Bless all those early adopters who are willing to pay money to field-test new products like this (and the original iPod/iPhone/iPad, etc). I don't like to buy anything without trying it out myself and seeing how it feels in my hands and so on. The one time I deviated from this I got the Witstech A81 which is a great device but came with many broken promises. My wife wants me to buy an Archos 70 or something similar right now so I can give her the A81. With iPhone Today on it it's pretty and more useful too.
The Adam looks great and will probably be a success but I'll wait until March or so before pulling the trigger on it. By then it might be in local stores with a reasonable return policy. Unless they've changed their policy you could be out 13% or so even if you get a DOA unit, something that will never fly with consumers. It's not my product until it's in my hands so if it's damaged in transit it's Notion Ink's property at that point and their burden not mine. Ah well.
As for the Color Nook: I took mine back to Best Buy. It's quite a bit larger than the Archos 70, even bigger than my A81 and much heavier as well at almost 16 ounces. If I wanted something that heavy I'd just get an iPad and have millions of apps and a bigger screen. It also didn't even let me change font or background colors on most of my documents, many of which are admittedly home-brewed or re-formatted for the Nook Color. I hate trying to read a very bright screen at night, it's distracting to others and not easy on my eyes either. Side-loading apps on it was also very impossible though this was probably my fault as I hadn't tried Android much before this.
Hoping the adam (lower case) succeeds so I can buy one next year.
