Shipped yesterday, got it today. It fits just fine, but I believe that the magnets in the leather cover are installed backwards or upside-down!
The cover flap doesn't stay closed like the stock black one does. I tried it 'inside out', so to speak, and the cover holds closed just fine in that orientation. I think they got the polarity wrong!

I called Sony Customer Service, they switched me to some kind of support line where they gave me an event ID and a new phone number, but they had no similar reports of this problem - so far. If you find the same issue, call 888-476-6972 and report it - they won't do anything (i.e. investigate) until more reports start rolling in. I don't want them to replace my cover with one that has the same problem!

The magnet is in Reader (top right corner), not the cover. I guess they have a small metal insert in the cover.

The magnet is in Reader (top right corner), not the cover. I guess they have a small metal insert in the cover.

Quoting from the packaging that the cover came in:
"Product contains small magnets. Please keep away from credit cards. Sony is not responsible for any loss of data or damage to said cards."

And a paper clip is easily attracted to each of the cover magnets, so...

Interesting ... the stock cover doesn't seem to have magnets there, but rather just metal inserts. :shrug:

Paper-clips don't seem to find them attractive, at least. :grin:

Hmm well, I have the stock cover and while metal things stick very easily to the Reader's corner, they don't react to the cover at all. Who knows, maybe they decided to move the magnet to Reader in the middle of production?...

Perhaps the "fashion" covers are a bit stiffer than the stock, and need the extra pull to stay closed?

I suppose I should clarify that when I say 'they got the polarity wrong', I mean that the cover magnets may not be 'polarly' installed to be attracted to its mate in the Reader. As we all learned in science class (and from Paula Abdul), opposites attract.

Although, I must admit that I don't feel any kind of repelling force in either orientation either.

Can you just exchange it for another? What have you got to lose.

Question.
Does a magnet bother e-ink displays like a crt ?

Remember we got arivero to test his broken Librie' screen a while back, yvanleterrible? Over on the iLiad forum somewhere, don't have time to find the link at the moment. Magnets didn't seem to make any difference to the screen -- we were trying to figure out if we could use a magnet to 'write' on the e-ink, no dice.

There are actually two magnets in the Reader. Upper right, as well as one right by the 0 button. It is opposite polarity to the upper right magnet.

I have the brown leather cover, and it contains two magnets as well. I would have written off the included soft cover as having no magnets, but it does not stick to the reader while upside-down. Maybe it's a very weak flexible magnetic strip like a refrigerator door seal.

The stock cover has two pieces of steel/iron in it that match up to the magnets in the Reader itself, but they're not magnetic themselves (p-clips don't stick to them, anyway).

My own theory is that the fashion covers are a bit thicker/stiffer, and need their matching set of magnets to have enough hold to stay closed properly. :shrug:

I plan to travel with the Sony Reader. My travel gear includes storage devices, a PDA, and credit cards that do not like magnets, all piled into the same backpack or laptop briefcase. Any precautions needed regarding the magnets in the Reader and/or in the fancy cover?

I'd just try to keep them away from it, actually.

I hollowed (http://how2dostuff.blogspot.com/2006/02/how-to-make-secret-hollow-book.html) out a book for a travel case for mine. works very nicely for physical protection, and as an extra bonus, it's pretty good thief camoflage.

(thanks to antonio_uk (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/member.php?userid=5638) for the link to the instructions)

Remember we got arivero to test his broken Librie' screen a while back, yvanleterrible? Over on the iLiad forum somewhere, don't have time to find the link at the moment. Magnets didn't seem to make any difference to the screen -- we were trying to figure out if we could use a magnet to 'write' on the e-ink, no dice.

I tried to put the screen for some time in the door of the fridge, and also with some small magnets of the kind you use to paste messages in these doors. No reaction. Pity. I had wanted to write there.

Any precautions needed regarding the magnets in the Reader and/or in the fancy cover?

Keep in mind that the Reader is an electronic device, so I wouldn't be paranoid about it.

Magnets obey the inverse square law, so when you double the distance, you halve the force.

I once tried using a fridge magnet to scramble the contents of a 3.5" floppy, and had no luck.

Today, I tried the magnet-on-CRT trick with the edge of my Reader, and the effect stops after 1 inch--that would be a no-fly zone. I think that any magneticly-sensitive devices are safe if they're sitting more than a foot away for a prolonged period. The gray zone would lie between 1 inch and 1 foot.

I've skimmed thru my Sony warning docs, and I haven't found any warning about the magnets. Where is that warning you found about the magnets?

-William

Keep in mind that the Reader is an electronic device, so I wouldn't be paranoid about it.True, but I don't believe that it contains any magnetically sensative components (no HDD for instance), so it might not be affected by anything short of an MRI machine level field. :smile:

...

I've skimmed thru my Sony warning docs, and I haven't found any warning about the magnets. Where is that warning you found about the magnets?

-William

(1) There is a magnet in the upper righthand corner of the Sony Reader. Put a metal paper clip there and you'll find the magnet.

(2) I bought a fancy cover before reading the note on the packaging which says something like "Product includes magnets. Keep away from credit cards."

I just got my leather cover and am having the same polarity problem. It actually repels the sony reader enough that I can get it to shimmy around. To say the least, it doesn't close :) Now I have to send it back. I just hate the texture on the inside of the stock cover. But maybe I should just glue some fabric to it and be done with it.

I bought a red cover yesterday, and after first putting it on I thought something was wrong with my magnets too. The darn thing wouldn't close, and I actually thought it was repelling (i.e. wrong polarity).

After an evening with an elastic band around it (to help the case form to the correct shape), the magnets (or metal, whatever) hold fine now and close like the original cover.

Seems it was just too much pull-back from the heavier case that just needed to be "broken in".

Seems it was just too much pull-back from the heavier case that just needed to be "broken in".

After over a month since I started this thread, I must agree. When new, the leather is pretty stiff and easily overcomes the rather weak pull of the magnets. Now, a month later, the leather is somewhat broken in, and the magnets work much better (although I'd prefer a little more strength to the magnetic hold).

The magnets are in the actual reader, not the cover. Hold a paper clip near the top or bottom right side of the reader and it will stick.

Yup, but I think the premium covers (as opposed to the stock one) have extra magnets in them too. They need the extra pull because they're a bit stiffer material. :nice:

I have since gotten 3 new leather covers (for our 3 readers), and they've all been fine. My first cover, though, really was messed up.

good to hear that they may have straightened it out, thanks, mickeymammoth. :nice:

I second that. I bought three for Christmas gifts from Borders -- when I put them on the friend's readers they were all perfectly alinged (the other problem thread) and didn't need the "breaking in" period.

Just a head's up regarding magnets and credit cards. One day I was watching the show Mythbusters on Discovery Channel. They had a segment directly related to magnets and credit cards....they couldn't find a magnet strength out there that was able to erase or scramble the data from a credit card.

Just a head's up regarding magnets and credit cards. One day I was watching the show Mythbusters on Discovery Channel. They had a segment directly related to magnets and credit cards....they couldn't find a magnet strength out there that was able to erase or scramble the data from a credit card.

Is data still stored magnetically on credit cards? We've had "chip and PIN" cards here in Europe for some years now, where all the info is on a microchip in the card, and you authorise a transaction by entering a PIN number rather than signing a sales slip. I'd imagine that they'd be pretty immune to magnetic fields.

Here in the good old USA most of out credit cards still have the magnetic strip on the back. Some cards are a combination of credit/debit and require a four digit PIN when used as a debit card. Most merchants (all merchants that I have seen but there are stories that there are others) still swipe the cards through a reader so chips would not work well there. ExxonMobil has a device they call "SpeedPass" that allows you to wave an eraser shaped object at a spot on the pump and get the fuel charged to your choice of credit cards.

The black (standard) case is FAR nicer than the leather cases. I purchased the brown one and I can't wait to get rid of it.

I like the leather covers. The brown one has a suede finish vs. the smooth on the other colors, though. I really didn't like the texture on the inside of the black cover, but that's just me (I don't like the brown suede either). I got green.