My shipping date is also Nov. 17th.
It was a tough choice between this and the BeBook, to be honest. The BeBook has all that open format loving, and sub-directory support, but the Sony has the aluminum body and seems to have a faster page turn.
It's a gift for my wife, though, and I think she'll appreciate the light (and, if she doesn't like it, I'll buy her the BeBook and steal the Sony for me!)