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Pandigital Novel review
It's our guess that the Pandigital Novel has been turning quite a few heads at retailers across the US during the last few weeks. How could it not? It's got a full-color, 7-inch touchscreen, 2GB of on-board memory, runs a skinned version of Android and is priced around $180 (depending on where you're shopping). Oh, and it's got access to Barnes & Noble's e-book store. About one-third the price of the iPad, we sure can see the attraction, but after attempting to read an entire novel on it we can't help but wonder how it found its way past product development and into the stock rooms of Walgreens, Bed, Bath & Beyond and JCPenny, to name a few. Hit the break for our full review and to see just exactly we're talking about. %Gallery-99816%
Pandigital Novel preview
Sure, Pandigital's Novel may be delayed until next month because of some firmware issues -- and we haven't heard the most positive things about the 7-inch LCD based e-reader / tablet -- but we had to check it out for ourselves. At $179.99 $149, the all-plastic reader isn't going to win any build quality awards (it's also rather heavy for what it is), but the Android 2.1-powered gadget does have a pretty attractive user interface. In use, however, the resistive screen had to be pressed quite firmly to make selections and the software was noticeably sluggish. Surprisingly, the device did play a standard definition video smoothly and it has an accelerometer -- which is more than the Archos 7 Home Tablet can brag. Barnes & Noble's eBookstore will be preloaded, and it also has a skinned Android browser of some sort. We've got a short hands-on video after the break, but you've got the picture here: the Novel isn't what we'd call novel, you just get what you pay for. %Gallery-96241%
Kohl's pulls Pandigital Novel eReader for a firmware fix?
It seems Pandigital read a bit too far ahead in the story of its Novel eReader. The Digital Readers, which has been covering the device extensively, reports that Kohl's is currently going through something of a recall so that Pandigital can install an updated firmware. Customers can return it for a full refund -- and if the publication's review is to be believed, that might be the best course of action. In one of the first impressions pieces we've seen, TDR lambasts the Novel both as an e-reader and as a tablet. Apparently the hardware is overly heavy, the screen is laggy, WiFi is broken, and it doesn't charge over USB... but don't just take our word for it. See and hear it for yourself in the video critique after the break -- and if you're still jonesing, JCPenny continues to list it on sale. Read - Recall Read - Review Read - First impressions
