HPad - The Color E-ink ereader
Hpad
Statistics show that the sale of Eink readers this year is more than the sale of colorful LCD readers. And the product with maximum customer satisfaction is Amazon Kindle. On one side, it is heartening to find that buyers are more focused on what they want to do with the product they buy and not get deceived by color. And there are always Apple iPad or Nook color to go for if you are not a serious reader and you need colorful multimedia with multi-functioning apps for browsing, playing or working anywhere anytime.
But who would not want if there releases an ereader which fills the gap between the boring yet vivid eink displays and the colorful yet straining color displays. Hanvon, a Chinese manufacturer has released the world’s first color eink reader, HPad A112, at the 2011 CES consumer trade show.
How it works
I couldn’t stop marveling at the rigid yet sleek design, thinner than the best selling kindle. With the same display size as Kindle DX (9.7 inches), you can’t see much control in the form of keys. All controls are on the touch screen making it very simple and straight-forward for navigation. This might be both an advantage and disadvantage. But like I feared, I read reviews saying that the touch performance was quite poor when we use our fingers forcing us to use only stylus to select. Despite having capacitive touch, I don’t understand why Hpad has this problem.
Do you really need a 3G?
With respect to connectivity, Hpad has all of Bluetooth, Wireless and 3G facility with 3G available on request. Having the 3G facility as an optional is really a wise idea, as it will reduce the cost for those who don’t need the anytime-anywhere net facility, while retaining all other high end functionalities.
Hpad features
HPad runs on both Android 2.2 or 2.3 which is an additional plus. And about the screen size, 7.83x4.96. Not bad at all!
Novel Network on HPad
Technology changes everyday. So are the products and accessories designed for that technology. But there is a website offering unlimited download of ebooks claiming compatibility with any ereader available and every ereader to be invented at a one-time initial payment of $50. The Novel Network is currently the best resorted service to download best ebooks cheap. All said it has some problems too. Consult friends or read reviews for Novel Network before you come into a conclusion.
HPad and its interface
Not just another ereader
And now looking at what the device does beyond an ebook, you can buy or download upto 5,000 apps from the Hanvon market. It has a 5 MP camera at the rear end and a 1.3 MP front end camera. With the wide enough display, the front camera would find a good use.