[rumplestiltskin]

Well, I've had my PRS-650 since late December and have read a number of ePubs on it. Here are my impressions:

Firstly, I've only been reading ePubs and not any other formats so my comments will apply to reading ePubs only.

I find the contrast between the text and the background to be inadequate unless I am in a brightly lit room or outside in open shade or, of course, broad daylight (where the contrast is phenomenal). When I read in bed I have to angle the shade so that I get direct lighting (directly from the light bulb) onto the screen. This has been a pain in the arse (and spine) because of the way I have to angle the shade and the 650. In indirect lighting (my great room has clerestory windows and light reflects off the angled ceiling), the lighting just isn't enough (whereas it's plenty for reading a paper book).

As for the user interface of reading (which is just a button push or a swipe on the screen), either method works just fine. On rare occasions the next page button doesn't seem to have an effect but I may not be pressing it far enough; an second push always turns the page so I have to assume it's just me. It's not annoying.

Text style and size: Well, this is a very individual issue; some people like some fonts while hating others. I may be wrong but it looks like the font choice may be in the ePub file (or maybe there isn't a choice at all?) but the choice of size is more than adequate. I'm using the "medium" size setting and it's quite readable.

However, this is where the problem comes up: Once I have the size set to medium, it seems like I'm only seeing about 1/3 of a page of text (comparing it to a paperback). Setting the size to small displays more text but, unfortunately, it's not readable ("comfortably readable" may be a better term).

I just finished reading Atlas Shrugged and it seemed like I had to turn the page three times before the page numbers at the bottom of the screen actually changed.

Admittedly, this is not a huge issue and, if it were the only thing, I might be able to live with it...but that inadequate contrast issue has sort of soured me.

I do have an iPad and reading on that device is fine as long as you adjust the brightness to suit the surroundings but I would like a smaller, lighter device, as well.

So I put the 650 up on eBay and, when it sells, I'll probably go for the Nook Color as the resolution is 1200x600 (unlike the other, cheaper 7" readers which are only 800x600). I played with one down at BestBuy and was impressed.

I'm sure future e-ink readers will solve the contrast issue.