>>1007644
you're describing the EARL, basically...

There was a service a few years ago that would water-proof any electronic device you sent them for a obscene amount of money(they also sold pre-waterproofed apple shuffles). I guess send them a Sony PRS-800, or whatever and get it done(The ones before they switched to plastic construction, and ran off android. That way its a lot simpler, but also a lot more secure)

>>1007644
The solar charger thing seems a little unimportant given that it's an e-reader, battery life on my Kindle (one of the older ones, not back lit or touch screen) is months...

As for the waterproof/dust proof, you could just make a thin case for an existing eReader, they don't produce much heat so no need for venting and if you're going down the "non-touch screen" route you wouldn't need to worry about that, all you'd need is a few rubberised surfaces for the buttons it has.

Expandable storage, once again, why exactly? I can have hundreds of books on my old kindle...you need more than that? For what reason?

The key thing about making a good eReader is having it small and lightweight (as well as the easy to read screen of course) so that when you're reading for hours at a time your arms don't get sore from having to hold it up in front of your face, all you're doing is adding more and more bulk for not much added benefit.

>>1009468
Battery life on ereaders is crazy long, but the issue with long term use on them is the li-ion cells simply dont hold their charge.

You can easily get 5000 page turns, but thats a moot point since most people arnt reading that much in ~2 months(which is about as long as the cell will hold its charge, provided its a new battery.)

A tiny solar cell(think calculator) just to trickle charge it would prob. be enough to keep the thing from full discharging for a year, but wouldnt be enough to replace the principle charge as it gets used.