[bbusybookworm]

Originally Posted by readdiction

I JUST ORDERED A CYBOOK GEN 3 OFF WHSMITH! (GBP 176)

*rapidly breathing in and out*

Welcome to the eBook reader club .

As a owner of a PRS 500 and now a Cybook, I'm sure you made the right decision in choosing the Gen 3.

Good Mobi support, and the wide availability of books from stores in other countries (which are usually quiet a bit cheaper then UK stores) was one of them main reasons I went with the Gen3.

I'll suggest checking out US based stores like Fictionwise, BooksonBoard, etc, and avoiding buying anything direst from Mobipocket as they are the Wholesaler and are usually quiet a bit more expensive as they don't want to undercut their resellers (Not to mention the VAT they'll charge you if your in the EU.)

I just need a few clarifications though -
1) Does the difference of 4 gray scales make much of a difference?? I saw a youtube video comparing the prs-500 and prs-505 and the latter had better contrast. But, the prs-500 didn't have a Vizplex screen apparently? So, honestly speaking, is there a difference?!

You're not going to notice any real difference in the greyscale levels when reading eBooks. When it does become noticeable (But not really that much) is when you are viewing photos on the device, but even then the Gen3 is more then usable, and I've read a ton of web comics (bot b&w and Colour without any conversion) on it without difficulty.

2) I've read a few contradictory reviews about the battery life. Can it last 8000 page turns (which is more than the Sony) or does it in fact last less?

The page turns tend to be a bit misleading, but actual reading time for both is pretty similar.
The difference is really in the standby time, with the sony providing over a couple of weeks of standby, where as the Gen 3 gives about 3-4 days. But if you switch off the Gen 3 after reading, it'll last for weeks, the only drawback being the longer boot up times (and the more books you have on it the longer it takes)

3) I have a lot of ebooks, and when I say a lot - I really mean over a 1000 ebooks. I know I won't be able to put all on it, and I wouldn't want to anyway, but just how many can I put in my Cybook without it being utterly slow? Plus, how does this effect browsing for books? There is no file system for the Cybook as of yet, right? whereas Sony has 'Collections' which is some sort of file/folder organization for books.

This is one are where the Gen3 suffers when trying to manage Greater then 100+ books, as there is no folder organisation (though you can use folders to have it display files according to folder name, though the display is still flat)

Having said that, Bookeen's mentioned that Folder navigation is on their to do list so we may get it in a future update.

While Sony's collections are nice, it does require you to manage them from a PC, which can be a bit of a pain at times. Though I do like how Sony allows you to jump to books starting with a specific letter, which can save a little time.

Also, while its nice to have every book in your library in your device, its really easy to load and remove books in the gen 3 as it just shows up as a USB drive on a computer, and you can just drag and drop files. and having large number of files on either of the Readers is going to slow them down.

Please please reassure me on my choice!!! (I saw another youtube video, and the person did NOT sound like he was happy with his purchase!)

While the Gen 3 has gotten a somewhat bad rap due to problems in the initial firmware and other problems , the current firmware is pretty mature, ans if you treat the reader with care you should not have any problems.

Having said that, if you find that you are not happy with it (Which I'm doubtful), you can always return it to WH Smith, and I believe you can do that at any of their stores, which can be convenient.