Amazon has already replaced my K2 twice. I'm on the third one and each has had lousy Whispernet connectivity. One had the fading screen issue as well. The third (and current) K2 is about on par with my first one, so I decided to just keep it and forget about Whispernet. It is much quicker to download books to my PC and copy them over to my K2. I only turn on Whispernet occasionally to have it record my current bookmarks and library info.

Whispernet or no Whispernet, the Sony is the better made reader, but the K2 has more functionality. The only reason I have both is because of the limited number of NEW titles available to each reader, with Amazon by far in the lead. I don't care about public domain books that much, though I have a few on both readers.