[BobLenx]

I have been using a PRS-505 for over ten months now - have read over 80 public domain books with another 600 plus stored on my laptop - and love it - a fantastic device. I'm not about to buy the 700 model at this point in time, unless Sony offered me about a $100-$150 credit for the 505. The 505 meets all my reading needs at the moment. When my 505 experiences problems, the 700 would be a great choice to replace it.

However, to weigh in on the discussion/controversy over the new 700 model - here are my comments.

Despite what others have said, the PRS-700 is a major advance for Sony IMHO. It shows that they are committed to the eReader community and intend to continue coming out with new and improved devices. That is important for me.

The progression to a touch-screen eInk device is significant. That is what people want these days in their MP3 players, cell phones and even computers. This is their first attempt at a touch screen device - be patient, more features will be forthcoming in new units from them. Touch screen is the future of all screen-based electronic devices.

The concept of having the keyboard appear when you require it via the touch screen is, in my opinion, far superior to the Kindle's somewhat klutzy physical keyboard which put me off from buying it - not to offend any Kindle users. I don't particulalry need to use a keyboard with my eReader, but it would be a nice touch to have.

With the note taking, highlighting and text search features, it would appear that some form of dictionary support is around the corner - quite possibily in the 700 model before it actually hits the market or soon thereafter with an update. That I would like, although I rarely have to look words up in the dictionary. And since the reader dictionaries are fairly basic due to size, I suspect that many words I might need to look up would not be found.

And I have never made a note in any book I have ever read in my life and see no reason to now - and that includes college textbooks. However, I would like to have the text search capability so that I could refer back to a section of a long novel - for instance to see when a character was first introduced in the novel to refresh my memory of them - or in backtracking clues in a mystery novel. Now highlighting is something I probably would do. And I suppose I would find a form of notes useful, but in something like little notepads rather than, or in addition to, within a given book. How about having a notepad associated with a book but separate from it easily called up via the Utility botton?

The front light is a real nice idea as well. I have a clip on light but it is clumsy to use.

When I read a physical book, I turn the pages from the top right corner of the right page. With the 505 I have to use buttons on the lower left or on the right side. I adjusted to that and I am sure that even at the advanced age of 62, I could adapt to the new buttons at the lower left and use the touch screen to flip pages - which is actually so close to what we do with a physcial book that for the life of me I cannot understand the complaints I have read here. Just don't read while eating greasy potato chips or popcorn, and wash your hands.

From the photos I have seen the 700 appears to have a "ribbed" left edge which would probably make it more comfortable to hold. Plus according to the news so far, page turns are quite a bit faster on the 700 over the 500 and 505 - again a good improvement.

I suspect that Sony is working very hard to get more ebooks in their on-line store. That will come. I believe one of the people who attended the intro show said the Sony people commented that their goal was 100,000 books fairly soon.

It will be interesting to see the changes they are going to be making to their store with version 2.5 of the computer software. So far everything I read is free via public domain sites anyway - I borrow new releases from my public library rather than buying them - but I can understand those who want to have more books available to download from Sony. And if there was some new book I really wanted to read and was willing to pay for, I too would be upset if it wasn't available for my device from Sony.

But I honestly don't find it at all awkward to connect the 505 to my laptop and manage my books that way. I usually only keep 10 to 15 books on my reader at a time so that it runs faster. And even in this regard Sony has increased the memory to 450 MB so we can store about 320 books rather than only 150 or so. Good grief, I couldn't possibly want that many to wade through on my eReader. I would still rather have them on my laptop and go get them when I want them. It only takes me about 5 minutes to hook up and get new books to read once or twice a month. But again it shows Sony is thinking when they designed this new unit.

As for WiFi, that would be nice - and I am sure it will be in their next eReader. Trust me, Sony knows they will eventually lose buyers to the Kindle if they don't add WiFi. In fact, if I am in the market for a new reader when the PRS-7## model comes out next year or the year thereafter and it does not include WiFi capability, Sony will lose me as a customer. I want Wikipadeia access.

Not to mention five print sizes rather than the three we now have - and zoom in/out.

As for price, cheaper would be nice, but it isn't - that's the way it goes. If I were a first time buyer for an eReader in November, it would be a no-brainer. The 700 would win out over the 505 in a heartbeat despite the $399 pricetag.

I only have one complaint with Sony - and I have it with my 505 as well as the 700. Make the AC adapter part of the package you sell, not a separate purchase. They go together and should be sold as a unit. Having to leave my laptop on and connected to power and wait for up to four hours to recharge the eReader is moronic. I have the adapter and can read while the unit recharges. This is a no-brainer Sony - get with the program.

Overall my vote is that Sony did a great job in putting together the PRS-700. Kudos. Now I await some of you lambasting me for my personal opinions.