Cheap Alternatives to iPad, Even Cheaper than Dedicated eReaders – An eBook Angle

If you’re casual book reader, and don’t want or like eInk-based ereaders but can’t afford or don’t so much money on iPad, or you’re a gadget-lover and a Google Android fan, then you’ve something to choose from.

Can you remeber our reports on PanDigital Novel, an Android-based based 7-inch TFT color touch screen wifi ereader? Kohls and JCPenny had started selling the device below $200 price even before the official launch ofthe product. PanDigital has teamed up with B&N to make B&N ebooks available on Novel. The company is delaying the launch of the device todue some software gliches identified by people who purchased the product early. Apparently, Pandidgital has withdrawn Novel from market due to those gliches.

Do you want a similar kind of device? There is a way out. In fact Pandigital has made some software modification of generic devices made in China/HongKong and branded it as Novel Reader. Here I mention some devices with similar functionality like Novel except B&N store and ereader application is not on board:

EKEN M001

It’s a 7″ TFT LCD full touch screen built-in wifi device running Android 1.6. You can do all sorts of things that you can do with any Android phone. You can also install android applications from SD card or USB.

• CPU: VIA MW8505 (300MHz)
• 128MB DDR2 800MHz
• Screen Size:  7″ TFT LCD full touch screen
• Resolution: 800 * 480
• Support MP3 / Audio
• Format support AVI (Motion JPEG) / Video
• Format support WORD, EXCEL, MAIL & PDF READER, support VIDEO ONLINE
• Web video with the ICON/RAM
• Hard Disk: 2GB NADD FLASH, support most 16GB mobile HDD
• LAN: Ethernet 10/100M
• WIFI: 802.11B/G
• Slot list: 1 * SD card,  1 * 30pin USB port, 1 * 3.5mm Earphone Jack
• Audio: High-Fidelity stereo speaker output
• Price: $100 (free shipping)

For more information click here.

EKEN M002 (Wifi)

This is similar to the earlier one with improved quality.

• CPU: VIA VT8500(ARM926EJ-S)
• 128MB DDR2 800MHz
• Screen Size:  7″ TFT LCD full touch screen
• Resolution: 800 * 480
• Support MP3 / Audio
• Format support AVI (Motion JPEG) / Video
• Format support WORD, EXCEL, MAIL & PDF READER, support VIDEO ONLINE
• Web video with the ICON/RAM
• Hard Disk: 2GB NADD FLASH, support most 16GB mobile HDD
• LAN: Ethernet 10/100M
• WIFI: 802.11B/G
• Slot list: 1 * SD card,  1 * 30pin USB port, 1 * 3.5mm Earphone Jack
• Audio: High-Fidelity stereo speaker output
• Price: $120 (free shipping)

For more information click here.

EKEN M002 (3G)

This is 3G version of the previous one. However it has wifi as well.

• Processor: CPU600MHz + DSP600MHZ
• Processor frequency: 1.2GHz
• Memory: FAST EPC DDR 128MB
• Built-in: NandFlash 2G NAND FLASH
• Expansion of storage devices: TF card, Flash Drives
• LCD display: 7 “TFT touch screen, 800 × 480
• Internet support: WIFI wireless Internet access to support
• USB: 2X USB
• Audio: Built-in stereo speakers 0.5W × 2
• Battery: 3000mAH, 7.4V Li-ion batteries, built-in
• Power adapter: 110 or 240V Input, 9V DC Output, 2A
• Games/Applications: Download large quantity of applications and games
• Editing tools: QUICKOFFICE
• Price: $174 (free shipping)

For more information click here.

EKEN M003

This one has 8 inch touch screen. CPU speed is 533MHZ. Most of the things similar to other devices.

Price: $165 (free shipping)

For more information click here.

My Experience

I can share with my personal experience with using one of these devices. I recently purchased EKEN M002 wifi-only version at $120. And I was able to install a lot of third-party applications. Remember, all there devices do not support official Android Market. In other words you can either download cracked application from internet, and get third-party applications and install them from SD card or USB. There are some third-party app stores like AndAppStore, SlideMe that you can install so that without USB or SD card you can download apps on the device and install them.

I was able to download Kindle for Android from internet and install it on the device. I was able to register the device with Amazon account and download ebooks easily. That’s the fan part. Viola! I don’t need a Kindle now.

Here is the screenshoot:

And you know probably by now that Aldiko is the best ereader for Android devices. You can download free public domain books from feedbook, or purchase books from O’reilly and smashwords on the device. Here you see some screenshoot of Aldiko:

Okay, now some screenshoots showing my applications I installed:

Brian Eno: 77 Million Paintings

Innergie 2.1 Amp Pocket Cell Portable Pocket Rechargeable Battery and Charger for USB Devices, iPhone 4, iPad, Kindle, Mobile Phones - Includes 3-in-1 USB Cable with Mini USB, Micro USB and Apple 30-pin Connectors (TBP3000A)

Çilekes Yavrum

Le Pan TC 970 9.7-Inch Multi-Touch LCD Google Android Tablet PC

7" Android 4.0 OS Cortex A10 5 Point Capacitive Touchscreen Tablet PC Google 3G WiFi MID, Support G-sensor HDMI 1080P 3D video 4GB NandFlash (Black)

Tagged as: EKEN, iPad alternative, Tablet PC