Cons:
40 megabytes of e-books takes 3 hours to download to the memory card
The Bottom Line:
I got mine cheap to try, I learned, it works but is difficult to use.
Overall Rating:
Author's Review
As the other reviewers have said, it is a good start and the music files need to be converted to it's own MP3 forme. It sets up OK but you must delete all memory on the MMC before you load anything or it just doesn't recognize what you had on before. It takes WAY TOO LONG to set up a memory card for your books. If you want to add one more book to existing content it cannot find the stuff you didn't erase. The instructions are terrible in regards to almost every user audible book or music function.
On the other hand I was able to learn graffiti easily and quickly and the PDA functions work fine.
You cannot transfer any document you create (text notes, database, etc. for instance) to your computer. You can buy a Word clone, I think, but I am not sure it will transfer any personal database information. There is no on-line help except for that approved by Franklin so any problems are not noted or allowed on the web site. Copy / paste does not work in some functions. Because you cannot transfer text data, there is no ability to print your database lists.
As a book reader it works fine ----- once the time (hours)is taken to set it up and additionally time to learn how. I wasted many hours the first few days learning what it couldn't do.
The programs on it NEED LOTS OF IMPROVEMENT for user functionality. The screen is difficult to read but I need magnifying glasses anyway. Large text function works fine.
Using screen protector plastic, by the way, does help with screen readability. The screen is so big that you must use two sheets and carefully trim them to get full coverage.
I use NIMH batteries and get about 5 hours of Audible book read time. They last much longer if I do not use the reader. I also have a one hour quick charger. With extra rechargeables, I am comfortable with how long the batteries last.
I got it on a sale at FRY's. They now sell there for about $50 ($150 on the net). They do not advertise this in their ads but they did advertise mine on at this special price.