Elonex 511EB - £129 at Waterstones

[dgulliver]

Hello,

I purchased this eBook today, updated the firmware, this is my first Reader, the chap at waterstones was very helpful he even hooked up the reader to a power source so I could have a play about. I agree with edent and his review is excellent.

My only issue right now is I'm having problems reading a book (epub) that has embedded images bit of a bummer as its my first Reader. Basically when you turn the page that has an embedded image the reader just freezes the only button that works is the on/off switch. The work around I see is you have to "Jump" the page so I hope this book I bought (Stephen Kings Under the Dome) does not have too many images :/

The reason why Waterstones are selling this at a cheap price is because they are Borders old stock and they apparently went under around christmas. So Waterstones whipped them up at a cheap price. Not sure if Waterstones will re-stock these Elonex but time will tell.

Apart from the freezing, I quite like this device and has some cool features.

Sorry for opening this old thread.

Cheers
Darren

[edent]

Just to let you know the new firmware (V0.47) is available. Download from http://www.elonex.com/support/produc...511_eBook.shtm

Fixes a bunch of bugs and adds some new features. Note-taking is coming next release. Apparently.
Full details at http://shkspr.mobi/blog/index.php/20...rmware-update/

[Graham]

Originally Posted by edent

Just to let you know the new firmware (V0.47) is available. Download from http://www.elonex.com/support/produc...511_eBook.shtm

Fixes a bunch of bugs and adds some new features. Note-taking is coming next release. Apparently.
Full details at http://shkspr.mobi/blog/index.php/20...rmware-update/

If you've installed it, please could you let us know if it fixes any bugs other than the ones mentioned at the page? It mentions:

• processing large eBooks
• word-wrapping
• minor bugs with symbols

One bug that I would love to see fixed is that the Global refresh setting seems to make no difference. Either way it seems to do a partial refresh. Also the number key navigation method doesn't work on every screen. Sometimes you have to use the arrow keys even though the options are numbered.

At the moment I'm unsure whether to update the firmware or wait, just in case there are unexpected side effects. Someone mentioned the font sizes getting smaller, but I can't find that link now (it's mentioned in the other link you posted, but not whether it's so small it's an issue, or whether all the three fonts sizes have been reduced).

All my books are ePub and if not UTF-8 already could be updated in Calibre, so I don't have the issues with word-wrapping or symbols, which affect the TXT and basic HTML files, and my largest book loads fine.

Graham

[Geppetto]

Does this firmware update work with Hanvon devices, too?

[Graham]

I finished work and decided to update the firmware anyway, on the (possibly erroneus) assumption that I could reverse it by resetting the device to the factory default.

The Global refresh bug I mentioned above hasn't been fixed.

On further testing I think the number keys not working was misleading. Sometimes you have to hold them down for a while rather than just click them.

What I should have done before applying the firmware upgrade was go into an ePub book without a hard-coded font size and check the number of lines on a screen for each of the three font size settings... but I was an eager fool and forgot to do this.

However, my impression is that the three standard font sizes are now all slightly larger. This is a double-edged sword. For me, the smallest is now more readable, whereas before I found it a bit tiny, but the medium one is now a little too big.

The system font, used for the settings screens and the various dialog boxes that pop up, is definitely smaller, and I find it harder to read.

The new features are welcome and mentioned in the links above, but there's an interesting change to the Font Settings dialog. This used to have Clear, Smooth, Arial and Latin. This has now changed to Clear, Smooth, Arial and Black, but if I select Black I get a message: "No font file found under SD root directoryfont5.ttf"

This looks worth digging into, as the device is therefore using TrueType fonts, so we may be able to replace those with ones we prefer.

I've also noticed that if I press Menu when in the main menu the device goes to a blank screen reading "Screen saver status". Did it do that before?

Graham

[Geppetto]

Originally Posted by Geppetto

Does this firmware update work with Hanvon devices, too?

It works!

Oh, yes!

[StanByk]

Hi,
how does this device compare with the PRS-300. I am about to buy a second ereader for my partner and would be grateful to hear your opinions. I am looking for something cheap and cheerful. Myself I own a prs-505 which I am very happy with.
Thank you
Robert

[Graham]

I don't own a PRS-300 but played with one quite a lot in various shops, and I'm a previous owner of a Bookeen Cybook Gen3. The reasons I chose the Elonex over the Sony were:

Price. Even with the W H Smiths offer on the Sony, the Elonex came in £20 cheaper at Waterstone's, including the 4 Gb SD card. (My branch also kindly threw in the £10 eBook voucher. <grin>) You also get £3.89 back as points on your Waterstone's card.

Weight. The 5" PRS-300 is nearly 50g heavier than my 6" Bookeen. The Elonex is only 10g heavier. When holding the book for a long time this does make a difference to me.

Build. Although the Sony clearly has the better build quality, the Elonex does feel sturdy enough (it has a metal rim), and I actually prefer the feel of plastic to the cold metal.

Better ePub support. My understanding is that the Sony still can't fully justify text, and has other issues with ePub rendering, but please correct me if I'm wrong. (There may be a firmware update I'm unaware of.) Certainly in the shop I could only seem to get ragged right text.

Font size control. There are only three font sizes on both devices, but you switch between them with a single button press on the Elonex. This is great.

Same screen. My understanding is that both machines use the same screen. Certainly the quality looked identical when I compared them.

Note taking. Coming to the Elonex soon in a firmware update. While the lack of a keyboard makes the Sony look more stylish, the keyboard isn't intrusive on the Elonex and comes in useful for searching and (soon) taking notes. And if you want to, you can record voice memos.

Charging. Research suggests that the Elonex is easier to charge, and I can use one of my existing USB chargers, while the Sony either requires purchase of a more powerful Sony charger or a much longer link to an 'awake' PC.

Other features. Not a reason for my buying the device, but the audio facilities and text to speech on the Elonex are certainly fun to have. It actually has stereo speakers on the back. They don't give great depth to music, but they're more than adequate for podcasts or audiobooks. The volume is good too.

Graham

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by StanByk

Hi,
how does this device compare with the PRS-300. I am about to buy a second ereader for my partner and would be grateful to hear your opinions. I am looking for something cheap and cheerful. Myself I own a prs-505 which I am very happy with.

I not sure that Waterstones are selling this anymore. I couldn't find it on their web site.

[Geppetto]

I don't agree with Graham. StanByk, consider that Elonex/Hanvon still can't see inside-text links (both pdf and epub), so if you want to read noted papers it would be a real pain with Elonex.
Plus, pdf are virtually unreadable on it (but with Sony you can reflow, at least).
You know what Sony can do: go for it!

[Graham]

Originally Posted by Geppetto

I don't agree with Graham. StanByk, consider that Elonex/Hanvon still can't see inside-text links (both pdf and epub), so if you want to read noted papers it would be a real pain with Elonex.
Plus, pdf are virtually unreadable on it (but with Sony you can reflow, at least).
You know what Sony can do: go for it!

Reading pdfs on a 5" device is going to require some sort of conversion anyway, so you could just as easily reformat outside of the reader. Either way it will still be far from satisfactory. The presence of reflow on the Sony wouldn't change my reasoning, though of course it may be a consideration for StanByk.

With the latest firmware on the Elonex I can now use the text-links on the table of contents in an ePub to jump to chapters, which is the main consideration for reading fiction or magazines.

Graham

[Graham]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I not sure that Waterstones are selling this anymore. I couldn't find it on their web site.

You're right. The page was there yesterday, as my wife was considering purchasing it too, but has gone today.

They still had plenty in stock at the shop last week, though they'd changed the deal from £129 back up to £179 (with 4 Gb card and £10 voucher). Maybe they're setting up a new offer?

The device won't compete with the PRS-300 unless it's priced more cheaply, regardless of its features, so it will be interesting to see what they do.

Graham

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Graham

They still had plenty in stock at the shop last week, though they'd changed the deal from £129 back up to £179.

At £179 I agree that it's wildly overpriced compared to the Sony PRS-300.

[StanByk]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

At £179 I agree that it's wildly overpriced compared to the Sony PRS-300.

It does sound like it is an interesting reader (although an ugly one).
If the price has gone up to £179 I will probably go for the Sony PRS-303 instead.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by StanByk

(although an ugly one).

I thought that too when I bought it, but actually it grows on you.

Graham