Well, it was being sold for US$20, so I went ahead and bought it. I'm looking for something to use on an upcoming trip, and I figure at that price even if something happens to it I won't lose sleep over it.
In case anyone else runs across this and wants to know more about them, I'll put what I've found so far.
First impressions:
TL;DR I spent $20 and got a device that I can easily and without a worry take with me while traveling. I'm not complaining, and I won't complain even if it breaks. I wouldn't pay more than $20, given that you can get a new B&N reader for $60 at WalMart and used ones for $40 on eBay.
Details:
Speed in book browsing heavily depends on number of books. SSLLLOOOWW in some places when I first got it (had previous owner's collection on it, about 500 books). I deleted a bunch of the crappy ones, now it's quicker. Speed in non-book parts of the reader doesn't seem to vary with book count, I suspect it's just lousy coding in how they handle book covers. It's uniformly slower than the Nook or Kindle Glo and occasionally not very responsive.
It's got a nice-looking calendar.
Screen is definitely not as nice as B&N reader or a friend's basic Kindle. Contrast is lower.
Feels a little unbalanced when held with one hand.
Survives dropping very well (Yup, I dropped it already. There's a reason I never buy latest and greatest electronics
). Cover came lose when it hit the floor, but I was able to snap it all back together again easily, screen didn't have any problems.
Hardware buttons are nice, tend to get a better response than the touch screen.
It's based on Linux. There is a thread to hack it and install various nifty things on SlateDroid.com. I probably won't be doing any of that because if I feel the need for something better I can spend the $40 to get a used Nook that I can root. Thread is:
http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/4250...paper-ereader/