A cheap Wi-Fi Kindle. Like the $39 kind. Should your laptop or pc die on ya, it's a lifesaver. That's how I was able to order the laptop I'm posting with now, and pay my bills and check email and shit while waiting for it to arrive.
Better yet, get the lowest cost 3G Kindle. The browsers on them are a bit slow, but no worse than a cheap smartphone. The 3G service is basically free for low bandwidth apps, email and web browsing, courtesy of Amazon. Buy a $1 book now and then, or shop Amazon on the Kindle occasionally, and they'll never charge you a dime for the connection.
There are literally millions of free classic titles and super cheap and excellent indie books, plus fun but super old school games and useful things like Mobi Weather, temp and distance converters, etc. The battery lasts 5 times longer than a smartphone or tablet, even with Wi-Fi left on, and will stay good for 12 days used just as a reader, or 3 to 6 weeks on standby if unused. Takes less than 2 hours to charge with the wall socket connection, 4 hours via USB.
Also, if while browsing you find the images too small, use the zoom just to toggle the Mobile Version page button, and it's all good; the smallest Kindle screen is vast compared to any phone, in glorious HD greyscale with no screen glare or eyestrain.