[bmurphr1]

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/25/pandigital-novel-preview/

 

[Guest]

Video seems to be down at the minute but it looks good from the pics. Wonder when it will be back in Kohls?

 

[bmurphr1]

Pandigital's CS lied to us saying it was only going to take about two weeks, but Engadget says that it should be back out on shelves in July some time.

 

[lawman]

Why does it have to be a lie? Can't it just take longer than expected?

 

[Mp4]

I think I would prefer for them to get it right then rush it to release full of bugs

 

[lawman]

As someone still having fun with the ill-fated white, I agree.

 

[Guest]

I know it was a quick and dirty video review.... but.... man... it looks really slow. I thought it had a fast processor on board. I'm guessing that the overlay that pandigital are using on top of Android is not particularly optimised for speed.Lawman, what's the speed like on your white one? Molasses slow or fairly usable?I think if the Novel can be rooted, it could be a nice little hack job.

 

[davemonfl]

I know it was a quick and dirty video review.... but.... man... it looks really slow. I thought it had a fast processor on board. I'm guessing that the overlay that pandigital are using on top of Android is not particularly optimised for speed. Lawman what's the speed like on your white one? Molasses slow or fairly usable?I think if the Novel can be rooted, it could be a nice little hack job.

I have the white one and compared to the rockchip apad I have, it IS slow as molasses. I even tried using it with a stylus, which helped a little with selecting things, but I gave up on it, its back in its box waiting for the firmware upgrade to come out. Hopefully, that will solve the slowness issues, cause the hardware itself seems pretty solid, and the battery lasts an hour or so longer than the apad.

I know lawman has said he has gotten used to his and is starting to like it, so he is obviously able to put up with the slowness. The apad I have switches between apps in 1 to 2 seconds and brings you right back to where you left off in that app. On the Novel, when you switch from the web browser to email and then back to the web browser, it starts you back at your home page!!!

So in summary, it looks really slow on the video, BECAUSE IT IS REALLY SLOW!!!! Still hoping they can fix it with firmware, which by the way, seems to be taking FOREVER for them to post on their website....

 

[iplaythisgame]

Ya, I didn't realize how slow the Novel was until I got my Archos 7ht. I had only compared the Novel to a M70003(think eken m001 speed). I was blown away at how fast the archos ran. It also had a better touch screen(read fingers better) than the novel or m70003.

 

[lawman]

I know it was a quick and dirty video review.... but.... man... it looks really slow. I thought it had a fast processor on board. I'm guessing that the overlay that pandigital are using on top of Android is not particularly optimised for speed. Lawman what's the speed like on your white one? Molasses slow or fairly usable? I think if the Novel can be rooted, it could be a nice little hack job.

I've said over and over that the overlaid gui is gargantuan. It really is. This thing has an ARM11 processor and 512RAM, so it should be pretty quick, but the firmware and software are just too big.

That said, it's slow but usable. The ereader is no slower than anyone else's, and faster than eink. The web browser is comparable to a cell phone's browser. Opening an app is slow, but that's a firmware thing, I think. It really does suck that you can't tab between apps, but that has to be something they will fix.

The black appears to have one speaker, where the white has two. I don't know that the video you see there is a new set of firmware and software. My Blackberry 9650 is on the way, so I'm hoping they sew this thing up so I can look into tethering...

 

[iplaythisgame]

I started thinking about their target audience. They are selling this thing at Kohls for crying out loud. It is and "ebook reader". Despite what CS might have said about the device(we know they fudge the truth), I doubt they will take the ereader UI out of it. They likely have some liscencing deal with B&N which would hinder this as well. Very few companies would develop an iota more than they need to for cost reasons. I really doubt unless someone ambitious can root and get some vanilla android on there that it will never be usable as anything more than an ereader. That being said, it is a good ereader(better aspect ratio and screen size than apad/archos/eken) even if it is slow in between getting to any actual reading.This is why I took mine back. Unless they come out with a better user experience(reguardless of hardware specs) I think people should skip this, and I'll keep my archos.

 

[bmurphr1]

I for one could not stand the responsiveness of the white model...a tablet with those specifications should not perform 5x slower than a crappy Eken M001. I am 100% certain that if I hadn't sold my Novel when I did that I would have gotten so fed up with the unit that I would have taken it straight back to Kohl's and get a refund. If I do end up having a change of heart and picking up a new black PDN from Kohl's when they come back into stock, I'm just going to take my unopened box and chunk it in the back of my closet until someone roots the device AND releases decent firmware because that thing is just slow as Christmas.

 

[lawman]

http://www.slashgear.com/pandigital-novel-pulled-for-a-month-long-firmware-fix-2491421/BOOOOO. Looks like there will still be a 1gb and 2 gb model. And with the new nook wifi at $150 able to use the same ebook account, it may make sense to spring for one of those instead of... three of these.

 

[Guest]

Good discussion and interesting points. My take on it is; I like the screen size and aspect ratio. I think it could be a pretty neat device. Book reader, browser and email. Android apps and ability to listen to music and audiobooks also a good way to carry around a bunch of docs in pdf format. I had an iPad for doing just that and it worked brilliantly...but... at over 500 bucks for the basic model it seemed like a shedload of money for something that worked well but was a bit too big and tied to Apple and iTunes.Apad, as I've said before is a lottery as to whether you get one that actually works for any length of time or is even what you ordered. The novel could be great but it would take someone to root it and then allow Android 2.1 or 2.2 to become the main OS... is that likely to happen?... not so sure. It could and if it did happen and word on the street got out that the novel was fast, stable and a "modders" dream then things look good for it in a whole different way to what it was designed for. In many ways it would almost make sense for Pandigital to maAke it easy to be rooted and allow the rom cooks out there to elevate the device to cult status.Unfortunately for Pandigital, the whole pad scene is changing and developing almost on a daily basis. I'd guess that in 3 months time there will be a raft of other slates / pads on the market from big names which have support, are fast, have cameras and access to a bunch of Android apps with give all the functionality that a broad spectrum of people will want.Pandigital are most likely catering to the ebook readers who want the simplicity of a nook but with a colour screen and some browsing and email. The novel almost fits the bill. Unfortunately for now it gets about in a wheelchair rather than a Ford Escourt.I think the guys here are not your average Kohls' audience and look at the novel for what it could be rather than what it is.Hey, Pandigital, if you are going to take a few months to bollox around with the device, go all the way and stuff a camera in it for me

 

[bmurphr1]

I declare Pandigital's black Novel officially crapware...first it was 2 weeks, then a month, and now according to http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/pandigital-e-reader-is-off-the-market-for-now/ it's going to be August before we see any more PDNs. I give up on this crappy company...I got too excited over a product that they can't properly release to the market without it f*cking up, is slower than a fat girl in a wheelchair, and continually pushing back their release time. It's going to be 2012 by the time we see the next Novel, and by then the world will have already ended. I'm stuck using an Aluratek Libre Pro and my SmartQ V7.

 

[sharpfork2]

I'm feeling that I'll be lucky if I end up with one of these devices + rooted + under $130. When Kohl's get them in I'll see what it can do and cross my fingers that it gets rooted quickly. If it totally sucks, I'll return it. If it is just OK, I'll give it to my kids for watching movies on road trips.I'm not going to waste energy getting pissed at Pandigital or Kohl's. Their communication and messaging has been muddied; but, its not like they are selling the heck out of a crappy device and not supporting them at all.

 

[lawman]

Eh... as the only guy involved in this discussion actually ON the device, i formally invite the haters to bite me. It does everything better out of the box better than any eken or apad, and does all it was advertised to do, except landscape mode. Paid<100 bucks. Color, BN bookstore, music, video, wifi... SCOOOOOOOOOOOOORE!!!

 

[Guest]

Lawman, yep you are the only one who can actually comment with authority as you seem to be the only guy who has one and uses it although I believe there are a few people who have it and have consigned it to a box because in their experience it is just too slow to be usable.I never got one and have been spoiled by the quicksilver response of the iPad. I never expected the novel to be anything like it, but it was cheap (20% off and special price - got a raincheck) and I felt that it had potential to be a nice wee piece of kit and I could hang onto the coattails of the smart rom cook guys. I still think it is worth a punt when it finally comes out.I think the "haters" as you call them are more pissed at the complete mis-management of expectation by Pandigital. Classic stuff here. Pull the device, say it will be back in 2 weeks... and then don't get it back for a month and the punters are pissed and want to burn your house down. Pull the device and say it will be back in a month and get it back in 3 weeks and the punters are happy and forgiving. Add to that the fact that everyone was getting a different story from Kohls and Pandigital.I'm now in bide my time mode. This part of the forum will probably wither for a month and then when the units hit the shelves it will come back to life. In the meantime I'll be looking at what else is on the horizon.The specs on this look good, if it ever materializeshttp://www.engadget.com/2010/06/25/texas-instruments-blaze-tablet-coming-your-way-this-august/

 

[bmurphr1]

I would be one that consigned it, for lack of a better term...basically bought it, used it extensively on a vacation, and then sold it off because of how lame the device was. cheepoguy is absolutely right...the device itself is great, but Pandigital's lack of truthful coherence is a complete and utter failure. It has excellent hardware, and the software that comes preloaded on it is garbage. I have put my old PDN side by side against one of those Eken M001s, and the Eken's responsiveness was far better than that of the Novel's and that's not even an exaggeration. I probably spent a grand total of about 25 hours on the device, and until somebody roots the device and puts a proper OS on there that doesn't feel like an old 486/66 computer trying to run Windows 7 I will not be using the device again.

 

[lawman]

Pandigital, until a few weeks ago, made digital picture frames. This device is a very ambitious attempt to use their knowledge, hardware, and distribution network to do something considerably different. If your teachers, professors and parents called you a "a complete and utter failure" every time you reached farther than your grasp, where would you be? It's a little slow between applications, though not much more so than everything else out there. It is not slow, comparatively, in applications. It connects to wifi - almost flawlessly for me. It has a good ereader, and a good music viewer. The video works, but lacks versatility. My experience is not the same as yours - my PDN is more responsive than any Eken I have seen. I think it is hyperbolic to call it "a complete and utter failure." At the same price as an M001, it is far better than an M001.Pandigital didn't "lie." They didn't deliver... yet. You people are taking what minimum wage retail people and beleaguered customer service people are telling you to get you out of their face as gospel. Pandigital wasn't incoherent either - Pandigital has not done a press release to say when the re-release will be. In my communications they haven't mentioned any new release date. Their website merely says "coming soon." How much worse would it be if they left the thing out there and less-sophisticated users had to muddle through numerous firmware updates? As far as I'm concerned, Pandigital has taken the high road here. Meanwhile, I don't think the device was so bad, and I use it every single day.I like it, you don't. Neither is right, but you're not intellectually honest in your criticism, in my opinion. You "used it extensively on a vacation" and then sold it .. did you make money on it? The thing is billed as an ereader, not the Ipad. It does that. It says it can connect to wifi. It does that. It says it can play video, and music, and it does both. The alarm clock works. The calendar works. Other than the fact that my computer doesn't have a generic android driver, which annoys me, it does everything it's supposed to except landscape mode. For less than $100 with a gift card, I almost stole the thing. The fact that it will get better amuses the hell out of me.