[Ler0y Jenkins]

I absolutely love it.

I was planning on a 700, mostly for the built-in lights. I went to the Sony Store in Arlington, VA and was sorely disappointed by the screen quality of the 700. Prior to seeing an e-book in person I always thought that the idea was stupid. I mean, why pay $300 for something that only displays text when you can get a good PDA for much less that will do a lot more.

Well, my impression changed when I saw the 505 in person for the first time at Border's in Philadelphia. As soon as I saw the e-ink screen I realized why people pay the money for these things.

I did some research and saw the 700 was coming out, which had a built-in light. When I read p-books, I always use my lightwedge so an e-book without a built-in light didn't really appeal to me. While waiting on the 700 to come out, I came across the lightwedge cover for the 505. I was interested but didn't do too much looking because I was going with the 700.

After my trip to the Sony Store, I decided to go with the 505 with a lightwedge cover instead of the 700. The screen quality that initially attracted me to the e-book world was just not there on the 700 - it looked like an old monochromatic lcd display, IMO.

Anyway, the 505 came a couple of days before Thanksgiving and I've been using it pretty much daily every since. Here are my impressions:

1. The reader is just good looking and the metal casing really makes it feel good too.

2. The e-ink screen is unbelievable. I really end up forgetting that I'm ready an e-book and not a p-book.

3. The speed is perfectly acceptable. I was kind of concerned because I heard a lot of complaints that the 505 was almost painfully slow. I have not noticed this. There is a slight delay when loading or opening a new book but that's about it. Page turns take a second or two but nothing that distracts from the reading. I guess if I were constantly switching between books or periodicals I might get annoyed with the load times, but I read one book at a time so it's not a problem. Also, the numbered buttons on the side really help because you almost never have to scroll through anything (which can be painful).

4. The lightwedge cover is great. Like I said above, I used a lightwedge when I read p-books but I really didn't like leaving it in the book when it was closed because it didn't fit right (I know, I'm anal). Also, it got scratched easily when flipping pages. The nice thing about the lightwedge cover is that it all fits in a nice neat package when I'm not reading so it doesn't get scratched. Also, it's nice to be able to change pages without having to flip the lightwedge too. I use the light about 80% of the time but when I'm not using it I either flip it out of the way (in less than perfect lighting situations) or leave it over the screen and read through it (in good lighting situations). At $70, it's kind of pricey but I think it's worth it.

5. The battery life is unbelievable. I've used it so much since I've had it and have never had to recharged it. It came with a decent charge from the factory and I have plugged it in to upload a couple of books but probably less than 2 hours total and it's still showing a full battery. I think this is key for any e-reader because it makes it more book-like (i.e., you don't have to constantly recharge your p-books). Overall, I am amazed at the battery life.

Overall, I'm a fan of e-books. I thought I would miss p-books when I made the switch but the more I use the e-book system, the more I like it. The only thing I miss about p-books is going to B&N or Borders, browsing around, and buying a new book. I still go and browse but I download instead. Still, there's something about walking out with a new book that you loose in the e-book world. Other than that though, I like everything else. I like not having to hold the book open; I like reading with one hand or no hands rather than two; I like not having a bunch of already-read books sitting around in boxes cluttering up my house; I like finding books online for free; etc.

Well, that's my .02.