eSlick is another new player in the e-book industry. In the past few weeks, we have heard how so many companies are thinking about getting involved in this market. But eSlick is coming to stores soon, which is why I decided to preview it. eSlick is designed by Foxit and is already available for pre-order online. Dubbed as “this generation’s way of reading textbooks, favorite novels, magazines,” eSlick is a super thin reader (0.4″). It only weights 6.4 ounces which is even lighter than Kindle 2.0. So if you are looking for a super portable gadget, eSlick fits the bill.
I wasn’t too impressed with the internal memory. 128 MB is not merely enough. But the good news is that unlike Kindle 2.0, you can use 4 GB SD cards with this device. The battery seems to be decent as it allows you to flip 8,000 pages before you need a recharge.
Here is what I love about eSlick. It fully supports PDF. Foxit has understood that beating Kindle in its own game can be difficult. That is why it has put all its chips on PDF. And the fact that eSlick uses Linux as its OS is a pleasant surprise. It’s certainly refreshing to see an e-book reader manufacturer fully embrace open source technologies. But I am afraid that alone won’t help eSlick too much. The 4-level gray scale screen is only as good as the first Kindle, and there is no color screen on this device. There is no wireless connection either, which is disappointing.
If this device was going for $100-$200, it might have a chance to take some customers away from Amazon. But priced at $299, eSlick is going to find it difficult to gain any traction in this market.
What’s your take: is eSlick e-book reader worth a try? What do you like about it?
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0 comments
#1Joshua KApril 10, 2009, 9:22 am
I don’t know why it would be surprising that it runs Linux. The Kindle, Sony Reader, Hanlin, Iliad, Cybook all run some sort of Linux.
Actually, I can’t think of an eReader out there now that doesn’t.
#2P. RadApril 10, 2009, 12:38 pm
I guess it’s bad wording from me. I was just surprised that one of the selling points was the use of Linux. I don’t know how many folks buy e-book readers for their OS. These guys are going all in with their whole open source approach. I am just not sure people will pay $300 for this device regardless of how it’s marketed.
#3BrianApril 11, 2009, 5:29 pm
I just can’t see this device going anywhere as an e-reader. Since it’s open source and runs Linux, it might be good as a hackable PDA-type device, but even that’s a little uncertain, because of the lack of connectivity (which pretty much any portable needs, nowadays).
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