It seems we talk a lot about chef knives, gyutos, santokus, paring knives, and bread knives but rarely about slicers. Maybe they are falling out of favor as the Sunday roast goes out of favor, or maybe people have decided a sharp chef’s knife works adequately. Do you like a separate slicer? Do you like them short, medium, or long? A yanagiba (or yanagi) is a specialized sort of slicer, and 240mm is common, with 300mm not out of the ordinary. I have had a 10" French slicer for ages, but Texas being the beef slicing place it is, I got my son in law a 12". It is awfully cool. There are some even longer ones I admire on the Bernal Cutlery website. I think for slicing, longer truly is better. What does HO have to say about slicers?
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For work I like to have a Slicer or two (actually 3 
)
Two of them are 12" and used for Roasts (and slicing Pullmans) one has kullens/grantons and a narrower one that does not.
The other is more like 13", wider and tipped. I use it for cutting Escalopes/Paillards from large Pieces of raw Meat.
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“slicers” are not as wide, hence less drag - also thinner blades and usually more acute sharpening angles - makes for less drag&cleaner cuts . . .
I have a 10" and 8" - and they are my goto for slicing chicken/beef/pork to be used in stir fry . . . including slicing stuff to less “thickness” . . .
I’d say most of that can be done with a chef knife style - presuming it is kept sharp - but it’s probably not ‘as easy’ as using a slicer.
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I have a carbon steel 12" slicer I inherited from my FIL, who at one time owned a restaurant. I have only used it to slice English muffins.
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If the roast is large you also get those “saw marks” since the blade cant get through in a single long motion. Unsightly! 
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I have 12" Forschner with a granton blade. Doesn’t get a lot of use, but works great for slicing crusty bread, tomatoes, and producing thin slices of meat. I’d probably buy a shorter one if on the market. The 12 " seems awkward to me.
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Mrs. ricepad told me a few years ago that she was going to buy me a yanagiba for my birthday, but since she didn’t know what I’d want, she asked me to pick one out. I shopped around online and in local stores, and ultimately decided that I would not use one enough to justify such a spendy purchase (because I’m a cheapskate at heart), even if it was a gift. So the only slicer I have is a 10" Victorinox that I use for roasts and sashimi/neta. It works well enough for me. I probably break it out no more than 2-3x per year. In fact, the last couple of times I carved a roast, I used my chef’s to decent effect.
[I’m really just a 2-knife guy for the most part: chef’s and paring.]
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We got a Victorinox slicer (size unknown) as a wedding present, and it works great. My wife uses it mostly for steaks and such.
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I’m going to piggyback one that my friend Meekah brought up in another thread. This relatively cheap RADA kicks royal arse.
$12 I paid for it. Best tomato knife I own. Made in Iowa!
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. That is sad.
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slicers are just better at getting nice, clean, thin cuts. I cut barbecue on the line in many restaurants and even a super sharp chef’s knife can’t slice a jello-like brisket in one smooth cut the way a long slicer can. They probably aren’t essential but if you cure your own bacon and don’t have a deli slicer, you will learn to love them.
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I thought you were taLking about tomatoes. LOL
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It’s Berkel or nothing.
In my case, that would be nothing 
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This is the stuff of which dreams are made:
If only it weren’t so dear. I got all excited about their trade-in program. Apparently a ten inch Sabatier “elephant” carbon steel slicer is worth less than the cost to mail it. If anyone is interested, the photo is of a new old stock Au Nain from the 1950s. It has a 14.5" blade and costs way too much on Bernal Cutlery. I tried copying the link, but it keeps pulling up a different knife. Nice, but not “it.”
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I have a slicer that works particularly well with roasts and roast beef. It happens to be super long, and I choose it mainly because it was on sale more so then needing that length. Since I often cook smaller roasts (usually not feeding a family), the slicer is great to still get thin slices when you don’t have much to grip the roast itself.
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All of the slicing knives should have a smooth edge. I have three: a long (12"?) granton edge slicer from Victorinox; an old Sabatier slicer (bought more than 30 years ago) which is carbon steel but has a chromed side, and an ancient scimitar knife that my father bought (1950 or so) when he was a research chemist at Swift in Chicago - he had some contact with the meat cutters there. The scimitar is really the thing for breaking down uncooked meat and slicing it. The granton edge is good for slicing cooked meat - e.g. roasts, ham etc. I use the Sabitier in lieu of a Japanese knife when slicing raw fish for sashimi and the like.
While in general serrated edges are to be avoided - they just tear the meat - they might be useful for cutting up something like home made porchetta or the like where there is thick crunchy skin to get through.
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12” Granton edge. Sharpest knife i ever bought. Made in Germany, no brand, bought years ago in WS.
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Good for really thin onion slices too!
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