I got this reader used as a cheaper alternative to the Kindle or the PRS-505. It does exactly what it is supposed to do. The screen is quite clear, the battery lasts quite a long time, and the expandable SD slot allows it to hold as many books as one could read in a decade.

Do note that it will not raed DRM-encryped PDFs, while the PRS-505 will.

I love my Reader! I carry it in my purse. It's light and thin and can hold many books.

**update** The 12-second page-turn problem appears to be isolated to a particular (badly-formatted?) ebook. With other ebooks , page-turns are around a second. definitely no problem for me. (whew!)
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I bought this as a discontinued product because I wanted an ebook reader but didn't want to pay that much. I don't want to pay for books either so I get public domain books from various sources and convert them with Calibre software (a must have!)

If you want to buy online books the Kindle might be a better thing (Kindle book prices seem to be the best) the newer prs-505 supports epub books which some libraries support (the 500 does not).

The unit looks nice and feels good in the hand. Mine came with a leather cover which is much nicer than the rather cheap-feeling original cover, though it's difficult to justify the $30 price.

The display is pretty nice in fairly good lighting. it's a bit low-contrast and becomes increasingly difficult to use in poor light. Even my book light, which I use on low-power mode with 'real' books, isn't really bright enough for the prs-500.

I was surprised at how long it takes to go from one page to the next -- about 12 seconds! i guess you can press the 'next page' button 3-4 lines from the bottom of the page -- it remains to be seen if I'll ever really get used to that. maybe its slowness explains its great battery life?

Overall, being able to carry my library around in this classy-looking device makes it worth it for me. I can overlook its shortcomings. Maybe I'll upgrade it some day but, for now, it'll do just fine.

I've had one of these for 18 months and it's my favourite thing in the world. Don't get me wrong - I love books and still have shelves full of them at home (actually boxes full at the moment as we're decorating) but the Reader is just a great, simple device that enables you to have a library that you can fit in your pocket. E-ink is as good as reading from a paper page (screen isn't backlit so no eyestrain such as some people may get from reading from a typical computer type screen) and the device only uses power from the battery when you turn a page - I use mine every day for at least a couple of hours at a time and I typically charge the battery once a month (takes a couple of hours or so). I have a fair number of Star Wars ebooks on mine (including all of the Legacy of the Force series which I purchased a couple of weeks ago from Sony's US ebook store for about £3 each apart from the last one which cost me £7), as well as a whole bunch of Discworld books, some Stephen Fry, all the Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child, Kim Stanley Robinsons Mars Series, and a bunch of Mario Puzo books to name just a few. Took it on holiday recently - last time I went away from some time in the sun I took half a dozen decent sized paperbacks as did my wife - this time I just took my Reader - though I had to lend it to my wife as she finished her books and had nothing else to read (probably get her one for christmas now).

I am looking forward to purchasing an eReader for myself and started thinking about my daughter who absolutely loves to read. Her love for books is nothing like I've ever seen.
First, let me say I use the word "read" losely as she's almost 2 yrs old. But she is a mature reader - she no longer wants to be read books that read like "pup, cup" "pup in cup", "cup on pup", she wants stories like "The Cat In The Hat" and "And To Think I saw It on Mulberry Street". I am always buying books. We spend weekends in the childrens section of Borders and Barnes & Nobles.
At school the teacher says she'll go to the book section of the room, take the books to the overstuffed chair in the corner and start reading (flipping through the books, pointing at the pictures and identifying the items to herself). At home she is always wanting to sit in my lap and have me read her book after book (sometimes up to 15 childrens books a night). It's a fight at at times to make her understand she can't stay up all night and read.
With that I started thinking about how to continue encouraging her love for reading but not have to carry around pounds of books, especially when we travel (flying is the worse). I thought the Sony eReader would be perfect (USB sync, light weight, small, ink like pages, etc) but I see that they don't have a category for childrens books only juevenile reading.

Needless to say I was disappointed. I think this is an untapped market. I have decided to wait for one of the top 5 eReaders to provide childrens books. I love techi things and my daughter has all the techi toys/gadgets/games I can buy her. Apple has PC games for children, maybe they'll be the first to gear an eReader towards children. I believe that in this age of technology (that I love so much) we (adults and children both) are moving away from reading (despite the Harry Potter books). I want to encourage her to read more books and I think an eReader would be a great way to do that - in the car, on a train, a plane and at the park on a picninc blanket.
I hope to see something geared towards children soon. I don't believe I am the only parent out there that would purchase this for their child. Note to eReader manufacturers: So many kids watch DVD's on their portable DVD players...... their parents bought all those DVD's and DVD players.

A parent of the RIF era trying to teach her daughter new age RIF