MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Hanvon E960plus

clangkamp · 03-07-2018, 07:29 PM

After a long time with the ipad (I sold my Pocketbook in 2013 when I finished my PhD - big mistake) I decided to get back to reading academic stuff and buy an e-reader. As I absolutely dislike Amazon - Kindle was off the table.

When looking around (and not willing to spend 600 USD for a used Sony) I encountered the Chinese Hanvon E960. As I live in HK, i.e. just across Shenzhen, I used a daytrip to go there and have a look. I ended up in a typical office store on the 10th floor in some building, a little run down, where a Chinese guy with no English capabilities was quite surprised in me coming in.

We quickly established what I wanted (have a look at the E960, have him switch it on and switch settings to English before I buy it), and then I counted him the money and left.

It is perfectly functional, and it was only 2300 RMB, so just shy of 300 USD. The screen is what you would expect, the software a rather old Android version. What struck me after the first 2 days of testing is the remarkable capacity to concentrate on the text. The ipad constantly wants to thrill you and tempts you to quit the text and go to facebook, twitter, tinder, news, email, ... and in hindsight I am astonished how I ever did get any reading done. The ereader does just ... showing books.

The screen is good, the English translation has a few spelling mistakes ('vacabulary', ...) but all in all it looks solidly built. So I can recommend it. The only other recommendation is order it directly from Tao Bao, potentially via a Chinese friend. The Taobao agents (something with Y) have significant markup, i saw one copy for 500 US rather than 300 ...

03-07-2018, 07:29 PM	#1
clangkamp Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 426 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: none	Hanvon E960plus - recommend After a long time with the ipad (I sold my Pocketbook in 2013 when I finished my PhD - big mistake) I decided to get back to reading academic stuff and buy an e-reader. As I absolutely dislike Amazon - Kindle was off the table. When looking around (and not willing to spend 600 USD for a used Sony) I encountered the Chinese Hanvon E960. As I live in HK, i.e. just across Shenzhen, I used a daytrip to go there and have a look. I ended up in a typical office store on the 10th floor in some building, a little run down, where a Chinese guy with no English capabilities was quite surprised in me coming in. We quickly established what I wanted (have a look at the E960, have him switch it on and switch settings to English before I buy it), and then I counted him the money and left. It is perfectly functional, and it was only 2300 RMB, so just shy of 300 USD. The screen is what you would expect, the software a rather old Android version. What struck me after the first 2 days of testing is the remarkable capacity to concentrate on the text. The ipad constantly wants to thrill you and tempts you to quit the text and go to facebook, twitter, tinder, news, email, ... and in hindsight I am astonished how I ever did get any reading done. The ereader does just ... showing books. The screen is good, the English translation has a few spelling mistakes ('vacabulary', ...) but all in all it looks solidly built. So I can recommend it. The only other recommendation is order it directly from Tao Bao, potentially via a Chinese friend. The Taobao agents (something with Y) have significant markup, i saw one copy for 500 US rather than 300 ...