Skip to main content

Review: Elonex 700EB

So I wrote this review on a plane over Tennessee on my way to CES 2011. I brought the 700EB  along not just so I could write the review but because the video and ebook abilities make it a pretty decent multi-function device. Unfortunately, I put it down on a counter at CES and turned my back for just a second. That was enough time for someone to steal it. I don’t have any pictures to show you.

This ereader is based on a very good 7″ (800×480) LCD screen but it does not have Wifi or a touchscreen. The front is black with with a matte gray stripe across the front bottom. The back is a plain matte black with 2 speakers.  As you can see, there’s a page turn button on either side of the screen, and the D-pad and 4 buttons below the screen (menu, font, play , back). There’s 2GB Flash inside and a SD card slot, headphone jack, USB port, and power jack along the bottom edge and it does charge off USB. The 700EB ships with a case, power supply, and USB cable.

Battery life

I can’t really say how long the battery would last if used only for reading, but I was seeing at least 5 days. Also, I’ve now watched over 4 hours of video and the meter is still above the halfway mark.

Video

Format support includes AVI and MP4 (probably others, but that’s what I had on hand to test with). The video player app is basic (play, jump forward/back, rewind, fast-forward), but the image quality is great and the screen is a lot better than I was expecting on an ereader. The screen doesn’t quite have a 180 degree viewing range but it’s close. And the image quality doesn’t drop off as the angle increases.

I grabbed several seasons of Stargate that I had ripped from DVD. I’ve been alternating between watching movies and reading for most of my trip. It can also play 720p clips I shot with my digital camera. Obviously the screen resolution isn’t up to it, but the clips play without dropped frames.

This is the first time I’ve wanted to carry a PMP around. I’ve had a couple before, but since I prefer to read I usually grab my ereader. With the 700EB I don’t have to  make a choice.

Reading

Format support includes Epub, PDF, and FB2. This actually doesn’t have all that great of a reading app.It’s okay, but it’s also not displaying the ebooks correctly. I tested it with several hand made ebooks and the formatting was ignored. The 700EB also didn’t see the external table of contents in the Epub or PDF.

The only annotation option is bookmarks. But, you do have some customization options: screen brightness, font size (6), font color (6), background color (6), and screen orientation. It also offers a page jump option and auto page turn option. It does support PDF reflow, which is great. But you need to remember that if you reflow a PDF with graphs or charts, you’ll lose them.you have bookmarks and page jump.

It will also remember your place when you exit an ebook and when you put it in sleep mode. But other than that it’s just a basic ereader. But the reading experience was decent. It’s still an okay ereader, folks. I can live with the shortcomings.

BTW, I’m also seeing some problems with the 700EB freezing on certain page numbers.. If you get one, you might want to download the latest firmware from Elonex. It might fix the problem.

Where to get it

The Elonex 700EB is sold at Kalahari.net and several electronics stores in the UK. E-readers based on the same hardware are also available from Nexx in Russia and Prestigio in Europe. With luck we might see this device show up in other countries under other brands.

Similar Articles


Comments


Mike Cane January 13, 2011 um 12:24 pm

>>>7? (800×480)

That killed my interest right there.


Ellen January 13, 2011 um 8:41 pm

Nate,
I am sorry that someone felt it was ok to steal your device. This looks like my Nextbook 1. I got it from Geeks.com for $80. The specs are a bit better than 700EB, not much. At one point the price went down to about $70, but I just checked and it is now $90.
I should get a chance to really look at it this weekend and write up something.


Mrawhimskell klaar January 13, 2011 um 9:42 pm

I know i’ve asked this question for the umpteenth time, but I really want to know how it handles complex pdf’s . I’m still waiting for something of good value that I can read technical pdf’s on. So how does it handle Pdf’s without reflow?


Mario January 14, 2011 um 1:07 am

@klaar
It handle’s it like any other e-reader, each page is displayed like picture and you must scrool around if you want to use zoom. It does not support reflow so it cant mess with tables, pictures etc.
@nate
I have Prestigio version of that unit on test, main weaknesses are glare(it uses gloss screen so it is very bad on direct light), poor 4 way controler(actualiy OK button in middle of it not arrows itself) and lack of subtitle support.
Also, I think that DJVU and CBR support for comic fans is must have on LCD e-reader.


Mario January 14, 2011 um 10:03 am

By the way Nate, Prestigio says PER3072B model has 800×600 screen resolution.

Nate the great January 14, 2011 um 12:06 pm

Thanks. It’s probably not the same device, then.


Ola April 19, 2011 um 12:38 pm

Must I download a book from Kalahari before I can read on the device? OR

I can just connect the device to my PC and upload the files I have already on it?

Nate the great April 19, 2011 um 3:51 pm

No, you should be able to buy Epub ebooks from just about anywhere and read them on the 700EB.


Ola April 27, 2011 um 8:14 am

Thanks Nate, actually what I meant is; can I upload files from my PC to the device?

Nate Hoffelder June 5, 2011 um 12:39 pm

Weird. I thought I already responded to this.

Yes, you can transfer files from your computer.


Andy July 11, 2011 um 7:36 am

I got my 700eb at Chritmas and it was great for taking PDF’s from my PC and reading them in confort away from the computer. The only problem with it was that when in 'zoom' mode on a PDF, I had to cancel the zoom to turn the page, then re-select zoom. A bit of a pain. In plain text it allows page-turning without unzooming. I would still be highly impressed with it if it hadn’t started misbehaving last month. At first it would get 'stuck' and become unresponsive to any key-press and the only way out was a re-start. Then it started shutting down and re-starting on its own. Now it misbehaves so often that I simply can’t be bothered with it, which is a pity as it’s such a great little device. I’ll be returning it for replacement tomorrow.


Review: Aluratek Libre Color – The Digital Reader September 5, 2011 um 6:01 pm

[…] design and the firmware make the Libre Color a close relative of the Elonex 700EB I reviewed back in January. Actually, I’d say they are the same device only with different […]


margat barnett March 9, 2016 um 10:45 am

how do we replace battery in 700eb elonex e reader.


Write a Comment