Here's the story:
I got a reader off Ebay in January, popped it in the Sony-supplied sleeve, killed the e-ink matrix within 3 days without dropping it, so I had to send to the Laredo factory. Being outside the US, I can't initiate a replacement or even get a work order number, so I sent in with a note detailing everything the online technician told me to.
Fast forward, Sony said they'd replace my set and I got them to send it to my freight forwarder and I got it yesterday.
Opened the box, got a surprise. They replaced my black reader with a silver one. Which looks much more delicious, so I'm not complaining.
I've sort of forgotten how the glare on the reader feels like and how heavy the reader is compared to my 5inch Cybook Opus. And of course there's the issue with the library book formats. But I'm so glad to get a replacement.
Now the delicious silver set is sitting comfortably in an M-edge cover.