[seajewel]

I just received my PRS-950 today. It was, unfortunately, not quite in the "almost new" condition as advertised, but the problems are all cosmetic-a few dings in the silver on the right side of the 950, a couple very light scratches on the back, and the bottom of the back has a mark that appears to have been made by a yellow highlighter. But the front is pristine, and the rest is covered up by the cover included by the seller. It's still a decent price for a Sony PRS-950 that is in every important way an amazing device (the screen is excellent).

I have an almost irrational love for this device right now. It's *beautiful* and sleek, and not heavy at all, as I'd feared.. somehow, even though it's a long and narrow device, it's well-balanced. I love it so much that I want to do something crazy, like buy an Oberon cover (for Nook 1 or K2 or something) just to do it justice!

and I finally appreciate the Pearl screen. It has a somewhat lighter background than my 505 and darker text. It is gorgeous and I don't know, I love it!

I went to Best Buy yesterday and checked out all the e-readers in person. Up til this point I'd only seen a K3 in person other than my 505 (and the refurbished 350 I still have). I have to say.. none of the current gen readers really wow-ed me. Nook STR is too chunky. T1 is just not beautiful the way the older metal ones are. They didn't have a Kobo Touch. The K4NT I liked the best out of everything out there, except for the lack of touch (which is a deal-breaker.. it's so much simpler using touch to select books & select words). I liked the buttons, and the font rendering is *superb* (but I can load similar fonts on my Sony reader in bold using PRS+ and achieve the same effect), but most of all, it's just that the software or whatever seems to showcase books better. The K4 had slight margins (which I like) and very neat looking books. The t1 for some reason had a book demo'ed on it where the top margin was non-existent to the point that the bezel was almost getting in the way.. it didn't look as nice.

But regardless, my 950 trumps all. and I am so sad that Sony isn't going to be making more 7 inch e-ink readers, or ones made of such nice casing. I know some people like the T1 and it has nice features, for sure better than the 950 (wireless library book lending is amazing), but I have to say I prefer the looks of the x50 series way more.

*I did, however, envy the Nook's ability to control line spacing and margins. I like small but square margins around the book, not a lot, but enough to make it look neat, professional, and book-like (to me). I know some don't like any margin at all. I wish Sony had focused more on giving us options like that, or that PRS+ could.