eBook readers for Pandigital Novel

After I successfully installed the Android version of the Pandigital Novel firmware, I have been really enjoying this device. I just don't particularly like the pre-installed Barnes & Noble app. It does not have a way to open files on the SD card without first going through a lengthy import process. Plus, the fonts don't look all that great.

Now, as you may or may not know, Pandigital Novel uses Android 1.5 which is rarely supported by Android developers. After a long search I was able to find an app called Laputa which had better fonts, but the interface seemed rather strange to me. Today I decided to see if anything has changed in the recent month. Turns out, the highly-rated FBReader app is now available in an Android 1.5 version. You have to go to developer's site to get it (http://www.fbreader.org/FBReaderJ/). Nicer fonts and other controls, but most importantly a build-in file manager. Now I can open FBReader, navigate to whatever file I need on the SD card and start reading it right away! There are some features that are only useful for Russian speakers, but that is often the case with mobile devices apps.
I have to add that it is nice to have all three apps on my Pandigital Novel - this way I can read three books independently, without having to reopen them all the time. That's just the kind of reader I am...

Pandigital Novel firmware update problem solved

When I first got the Pandigital Novel (2gb black model) it came with a notice in the package advising the user to upgrade the firmware. I went to the website and downloaded the required updated program, followed the steps and discovered that no matter what I do the firmware version remains the same. It almost looked as if something was wrong with the device. When Pandigital came out with a new version of the firmware that promised to turn it into a fully functional Android tablet I decided to try my luck again. Same results. Finally, someone suggested that instead of the default version of the firmware that the official updated comes up with I choose the "Polaris" update from the drop-down menu. To my amazement this worked. More importantly, when the system was installing the update the version listed was actually the same exact one that the updater tried to install before. So, now I have a nice little Android tablet. This is no iPad, of course, but still very cool and useful.

Toshiba 40FT1U review and manual

Just got a new Toshiba 40FT1U at Costco. An excellent 40'' 1080p set! I liked the picture quality the most out of a number of comparable TVs. There is only one feature that this TV does not have, but I must admit that it's more a legacy device issue than anything else. There is no coaxial audio out, only optical. Probably fine for most modern home theaters, but not for mine. This means that I will not be able to feed surround sound broadcast audio into my home theater. My BluRay player has coaxial out, so I will feed it directly into the home theater system.

As usual, Costco tries to hide the actual model number of this television, for fear that consumers will find the same products for less at other stores. I only buy my TVs from Costco, because their no-hassle 2-year warranty is simply outstanding. But if you want to research 40FT1U some more you only need to know that this is pretty much the same model as Toshiba 40E200U.

Toshiba 40E200U pdf manual