I also find myself in the same boat, not sure which device to buy. I'm not terribly excited about any of the Readers but I have pretty much decided on the prs-505, with a used Kindle 1 a close second. If I find a cheap one I might just grab it.
My main goal is to read free books and to convert my collection of .LIT books with Calibre. That's it. Since that's 95% of my goal I'd prefer to ignore the other features and spend as little as possible
The Kindle is a close 2nd only because I could easily see myself buying a book now and then from Amazon. The temptation to impulse buy is scaring me a little. The fact that it's a little goofy looking is a minor annoyance with me. I imagine I'll make some enemies with that statement but oh well.
Surfing over to Sony, buying a book with my credit card then syncing my device is so "2007." I cannot believe how whiny that sounds.
Other random thoughts/reasons/justifications...
I'm a professional network geek working at a large telecom. I have a huge library of technical ebooks/pdf's that I'd prefer to just leave on my computer. They're indexed and searchable where they are.
The PRS-700 and Kindle2 are too expensive for my needs.
Newspapers and magazines... I'm happy reading those on my laptop. Or even on paper while they're still printing.
A prs-505 with light wedge case is ideal for night reading. Almost all of my reading is done at night, so this is a big deal for me.
Mp3's - everything seems to play music these days. I have 2gb of music on my phone I never even listen to. I'll stick with the ipod for music. All I want to do is read on the thing.
I'd be interested to hear what you end up getting. Now I'm looking for a prs-505 or Kindle1. If anybody has one to unload just PM me
Greg in Seattle