Hi All,

Im looking to buy a dedicated ebook reader device, and the Hanlins v3 & v9 seem to be the perfect fit at the moment. I know the v9 isnt out yet, but does anyone have any eperience of buying their hanlin from europe recently? (Im struggling to find a european retailer to buy from).

Im a bit hesitant ordering direct from them as their site says you send them the money first via bank telegragraphic transfer then email them to tell them! Also the banks here charge around £30 GBP (about 60 US dollars) for TT charges. I'e emailed them a few weeks ago but still not received any reply.

Also can anyone share their experiences on the v3, viewing pdf's? Do A4 pdfs have to be converted? (and how do they generally look after being converted?)

Another thing Im looking for is to view cbr's (zipped jpg/tiff/png). Does anyone have any experience they can share viewing comics/manga/scanlations?

Im looking to buy a dedicated ebook reader device, and the Hanlins v3 & v9 seem to be the perfect fit at the moment. I know the v9 isnt out yet, but does anyone have any eperience of buying their hanlin from europe recently? (Im struggling to find a european retailer to buy from).

There is someone who sells v3 in Poland, but I'm not sure he ships to UK. And I believe there is a retailer in Ukraine - check carefully this forum - he is mentioned here.


Im a bit hesitant ordering direct from them as their site says you send them the money first via bank telegragraphic transfer then email them to tell them! Also the banks here charge around £30 GBP (about 60 US dollars) for TT charges. I'e emailed them a few weeks ago but still not received any reply.


And dont forget custom - it costs me 60EUR extra :(


Also can anyone share their experiences on the v3, viewing pdf's? Do A4 pdfs have to be converted? (and how do they generally look after being converted?)

V3 supports pdf directly there is no need to convert it. But... A4 doesnt look good - in fact you will need magnifing glass to see anything. If you use zooming it becames readable, but is inconvenient. If you have to read a lot of A4 papers I think ILiad will be better choice.
Of course you can wait for V9, but knowing Jinkie - it will take them at least a year...

Another thing Im looking for is to view cbr's (zipped jpg/tiff/png). Does anyone have any experience they can share viewing comics/manga/scanlations?
V3 doesnt support cbr yet, but you can repack cbr to rar which is supported

Hi,

you can find Hanlin V3 as Apollo V3 in this Spanish e-shop.


http://www.apoloxxi.com/epages/apoloxxi_com.sf/en_GB/?ViewObjectID=1670567


They ship in EU and it seems quite a good deal ~300 Euros with a leather case, a 512 SD card and charger included!

They also have a 12 months European warranty.

EUR 315 including shipping and the leather case does look like a reasonable deal, especially when you figure in all the customs and shipping charges you'd have to pay when ordering directly from China. And while I'd rather deal with someone who speaks my language (tribble?!) it's good to know that there is finally someone within the EU who seems to be willing and able to sell a V3.

Hi Gudy,

Well, I think that polyfimos can fully confirm that in Apollo XXI we speak english fine

That's true, their customer support is really great, they 've answered almost immediately in my many questions about Cybook and V3.

The V3 they are actually offering is the Ukrainian Lbook version which seems very promising regarding its software.

That's true, their customer support is really great, they 've answered almost immediately in my many questions about Cybook and V3.

The V3 they are actually offering is the Ukrainian Lbook version which seems very promising regarding its software.

Is there an overview somewhere of the differences between lBook and the stock Jinke firmware? I've read somewhere (probably around here), that new features frequently turn up in the lBook version first and then are integrated into the Jinke firmware. Is this true?

Considering that button layout and firmware capabilities seem to be the most important usability differences in what I have come to think of as the 6" class of e-book readers (Sony PRS, Cybook Gen3, Hanlin V3, Kindle, STAReBOOK), this is an important factor for my buying decision.

@danara: that's good to know, because my Spanish is next to non-existent. :-)

That's true, their customer support is really great, they 've answered almost immediately in my many questions about Cybook and V3.

The V3 they are actually offering is the Ukrainian Lbook version which seems very promising regarding its software.


Wow,, finally a site that will sell to uk!! And they do the illiad, cybook and sony too! (I found the sony 505 a bit expensive on this site, but the others seem to be very resonably priced)

Thanks polyfimos for the link to apollo. Has anyone actually bought from them and can share their experiences?

V3 doesnt support cbr yet, but you can repack cbr to rar which is supported

thanks for the info jeczmien, I completely forgot about the customs too! btw, cbr are just renamed rars and cbz renamed zips, so i wouldnt even have to convert them on v3 (just rename them)

Anyone know if I would still have to pay customs/duty if I am buying from Spain? (to the uk)

Anyone know if I would still have to pay customs/duty if I am buying from Spain? (to the uk)

Since both Spain and the UK are part of the EU, and the EU is a customs union, you shouldn't have to pay customs duty.

(ETA: This, the huge transcontinental shipping costs, and the warranty laws, are why I'm so anxious to see more places in the EU sell the Hanlin V3.)

Anyone know if I would still have to pay customs/duty if I am buying from Spain? (to the uk)

You'll pay the Spanish rate of VAT (16%), and that's it. No additional duties.

Hi,

you can find Hanlin V3 as Apollo V3 in this Spanish e-shop.


http://www.apoloxxi.com/epages/apoloxxi_com.sf/en_GB/?ViewObjectID=1670567


They ship in EU and it seems quite a good deal ~300 Euros with a leather case, a 512 SD card and charger included!

They also have a 12 months European warranty.

does anyone know how to tell the difference between the old v3 (non vizplex) and the new vizplex v3? I also read that the ukraine version v3 is 'better' than the chinese v3, and have their own firmware. Is this true? And how is it better? (and where do you download the ukraine firmware/find latest ukraine firmware from, assuming its in english?)

does anyone know how to tell the difference between the old v3 (non vizplex) and the new vizplex v3?
More contrasty screen. I'll daresay that there won't be many non-Vizplex V3s left...

I also read that the ukraine version v3 is 'better' than the chinese v3, and have their own firmware. Is this true? And how is it better? (and where do you download the ukraine firmware/find latest ukraine firmware from, assuming its in english?)

I wouldn't say the lBook is "better" - just "different". Keep in mind that lBook simply rebrands the Hanlin hardware. Also they have a programmer(?) who modified the firmware slightly to put in extra support for .fb2 and Cyrillic script, which I understand was backported to the Hanlin software.

As far as I know, the hardware's the same (apart from the recently-announced lBook V3 version 2, which comes out in March - will post in a separate post)

About the V3 and A4 PDFs I have to tell you that it is not the best experience. The V3 has 3 levels of zoom:

Fit to page
Cut the blank margins
half page landscape

If you send me a private email I can do a test with an A4 you like and post the pics here.

Anyway, I suspect that if you want to view CBRs or A4 PDFs your best alternative is the iLiad.

And about Vizplex, I do not think that anything is shipped now without Vizplex unless Jinke is using very old stock but unfortunately you will have to see 2 devices next to each other to spot the difference.

thanks for all the replies, but I was wondering if anyone knew how to spot the old v3. I've seen posts in other forums where where no one seemed to be able to conclusively prove which version they had other than a small yellow sticker on the box the v3 is packed in, labelled 'vizplex'! Obviously if I bought one, I would like to know that it really is the vizplex model.

do not forget to check www.walkbook.net
They are a Turkish company with office in Paris.

They sell rebranded version of the Hanlin reader
They sell through paypal so there is no need to pay exorbitant inter-bank international transfer fee.

DISCLAIMER:
I have absolutely no reference how reliable business they are.
I do not know anybody who purchased anything from that site.
I just accidentaly found the site on the net.

ApoloXXI also accepts Paypal.

I ordered my V3 a couple of days ago, I'll tell everybody how it went as soon as I have it :)
Apolo XXI is out of stock right now, but they have already sent me a couple of e-mails explaining about the customs and when new units are expected to arrive (first days of next week).

HarryT, the Spanish VAT is included in the price you can see in the site (that's what "IVA incluido" means).

Unluckily, I live in Spain, but in the Canary Islands... and we have custom fees when buying from mainland Spain :(

ApoloXXI also accepts Paypal.

I ordered my V3 a couple of days ago, I'll tell everybody how it went as soon as I have it :)
Apolo XXI is out of stock right now, but they have already sent me a couple of e-mails explaining about the customs and when new units are expected to arrive (first days of next week).

HarryT, the Spanish VAT is included in the price you can see in the site (that's what "IVA incluido" means).

Unluckily, I live in Spain, but in the Canary Islands... and we have custom fees when buying from mainland Spain :(

hi reycat, its been about a week, any update on your apollo buying experience?

Hello, redbaron :)

Apollo received their units yesterday, and I got mine shipped the same day. It was a pleasant surprise, since I already knew that they wouldn't receive the V3 until yesterday or today and I supposed it would be sent next monday.

With the stock they received they will attend all the orders until three days ago... And will have to wait for three weeks until they get the next shipment.

It looks really Wii-like to me, seems the V3 is being really successful here in Spain.

Now I have to relay on the Spanish Postal Service (Correos). Unluckily, I live in the Canary Islands, not in mainland Spain, what means that the shipment will take longer and I may have to pay custom fees (it depends on some Correos employee mood).

I'll post here as soon as my V3 arrives.

Anyway, if someone wants to buy a reader before the next 'crop' of V3 arrives, I've seen the Cybook Gen3, just 326 €.

"And will have to wait for three weeks until they get the next shipment. "

Probably due to new year holiday that will last till half feb in China what I was told by Jinke.