I've (mostly) grown out of the habit of tearing down things which are currently useful, and tend to wait until they reach their natural end before poking them with sharpened metal.

In late 2009, I purchased the Elonex E511EB from Waterstones. My review of it on this blog was incredibly popular - with over 250 comments!

As much as I loved the 511EB, it is well past its useful lifespan. I've since got a nook and my wife has a Kindle. The Elonex still works, but it's a little slow and clunky. So - time to break out those screwdrivers and see if I can reuse the eInk screen for something else.

After unscrewing the back and cracking off the case, this is what I found (click the images to embiggen them).

The board, made by Hanvon, runs Windows CE, and appears to be cobbled together from the most random of parts. Here's a close up of it

This really is a Frankenstein's monster of a device. Despite having no wireless capabilities, there's space for an antenna! The ribbon connector clip doesn't attach to anything.

In fact, of the three ribbon connectors present, only the one on the left is connected to anything! I assume the large empty space is for a WiFi / 3G modem to be coupled to the antenna and the smaller ribbon latch. Perhaps the one on the right is for a touchscreen digitizer?

To the left of the board is a random switch. It doesn't appear to be connected to anything else. It's not even accessible when the device is assembled.

The speakers are fairly cheap and don't hide anything of importance.

For the chip nerds among you, this is what's driving the engine:

The CPU is the Ingenic JZ4740. Interestingly, this chip is perfectly suited to running Linux. Which makes Hanvon's decision to run Windows CE all the more bizarre.

The eInk controller is the Epson D135211B2. According to this Chinese hacker's website, that's the same version of controller used to work the Kindle's eInk screen.

Connecting the eInk screen to the board is this component from Ichia.

The board itself has very tiny torx screws holding it in place. Once removed, they reveal:

Nothing of consequence.

What To Do With The Screen?

So, I have an 800*600 eInk screen, in reasonable condition, just begging to be put to good use.

Some clever people, like Matthew Petroff, have turned their Kindles into amazing displays - but that relies on the Kindle having a network connection. As does the amazing Kindleberry project which links the Kindle to a Raspberry Pi.

The 511EB is dumb. Dumb as a box of rocks. There's no networking, so that's out. The system is capable of displaying PNGs, but that would require mounting the internal memory, uploading, unmounting, rebooting, and automatically opening an image. Not feasible.

So, what I want to see is if it's possible to control the eInk screen directly from something like the Raspberry Pi.

The screen connector is the ED050SC3(LF) It's the same screen used for lots of 5 inch PVI displays.

Now, all I need to do is find some (simple) way to drive the screen. Any bright ideas, people?

Click for bligger

First up, the obligatory unboxing video. Don't worry - it's short!

First Impressions

I've only had a few hours to play with the Kindle - so these are my initial findings.

Web Browsing on the Kindle

The Bad

Let's start with what I dislike about it...

• It's a little too big to hold in one hand. It just sits wrong. I'm sure I'll be able to get used to it, but it is a little uncomfortable.
• The UI is messy. There are a lot of options there - far more than the 511EB - but too little thought has gone in to the UI. It's easy enough to read on, but navigating books and features is a bit confusing.
• Speaking of the UI - I can find no way of changing the lock screen image. It also took me ages to switch off the annoying "annotations".
• The keyboard is atrocious. Whereas the 511EB has no great need of a keyboard - at least the keys are well defined and feel pleasant to use. The Kindle isn't in the same league as the ZX81 "dead flesh" keyboard - but it's pretty repellent. There are also no number keys despite plenty of space.
• No ePub support.

The Good

• The screen. Wow. Just.... fucking wow! Bigger and brighter than the 511EB. The whites are whiter. The 16 level grey-scale does wonders for images.
• The speed of screen refresh. Again... amazingly fast. With the 511EB I got used to hitting the "next" button just as I got to the last line of text. The Kindle blows this away. Super fast.
• The back has a rubber coating - stops it from slipping and is enjoyably tactile.
• Build quality. It's a little flexible, but it doesn't emit the creaks and groans of the 511EB's plastic frame.
• Start-up speed is instant. It's running Linux, not Windows CE - so it doesn't need to be switched off when you're done with it.

The... Weird...

• Amazon could learn a trick or two from Apple in terms of presentation. The box the Kindle comes in is needlessly large.
• The power cable is white. So is the plug. A little odd for a black book, no? Sure, Kindle users aren't likely to be as aesthetically precious as Apple devotees - but a bit of consistency doesn't hurt.
• 
• The UI is going to take a lot of getting used to...

Conclusion

It's too early to be certain - but this is in the running for my new favourite device ever. Converting all my ePubs to Kindle will be a bit of a chore - but Calibre should do most of the heavy lifting.

I'll need to throw some hefty PDFs and files with weird characters in them, but so far, it's doing a sterling job.

The size and weight aren't a huge issue - especially compared to a paperback - but there's no denying Amazon haven't done themselves any favours there. The UI is either so rubbish that I'll rewrite it or something which will fade into the background.

The 3G is a mixed blessing. The WhisperNet method of wirelessly buying and trying books is astonishing. But I'm worried I'll be tempted into web browsing when I ought to be reading.

Overall? Pretty close to perfect.

Our testing personal are testing the new firmware of n520,and the above question you metioned will be soluted by this new firmware, and it will be provided in one or two weeks .

The N520 is the original name of the 511EB.

I also sent emails to Waterstone's and Elonex, asking about the bugs with the device. Waterstone's rather unhelpfully said...

Thank you for taking the time to write to us. I have looked into your query and regrettable you would have to contact Elonex in order to enquire as to their firmware release updates. I sincerely apologise that we have been unable to resolve this noted issue on your behalf. I hope this information has helped with your enquiry.

Elonex haven't even bothered to respond. Please call or email Elonex and ask them when they will release the new firmware. While the N520 firmware should work with the 511EB, there's no guarantee that it will.

Previous blog posts about the 511EB

• Review Part 1
• Review Part 2
• Firmware Update

So, why am I abandoning Elonex?

Simply put - Elonex abandoned me. Their staff and website promised updates which never came. We're not just talking about additional features - there are some serious bugs in the device. They ignored emails when people complained about faulty devices - as, it would appear, did Waterstones.

In short, their business model was BOPO. Buy One and Piss Off. No customer support. No attempt to buy loyalty. No thinking of a long term investment.

Last year, the price of the EB511 was fairly competitive. It still sells in Maplin for £150 - that's around half the price of some Sony models.

Yet the Kindle has the same price point, comes with 3G and - most importantly - customer support.  Software which seems regularly updated.  And it is backed by a company who don't treat customers with outright disdain.

Elonex could have made a huge impact in the budget eBook market - but their attitude to customers has put me off buying any of their products.

The Kindle is not all roses, though.  There are some potential downsides.

• ePub - the most popular ebook format isn't supported.  The eBook management software Calibre can convert the files into a suitable format.
• Over enthusiastic use of DRM - potentially to remove books you've already bought.
• Lack of expandable storage.  Only 3GiB.  I say "only" - because that's more books than you could hope to read in a lifetime.

I'm sure there are some other issues which will surface over time. But for now, count me among one of the faithful. Kindle - HERE I COME!

V0.47 was released on 12th March 2010. The previous firmware (V0.41) was released on 18th January 2010. The next release should include note taking functionality.

You may be interested in part 1 and part 2 of my review.

This firmware update resolves some issues when processing very large eBooks, word wrapping issues and some minor bugs with symbols. You can now mount the eBook on Linux - I don't know about Mac. It also adds a new menu item "Digital Editions" for any DRM'd eBooks you may have rented.

New features!

Search with ePubs.
Jump directly to chapters within ePubs (Menu - See List).
Search within PDFs.
The system font looks clearer to me.
The default font is smaller and clearer
Auto Shutdown is can now be set to 40 minutes, 60 minutes or never.
Let me know in the comments if you spot any more!

So, how do you install the new firmware?

1. Download the .zip file from Elonex.
2. Unzip the file - there will be two files inside update.bin and update.cde.
3. Plug your 511EB into your computer via the USB cable (or insert the microSD card into your computer)
4. Place these two files in the root directory of your SD card.  This means the very top directory.
   

   Root Folder

5. Unmount the eReader or SD card.  Place the microSD card back in the reader.
6. From the main menu of your 511EB go to "5 Settings"
7. Press the right arrow twice, then the down arrow twice so you're on "System Maintenance".
   

   511EB System Maintenance Screen

8. Press "1" to update the firmware.
9. Here's a video of what happens
10. Your reader is now updated!

I updated from the orignal software, which was

System ver: 2.21

Software ver: 0.35

My eReader now shows

Hardware ver: 2.21

System ver: 0.47

Software ver: 0.47

If you have any problems, you can call Elonex on 0871 222 3456

Run VT, Errol!

Startup Screen

Click to download full size

I've set my startup screen to show my phone number and email address. Combined with the startup password, it's a fairly simple way to protect your device and hopefully get it back if lost. Of course, all of your books can be taken from the SD card - so make sure you've got a backup!

Click on the above image to download the file. Edit it to show your details then save it to the root directory of your SD card as "start.jpg". Unplug your reader and press "5" Settings. Press the right arrow twice. Press down twice to select "System Maintenance". Then press "3" Startup Pic. If it has found the file, press enter to confirm. You can always change your image again to anything you like.

Screen Refresh

The refresh rate is extremely fast. This is because it uses a "Partial" refresh rather than the traditional "Global" refresh. The advantage of this is speed, and you don't get the momentary inverted screen that you do on other readers. The disadvantage is that you can - if you look very very closely - see the faint trace of an after-image. You can just about make out the ghosts of previous letters. Even after 50 page turns, they aren't distracting - but you can hit the refresh button on the keyboard to make them go away. You can also go into the settings menu and set the screen refresh to "Global".

Bugs

• Some have noticed that the 511EB displays Chinese characters where it should be displaying accented European characters like á - this is due to the way files are saved. If they are in UTF-8 format, all characters display correctly.

• The typesetting is a little off. It doesn't force a hyphen into words like a traditional book (this is a good thing), but it breaks the line at any punctuation.

As you can see, when I say " That's a nice book." the line wraps at the wrong place. It' s slightly annoying.

• On the default set of books, some of the words run together. It's arguable whether this is a bug in the book file or the reader - either way, it should have been fixed during QA before release.
• Searching for books works, but looks like it doesn't. Because there are no numbers by the files, it's not immediately obvious what you have to do in order to select them. The search box takes up the first two "rows", so to select the first book it finds, press "3". For the second, press "4" - and so on.
• Text-To-Speech is a nice gimmick, searching within a book is very useful. Yet they're both absent from PDFs and the hugely popular EPUB formats. I cannot fathom it. They're both rendered as text on the screen - so what's stopping the reader from searching and speeking?
• Mac and Linux compatibility. This is a Windows CE device - but there's no reason for it not to work on other operating systems. If a simple card reader from PoundLand can work, there's no reason why this cannot. Removing the card isn't hard, but it's an annoyance for those of us not on Windows.
• The keyboard is slightly wasted. There is no note taking facility. The password screen only accepts numbers. Yes, it works, but it could be so much more. The placement of the Delete key is odd. It's next to the spacebar. I'm used to the delete key being above the enter key. On this model, that's the cancel key. So, rather than deleting a character, I often find myself cancelling.
• The Title Bar shows the title of the book you're reading. Fair enough. But it truncates it for no apparent reason. So, if your book is titled "Lewis Caroll - Alice in Wonderland", all you'll see is "Lewis Caroll - A..."
• The truncating is present on the Bookcase. If your books are titled "Cory Doctorow - Ander's Game" and "Cory Doctorow - After the Siege", all you'll see is "Cory Doctorow - A..." - good luck working out which is which! The solution is to save books in folders. So, for example, I have

|-- e_book | |-- Cory Doctorow | | |-- Ander's Game.txt | | |-- After the Siege.epub | |-- Lewis Caroll | | |-- Alice in Wonderland.txt | | |-- Alice Through the Looking Glass.epub

• PDF zoom. PDF is a rubbish format for an ebook. The page paradigm really doesn't work when you're on a screen. When the 511EB zooms in to a PDF, the page down button litterally takes you to the next page - not the next part of the page you're on. You have to use the arrow keys to scroll around the page.

Finally, there's no screen rotation. To be honest, this isn't a feature I'd ever use - but some people like to have it.

Conclusion

As I said before, this is a cheap and cheerful ebook reader. The speed of page turning speed is impressive. EPUBs and PDFs work well, but missing some of the extra features like searching and Text-To-Speech. It handles large files - although performance takes a slight hit. The build quality is what you would expect, a bit cheap and plasticy. But it only weighs 190 grammes. The quality of the keyboard is sufficient and the display is as good as any other eReader.

A Word on Waterstone's

Given the number of bugs (admittedly, fairly minor) it seems odd that Waterstone's are heavily promoting this model. My local shop has 3 rather prominent displays. To dedicate so much space without even testing the unit takes some bravado. They have taken over half of their window display.

511EB in the window of Waterstone's

They have a whole book case devoted to the unit.

Heavily Promoted

They're also putting it up against the much more expensive Sony eReaders.

Dummy Model

Yet they're not as committed to this as you may think. There are no working models on display. With the Sonys, you can try them out, see if they're fast enough, explore their menus - the lowly 511EB gets a cardboard dummy.

The majority of questions people have asked me could have been answered by having a working model. The Waterstone's website is also full of people asking basic questions. Questions which really should have been preemptively answered on the site. I've registered with the site so I can answer some of them, but a device like this deserves more information up front. Elonex - the reseller of this device from Hanvon - have committed to firmware updates. I hope, for Waterstone's sake, that they come out quickly and regularly. Otherwise, Waterstone's will face a lot of angry customers and will set back the progress of eReader adoption.

Ebook readers are the latest in a long line of "written-word" technology. From clay tablet to papyrus to the printing press, humans have always found better ways of displaying words. The latest innovation is e-Ink. A remarkable material which simulates the look and feel of paper - but where the display is controlled by microelectronics.

As a book lover, I've been eager to get my hands on a Kindle, or nook, or Sony eReader - but they're all prohibitively expensive. Until now. Waterstones - a leading book retailer in the UK - has started selling the Elonex 511EB. An eReader with the retail price of £129.99. Now, that's not quite as cheap as paper - but it's around half the cost of the Kindle.

Unboxing

The Elonex 511EB.

You also get a quickstart quide, a USB cable and iPhone-esque white earphones. The device comes with a 4GB micro SD card (Sandisk branded) - enough for around 8000 books. There are 100 free eBooks included - you can also download them directly from Elonex.

What's In The Box

Cost

I won a £20 Waterstones voucher in the Times' Cheltnam Microfiction Competition - so the cost for me was £110. You can also sign up to Waterstones' loyalty card - which will net you 389 points. That's £3.89 off any subsequent purchase.  At a shade over £100 it's certainly the cheapest eReader I've found.  It lacks some of the features of its high-priced cousins - no wireless, no touch screen, smaller screen.  But, to my mind, that's not a problem.

Features

Here's a run-down of some of the more interesting features of the device.

• Text-to-speech.  A synthetic voice will read in English, Mandarin or Cantonese.  The voice can be set to male or female.  It's not the best TTS I've encountered, but it's adequate.
• Memo recorder. As well as a QWERTY keyboard for you to write your own novel on, there's a built in microphone so you can record any thoughts you might have.
• Format support.  The device will render TXT, HTXT(?), HTML, PDF, ePub and DOC.  It admits that complex DOC and PDF may not render correctly.  It has Adobe Digital Editions support should you wish to read a DRM'd eBook.
• SDHC.  The device comes with a 4GB microSD card and will take up to 32GB.  That's probably more books than you could read in a lifetime - but leaves plenty of room for...
• Music playback. MP3, WAV and WMA. It doesn't say what bitrates etc it supports.  No support for OGG, which is a disappointment.  The two speakers on the back are loud enough - but aren't going to be replacing your HiFi.  The headphone socket is a standard 3.5mm jack.
• 

  MP3 Screen

• Picture support for JPG, TIFF, PNG, GIF and BMP.  Obviously it's only a black and white screen with 8 levels of grey.  You can set one of your images to be the start-up screen.
• Security. You can set a password if you're worried about it being lost or stolen.
• The screen is 800*600 at 170dpi.  The refresh rate seems a mite quicker than the more expensive screens - but only a mite.
• The device shows as a mass-storage device when plugged in to a computer - so there's no software to install on your Mac or PC. I did have some troubles with Linux - see the bugs section.
• There's a lock button at the top.  It also has the usual array of eReader functions - bookmarks, text search, remembering your last position, font size changing.  It comes with two built in fonts - Arial and Times.
• Lots of settings to play around with.

Bugs

For a device this cheap, there are bound to be one or two gremlins.  There's support in the device for firmware upgrade - so hopefully Elonex will fix them.  Incidentally, eReaders like this usually run Linux.  There's no mention of it on the box and Elonex doesn't link to any GPL'd sources - so maybe it's running a totally custom OS. Update! Pdurrant at the MobileRead forums notes that this is a rebadged version of the WISEreader N520 - a device made by Hanvon and running WinCE 5.0.

Firstly, it doesn't seem to handle non-standard characters very well. The "é" in "Les Misérables" is rendered as Chinese character. (The text is a lot more crisp than my scanner can show)

Character Encoding Bug

Text doesn't flow very well in text files. It takes all the line breaks a literal breaks in the text - as you can see here.

Text Flow Bug

This is particularly bad in HTML as you can see here.

Alicehastextflowissues

When we take a look at the HTML, we can see the issue.

Alice's Adventures in HTML

The line breaks here are ignored which leads words to run in to each other. This is the fault of the HTML file - but this shouldn't have got through quality control.

Linux support. I'm one of those crazy people who runs Ubuntu Linux. The 511EB should just show as a USB drive when plugged in. It doesn't. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I can't get it to show up. The SD card is removable so you can get access to the files that way.

File System

It's a little inconvenient - but it did lead me to this discovery...

Beneath a rubber flap is the microSD card and a rather strange looking port. It may well be a micro USB connector - the new standard for charging mobile phones - or it could be something proprietary.

micro usb?

There's no manual. Most of the features are self explanatory - but for those who don't like exploring a device, it wouldn't have been any effort to include a manual on the device.

Verdict

This is a great device.  It is missing a few of the features of the Kindle - but at this price point, who cares?  Sure, no one wants to throw away £100 - but if you left this on a train, you wouldn't be half as upset as if you'd lost an eReader costing £250.

The e-Ink screen is made by Prime View International - they're the same company who make Sony's eReader screens.  So the quality of the screen is really good.  It has a crisp display - once you've set the fonts to your preference - and a quick refresh rate.  Like all e-Ink screens, it can be read in direct sunlight.  There's no backlight, so you'll need a torch if you want to read under the covers.

There are a few bugs - but they're not show stoppers.  Hopefully there will be some updates to the firmware.

If all it did was display text - it would be a bargain.  Considering it plays music, has text-to-speech, has a full keyboard for note taking AND a microphone, it's a lot of kit for very little cash.

I haven't exhaustively used the device - so I may be missing something that's important to you.  Please leave a comment if you'd like to know anything specific about it.

Waterstones

I'm a little disappointed to have to write this review.  But the information on Watersons' website is woefully inadequate.  Would it have been too much effort to link to a manual, explain what file formats it supported, or had several pictures of the device?  I bought this from a physical store where they didn't even have a working device on display - only a cardboard model.  If retailers are serious about selling high-tech kit, they need to ensure that all the information a customer needs is available to them.

Who would spend over £100 on a device without first seeing a detail spec-sheet? I hope this review has given you enough information to make your mind up about this device.

Read part 2 of the review.