One, how does the mobipocket books look on the cybook? I have a sony reader (cant use it though 'cause the battery died) and its books look very good on it.

Two, how do the other formats look? I have had a problem with trying to read pdfs on the sony reader (namely it doesent work very well). Does the cybook do it better?

Three, how does the battery life compare to the sony reader?

Finally, whats the selection of new books compared to the sony reader? Do publishers still publish in mobipocket format?

Also, how long does it take to boot up? Ive seen the 24 seconds for full startup but does that mean every time I turn it on after "standby" does it take that long? The reader started up immediately unless the battery drained and then it took a while.

One, how does the mobipocket books look on the cybook? I have a sony reader (cant use it though 'cause the battery died) and its books look very good on it.

They look great!

Two, how do the other formats look? I have had a problem with trying to read pdfs on the sony reader (namely it doesent work very well). Does the cybook do it better?

No. You will never be able to read an A4/Letter PDF well on a screen with only 1/6th the area. This is a limitation of the PDF format, not the reader.

Three, how does the battery life compare to the sony reader?

You can't do a direct comparison, because the two machines use their battery in very different ways. The Sony, as you know, runs constantly, and needs recharging something like every 3 weeks, pretty much regardless of how you use it.

With the Gen3 you can choose whether to leave it on - in which case the battery will last 4-5 days - or turn it properly "off" at the end of a reading session, in which case it will use no battery power between reading sessions. Personally, I turn my Gen3 off at the end of a session, and the few minutes a day I have it connected to USB are sufficient to keep the battery at 100% charge.

Finally, whats the selection of new books compared to the sony reader? Do publishers still publish in mobipocket format?

Mobi is by far the biggest eBook publisher - hugely wider range of books than in the Sony store.

Ok Thanks HarryT. That helped alot. One more question I have is the startup time: Does the 24 seconds happen when you fully turn it off? Because the sony boots up a lot faster than that when you just turn it off when you have battery. The extra battery life by turning it off dosent make much sense to me because the e-ink display dosent use any (not very much at least) battery when its just showing a page.

Since your battery died, why not just charge it or did the battery die such that it no longer takes a charge?

The battery dosent take a charge any more. Thats another thing Im liking about the cybook is that it has user-replaceable batteries which is probably less expensive then giving my reader to sony. Id like a new version reader anyways (I have the prs-500) which is great but the case is a little messed up (cracks and stuff).

Ok Thanks HarryT. That helped alot. One more question I have is the startup time: Does the 24 seconds happen when you fully turn it off?

That's right, yes. Mine's a little quicker - about 20 seconds. Depends how many books you have on the machine.

Because the sony boots up a lot faster than that when you just turn it off when you have battery.

No, if you turn the Sony off (either by using the menu item on the 505, or by resetting it) it takes a good couple of minutes to boot. When you use the power switch, you aren't turning it off - you're just blanking the screen and disabling most of the buttons.

The extra battery life by turning it off dosent make much sense to me because the e-ink display dosent use any (not very much at least) battery when its just showing a page.

But the screen isn't the only thing that's using power; the CPU. RAM, etc, all use power too.

If the battery has died on your Sony, one thing which may interest you about the Gen3 is that it has a user-replaceable battery, unlike the Sony.

Ok Thanks. Yea Im probably going to get a cybook then. The user-replaceable battery is a big plus since most of the devices I use heavily Ive had to replace batteries on (laptops, etc).

Do you think anyone would buy my prs-500 (the one with the bad battery)?

You could always post an ad on the "Flea Market" forum and see!

Do you think anyone would buy my prs-500 (the one with the bad battery)?
Are you sure the battery is dead? They don't usually die that fast. If you've been trying to charge it from USB, get the charger - 500 won't charge from USB if the battery is completely flat.