All ebook readers including the Kindle support DRM-free ebooks. Use Calibre to manage your ebook library. To load ebooks onto your Kindle (or Nook, or iPad, or Kobo, or Indiebound, or Sony, or whatever) plug it in to USB, when the “device” icon appears at the top, drag and drop your desired book there. Calibre will autoconvert it to whatever format your reader likes to eat. It’s seamless and you don’t have to worry about the format.
With the right plugins, Calibre can also remove DRM from books that you have purchased.
I also own a Paperwhite and less than half of what I read on it is purchased from Amazon. I agree, it’s the best reader on the market. You can easily buy a Paperwhite and read for years without buying an ebook from Amazon, if you prefer.
Personally I really like having the Kindle Paperwhite, the Android app on my phone, and the cloud reader that I use on my work PC during lunch all automatically sync to the last reading location of my current book. If you buy the audiobook from Amazon, that will autosync to your most recent position as well. This is a great feature.
