[menudoBandit]

I too am trying to make that decision for myself. I should qualify anything stated below by first saying that I am new to readers and have no history or real experience with any of them before two weeks ago. I've been holding out and doing a L O T of research in trying to make up my mind but am having a hard time despite all the great reviews and material this forum offers. They are two very different devices that have a decent amount of crossover abilities

I ordered and have been using a Kindle2 for the past 10 days or so and have really enjoyed it. I just received a PRS-300 today and have only just begun to play around with it. I have a '600 coming as well but may just turn around and ship it back as I am not too happy with the glare I noticed while playing around with a friends. Some initial observations:

Physical

PRS-300
I L O V E the size, weight and basic case design of the '300. I can easily fit it in a back or coat pocket, whereas the Kindle is actually rather large by comparison. The 300 has clean lines and I like the use of soft keys along the right-margin of the "page". The jury is still out on the page-flip button placement. While I am still able to hold and use the button one-handed, I have gotten used to it being in the margins (Kindle2)

Kindle2
The kindle 2 - while thinner - is substantially taller and wider with something like 160% the surface area of the 300 - this mostly to accommodate the 1-inch larger screen (300=5 in, Kindle2=6) and the fully thumb keyboard. Aside from the keyboard it has a clean look with spartan button arrangement, with the page-flips in the margins about half way up the device. While larger and a tad bit heavier it still fits comfortably in one hand, and page navigation is easily handled one-handed. The 5-way navigator and the philosophy behind it can be a bit tiresome when navigating pages full of text. I would rather the navigator have a circular 5-way design like the 300's.

Display
I believe the PRS300 display - although 1 inch smaller - is superior to the Kindle2 in contrast. The 300 has a lighter (closer to white) page than the Kindle, and the e-ink seems darker as well. 300 wins on contrast hands-down. Glare (or lack thereof compared to 700, etc) seems equal on both.

Perhaps the grayscale shades have something to do with the contrast differences; the Kindle is capable of displaying 16 shades of gray whereas the Sony readers (all of them, as far as I know) only support a max of 8 shades.

The 300 is only capable of displaying 3 font sizes; the Kindle2 6. Take that as you will...

Navigation
As I alluded to above, I think the Kindle2's navigation would be made a bit more pleasant if it had the same style 5-way navigator the 300 has. The small 5-way seems more appropriate for a 5-year old's fingertips, and could cause issues for large hands. Other than that the Kindle has a good menu and system layout with plenty of options. Deleting a book is far more direct I feel on the kindle; simply select the book in question in a couple of contextual clicks it's gone. With the 300 it feels awkward to me..select the book, click the utilities button and click bookmark to delete. The same number of clicks but an inferior menu layout as compared to Kindle, in my opinion.

The Sony and the Kindle have different "Home" screens as well; whereas the Kindle2 cuts to the chase and simply lists all books and periodicals on the home screen, these things are an extra layer deep on the Sony. You must choose Books by title or Books by Author to see a list of your titles. The font size on the table fo contents seems HUGE to me too - and I noticed that you cannot adjust the display size on the 300's title TOC.

Power up times are non-existent on the 300; literally the 300 takes less than a second to power up, whereas the Kindle2 takes a bit longer. Navigation speed from screen to screen (menus) seems around the same to me. Page navigation is also the same or close.

Content
This is where I will likely come off as a moron to those more experienced who patronize this forum, but here goes...

If I were to compare the primary OEM content providers here (that would be Amazon and Sony) I would have to say that Amazon smokes Sony's eBook store hands down. not only does amazon seem consistently cheaper but they seem to have more content - as well as more delivery options. everyone no doubt knows about Kindle's 3G radio and wireless delivery. this is uber-cool not only for store purchases btu can be used for Gutenberg (and probably other sources) direct downloads. With Calibre you can also email your own locally-managed (PC or MAC) eBooks to your Kindle, rather than having to cable it to transfer content. If you're mailing a .mobi formatted book, e.g., you wont get charged by Amazon for any type of conversion (because it;s not necessary; mobi is native).

I don't want to start dogging the 300 on format, justification etc until I have had a solid 10 days to play around with it and figure out the idiosyncrasies, tricks and nuances - as I obviously have the least experience with it.

I like having a built-in dictionary...or built-in Google, Wiki, or device search. The ability to search for a term or work across all books on my device is a powerful one that the 300 notably lacks.

For any iPhone users out there
One of the greatest things bout the Kindle/Amazon model is the ability to sync and deliver to multiple readers. E.g., Amazon knows where I left of reading my Kindle the night before, and when I open up the Kindle reader on my iPhone it presents me the option of picking up where I left off the night before on the other device. Very cool to me as I rarely navigate my day with Kindle in-hand, but always have the mini-reader on the iPhone.

That about sums it up for now; I have a lot more playing to do with the 300 before I make the final decision but wanted to share my initial observations before the desire to type them in left me. There are no doubt more salient and concise comparisons out there, but I've gotten so much valuable info from this forum I thought I'd give a little back. Good luck in your choice!