[HarryT]

A certain amount of ghosting is perfectly normal - it's a characteristic of the eInk screen, as the spec of the Reader on Sony's web site specifically says.

As you saying that it's so bad that it actually interferes with that the screen is displaying?

When my Reader is off I can see that there is something on the screen, but it's no more than a "shadow" - certainly not clear enough to read, or anything like that.

The reading area of the screen is "dull" - ie it's not a "shiny" finish. Have you tried reading in different light conditions - the appearance of the screen (at least to my eyes) changes quite dramatically with the lighting conditions. In strong daylight or good artificial light the screen is almost white, whereas in dim light it looks a dark grey with very poor contrast between screen and text. This is a device which really does need good light to use comfortably.