"Slick e-Reader" (whatever that is) coming to Big Lots

[twowheels]

Thanks mdotson... my daughter removed the extra layer and reports that the screen is better now.

[Mediumtech]

Hi I just bought the Slick ER-700 e-Reader. I am new to e-readers. How do I begin? I haven't yet opened the box. I thought it was a stand-alone device and I could get the free ebooks without connecting to my PC/laptop. I have seen the brochure on the product, but I wanted to see if someone here could help me. Please tell me the first few steps after opening the box.

[bookratt]

Originally Posted by Mediumtech

Hi I just bought the Slick ER-700 e-Reader. I am new to e-readers. How do I begin? I haven't yet opened the box. I thought it was a stand-alone device and I could get the free ebooks without connecting to my PC/laptop. I have seen the brochure on the product, but I wanted to see if someone here could help me. Please tell me the first few steps after opening the box.

FIRST thing - charge it up!

I don't have one, but from reading the other posts, you probably need to hook it up to a pc/laptop, like the Sony reader. From the sound of it, I don't think there is wi-fi book option downloads for this reader.

You can put books that are PDF or ePUB on it through Adobe Digital Editions. If you don't have "ADE", it is a free download.

http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/


http://www.slickusa.com/support/downloads/ER-700.pdf

Hope this helps a little bit?!?!?!

[weblamer]

I picked up this unit today, just to try it out. 6 hours later, I returned it. The thing was simply horrible. I swear the Chinese simply took some cheap digital-picture frame and cobbled it into an ebook.

Although it did not look TOO bad when rendered into epub, the whole thing was just too slow. No simple 'turn on and resume where you left off' you have to boot to a main screen and then load up what you were reading. The page turns were slow. way too slow for an LCD device. And to boot, on the unit I had, the 'next page' button did not work.

Then after a while i could no longer load my book. I would power on, get an inverted screen, then it would crash.

I am sure I got a defective unit..but still...I recommend to avoid.

[LeviTX]

I picked one of these up a few weeks ago on a whim - I love gadgets, and this one was something that seemed interesting at the time. It's based around the Chinese RockChip RK2729 "eBook" platform. If you've ever seen those really cheap "digital picture frames" you've probably seen something using similar technology. In this case, it's been ever so slightly upgraded to handle ePubs, but all of the other picture frame functionality is still there. It's essentially the absolute cheapest ARM9 CPU you can stick in an electronic device and still have it work (for varying definitions of work).

It's "build quality" if you care to dissect one, is somewhat lower than what you'd typically find most electronic toys. Also watch out for the paint that rubs off with enough handling--something you'd be doing a lot of if you're trying to read on it.

If you happen to find one still in the store, walk away slowly, drive home, and order a Kobo Wireless for $99. It may not play videos, MP3s, or do a slideshow, but you won't be pulling your hair out waiting an eternity for the next page of your favorite book to load up.

It works alright as a video player when you figure out what settings to use in Handbrake (or you're transcoding app of choice) and similarly to show a continuous loop of photos, or play you're unsorted library of mp3's. But in my opinion, it's a horrible joke of an e-Reader.

[stefanib123]

I've not seen any of the problems that weblamer and levi are talking about. I haven't had it long enough to have any paint coming off, but my Sony also had this happen. The next page button(the arrow on the dpad) is completely rubbed off. I wore it out, LOL!

As for having problems when you try to continue reading, I don't quite understand what you are saying?You turn it on, go to continue reading and you are where you left off. Easy Peasy.

Mine isn't slow at all. It's actually a lot faster than my Sony!

I don't know much about these things, but its actually a "Kobo" system that its built on, nothing to do with "rockchip". The installers are Kobo.

Everything works great on it, except I cannot get any video's to play. This looks like an issue everyone is having. I'm going to call CS tomorrow and see if they can help.

[stefanib123]

Originally Posted by mdotson

I presently own a Sony Reader, an Augen The Book, and now one of the Slick e-readers from Big Lots. I have had it up and running for two days now and these are my impressions.

1. On the music player. I love to read, and buy e-readers for for that purpose, but since it is part of the slick I tried the feature out. With earphones the unit is more than adequate as a music player. Hooked the slick up to my PC and when loaded dragged a music folder of MP3's over. The slick recognized the files immediately and played with no problems. Sound on earphones was quite good. Once music is loaded you can hit the Slick back button and return to reading a book if you like. Since I like classical music, with the volume set on low this was actually nice as an added function.

2. On SD cards. I have SD card with almost 1400 epubs on it already. I placed the SD card in the Slick and turned it on (yes, you have to hold the on button for about 2 to 3 seconds for it to activate, but it works every time). The Slick immediately recognized the card and loaded all my books in about 1 minute to the library bookself. All were in alphabetical order. I have had no problems opening any of them. With such a large number the you can access them easier by folder by going to settings - explorer.

3. On the video player functions and pictures. I have not as yet tried this and probably will take a pass as I have never watch videos on small screens. Seems like a waste of effort to me for an e-reader.

4. On page rendering and readability. Page turns are faster than the Sony Reader, but slightly slower than Augen The Book. The readability of the one supplied font (small, medium, and large) is quite simply the best I have seen to date. This is by far the most readable LCD screen I have come across. Since I prefer the LCD screes to e-ink Augen The Book was my personal favorite for readability, but this is far better.

5. On battery life, I suspect it will be about 8 hours from what I have seen so far, but time will tell.

6. On will I Keep it. The answer is an unqualified yes, and I will buy a few extras for Xmas presents. This makes units such as The Literati, and Pandigital look like sad second cousins.

7. On Kobo and Borders bookstore access. I have not tried it as yet, but this is one unit I most likely will attempt to use it on just to see how well it fares.

8. On the Instruction manual. Ok on Kobo and basic unit functions, but weak on details. They could stand to do some cleanup up and add more detail on things like clock settings, bookmarks, etc.

For a Unit under $100.00 this one has more going for it than many of the pricier model. I do not need WiFi or 3G in an e-reader. Just good basic functionality and the Slick passes that test with flying colors.

I agree with this exactly!

[TGS]

Originally Posted by Reviewer

Here's a review of the product

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI7A__yMUL4

Video now removed - ??

[WarpVis]

I picked a Slick ER-700 up about 2 or 3 weeks ago and I love it. At the time of purchase I was unaware that it did video, and was pleasently surprised that it had that function. The only complaint I have is that the instructions are sometimes a little sketchy, for example it indicates that it takes SD and MMC memory cards, it says up to 16GB. A straight SD does not have that capacity and it is a little hard to find MMCs. There was no indication that it could handle the SDHC. I also could not get the video to work in any of the formats that the instructions said that the reader could play. So Isent customer service a quick e-mail and...

Yes, SDHC card will work.

As for the videos, follow these instructions:

Download “Any-Video-Converter” from Cnet.com on the following link:

http://www.any-video-converter.com/d...d-avc-free.php

Once downloaded, open the program and follow these instructions:

1. Click “Add Video” button and find the video you want to convert
2. Change the profile to Flash Video (.flv)
3. Change the Video Options-Frame Size to: 640X480
4. Press the Convert button.
5. Now go to your “Documents” folder and open it.
6. Open the folder titled “Any Video Converter”
7. Open the FLV folder and find your video.
8. Copy and paste that video to your player.
9. Play your video.

Do not upgrade to newer version when asked. It will ask you every time you convert. Just hit “No”. This version works best.

[RickCain]

Originally Posted by Xanthe

Bottom buttons look similar to the new Aluratek color reader:

http://aluratek.com/libre-color-ebook-reader-white

I looked at the data sheet and it looks a LOT like the Slick reader. The only difference I can see is the page advance buttons are separate rather than grouped on the right as in the Slick.

I'm almost tempted to do a firmware upgrade of Aluratek's on the Slick and see what happens.

I'd hate to brick my reader, but the Slick firmware is astonishingly crude and I've yet to successfully sync with Borders site, even after going through all the signup stuff.

There is a firmware update 1.3.8 for the Slick ER700-2, but I can't tell the difference really. It added no new features I could discern.

[johndoak]

How did you hook the Slick reader to your PC? It has a female USB port.

[twowheels]

It uses a standard mini-usb cable.

That said, I ended up selling my daughter's Slick on Craigslist (at a substantial loss) and buying her a KSO. She was using it less and less, complaining about the LCD screen -- the Kindle, OTOH, gets a lot more use.

[Barbara1955]

Slight change of subject! My Local Big Lots sells SONY Pocket refurbs for $89.... I know some people that purchsed them months ago they work great!

[bert501]

Originally Posted by Katie1

Slight change of subject! My Local Big Lots sells SONY Pocket refurbs for $89.... I know some people that purchsed them months ago they work great!

The Charleston/Kanawha City lady acted like I wanted her to sell me sacrificial kittens when I asked her about this! LOL which Big Lots did you find them at, please?

[Barbara1955]

I live in Martinsburg WV They are located in a Locked case endcap near the Eletronics! They also have them in Locked case near the cash reg.
Strange reaction ... Did you ask a mgr?