
Giving it one star is generous. Don't waste your money on this. I've tried this with
MP3, PDF, and EPUB.
Pro: hardware and screen seem good and readable. The form factor is easy to hold.
The many cons: One word - crappy software. Really old, well-used outhouse crappy. I'd be
embarrassed to admit that I had anything to do with the software, even if it was just
designing the splash screen.
The many faces of crappy software include (but are not limited to):
- MP3s play at chipmunk speed. Then they hang the device. I had wondered why they made
reset button so accessible. Now I know. Listen to a chipmunk chorus, reset the device,
listen to another chipmunk chorus, reset the device, repeat.
- PDF files are not always displayable. Device reports they are not of the correct format.
- EPUB. 336 pg book downloads. Sometimes it shows up with the correct name, most of the
time it does not. It NEVER shows up the correct number of pages (120, 176, or something
else). I could not read the end of the book because the reader stops.
- Bookmarks. Great idea, but no workie. You set them, device forgets all about them. EVERY
TIME. Guess that feature was just for marketing. (And yes, when you place the bookmark
it displays a cute little icon to fool you into thinking that something *real* happened.
Remember the page number ....)
- Buttons. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. (Software issue, I'm reasonably sure,
since the tactile feedback indicates a button press).
- Library and sideways viewing. Let's say you have five items, all visible in portrait mode,
but only three items visible in landscape mode. You can select only the top three items
in landscape mode. Most of the time. About one in ten times you see the remaining items
in portrait mode.
- Library and book/MP3 names. Most of the time they work. Sometimes they don't.
I don't typically review on Amazon or anywhere (this is my second review). But
I think I will have difficulty convincing [...] that the unit really is defective. Since I'll
probably lose the investment, I'd like to make sure that Viewsonic doesn't trap anymore
unsuspecting victims with this POS. And yes, I attempted to contact VS support (for a possible
firmware update), but there has been no response. And they really should not let the marketing
group do the verification signoff.Get more detail about
ViewSonic's 6-Inch Ebook Reader with 512MB Built-In Memory, External SD Card Option, MP3 Support (VEB612).