MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Pandigital Novel 7 inch

grumbles · 09-22-2011, 08:02 PM

The Novel as the Yugo of readers--that just about sums it up! (or maybe the Trabant.)

I bought on of these devices a week ago and it's been interesting. A few things:

Calibre will put books on the device, not a problem but if you want to organize thing on bookshelves it appears that you will have to do it manually. I will have to investigate this further but it might be an alternative to collections. After going into the device I have to reset it before it will respond to screen input.

Font rendering is poor. It needs edge smoothing, otherwise I quite like the screen, both size and resolution (I can always use better resolution) but I do like the the 7" size and the 4:3 proportion.

The touch screen is erratic, especially if you use your finger. Tucked under the bottom right hand corner is a cheap chintzy stylus that just screams "break me!" I use an orange stick instead. Still erratic but much better. I have a 'passport case' that I picked up at a local Dollarama that holds the reader and the stick quite nicely.

The reader software that comes with it isn't bad except that the first screen always wants to connect with Kobo. I wish I could get it to start directly in 'my library'. I am never, ever going to buy a book through a reader.

I looked at SlateDroid but came away confused. I would like to be able to add a better reader program (support for mobi would be nice) but I could find nothing that would install.

One big plus for the Novel. It uses standard SD cards. I have a box of SD cards ranging from 64Mb to 32Gb. My cameras and other readers and players all use SD cards. I see no need to go out and start buying micro-sd cards. At least for quite a while.

It is heavy (heavier), with silicone sleeve it weighs a third more that my 650 with cover.

Battery life is poor. Less than ten hours on a charge and this is just reading.

09-22-2011, 08:02 PM	#6
grumbles Addict Posts: 238 Karma: 1500000 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Pandigital Novel (Black), T-2 and 3, Nexus 7	The Novel as the Yugo of readers--that just about sums it up! (or maybe the Trabant.) I bought on of these devices a week ago and it's been interesting. A few things: Calibre will put books on the device, not a problem but if you want to organize thing on bookshelves it appears that you will have to do it manually. I will have to investigate this further but it might be an alternative to collections. After going into the device I have to reset it before it will respond to screen input. Font rendering is poor. It needs edge smoothing, otherwise I quite like the screen, both size and resolution (I can always use better resolution) but I do like the the 7" size and the 4:3 proportion. The touch screen is erratic, especially if you use your finger. Tucked under the bottom right hand corner is a cheap chintzy stylus that just screams "break me!" I use an orange stick instead. Still erratic but much better. I have a 'passport case' that I picked up at a local Dollarama that holds the reader and the stick quite nicely. The reader software that comes with it isn't bad except that the first screen always wants to connect with Kobo. I wish I could get it to start directly in 'my library'. I am *never, ever* going to buy a book through a reader. I looked at SlateDroid but came away confused. I would like to be able to add a better reader program (support for mobi would be nice) but I could find nothing that would install. One big plus for the Novel. It uses standard SD cards. I have a box of SD cards ranging from 64Mb to 32Gb. My cameras and other readers and players all use SD cards. I see no need to go out and start buying micro-sd cards. At least for quite a while. It is heavy (heavier), with silicone sleeve it weighs a third more that my 650 with cover. Battery life is poor. Less than ten hours on a charge and this is just reading. Last edited by grumbles; 09-22-2011 at 08:07 PM.