[Xanthe]

It all depends on how you treat the device, same as any other bit of electronics.

I treat mine as if it is a piece of thick glass. If I'm carrying it around somewhere, I put it in a case that will hold it. I don't throw it down when I'm done reading it, I place it carefully so that it won't get knocked off the surface accidentally. I don't let the kidlets play with it unless they are seated on a soft surface in case they drop it. I don't carry it around in my pockets, and if it's in my pocketbook, I make sure that I don't drop my pocketbook onto the ground or pile stuff up on top of it. If I take it on the beach, it goes into a case and the case goes into a zip-lock plastic bag and the whole thing goes into a beach bag surrounded by a towel, and it is returned to the same when I'm finished reading.

It's just all basic commonsense stuff. My experience with ereaders has been that they all work well right from the start unless you happen to buy one that is a lemon. Sonys, Kindles and Nooks are popular for a reason, and not all of it has to do with brand names. If they weren't holding up, people wouldn't still be buying them.

The Sony PRS-350 that I have has an aluminum case; that seems to be strong. The Sony T1 has a plastic case and that's doing fine too. Both have touch screens and have held up well to my poking at them.