[eGeezer]

It is apparent that Sony is sticking to their plan to compete on quality rather than price, what with paying no attention whatsoever to the Kindle and nook price-drops.

The metal case they are proud of is certainly attractive, but there still needs to be some sort of protection for the screen, so that is added to the cost of the reader.

Certainly Pearl was a must for a product to realistically carry the "new and improved" label. And the pics of the units definitely appear sharper and clearer than the old touches. WiFi -- ho hum, but nice if you want it.

But is all that enuff to pull any significant market from the Kindle and nook price drops? Heck, even the Astak (Hanlon) at $169/6" and $149/5" are price-matched to the K3 and nook, what with a real cover being included in the package.

Of course, I'm personally not really in the market for a second reader since my PPro works fine for me. But there was a blurb about Kobo software doing something cross-platform that would include nook DRM compatibility for the Sony, and some mention of a possibility of nook compatibility on the Sony itself. The nook (or compatibility) is of interest to me since my wife has an iPad with nook-reader app and a reader with nookability would let us buy books from B&N that we both could read.

Yeah, got Kindle app, too, but I just can't get past that keyboard-clutter on the Kindle, or the lack of ADE (for library books). The nook's screen takes up as much space, but at least is more functional (to me) and the nook has ADE. The Sony with neither, but with nookability and ADE, would really catch my attention if it ever happened. Perhaps the next nook will have Pearl AND other attractive improvements and solve my dilemma.

Of course, I wouldn't HAVE to buy my books from B&N if I got another Astak (with the included crush-resistant cover at no extra cost). But the wife would HAVE to use the second reader to read any ADE purchased and borrowed books instead of her iPad.