Hanlin V3 or BeBook?

Nikko73 · 02-17-2009, 01:28 AM

Hello all,

I wonder if anyone can help me. I am looking at buying my first ebook reader and have narrowed the choice down to a Hanlin V3. However I can get a BeBook shipped for about $100.00 less (I live in Australia). My question is what are the differences between the Hanlin V3 and BeBook? I assume they are identical in hardware but what about firmware? And are they interchangeable? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Nick

AlfonsVH · 02-17-2009, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikko73

Hello all,

I wonder if anyone can help me. I am looking at buying my first ebook reader and have narrowed the choice down to a Hanlin V3. However I can get a BeBook shipped for about $100.00 less (I live in Australia). My question is what are the differences between the Hanlin V3 and BeBook? I assume they are identical in hardware but what about firmware? And are they interchangeable? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Nick

Hardware is identical, firmwares are very similar and interchangeable.

Nikko73 · 02-18-2009, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlfonsVH

Hardware is identical, firmwares are very similar and interchangeable.

Thank you AlfonsVH ... out of interest which firmware do you use? Also are replacement batteries easy / cheap to obtain?

Gudy · 02-18-2009, 07:47 AM

They use a common Nokia mobile phone battery, and they include a screwdriver so the user can install the battery him- or herself. so I imagine that replacing the battery should be both easy and relatively inexpensive, but I've never done it myself since my unit came with the battery already installed.

The firmwares from the different OEMs are interchangeable, except for one point: switching between different OEM firmware versions apparently changes your Mobipocket device ID, which is bad if some of your books are DRMd Mobipocket.

AlfonsVH · 02-18-2009, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikko73

Thank you AlfonsVH ... out of interest which firmware do you use? Also are replacement batteries easy / cheap to obtain?

I currently use the BeBook firmware v 2.02NL.090120. I think that version has been pulled, though, since, as Gudy pointed out, it changed the PID. However, most stores allow you to register several PIDs or to change existing PIDs, which eliminates the "problem".

The type of Nokia phone battery you should be looking for is BL-4C or BL-5C.

slayda · 02-18-2009, 09:57 AM

It seems that different versions of the Jinke (Hanlin's mfg.) firmware also change the PID.

A couple of added thoughts;
(1) You can DL "LogoMaker" from Jinke. This allows you to chang the opening & closing images so you can personalize your reader. (Note: you will have to do this again each time you update the firmware. Also note: the images are 16 bit BMPs and if you use a photo, you'll want to dither the image for best results on the Hanlin.
(2) You may want to check out the OpenInkPot firmware. It is open source and only handles ebooks without DRM but if that is not a problem for you, it is better, IMO, than any of the OEM firmwares. Oh, and LogoMaker doesn't work with this frimware.

Nikko73 · 02-20-2009, 06:05 AM

Thank you for your suggestions! I will look at all of them whenI get the ereader (towards the end of March).

One other thing: I have many ebooks in various formats. Which format do you think the Hanlin handles best? I would be prepared to convert all formats into that if necessary.

iterati · 02-20-2009, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikko73

Thank you for your suggestions! I will look at all of them whenI get the ereader (towards the end of March).

One other thing: I have many ebooks in various formats. Which format do you think the Hanlin handles best? I would be prepared to convert all formats into that if necessary.

.fb2 is the one I prefer. If you have Windows look for BookDesigner, it's an application that allows you to convert to that format. What I like really is the CoolReader application, it's the viewer for fb2 files. See: http://openinkpot.org/wiki/How%20can...20own%20fonts?
For <body> I use font-size: 110%; and then from CoolReader interface I select "small", the second option. The only catch for CoolReader is that, being made by Russian, it only supports fonts that have Cyrillic glyphs, I had to edit "Frutiger Linotype" - the font that I exclusively use for reading - in order to use it.

red_dragon · 02-20-2009, 07:10 AM

Hi iterati,

How do you "edit" a font to support Cyrillic glyphs? My favourite font is "Charter" and I would like to use it...

iterati · 02-20-2009, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by red_dragon

Hi iterati,

How do you "edit" a font to support Cyrillic glyphs? My favourite font is "Charter" and I would like to use it...

It's not simple, it requires a font editor application first, then the quick method is to use glyphs from another font (like Verdana) and insert them into your preferred font. Many of the known fonts (Verdana, Arial etc) support Cyrilic, maybe "Charter" does too. Anyway, that is for later consideration, first need the reader

iterati · 02-20-2009, 07:25 AM

All right, I see you have the reader. So, you only need an editor like the free FontForge and a lot of patience.

uberjeep · 10-03-2010, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikko73

Hello all,

I wonder if anyone can help me. I am looking at buying my first ebook reader and have narrowed the choice down to a Hanlin V3. However I can get a BeBook shipped for about $100.00 less (I live in Australia).

Nick, where are you getting it shipped from mate?

Kirk.

02-17-2009, 01:28 AM	#1
Nikko73 Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 62 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Gold Coast, Australia Device: Kobo Aura One (after Hanlin, Sony and other Kobo devices)	Hanlin V3 or BeBook? Hello all, I wonder if anyone can help me. I am looking at buying my first ebook reader and have narrowed the choice down to a Hanlin V3. However I can get a BeBook shipped for about $100.00 less (I live in Australia). My question is what are the differences between the Hanlin V3 and BeBook? I assume they are identical in hardware but what about firmware? And are they interchangeable? Any advice would be much appreciated. Cheers, Nick

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02-18-2009, 07:47 AM	#4
Gudy Wizard Posts: 1,154 Karma: 3252017 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Germany Device: Pocketbook Touch Lux (623)	They use a common Nokia mobile phone battery, and they include a screwdriver so the user can install the battery him- or herself. so I imagine that replacing the battery should be both easy and relatively inexpensive, but I've never done it myself since my unit came with the battery already installed. The firmwares from the different OEMs are interchangeable, except for one point: switching between different OEM firmware versions apparently changes your Mobipocket device ID, which is bad if some of your books are DRMd Mobipocket.

02-18-2009, 09:57 AM	#6
slayda Retired & reading more! Posts: 2,764 Karma: 1884247 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: North Alabama, USA Device: Kindle 1, iPad Air 2, iPhone 6S+, Kobo Aura One	It seems that different versions of the Jinke (Hanlin's mfg.) firmware also change the PID. A couple of added thoughts; (1) You can DL "LogoMaker" from Jinke. This allows you to chang the opening & closing images so you can personalize your reader. (Note: you will have to do this again each time you update the firmware. Also note: the images are 16 bit BMPs and if you use a photo, you'll want to dither the image for best results on the Hanlin. (2) You may want to check out the OpenInkPot firmware. It is open source and only handles ebooks without DRM but if that is not a problem for you, it is better, IMO, than any of the OEM firmwares. Oh, and LogoMaker doesn't work with this frimware.

02-20-2009, 06:05 AM	#7
Nikko73 Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 62 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Gold Coast, Australia Device: Kobo Aura One (after Hanlin, Sony and other Kobo devices)	Thank you for your suggestions! I will look at all of them whenI get the ereader (towards the end of March). One other thing: I have many ebooks in various formats. Which format do you think the Hanlin handles best? I would be prepared to convert all formats into that if necessary.

02-20-2009, 07:10 AM	#9
red_dragon Daywalker Posts: 29 Karma: 52 Join Date: Jul 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Hi iterati, How do you "edit" a font to support Cyrillic glyphs? My favourite font is "Charter" and I would like to use it...

02-20-2009, 07:25 AM	#11
iterati Zealot Posts: 100 Karma: 170 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Greece Device: Hanlin V3, RCA REB1100, iPaq 214	All right, I see you have the reader. So, you only need an editor like the free FontForge and a lot of patience.