I was asked to expand a bit further on this
post
My wife has executed 1 500 and 1 505 and is working on the slow torture of her 2nd 505.
Wife demanded edit:This tale of horror and woe has been three years in the making and is not something that just occurred recently.
The first 500 was done in with a guillotine like fashion when it dropped unnoticed from the pile of stuff she was getting out of the car into the door well. What damage may or may not have occurred from the drop itself, was rendered moot, when she slammed the car door close --- CRUNCH.
Wife edit:No, No, No, - I gently placed the 500 into the car door well while getting stuff out.
Her second Reader the 505 was thrown from a decent height onto the looming depths of concrete below, after slipping out of her purse.
Her third Reader was tossed from the plank (well a coffee table is close enough). Currently the shell is being held on with medical tape (my wife is very clear that this is medical not duct tape), but is otherwise functional.
Wife edit:Well actually it's been dropped two times now, both times it hit hard enough to eject the SD card, but it's still working, damnit...
On the more serious side, throughout all of this she remains very impressed with the build quality of the Sony Readers and especially the 505. For instance while the screen is cracked and the case very definitely bent from her first one hitting the concrete, I was still able to transfer files to and from the Reader afterwards.
We will be replacing her current 505 with mine when the time comes, and her greatest fear at this point is finding a suitable replacement for that one.