Hanlin V2 Electronic Book Reader Review

Hanlin V2 eReader Introduction

The Chinese office electronics manufacture Jinke is little-known, so how it has been toiling away to perfect their Hanlin line escapes many. But Jinke has been steadily boasting of bright and stable devices, and the Hanlin V2 is no exception. Yet it wasn't until the V2 model that Jinke stepped up to a touch screen capability. The Hanlin eReader V2's price tag of $349 leaves it on the higher end of the Hanlin line, but it's gaining quite a following for its ultra-portability, longer-lasting battery, and touch screen facility.

Features - Hardware and Software

The Hanlin eReader V2 has all the makings of a Hanlin: a 6-inch screen display, super convenient directory management, user-friendly interface, and multilingual capability, which has made Jinke's ereader line quite popular with international readers. It also boasts of the same brightness and performance stability Hanlin products are known for, but Jinke put a step forward with the V2 by adding touch screen capability.

The Hanlin V2's design is another jump in the ereader line. The gadget comes in a more stylish white or black casing and leather jacket to add extra protection from scratches and accidental drops. Gone are the clumsy-looking numeric keypads. Replacing them for menu and in-book navigation is a mini touchscreen slave display located below the screen display.

With more energy-efficient operations, the Hanlin eReader V2 has a provision for 9000 page turns - 2000 pages more than than the V3 and the V5.

Pros

With its stylish-looking outfit, it's quite a pleasure to bring the Hanlin eReader V2 around. Though heavier than the Hanlin V3 at 300g, it's still light enough to be carried anywhere, whether at your workplace, on vacation, or during travels. There's still the mp3 playback capability found in other Hanlin ereaders, which lets users listen to audiobooks or music, as well as support for multiple digital formats. Classifying and managing books is easy with the V2's multi-level folders system.

Cons

Jinke didn't add quite much to the Hanlin eReader V2. With no improvement in the grayscale level (4) or resolution (600 x 800 pixels), screen display looks ancient compared to the second and third generation models of rival ebook readers. Storage is still 512 MB, which is good for a thousand ebooks only, although it can support 20,000 additional ebook, photos, and music files via a 4GB external storage. Jinke hasn't addressed page turn issues as well, and with only 200 MHz processor, page turns are quite sluggish compared to rival devices boasting of 400 MHz processor or more. Figuring out how to perform certain functions, such as the built-in dictionary, can be difficult, and command menus are often replete with grammatical errors.

The Bottom Line

Jinke has added needed improvements to the Hanlin eReader V2. If you are looking for a unique, stylish-looking electronic book reader that is not as fancy as a touch screen or a full keyboard, the Hanlin eReader V2 is intuitive and gets the job done.

What's in the box:

o Hanlin eReader V2 with leather jacket
o Stylus
o 512 MB SD card
o Headphone
o User Manual

Main Features

o supports a wide range of formats
o battery life for 9000 page turns
o supports up to 4GB SD cards
o 4 grayscale levels
o USB interface

Key Features:

o Touch screen slave display
o readable indoors or outdoors
o low power mobile device

Bonus Features:

o Built-in dictionary
o plays music
o multi-level folders system

NOOK Vs Kindle Review - How To Choose The Best Reader!

Good technology should help conserve our ecosystem. Before you print any document, always ask yourself, "Do I need a hard copy?" To help save trees, you must make a resolve to ditch the paperbacks and opt to read eBooks. To this end, technology and scientific research brings to us the blessings of eBook readers. Kindle and NOOK are the most common eBook readers. However, customers find it hard to choose the best between the two. NOOK vs Kindle review will be an ultimate guide that will enable you to make an informed decision.

To date, Amazon has introduced 8 versions of Kindle. The latest versions are Kindle 2, Kindle 3, and Kindle DX. Kindle allows great connectivity to the internet. Additionally, it comes with internal storage. On the other hand, NOOK from Barnes & noble has an internal storage, in addition to an expandable microSD slot. As far as weight is concerned, Kindle weighs 0.63 pounds whereas NOOK weighs 0.75 pounds.

Kindle battery life is affected by wireless connectivity. If you are connected to a wireless hot spot, the battery will last for four days. If you are not, it lasts for fifteen days. When fully charged, NOOK battery lasts for 10 hours regardless of your wireless connectivity. The charging period of the two devices is approximately the same. Kindle takes about four hours to charge via a USB 2.0 cable while NOOK takes about three and a half hours to charge via the same cable.

The prices of these devises may vary depending on where you buy them. Therefore, it is difficult to give an exact pricing of either Kindle or NOOK. However, most experts argue that the standard price of Kindle is $189 while that of NOOK is $199.

The other additional features of Kindle include: 16 shade gray scale, 600 x 800 megapixels camera and an MP3 player. NOOK offers you an opportunity to choose between a 3G, or a Wi-Fi only version. One of the best features of NOOK is that it has a lend me application. This application enables you to lend certain books for a period of 14 days. Additionally, NOOK has a faster browser that allows for greater surfing.

These are the main technical features that are of prime importance should you choose to buy an eBook reader. They are fundamentals when it comes to deciding which of the two readers is superior.

Nook Color Review - A Look At the New Color Touch Screen Ebook Reader

Barnes and Noble has just released its new Nook Color, so that means it's time for a detailed Nook Color review. Is this a good product or just a strange hybrid between a tablet PC and an ebook reader? Let's take a detailed look at the new product and see what it is all about.

The "NC" has some very different features that differ from the original Nook, which is still available as a product from B and N.

The Nook Color Touch Screen- Obviously this is THE major difference between the original and color Nooks. It's equipped with a 7 inch color touch screen with "Vivid View" technology.

This screen is an IPS screen that shows over 16 million colors and allows for up to 178 degrees of viewing. This is the same technology used on the iPad, so if you have seen the iPad screen, then you know how the Vivid View screen looks. It also switches from upright mode to landscape when turning the device 90 degrees.

Social Reading Features- The NC comes with some features that take advantage of social media. You can share thoughts, lines from a book, favorite books, etc, through Facebook and Twitter.

Games and Apps- The NC comes with Sudoku, Chess, and Crossword puzzle games (3 games). Beyond the "Lend Me" and "Nook app" for PC and other phones, etc, Apps are still not a thing of the present with the Nook. But since it uses Google Android technology, there may be some new interest for developers.

Pandora Radio has jumped on the Nook bandwagon and offers their service on the device as well.

Lend Me App- The "Lend-me" app allows owners to lend books to friends and family who also have the app. Access to the app is more readily available to the user with the color touch screen.

Memory- The memory capacity is 8GB which allows for thousands of books, pictures, songs, etc.

Just For Kids- This new Nook section in Barnes and Noble offers a line of books that are for kids that work with the Nook Color. They are interactive to the touch and have the ability to be read to the child by selecting the feature.

battery Life- The battery life is only at 8 hours, compared to the 10-14 day battery life of the original Nook with E-Ink display.

Surfing the Web- It also allows for surfing the web (not with 3G, but wirelessly). So you can open the browser to visit sites and check your emails, as well as compose them.

All in all, the new Nook Color reviews well. It's a bold step for Barnes and Noble, and a much needed bold step at that.