Comments on: Half-baked Pandigital Novel gets recalled [Updated]

By: John Russell

John Russell — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 02:00:00 +0000

I
hate Pandigital’s continued and blatant VIOLATION of the GPL v2 license
for the Linux Kernel, Busybox, iptables, WPA Supplicant, and
libwebcore. After over 18 months Pandigital refuses to make available
the Source Code for these things as demanded by the GPL v2 license. Either cough up the Source Code or stop using this code in violation of Copyright Laws of the USA and other countries

By: Deltagold Flyer

Deltagold Flyer — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 12:06:00 +0000

Just love mine. Just got it at SEARS for under $120 and it ran the firmware update as soon as the battery was fully charged. Now has OS 3.0 running. Everything works very well but can still not install most items from Android Marketplace as the PANDIGITAL will not associate with the mkt place! Love it as a color e-reader for near $100 price point with good wifi!

By: Deltagold Flyer

Deltagold Flyer — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 12:06:00 +0000

By: Bettyd

Bettyd — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 23:26:00 +0000

I have the 4gb from QVC. Love it. Had a problem that could ot be correct by reset and am currently waiting for a replacement. My question is; is there a way to put the contacts on a sd card. I HATE the idea of having to do over every time there is a firmware update.

By: Richard Woulfe

Richard Woulfe — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 02:14:11 +0000

how did you get the screen to un-freeze

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:01:27 +0000

I rec’d a Pandigital color for Christmas. I got it all up and running, downloaded a book and finished it. Since then, I have nbot been able to connect to my wi-fi. I’ve been standing right next to the router and it still won’t connect. I’ve called the support number and all I get is a recording stating they are experiencing high call volume. I’ve emailed them twice with no response. Any suggestions?

Thanks

By: Vera

Vera — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 00:11:48 +0000

I have a new black Pandigital Novel and I need help with set up but the Pandigital Tech Support does not respond at all either by phone or email. Can anyone help me with this? I use Frontier email and am able to receive email in the e-reader fine but my outgoing mail does not go out. Also, in trying to re-set my settings I inadvertently deleted all in my library and it does not communicate with my Barnes and Noble account so I can’t order books. How do I re-set my BN account in the device? And how do I restore my library?
Thanks to anyone who can help me!

By: BigG

BigG — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:38:33 +0000

lori, If you or someone else accidentally plugged the charger into the headphone jack rather than the charging port, it can kill the device to the point it will act like yours is acting. Your device’s behavior would NOT be related to the firmware recall being discussed in this thread. There are many satisfied users of this device out there, myself included. Lots of great info about it on http://www.slatedroid.com/index.php?board=43.0

By: lori

lori — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 01:16:23 +0000

I just got mine a few weeks ago. was halfway through my first book and it just died. have tried the reset button and when i try to charge it, no lights come on. just now reading about the recall. looks like that was several months ago, so why did i just buy a piece of crap off the shelf in december?

By: Daphne

Daphne — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 08:44:12 +0000

I just purchased my Novel from QVC for $179.00 (easy-pay plan) and haven’t had the chance to really sit down with it. QVC gives you 30 days to send it back…no questions asked. I still have lots of time to see if I keep the Pandigital or not. During that time, I will check Slashgear for updates. Very interesting thread!

By: Valerie

Valerie — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 15:21:40 +0000

None of those problems with mine, which I’ve had since mid-August. Totally love it and wouldn’t trade it for the world. It’s not an iPad, but it’s the closest to one that I’ll ever get. It’s an affordable compromise between JUST an eReader and the more expensive and responsive tablets.

By: Me

Me — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 02:59:24 +0000

It still sucks. They should pay me for all the time I have spent trying to make it work. It doesn’t even work connected to the pc. It just goes in “PC MODE” and sits there. The books don’t open on the PC either. Try and get a representative from Pandigital — ha! Think I will contact the Better Business Bureau. This company should stick to photos. In June a statement was made about this product “coming soon”, it should have stayed there. Sure the page will turn with a swipe — but only after your almost put your finger through the glass. I thought I would never need another stylus. This little plastic thing just scratches up your screen and does not move the pages any better. There could be a sensitivity setting, but the instructions and support is so poor you will never know.

By: tufan

tufan — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 11:59:20 +0000

Hi
i am about to purchase a Pan Digital eReader today.Any current info will be helpful.This item was on sale yesterday and i already booked one but i have doubts now.

By: ldk10

ldk10 — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 20:12:05 +0000

Try Bed Bath & Beyond I just bought mine and I love it. With their 20% off coupon and the $20.00 rebate, it came to $116.00. Not bad

By: bbdec1

bbdec1 — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 01:56:20 +0000

The lend function is from BN, I think but it is an option to borrow and lend. There is no 3G on this version so you do have to be near wifi to DL. BTW, it also plays HD movies well too. I loaded Avatar on it and it looked great.

By: bbdec1

bbdec1 — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 01:50:21 +0000

I found it online and in the store at Bed bath and Beyond today. White, 2GB memory.

By: bbdec1

bbdec1 — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 01:47:48 +0000

I bought a Nook yesterday becasue it was better than Kindle but I am taking the Nook back tomorrow and getting the Novel. It looks great.

By: LynW

LynW — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:29:54 +0000

!. No flash. You swipe your finger to turn the page and it just scrolls forward (or back to go to a previous page.)
2. The share option is there. I haven’t looked into it so I don’t know the details but I do know you can share; the brief description I read sounds like it is the same sharing deal as the Nook.
3. Epub is supported so you can borrow from the library.
4. As the previous poster said, there is no 3G type connection, only wired and wifi, so if this is a selling point for you, then you might be better off with the Nook. In my case, I would probably download a few ahead of time in anticipation of being without wifi for a period of time.
Again, as stated, the battery life is somewhat shorter, so if you are a big beach reader and need long battery life, this might not be what you want. (I am the type that is more likely to bring paperbacks to the beach so that if I lose one or get sand/water on it, it’s not a big deal.) I do plan to use my ereader while vacationing but will be close enough to an electrical outlet to be able to recharge when it is needed.
Again, your choice will depend on your needs and what features are important to you. For me, photos and magazines are important, so color was important.

So far I really like mine and it suits my needs. I returned my Nook yesterday and when I went to the customer service desk, the associate called the manager on the phone to come do the return and she said into the phone “ANOTHER nook return”….sounding like they have had a lot of them? That made me wonder if the Pandigital is having more of an impact than they expected?

Hope this was helpful…

By: 98clru

98clru — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:58:09 +0000

Haven’t gotten one myself yet, waiting on the raincheck from kohl’s. The one thing I can answer with certainty is 4, the pandigital has no cellular connection, only wired and wifi. There are loads of free books available (copyright expired) for download in a format this should work with. The wifi only nook is $50 less than the one with wifi and cellular, depending on the deal you get the pandigital should be less than either. I’d suggest you take the $50 and invest in 5 books ahead of time, that should take care of a few days at the beach. With the storage capacity the nook and pandigital have there should be no need for that kind of impulse buy.
My wife has the cellular capable nook, bought it a few weeks before wifi only version came out, I’m impressed but like the versatility the pandigital offers. Although it would be occasionally nice to have that kind of impulse buy option, barnes and noble locations and starbucks as well as other att wireless hotspots will support the wifi part of the nook free ( I doubt pandigital will get that) so access to the B & N nook store should not be hard to come by if you definitely have need to add a few books to your library on ‘short’ notice.
The big advantage to the pandigital is it has a color display with more magazines going digital advantage pandigital, reading on a sunny beach you would pretty definitely be better off with a nook due to display. Battery life on the nook is much better, another advantage to the nook, so if reading on the beach for a week is something you have plans for, I’d go nook.
There are big changes coming up in the next year or two in screen technology, another reason not to spend more than you need to on a reader now, a year from now when you are addicted to ereading (if you buy more than a book a month I’d bet you will be addicted by book two) you will probably want to upgrade. Google ‘pixel Qi’ and you will see what I mean.

By: Ingrid Prestegaard Royster

Ingrid Prestegaard Royster — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:26:47 +0000

I’m getting the Nook from my mother for my bday present this week…now I hear about this! I sounds great but I have a few questions….
1.Does the Pandigital flash when you turn the page?
2.And can you share books with others for 14 days like you can with the Nook? 3.And can you borrow from a Library like the Nook?
4.When you want to download books, do you have to be near a wi-fi spot or is there 3G available ( I really like that aspect of the nook so if I finish a book when I’m at the beach I can down load another.
Thanks for the help!!

By: LynW

LynW — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 05:53:26 +0000

Well, I have to say it is a matter of personal taste. I bought a Nook last week and was not impressed with it. Today I bought the Pandigital and so far I like it a lot better. YES, the battery life is not great…. that is my only complaint so far. I happen to love the color screen. True that most book pages are in black and white, but I like having the book covers in my library in color, and when I start adding magazines, the color will be important. I also put a lot of personal pictures on it… it does an awesome color slideshow of them when I want. (I am a Grandma, you know how it is…)
I also like having the larger screen. And for night reading you can switch it to white print on black background… very cool since I like to sit up late and read while my husband snores. I took it outside in the sunlight today and did not have a problem reading it unless you sit with the sun shining directly onto it….something I generally would not do anyway.
The Novel connects to my B&N account and downloads work just like the Nook. I plan to also put some MP3s on it, which you can listen to with headphones or with the speakers in the e-reader, which sound pretty good.
I got the Novel at Bed Bath and Beyond…price 169.99. I used a 20% off coupon (that store always has coupons out) which brought it down to $135.99. There is a $20 rebate available, which may only be for Bed, Bath and Beyond, so that will bring the total down to 115.99. I think it is worth it!
My Nook is going back to B&N before the 14 day return period is up.

By: abenaki

abenaki — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 23:45:16 +0000

I got my call from Kohls this afternoon and pickup the first of two that I had on raincheck. I have to disagree with khnelan. For the money… it works just fine. This is not an ipad, but it also does not cost $500 either. I have been through most of the functions and they all worked as they should. There is a clock on mine…it is in the top right hand corner and has date and time. Additionally, there is an Alarm function that you can set via the icon on the bottom segment of the screen. Wireless seems stable and I setup my Gmail account with little effort. Response times are OK, but there is sometimes a bit of lag that may be the wireless / internet response time, rather than the Novel. Given that I got this one for the original $159.99 and can get the second for the same price, minus an additional $30 off, due to a Kohls promotion on Monday, it is very likely that I will own one of these for myself and one for my wife. Best reader in the world…. probably not, well worth the money…Yes! Let the Android upgrades begin!

By: kjnelan

kjnelan — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:17:15 +0000

I Received a phone call from Kohls last night to come pick up my Pandigital Ereader, and wouldn’t ya know it was only one of the white ones. So much for their promise to deliver the new black ones with the 2 gig, etc… The only thing different is they upgraded to the 2.0 and installed the patch which is available on the Pandigital Website. I’m not impressed.

There is no Android market, no clock, in fact there is very little other than the web browser, ereader, and a couple other apps which makes this little ereader a great book (for about 2.5 hours…) So, while their not on Pandigital’s, or anyone elses sight at the moment, they have been released to those holding the rainchecks at my local Kohls…

Quite underwhelming…

By: Richard Morey

Richard Morey — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:55:27 +0000

New info here: http://www.slashgear.com/pandigital-novel-pulled-for-a-month-long-firmware-fix-2491421/#comment-64477

Basically the unit and another one, a “black unit” will be released.. sometime next month.

By: Richard Morey

Richard Morey — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 17:00:24 +0000

Pandigital has updated their website slightly but the Novel is still listed as “Coming soon” and I was unable to find it on the Kohl’s website (or anywhere else online).

By: Richard Morey

Richard Morey — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:51:27 +0000

I e-mailed Pandigital asking about the status of the “current” Novel as well as rumors of a new model and this was their reply:

“The units have not been recalled. There is a temporary hold on the sale of the Novel while all units at Kohl’s store shelves are upgraded to the most recent firmware version. These units should be available for sale again within the next few weeks. At this time there has not been any details released about upcoming products.”

By: Richard Morey

Richard Morey — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 00:11:12 +0000

It appears now there is a new version of the Novel (http://www.slashgear.com/new-black-pandigital-novel-hardware-replacing-underwhelming-existing-model-1690178/) that is black and may have 3GB of memory (as opposed to white and 1GB). Since I’ve lost most of my enthusiasm for the Novel based on its non-availability and recall I might as well wait a little longer and see what comes of the rumored “new” version.

By: 98clru

98clru — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 04:32:59 +0000

RoxyR,
AT THIS POINT I’d have to say I would return the kindle and wait a while, at least until you get a chance to thoroughly check out the competition.

Ebook reader generic points: There are all sorts of ereaders out now and more coming. The only exceptional part about the kindle and nook is that you can impulse buy via cellular 3g where available. Personally I don’t see the need to do that with ebooks. I have no problem with the idea of doing the download via wifi or cable and pc/laptop. There is an ebook reader coming out soon via borders that you can download to your cellphone if you have that capability and then transfer wirelessly to the ereader via bluetooth. For a $100 savings on a ebook reader purchase I can see myself waiting for that. Eink is great for page text, easy on the eyes, if reading for hours at a time I can see eink being much easier on the eyes than the novel’s color screen.

Novel points: current incarnation is buggy, slow and needs an immediate firmware update. I haven’t gotten my hands on one, but the one video review I saw showed a lot of promise. I currently have a sprint htc hero which like the novel has an android OS. The original firmware, 1.5 was fantastic compared to what was once the standard – windows mobile. It worked well but was slow/laggy. Sprint just released the new firmware, 2.1 and now it flies compared to before and is more stable, not that stability was much of an issue but once or twice a month it would ‘stumble’, not freeze but not respond while it figured out how to do the multiple tasks it performs. Now with 2.1 for about a month, it hasn’t stumbled on me. Battery life which was about average for a smart phone is even better than before. The next version of android, 2.2 is supposed to make 2.1 look like a snail in winter.

I watched the video review http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuwkZM5njR0&feature=player_embedded
and despite the lousy camera work and the obviously unenthusiastic review by a consumer only interested in ebook fucntions, from what I can see the hardware looked better than I was hoping for. It’s slow and buggy but so was the kindle when first released and so was the nook and so was my hero.

The fact that pandigital is working as hard as they are is impressive and surprising to me. If I can get my hands on one from Kohl’s at the sale price I’m jumping on it because it is so much more than an ebook reader. Battery life is much shorter, weight and size is more but it’s COLOR. I rarely get a chance to read more than an hour at at time.
IF Novel has the android browser it will make an awesome internet portal. IF Novel has access to the android market it will have lots of apps to use, many free.

By: BenLee

BenLee — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 18:44:52 +0000

I honestly don’t think this is the best impression you want to the public, especially when you are basically competing against giants here like Amazon, B&N, Sony, and now Apple. A recall right out of the gate simply screams “inferior,” even if the product is high quality. Which apparently from some early reviews, it has some real issues.

I myself am still interested in playing around with one, but probably not in using it as my main device. My response to this post here: http://ebookreader-ben.com/pandigital-novel-ereader-recalled-in-less-than-1-month/

By: novellover

novellover — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:22:10 +0000

What part of the country are you in? I want one!!!

By: RoxyR

RoxyR — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 19:19:35 +0000

Question for ereader users – I received a Kindle last weekend as a gift. I’ve never had an ereader before. Should I exchange it for the Pandigital or the Nook? I wouldn’t download magazines without color and I think general web surfing and gmail access would be a plus, which Kindle doesn’t have. I read a lot of books but usually buy at a discount and am not excited to pay $10 a book, although I do know there are many free options through both Amazon and B&N. Any advice would be appreciated!

By: Richard Morey

Richard Morey — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:38:23 +0000

The firmware upgrade is available for download here: http://www.pandigital.net/downloads

By: cckrobinson

cckrobinson — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 22:38:28 +0000

I stopped at my local Kohl’s on Monday to see if they had any on display. They had 2 units out in the open next to the digital pictures frames. I grabbed one and took it to a price scanner and it rang up as $199. I didn’t buy it because I knew it would be going on sale today. I definitely could have purchased it if I had wanted to.

I’m still interested in the device. Hopefully they get some of the kinks ironed out.

By: ColdSun

ColdSun — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 20:35:36 +0000

to Nate – it wasn’t supposed to be on the sales floor until today. Call and ask for yourself. It might help a little bit to have some facts. Behind the jewelry counter is obviously not on display. Perhaps the manager placed it in the wrong place. Shrug.

By: ColdSun

ColdSun — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 20:33:04 +0000

So do you base that opinion on the device itself, the incorrect information from some misinformed Kohl’s salesperson, or a little of both?

By: Nate the great

Nate the great — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 20:30:50 +0000

No, they did not get this ironed out before the Novel was on the shelf.

At my local store, the Novel was on the sales floor, behind the jewelry counter with the other electronics. They don’t have an electronics department, which is why they were secured behind the jewelry counter.

It was sitting there, in plain view, ready to be sold to the public, price tag and all. It was on the shelf (for all but the most denotative meaning of the word).

By: ColdSun

ColdSun — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 20:23:02 +0000

What a minute. Didn’t you say they had them behind a counter not on sale on the shelf when you purchased yours? One way or another, they either not sell them today and fix the problem or sell them and have a bunch of completely pissed off non-techy people right now. There is no right answer but at least they are trying to fix it.

By: ColdSun

ColdSun — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 20:20:50 +0000

Technically, they did get ironed out before going to the shelves.

I purchased mine on Monday based on heresay that some Kohl’s had these but weren’t displaying them until today. That rumor got around, not just because of my big mouth, but others who are passionate about a nice LCD reader like me. When I got to Kohls it was firmly locked up behind customer service and they refused to sell it to me. I convinced them to let me buy it. Even so, I had to pay the $259 price to get it early (instead of the advertised price of $179. Technically, the device is advertised to be on sale today and therefor they stopped sales today to update the firmware. There have been a number of folks like me and Nate who received one before they should have.

I don’t see how this is a problem really. They were actually being honest and trying to help customers less “in the know” about firmware and technology by stopping the sales today. Had it been put on sale and the firmware had been simply not functioning at all then it would be much worse for them than their decision today. As it is, people are never happy. You just can’t win. :P

By: Nate the great

Nate the great — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 20:19:07 +0000

Actually, Chris, I have different reason why customers should be livid. It’s not the recall but the fact that Pandigital didn’t tell their customers about it. That alone is cause for concern.

But I do agree with the term half-baked. They should have held onto the Novel for at least another couple weeks.

By: Chris Davies

Chris Davies — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 20:15:26 +0000

Thanks for the feedback. I’m not looking to compare the Novel to the iPad – you and I know it’s a different beast. But, as you say, you’ve used many different tablets and mobile devices over the years; there are customers out there, picking the Novel off the shelf in Kohl’s because it looks interesting and “hey, it’s cheaper than that iPad thing” who don’t have the benefit of that degree of experience. What’s their first impression of it?

I wrote the article based on Nate’s original news; I updated it after more information became clear. There is an ongoing issue in this industry with the balance of timeliness, definitely, and I’d like to think we do our part in trying to correct ourselves where our initial information falls short, just as much as we’re occasionally at fault. You’re right that people read sites like SlashGear when they’re looking for information before making a purchase; sometimes those people have a solid grounding in whatever segment they’re looking at, like you do, and sometimes they’re complete novices. I’m very aware that people spend money in part based on what we write, and I take that responsibility seriously – as I said in my previous comment, unfortunately that sometimes means that products have more to live up to than perhaps you’d think at face value, because like the Novel they’re one of the first examples of a new niche.

This is a great example of why I love our readers, and why – even if they’re not always the most vocal! – when they speak up they bring real value to the conversation. Despite what you may think, I want the Novel to succeed; I just wish the firmware glitches had been ironed out before it got to shelves :)