Thanks, everyone. I went to the store (again) and played around with everything, this time taking my 17-year-old son, who pointed out some things I hadn't thought about (although some of the things he pointed out, like being able to type on the iPad, were actually cons in my book, as I had a terrible time with that small touchscreen keypad! Going to need practice there.) I really don't think I would use the iPad as a reader except on vacation - the Kindle is SO much lighter and easier to deal with one-handed; I won't give that up at home but on vacation it would be fine.
I went back and forth for quite awhile, but I think the thing that finally sold me on the iPad/MBP combo was how the iPad handles looking at photos - so easy, full screen, and I can see how it would handy for passing around to people. It's also definitely more portable than the 13" Air. And the MBP has better memory/RAM/ports for less money than the MBA. Now it's just a matter of getting them ordered!
:)
Ranee
