Don't feel odd for asking. Most of us had the same qualms when we first got them (no matter WHAT brand or model it was).

I believe you will find the reader itself is fairly sturdy. My old PRS-500 is still in use with some friends (with kids) and going strong since the start of the model line. I've dropped it myself several times (thankfully only a few feet and on carpet but still...the panic!) but if you were to read in here you would find examples of people dropping them on sidewalks without any ill effects (other than cosmetic case damage).

The fragile part, as you have already found out by seeing the prices, is the screen. Everything else is pretty much built to hold the screen in place and to keep pressure off of the screen. (In fact, on the old PRS500 to put the folding cover back on, they recommended that you put the reader face down on a hard surface, position the cover over the locking ring and push down hard. And they meant HARD! I thought for sure it would break the reader but it just creaked a little and then snapped in.)

I've carried both the Sony and Cybook in the mesh pocket of a full bag for quite a while with no adverse consequences. The thing to remember is that in most cases keeping pressure off of the screen will insure the readers survival. With me, they always travel in their covers (never used a hard case though I can see where they would be very useful), are always placed in bags with the screen against a large surface (in my case, the back of the laptop or a textbook. This reduces the chance of anything poking the screen with enough pressure to crack or break the glass), never get stored with small and hard loose objects (keys, flashdrives, cryogenically suspended mice) to prevent the chance of something slipping between the screen and something heavy.

A good example of sturdyness: About 8 months ago I had a surprise family visit. The warning was called in at the edge of town that they were coming which gave me roughly, oh, "no time" to clean up. This forced me into bachelor cleaning mode 3 (shoving stuff into the closet and into the wardrobe). After they left (3 days later) I started looking for my reader but could not find it anywhere. Finally I started going though the book pile I stashed in the closet. 10 hardbacks (BIG hardbacks, Tad Williams size) down the stack, I found the blasted thing. Not in it's case, just the reader. For a long weekend it had been under at least 25 pounds of books and wasn't bothered in the slightest. The book resting on top of it had deep indention's from the buttons and actually came out worse than the reader did.

So it basically boils down to "Do what you can to prevent point pressure to the screen" (keep the screen away from hammers and shrapnel) and "Don't let it experience sudden deceleration events" (try not to drop it out of your pocket while skydiving). The screen is glass but it's not particularly fragile glass and the standard cover that goes with it does a very good job in protecting the device.