Sony PRS-500 Portable Reader System

Updated
Sony service promptly replaced my reader, kudos to them.

So far, it works great! This is a perfect technology for electronic books. I used to use a PDA for e-books, which stunk because the batteries wore out quickly and it couldn't be read in sunlight. This reader has none of those flaws, the screen looks just like a regular paperback book. And the charge lasts for a few weeks (depends on how much use it gets, of course).

It is easily readable in any kind of light, and a nice lightweight form factor.

But, here's the bad news:
- PDF viewing is a waste of time. I understand this is not Sony's fault since most PDFs are not created to be 'reflowed' for a smaller screen. But I do blame Sony for implying it has any use in their marketing material.
- Word documents work OK, except I have tried quite a few that could not be viewed since the text wouldn't get big enough.
- speaking of which, there isn't enough control over text size. Just S,M,L. And a few Word docs I imported mysteriously didn't offer the large option.
- The Connect store is OK to use your $50 gift certificate in, but selection is very limited. If Sony wants to make this th iPod of ebooks, it will have to address this quickly.
- The newsfeed feature is useless. One is limited to the dozen or so preconfigured in the Connect store, the user cannot add their own. And even the preconfigured ones are a waste of time since one has to hit the page button a dozen times just to get to the text (it looks like a crude import of the web pages, except links cannot be followed). And then hit page button a dozen more times to get to the next text block.
- If you want/need to switch pages with your right hand, you are out of luck. All the page advance controls are on the left hand side.

Summary: rating is still mediocre. I use it a lot, I have a lot of .doc format stuff I read on it. But for this product to be a success, Sony needs to improve the software to allow users to import more document types (why not license with Microsoft for .LIT, etc? Or at least offer it as an optional upgrade) and actually do a better job with them. The Connect store needs a lot of improvement in selection and usability. And why can't I import my own choice of RSS feeds in a readable format?

Summary of summary: wait for the price to go way down, it isn't worth it at this price.

Updated
Well, my second reader also broke. I dont know what happened exactly, but either it got flexed or bumped while in a pocket of my laptop bag, and the screen broke AGAIN! Sony informs me it will cost $270 to repair, even though still under warranty. Nice.

My updated opinion: don't waste your money on this device, it is far too expensive, too fragile, and doesn't do half of what it claims (RSS and PDF reading are both useless).