[Q] Sero 7 Pro stuck Smart screen topic

I've talked to Hisense support and they suggested a factory reset, which I did several times to no avail. I've never rooted any phone. This tablet will not boot past the SMART screen. I can get into the factory reset/RECOVERY screen. I have the tablet and an 8gb microSD card at my disposal to try to get this thing going again. I'd like to take it back to out-of-the-box/factory OS/ROM, but I really am not sure where to start. I've read through some of the posts, but most of them mention going into the Settings and turning on Development/Debugging. Mine will not boot, so I can't go there (although it may have been turned on before it booted). I'm not at all opposed to putting some other "standard" ROM on it. It belongs to my wife and she uses it for the typical stuff - browsing, email, Pinterest, FB, Instagram, text messaging, etc.

Where do I start?

Thanks in advance to any replies/help.