You might recall that Monday I posted that the Samsung E60 will be sold in France (it’s also currently sold in Italy). I was a little frustrated because I had no info about the US release, which had been repeatedly delayed.  I sent an email to Samsung and pestered them again. They got back to me on Tuesday, and here is what they said:

Based on current market dynamics, Samsung is revisiting its approach to the eReader market in the US at this time. We remain committed to the mobile entertainment market and expect to have new announcements soon.

Note that they don’t say that they are giving up entirely, just that they aren’t going to release an ereader anytime soon. Fortunately for Samsung, they still have their native South Korean market as well as Japan.

They’re really not having a good year when it comes to ereaders. First their 10″ E101 gets killed by the iPad*, and then their entire ereader market in the US got killed by the price war.

*It was announced at CES 2010 (pre iPad), and then not announced at the  (post iPad) March press conference (and they won’t comment on it).

Update: This review is based on the original firmware. Much of what I say about the software is no longer valid.

I hadn’t planned on writing this post. As you might know, Pandigital had the Novel pulled from shelves on Wednesday so they could load a new firmware. Kohl’s said it was a recall, so I returned my unit. I wasn’t pleased with it, and I decided to wait a few weeks and see what happened.

But then a fracas occurred over my use of the word recall. A couple people made snide remarks about my credibility and veracity, and I do not feel that I can let that slide. I feel that I have to respond and justify the remarks I made in my first impressions post.

Fortunately, I ordered a Novel online Saturday night (before I knew I could get one in store). It arrived Thursday.

BTW, if you’re reading this for the first time, you should probably go read my first post on the Novel.

Hardware

First things first. The Novel was not designed as an ereader; it is a tablet. I cannot see any indication in the hardware design that the developers considered how someone might hold it while reading. The design screams “budget tablet”. Consider how the headphone jack, power jack, and card slots are on 3 different edges. That strikes me as a design decision based on cost, not usability. In fact, I just went through my collection, and all of my ereader have the exposed ports and slots on either the top or bottom edge.

Do you want to know another detail that screams cheap tablet? There’s no USB host. That’s not a big deal for an ereader, but this is actually an Android tablet and could certainly support it.

I said before that the Novel was heavy. Yes, it is heavier than any other hand-held ereader, but what I should have said was that it is deceptively heavy. It is about the size of the Nook or Kindle, so you’d think it weighs the same. But the Novel weighs more.

I also said that it wasn’t a one handed ereader, and I still think that. I think you should hold the Novel in 2 hands because of the weight and the slippery back. Also, I could not reliably swipe and turn the page with my thumb when holding the Novel in my right hand.

I will admit that my concerns about the how you hold the Novel are really not that important. I have a couple tablets that I read on; most have to be held in both hands. Then again, they were not marketed as ereaders. The Novel was.

Main Menu, Library

I’m going to pass on defending my remarks on the main menu and the library. I didn’t criticize the main menu because the only people who’d care would be software developers. And my only valid complaint about the library was its lack of speed.

Apps

I’m also going to pass on the apps. You can get them on other Android tablets, and I’m treating the Novel as an ereader anyway.

Reading

I made a mistake before when I compared the Novel with the old eReader Android app. The Novel doesn’t use a newer version of the eReader app; it uses a Nook Android app. I say this because the Novel has the same reading abilities as the Nook. I’m still disappointed, though, because the old eReader app is better than the Nook app.

BTW, since the Novel is an android tablet, I think it’s fair to compare its Nook app to other Android reading apps. Take Aldiko for instance. I’ve used Aldiko on the Archos 5 IT, and it is significantly more capable than the Nook app. Aldiko has the formatting support similar to what I like in the eReader.

Screen refresh & Response rate

I stand by my complaint about the response rate. This is the slowest tablet I’ve ever seen. Luckily, this is probably a software issue. I checked the FCC filings, and the unit they tested had a Samsung s3c6410xh-53 CPU, which runs at 533MHz (I think). That’s plenty fast enough for the job – once they fix the software.

But the Novel is still slow. Do you want to know how slow? I still have the Gajah BK6001, and I compared the page turn speed of the 2 devices. The BK6001 was faster than the Novel, even though it has an E-ink screen. Now that, my dear, is slow.

Conclusion

It doesn’t matter whether you think of the Novel as a tablet or an ereader It comes in a distant second to any other device I’ve used. There are better ereaders out there and there are better tablets out there.

Update: This post is based on the original firmware. Much of what I say about the software is no longer valid.

This post is a collection of first impressions. I usually post this on the day I get a device, and then post a full review a coupe weeks later. If I were you, I wouldn’t decide for or against the Novel based on this post. At best, you might use this post to help you decide to wait.

I bought it at Kohl’s. Someone posted a comment yesterday and said that most stores now have it in stock. At my local store, it was behind the jewelry counter.

So what do I think? I’m  not happy with it, and here’s why:

• touchscreen is funky
• Wifi is broken buggy
  
• the Novel is slow to respond to input
• you can’t charge over USB
• few options in reader
• few organization options in library

Before you read further, I want to make it clear that I don’t slam an ereader without good reason. Everything in this post is written based on having the Novel in front of me. I didn’t say very many nice things about the Novel because I couldn’t find any. I actually went into this with high hopes, and I’m disappointed. The Novel is a rather unexceptional device.

Hardware

First, the Novel is  rather heavy. This isn’t going to be a one handed reader. It’s also not easy to hold; I wish they had included a case with a strap. The back is slippery and the device is just a little too wide for me to grip the edges. For full details on the hardware, check out the product page at Pandigital.net.

The touch screen is behaving funny. I’ve found that I have to press and hold for it to notice my request. Then I calibrated the screen, and its behavior got stranger. Whenever I tried to use the keyboard it kept returning the wrong key. The calibration really screwed something up. I think the Novel has a serious problem here. Update: Installing the new firmware and then forcing a reboot fixed the problem.

BTW, this screen sensitivity problem isn’t due to Android. I have other Android devices and they all behave about the same. This is a hardware or software problem on the Novel.

Main Menu

It’s divided into 3 parts.  The top is a bunch of shortcuts to various parts of the B&N ebookstore, the middle shows 10 ebooks from the Novel, and the bottom has app icons (like you might find on a Home screen). From what I can tell you cannot install third party apps.

Wifi is broken

The Novel can’t see my Wifi network. I tried all the normal troubleshooting and nothing worked.Two other devices are on that network, so there must be something wrong with the Novel.

Update: The Novel could see other networks, so there must be some technical detail about my home network the Novel doesn’t like.

Library

The library menu is done in the same style as iBooks (and the ones iBooks copied). You can see 20 thumbnails of ebook covers at a time. You can sort by date, title, or author, but you don’t have any option to display your ebooks differently (a list, for example). I have a huge collection, so this is going to be a serious problem. They do give you the option of building collections called bookshelves, but this is still piss-poor sorting options.

Response time is slow. I swipe to turn the page and see more titles and it takes a couple seconds to respond. That is unacceptable.

Do you know what bothers me the most? The fact that so many ereader companies didn’t do basic research about their customer base. The person who is most likely to get an ereader is one who reads a lot. Some one who reads a lot might want to take a lot of books with them at once. You can’t do that on a lot of ereaders because the library management is crap.

Reading

Speaking as someone who likes the old eReader Android app, the one on the Pandigital is deeply disappointing. You don’t have any options for margin, line spacing, font, justification. Actually, I can’t see that the Novel has any customization options at all (aside from font sizes and a night read option).

It has bookmarks highlighting, and you can add notes. I can’t click on internal links, and the Novel doesn’t appear to support the Epub table of contents. But at least it respects the margins set in the Epub file.

Page turns are slow (for an LCD). I’m also beginning to regret that the Novel doesn’t have page turn buttons. The only page turn option is swipe, and you don’t have the option of changing it to screen taps. Why did they do that, I wonder?

Apps

I can’t find a way to see the apps on my SD card, and with out Wifi I can’t try to download them. The Novel does come with a browser and other apps, but without the ability to add more I really can’t recommend this tablet.

Conclusion

The novel fits in my old Kindle cover (sorta), so I’ll be carrying it with me this week. I plan to have the full review up by Friday.

So my unit arrived today, and I’m going to post my first impressions. My battery died fairly quickly even though it said it was fully charged, so this psot won’t be that complete. I used it for about 10 minutes before I realized:

The Alex is not an E-reader.

No, seriously, it’s not. The Alex is a dual screen web tablet. It does so much more than read ebooks.

hardware

The Alex has a 6″ epaper screen and a 3.5″ LCD screen. There are 2 buttons on either side of the LCD screen. I’ve heard a couple complaints about the fact both page turn buttons are not on the same side. Now that I’ve used it, I understand why they did that. I think you’re supposed to hold the Alex in both hands, or they don’t expect you to need it that much.

I can comfortably hold the Alex in either hand with my thumb between the screens, 4 fingers behind, and the Alex’s corner in the palm of my hand. I’d feel safe carrying it one handed on a commute.

Reading

I didn’t get to use it very long(battery), but I’m really impressed with the annotation abilities.  I didn’t have time to see everything but there were a lot of options and I successfully attached a voice note. Yes, the Alex has a microphone.

Browsing

Once again, I’m impressed. I could display a webpage on both screens at once. Note: the same page was shown twice, not shown split between the 2 screens. Again, not enough time to really get into it.

It also comes with a Youtube app.

key shortcuts

I haven’t read the manual, but I think there are some shortcuts that can jump you out of the browser. I was pressing stuff in random pairs and at least one worked. Shiny.

What’s in the Box

The Alex was shipped in a UPS envelope (in its retail box, of course), not a shipping box. I’m not pleased. Besides the device, the box also contained a charger, USB cable, a paper manual, and a case, which is crap. It looks like it cost about $1.50 to make, and it’s so flimsy that it can only protect against scuff marks. I don’t think it would be enough to protect the Alex if I dropped it.

Nook vs Alex

UPDATE from 25 April: I just downloaded the Nook firmware update, and I’ve changed my mind. The Nook has improved significantly.

If you own a Nook, I’d sell it and get an Alex. Do it today so you beat the rush. The Alex is that much better. I’m actually not joking. The Alex feels like Spring Design put a lot of thought into it.