Every once in a while, I get a chance to play with a product myself rather than sending it out to a reviewer. A few weeks ago, I got in an e-book reader called the Pandigital Novel, an Android-based e-reader with a lot of good qualities -- but which, in the end, doesn't really stand out amid all its competitors.
The Novel comes in two sizes: a 7-in. model (you can get either a black or white case) and a 9-in. model (black case only). I reviewed the 9-in. model which, at a weight of about 1.3 lbs. and dimensions of 5.75 x 9.5 x 0.5 in., is slightly longer and thinner than the iPad and only slightly less heavy. The device retails for $162 - $220.
Like most Android devices, the Pandigital comes with four buttons at the bottom of the screen; however, although it has the usual Back, Home and Menu buttons, the fourth (which on most Android smartphones is a Search button) is a Forward button.
I found the 480 x 600-pixel color TFT LCD display to be comfortable to use, especially at night when I could make use of the backlighting. However, the screen doesn't have the sharpness of tablets such as the Motorola Xoom (1280 x 800) or Apple's iPad 2 (1024 x 768) and isn't as easy on the eyes for long-term reading as Amazon's Kindle and other E-Ink displays.
The rest of the hardware is fairly standard, and includes 2GB of internal memory, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity and a rechargeable Li-ion battery. An advantage that the Novel has over some other e-readeris its expandability via an SD card slot.
The device comes with Barnes & Noble-branded e-reading software that lets you purchase books (or access free books) from the bookseller. The
e-reader application is fine, and does what it should do: It allows you to go from page to page either using finger swipes or the Back and Forward hard buttons below the display. You can add bookmarks and notes, change the font size, change to night reading (white type on a dark background) or play music while you read.
The Novel supports the two e-book formats that have become pretty much the popular standards: PDF and Epub (allowing readers to easily access books from Project Gutenberg and other sources outside of Barnes & Noble). It can also handle MPEG4 video and a variety of image and audio file types.
Unfortunately, the Novel is a bit behind as an Android-based device; it came with Android Éclair (version 2.1) and as of late April, had not been updated. At a time when most Android-based products come with version 2.2 or later, this is not a good idea.
It also does not come with the Android Market, which somewhat belies its usefulness as a tablet. (Of course, there are ways to get around the initial lack of the Android Market -- for example, it took me about a minute to install the Amazon Appstore). The Novel does ship with a number of applications besides the e-reader, including Google's standard browser, calculator, contacts and email apps; Facebook; and video and photo apps.
In short, the Pandigital Novel, in trying to be all things to all users, doesn't stand out in any of the ways it could. A slightly better display and/or a more recent version of Android wouldn't hurt.
The Novel comes in two sizes: a 7-in. model (you can get either a black or white case) and a 9-in. model (black case only). I reviewed the 9-in. model which, at a weight of about 1.3 lbs. and dimensions of 5.75 x 9.5 x 0.5 in., is slightly longer and thinner than the iPad and only slightly less heavy. The device retails for $162 - $220.
Like most Android devices, the Pandigital comes with four buttons at the bottom of the screen; however, although it has the usual Back, Home and Menu buttons, the fourth (which on most Android smartphones is a Search button) is a Forward button.
I found the 480 x 600-pixel color TFT LCD display to be comfortable to use, especially at night when I could make use of the backlighting. However, the screen doesn't have the sharpness of tablets such as the Motorola Xoom (1280 x 800) or Apple's iPad 2 (1024 x 768) and isn't as easy on the eyes for long-term reading as Amazon's Kindle and other E-Ink displays.
The rest of the hardware is fairly standard, and includes 2GB of internal memory, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity and a rechargeable Li-ion battery. An advantage that the Novel has over some other e-readeris its expandability via an SD card slot.
The device comes with Barnes & Noble-branded e-reading software that lets you purchase books (or access free books) from the bookseller. The
e-reader application is fine, and does what it should do: It allows you to go from page to page either using finger swipes or the Back and Forward hard buttons below the display. You can add bookmarks and notes, change the font size, change to night reading (white type on a dark background) or play music while you read.
The Novel supports the two e-book formats that have become pretty much the popular standards: PDF and Epub (allowing readers to easily access books from Project Gutenberg and other sources outside of Barnes & Noble). It can also handle MPEG4 video and a variety of image and audio file types.
Unfortunately, the Novel is a bit behind as an Android-based device; it came with Android Éclair (version 2.1) and as of late April, had not been updated. At a time when most Android-based products come with version 2.2 or later, this is not a good idea.
It also does not come with the Android Market, which somewhat belies its usefulness as a tablet. (Of course, there are ways to get around the initial lack of the Android Market -- for example, it took me about a minute to install the Amazon Appstore). The Novel does ship with a number of applications besides the e-reader, including Google's standard browser, calculator, contacts and email apps; Facebook; and video and photo apps.
In short, the Pandigital Novel, in trying to be all things to all users, doesn't stand out in any of the ways it could. A slightly better display and/or a more recent version of Android wouldn't hurt.
No comments :
Post a Comment