to live without it.
PDF's would also be something I'll probably read often, and would like to take notes in as well, if at all possible.

[susan_cassidy]

The software that reads the ebooks must have notetaking integrated into it - a separate app won't help.

The Kindle has a way to make notes, highlight things, etc. Don't know about any other ereaders. I also don't know about the Kindle Android app, because I don't use Android. The ability to easily access a file of the notes, etc. (called "My Clippings.txt") is only on the Kindle itself, not the apps, although you can sync to Amazon (Amazon-purchased books only), and access via the web.

Rain is bad for any electronic device. Put the ereader in a bag or something, to keep it out of the rain.

PDF reading is possible on the Kindle, but not optimal, because most PDFs are set up for a large page size, so you have to scroll and zoom, etc.

[Sigyn]

I am admittedly not a technical person, but did read this nook color annotation discussion and that's why I didn't get the nook color.

[charmian]

You should also consider whether the books you need for your courses will be available in ebook form. If you specialize in the more recent English lit, they may not be available.