The Pandigital Novel is one of the cheaper digital readers on the market today with an Amazon price point of only $38.
Admittedly, it doesn’t have all the cool features and color screen that you would get with full-fledged tablets such as the Kindle Fire and others, but it certainly is much cheaper than many of the other devices on the market.
For $38, you get a digital reader with a six-inch touch- display set at a resolution of 600 x 800.
The tablet is also equipped with 2 GB of storage, a memory card slot for expansion, integrated Wi-Fi, and support for multiple book formats and audio.
By default, the Novel runs a Linux-based operating system boasting an interface specifically designed for reading.
If you happen to own a Novel, be aware that a number of modders out there are working on expanding the capabilities of the cheap digital reader.
Indeed, a member of the Slatedroid forum known as “geert” recently posted a guide with some early hacks for the Novel. Basically, the hacks involve connecting the device to a Linux-based PC and enabling serial access to the reader.
Once you have serial access enabled, you will be able to configure telnet access to the Novel and set up an FTP server. Meanwhile, another member of that same forum going by the name “terminander” has figured out how to flash a system image to the device – opening the door to install alternative operating systems such as Android.
Theoretically, it could be possible for users to run a custom ROM on the Novel without overwriting the software that comes installed on the reader out-of-the-box. That hack also opens the door to allow the device to run book formats other than those installed by default.
