Pandigital Novel Android eReader on clearance for $59.99 at Kohl’s B&M only YMMV

SKORPI0 said:   Thanks for the post. Local Kohl's (Orland Park, IL)has 44 NIB according to the associate I asked. He was not sure if price will still be the same Saturday since they will be changing prices tomorrow. Paid $59.99+tax since I had no coupon in hand. I'll try the PM with BBB later.

They also had a Sharper Image Literati Reader for $75.00/was $199.99.

This thing is a brick and a piece of junk. On Saturday, it will probably be $49.99 Save your money...I played with it for a few days, realized it's many limitation, and just returned it!

GoJets said:   

This thing is a brick and a piece of junk. On Saturday, it will probably be $49.99 Save your money...I played with it for a few days, realized it's many limitation, and just returned it!

I wouldn't even think of paying $199.99 for this, but at $59.99 good enough for me. I'll be trying the hack later on, which I heard improves it a little bit. With Kohl's return policy it would be no problem bringing it back.

Just got 3 in Ramsey NJ, and let me tell you I got %30 off for opening a Kohls credit line and another %30 off a bunch more crap I bought.

Fact. These are RTV (return to vendor). Fact the general manager in Clifton NJ lied to me and said none were left. Today I found out that they have about 35 left.

Best chance of getting it is I hate to say but call and ask real nice. Ask for customer service, do not ask for a manager as they may tell you 'no way jose'

The lady who hooked me up said as I left that they had more but the manager wouldn't sell anymore because of the RTV and for me she just made an exception. I would not have called but I went to 4 Kohls yesterday.

BTW they were not on the floor at all, they were in the back.

Hey whoever is dissing this must be thinking they are getting some high end device. They are thinking wrong. The thing is decent for what it is.

To anyone dissing it, hack it first then report back. If you still have crap to talk then show me something that my 15 yo niece can take with her to starbucks and surf the web, read books and even run some apps on for $100 or less cause I want to see it.

These are great for kids. My 3yr and 5y old each have their own with tons of kids apps on it. And they are learning it very fast and stay busy for hours. For the price you cannot beat it. The toy laptop's cost $30.

my local store manager says they were all returned to the manufacturer after Christmas when I went to the store. I called them the next day and they have the Aluratek Libre 2gb for 59$ ( the reviews say this is a piece of junk). Then I called the store nearest to our city (2 hrs). They had 17 of them on hold for a customer. I called them again now and they say it's back to regular price of 199$. Weird price!

littleswallow said:   mjkane1 said:   Also, for those of you picking up one of these, be sure to look for the matching gel cover to go with it. I just got one, the price tag on it says $25, but it's also on clearance for $7.49.
Do you have the SKU number for the cover? Thanks.

Sure, UPC is 843967032659 for the black gel cover.

I think that if you are planning on hacking it and installing a custom rom, this is an awesome find - as modders tend to fix some of the major flaws of devices like this. If you're planning on using it out-of-box, it's a piece of crap.

whats the best rom to run on these?

protomind said:   whats the best rom to run on these?
I feel as of today, this one works best: http://www.slatedroid.com/index.php?topic=14033.0

I got the white PDN. I am trying to do the flashing as detailed here. But Marketplace app is not working I am getting 'A server error has occurred. Retry, or cancel'. If android market is not working, this thing is of no use.
Can anybody please help me here. Thanks in advance.
oakind said:   I have been flashing my reader with various hacks for the last week and found one that works GREAT !
Jackbox 3.0.1 http://www.slatedroid.com/index.php?topic=8993.0
There is a looong tread on SD that goes into the flashing of various mods and I found this to be the best- so far.

It does away with the B&N home screens and it is a straight Android reader with Google Market Place - and the reader is FAST. The thing screams- unlike the stock version of the software.

To flash Jackbox you'll need to flash 2 times with different zip files, but it only takes 5 minutes.

From SD:
I basically followed the instructions listed here - http://www.slatedroid.com/index.php?topic=8993.0
To summarize:
1. If you're flashing from stock firmware make sure both internal and external sd cards are empty.
2. Flash the recovery image by downloading this zip file (http://www.mediafire.com/?81n35z8shdf3484), placing the zip on your sd card, powering down the Novel, and restarting by holding the power switch and the volume up button for 5 seconds.
3. Flash the desired firmware version (e.g. I used Version 3.0.1) by downloading this zip file (http://www.mediafire.com/?qzezkwydlt60d3r), clearing your external sd card, placing the zip on your sd card, powering down the Novel, and restarting by holding the power switch and the volume up button for 5 seconds.

Try this flash- you'll love it !!

Any point in trying to go check for one now or is it likely they were shipped back today?

Boochi said:   I got the white PDN. I am trying to do the flashing as detailed here. But Marketplace app is not working I am getting 'A server error has occurred. Retry, or cancel'. If android market is not working, this thing is of no use.
Can anybody please help me here. Thanks in advance.

From the load instructions in the link Zero7 provided (which seems to be a different firmware from what you're using, but the symptoms sound close enough that it's worth trying to see if it fixes things for you):

You will have to fiddle with market a little to get it working. Run market, and enter the google account you want to use. Then run market again, you will get the server error. Now enter a second google account in Settings, Accounts & Sync, go back and try market, it should come up OK on the old market. Exit market, and give it a couple minutes as it will be updating to the new market, then try again and you should see the new format. This process has worked for me every time. (I am unclear if it would be safe to just pop the new Vending.apk in the firmware now or if it has to go through it's upgrade process...)

I hope that this helps!

went and asked the store here in atlanta, they were laughing and said, its all sold out.
tried BBB and they the upc is different, so can't price match.

Thanks OP. I paid $122.42 back in September for mine. Went in today to do a price adjust. Girl told me they only can price adjust within 14 days. But I could return and rebuy at the new price. So $122.42-$15 rebate-$20 Kohls Cash-$58.53 refund(today) = $29.04 including tax. Can't beat it. Already been hacked to the Open Platform with Market. Nice tablet for <$30.

7 left in Chattanooga after my purchase.

Found another reason why calling isn't a good idea. I went into the Kohl's on 130 in Hamilton, NJ today and found one left on the shelf. When I went to purchase, the cashier saw the price and asked if there were any more left. I told him it was the last one and he pointed out the great price to another cashier. The second cashier stated that she was surprised that I had found one, since she couldn't find any earlier in the day after looking for one for somebody who had called the store. Kohl's doesn't have any permanent location for items like this. I've found them in menswear, in aisles and in with picture frames (like today) over the last month. This same Kohl's had a number of them by the shoe department before christmas and now they were in the opposite corner of the store. Even if the employees aren't out to steal a deal, they might not be giving out accurate information.

kinji5 said:   Has anyone else feel that the screen flex more in the middle? feels like there is a top layer that makes it feel soft when taping with finger nails. If I hold it flat and looking at it from the side, I can see the top layer flex.Yes. Both mine, which I returned, and my colleagues were that way...That's what you get for a cheap unit!

fidget13a said:   Do yo mean ..if this is hacked.......that it can be used in a wifi area and access the internet? My wife would not just want something to read books on. She wants a "toy" to play with.

Thanks for the help

Perhaps you should look at this thread for the "toy" here

haha..sorry..couldn't help it!

Some asshole bought 12 of these, according to the girl I spoke with on my way home, right before I got there.

There were 2 left, and a bunch of losers milling around eyeing them as I looked at them.

I was unimpressed with this cheap POS from a build quality perspective, and after watching some youtube videos on them from my HTC G2 - so I left them for the buzzards to feast on.

Shezam said:   kinji5 said:   Has anyone else feel that the screen flex more in the middle? feels like there is a top layer that makes it feel soft when taping with finger nails. If I hold it flat and looking at it from the side, I can see the top layer flex.Yes. Both mine, which I returned, and my colleagues were that way...That's what you get for a cheap unit!

Actually, that's what you get with a resistive touch screen. It is made that way. Its that flexible top layer touching the layer beneath it that registers a touch. This is also what causes the slightly blurred appearance of the screen.