I had a death in the family before the holidays. My old Sony Reader kicked the bucket. I think it had something to do with me loading up a badly converted book from another ebook format. My poor device went into a virtual coma, not responding to even the power button. With the crazy battery life on that thing, it was a couple weeks before it took its last, long sleep.

I was sad to see it go but an estimated 50 books read at $8 savings a pop left me with a net gain.

I played with the two newer models in the Sony Store just before X-Mas. The PRS-505 is extremely light, stylish and FAST. Books loaded in a fraction of the time compared to the 500. At $299 CAD new, it's a very worthy device, way better than it's direct predecessor.

The PRS-700 on the other hand was a bit of a disappointment. I was initially very excited about the though of a touchscreen interface and an LED backlight, but the screen clarity seemed to take a big hit. The type on the 505 was crisp and contrast-y, while the 700 was blurry and washed out. I left the store puzzled by the choices.

Little did I realize, I had another ebook reader in my pocket all along.