Pandigital 7" E-book Reader

[koppit]

Just wanted to share this, I'm more excited about this than most of the stuff that will be coming out of China in the next few months.

Pandigital

 

[workpen]

I have to agree it's a sweet device, and the B&N support helps! But I'm worried none of these tablets are really gonna offer the standard Android experience.. I'm needing google to step in and leave custom UIs out for a change. Can't I just have a supersized MotoDroid? The iPhone folks got theirs (hell, even I did)..

 

[koppit]

I know, right? They want to hit that sweet price point, but why even bother if it impacts the whole point of using android?

 

[Norril]

it will suck when in the sun light. If you want a tablet for book reading, be sure to take that into consideration. I had my Nook and my buddy had his iPad and we were both in an airport yesterday, waiting for a plane. The airport had a glass ceiling and the sunlight made his iPad unusable. Nook was awesome. So, definately consider e-paper type devices for book reading.

 

[koppit]

Good point - I at least don't have to worry about that, I usually read at night. I wonder how many people will complain about sore eyes after reading for long periods of time on the ipad?

 

[Norril]

Good point - I at least don't have to worry about that, I usually read at night. I wonder how many people will complain about sore eyes after reading for long periods of time on the ipad?

Everyone I know that has one is bummed about reading in direct light. doesn't stop them from loving the ipad overall though. Just one big issue for serious book readers is all.

 

[mrspeedmaster]

A few comments. I played with one:
1) White one doesn't auto-orient. Pretty much fixed portrait mode. No accelerometer
2) Black one coming in 1-2 months will have built in G-sensor and bumped memory to 2GB internal.
3) Resistive screen.

 

[koppit]

Slashgear didn't like it too much .. their review wasn't favourable

 

[davemonfl]

I have to agree it's a sweet device, and the B&N support helps! But I'm worried none of these tablets are really gonna offer the standard Android experience.. I'm needing google to step in and leave custom UIs out for a change. Can't I just have a supersized MotoDroid? The iPhone folks got theirs (hell, even I did)..

I bought a Pandigital Novel, which uses their custom UI on top of android 2.0 and has apps for web browsing, email, etc. The hardware is good and solid, but the software is so bad that I find the thing drives me crazy. Their tech support says there IS an accelorometer but ts disabled in current firmware cause it crashes the device, as of now, it's so slow its ridiculous and it locks up all the time.

I can tell you from experience with both that my Rockchip apad is waaaaayyyy faster and easier to use. I'm gonna hang on to the Pandigital until they come out with another firmware upgrade in hopes that will fix it, or better yet, until someone roots it and we can put plain Android on it. With plain Android on this it should be a real nice little tablet, but with the software they have out for it now, I find it to be an exercise in frustration.

 

[tonyps]

Evening,
I purchased one about two weeks ago, impressed at first.
Turns out the mfg recalled them all for software and hardware issues. I took mine back to Kohls, got a full refund.
The company is due to launch a new, better(?) device in a couple of months. I will wait and see what review sites say.

Tony ...

 

[jediknight36]

It looks like G4 is going to review it today and it sounds like they like it. Not sure how much they like it, but they never review anything they give less than 3/5 stars.

 

[rokky]

Read all the tips and tricks to activate the Android in it at Slatedroid:

Pandigital Novel Android Tablet Discussion

The accelerometer works fine now.

Once unlocked, it runs the Kindle app fine for Amazon ebooks, so not limited to B&N. I could not get an apk for Borders (have not tried the Android Market hacks yet).

Aside from the Android goodness pros, the biggest cons that bug me are the lack of USB host (only data connections) and Bluetooth, so not very extendable with devices needing those connections. No GPS of course, but that would not be readable in daylight anyway - once unlocked, Google Maps does look nice on that big screen for "spot-checking" while near a wifi access point.

The RAM for running programs seems to be 256 MB with some used for video, and more used for other "stuff", and it leaves about 195 MB for actual app usage per dmesg, so not bad. The 1gb "internal memory" (which I would call "storage" to distinguish from RAM) is a microSD card that can be swapped for any size up to 16GB per Slatedroid member experiences, and I have upgraded mine to 8GB (although I had to copy over the top-level directories first to get the Novel to mount the card - YMMV).

You can get them from Bed, Bath, and Beyond (I kid you not, although some of the clerks are too clueless to distinguish from all the Pandigital photo frames - ask for the PD ereader) for $169 - use/get (as email sign-up offer I think) the BB&B 20% off coupon, and it goes down to $136 (plus your local sales tax). With mine they even included a copy of instructions that appear to be directly from Pandigital on how to open the back cover for the microSD card upgrade (double-stick tape inside makes that a bit difficult, but all it takes is constant, but gradual sliding effort to give the tape time to "let go").

BB&B even sent an email in response to a Slatedroid member query about returns, and stated they would accept them indefinitely for refunds (even if "laundered", LOL) so not much risk if you want to give it a try. None of this foolishness about dealing with someone in China...

 

[WanderingOak]

I've been trying to get into slatedroid all afternoon, but haven't been able to connect. Anybody know if they are still in business?

 

[rokky]

I've been trying to get into slatedroid all afternoon, but haven't been able to connect. Anybody know if they are still in business?

I am also having no success getting to slatedroid.com today (top level and the Pandigital Novel sub-site). But since I was on it yesterday, I doubt they are permanently gone - more likely some server issue that should be resolved within a day or 2 I would hope.

BTW, I can ping the top level site, so a server of some sort is there, just not the web service.

 

[applehead]

Are you using your pandigital with the android kit? If so, how did you load it? I downloaded the dat files but don't know what to do with them.

 

[Rileysowner]

Slatedroid was switching servers, so they were up and down a lot and had DNS issues until the whole switchover was finished.

 

[capellipro]

I am getting so frustrated. I had my Pandigital Novel exactly where I wanted it. WPDN hacked 9/23 mod, everything working perfectly. Then 3 days ago my soft buttons just stopped working. Couldn't change home screens. So I re-flashed everything. Now everthing works except the market. I can sign with my google ID successfully but when I try to access the market I get "server error" What is that??? Had this for 3 days now.

Does anyone know how to fix this?
Thank you!

 

[cam62059]

How do you get your books if you downloaded theandroid pkg

 

[breeze432bue]

I received a Pandigital e-book reader for Christmas and still can't get it to hook up to the wireless modem I received from my cable company. My laptops hook up fine...I have comcast for cable, phone, and internet. I've been on the phone with comcast who had me phone the wireless router company who intern told me to phone the maker of Pandigital who refered me back to the cable company who finally told me the only way to get the e-reader to connect to the wireless would also prevent me being able to get the laptops to hook up...........any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated........I really do not want to return the e-reader..........Thanks....

 

[niajay]

How do you get the amazon kindle app in pandigital?

 

[Mikepeterson7]

Have you run into trouble trying to update the firmware from the pandigital site?

 

[kpeterha]

Hi. I'm Karen and I am new here. I've only had my WPDN for a couple weeks and it's been fun and frustrating. Right out of the box it said it needed a firmware update from the mfr. I went ahead and did that by connecting the WPDN to my laptop and downloading the software from PanDigital.

After surfing the web and reading about open operating system, I downloaded the PanDigital Novel Android Open Platform Kit. Installed it and everything was working fine, but lost BN.com and market.android. Have to download apps from slide-ME and other sites. I was able to install the Kindle Reader on my WPDN after running an Open Platform hack from Slatedroid.

Now I have purchased a Motorola Xoom Tablet (will received next week) that I think will let me do a lot more. It's supposed to come with OS 3.0 and be upgradeable and be able to get GAPPS and the market.android. Update should also enable SD slot use. I will be posting after I get the new tablet and let you know how it goes. KP

P.S. Recently upgraded my home wireless router to Netgear N600. WPDN has no problem seeing all wireless networks in my area and I have secured my connection with WPA. We have ATT-Uverse fiber optic modem that also broadcasts address, so that is also secured. NOTE: If you have Norton or McAfee or some other security software you might have to temporarily turn it off to connect WPDN to network. KP

 

[PandigitalKen]

Have you run into trouble trying to update the firmware from the pandigital site?

I got a refurbished one, said No Pandigital Device found. Plug your device in.
HELP!

 

[tube517]

I don't know if this is the exact model but there is a Pandigital 7" tablet for $49.99 on 1 sale a day. Is this worth it for a child? Would it play Angry Birds and books? Or does it have too many headaches for being a cheap tablet. I'm not expecting Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet type of performance but I want something that will be functional

 

[kpeterha]

Tube 517,

If you can get the White PanDigital Novel (WPDN) for $49, that would be a great deal. I got mine for $69 last Christmas, then spent another $100 for more memory, a case, etc. You can visit hacking sites for information to update the WPDN to Android 2.2, which should let you play Angry Birds and other games. I am mostly using my Motorola Xoom tablet, since it is running Android 4.0.4 and has a larger 10 inch screen. I also have an ASUS laptop, the 17 inch Gaming version, and we just bought a new desktop ZT Affininty. Both running Windows 7 64 bit means I had to update a printer and a scanner, but the power, memory (RAM and HD) is worth it.

Could a kid kill a WPDN? The answer is yes! They are notorius for weak screens. So no dropping or dead WPDN. I've had mine five months and no problems but you will see plenty if you read the boards for WPDN.

Karen in San Diego