I had a nice long detailed message written but my login timed out and I lost it all... so here goes a quick recap and then off to work...
Sony will RMA this unit, but due to supply constraints and also due to their inability to provide an RMA when they don't have one in stock—I still have it. I unboxed it and took this photo:
http://homepage.mac.com/deal/reader_crack.jpg
The outside plastic is uncracked and invisible in this image. The crack is well beneath the surface.
Notice that how far in the corner it is.
Try this experiment. Get a thin rectangular box (like a puzzle box). The only way you could stress something within the box would be to twist the hole box. That would stress the center (not to mention cause damage to the outside box). Now imagine trying to damage just the corner of something inside that puzzle box. There's no way you could do it without damaging the box. This is common sense.
I wish I could take a better photo of this, as the internal crack is incredibly thin. I can't imagine plastic being this thin and glass would have to be tempered (making it stronger but brittle).
I'm reassured that this thing can take normal use by individuals here but I still don't trust taking this thing out of my house—definitely won't be using it out of the house has I had intended.
Now... Copy, then preview, then send
