[bookfanmd]

In Sony I have the 300, 505 and 600. My hands down favorite of these is the 505. It's clear and easy to read from, the controls are intuitive to use and I love the ease of using the SD card to transfer out different book sets. I use Calibre to organize my books into collections. It has frozen a few times and I've had to push the reset button but I've only had to do a hard reset once and I think that was my fault. I didn't realize the Sony software was running and I disconnected the reader from the USB when it said "Do not Disconnect". I haven't used the 300 and 600 very much but neither has frozen yet.

Next favorite is the 300. It's small and light enough to use one-handed - if it had an SD card slot it would be equal to the 505 in my view. I don't necessarily need the card to store more books but I like to be able to swap out without hooking the reader up to the PC. It's supposed to store about 350 books so if you get it loaded up it will keep you busy for a good while.

Third is the 600 - it has some wonderful features but comparing it side by side to the 300 and 505 it's just not as clear. If I didn't have anything to compare it to I would probably think it was nearly perfect. The touch screen is very nice to use and it's helpful to have the dictionary. Also, it has 5 font sizes instead of 3.

The 505's are getting hard to find although they are still available on eBay and Amazon.com here in the US. I don't know what the situation is in the UK.

You may want to check out that Pocketbook 360. I've been following that forum and everyone who's bought one seems to love it. It has a micro SD card slot, supports multiple formats and is 5 inches like the 300. It's a bit more expensive than the 300 but less than the 600 (and 505?). A 5 inch reader is a nice size; I carry mine in my purse and you can't have a real small purse with the 6 inch. You could also put the 5 inch in a coat pocket. If you are just going to read at home it doesn't matter but I carry mine everywhere. It's amazing how much time is spent waiting at places and I don't mind it if I have a book handy.

Really, whichever you choose you will have a great device that will make you wonder why you waited so long to get it. I got my 505 in May and haven't read a pbook since. I'm pretty nearsighted and it was getting hard to read a lot of things because the font was too small. I have multifocal contacts but even so I had to hold the book away to focus correctly and then the print was too small. I usually have the font size on small or med for LRF or epub and then if my eyes are tired and I'm having trouble I can increase it. PDF's are usually tiny in small but OK in med or large.

Best of luck making your decision, whichever you get I would recommend you get a wall charger. For the Sony readers you can use a PSP charger which is much less expensive than Sony's "official" charger.