Engadget Reviews the Notion Ink Adam

[tompe]

Originally Posted by leebase

Can I say I told you so now? There was just no way a garage startup in India was going to be able to compete with the iPad. Anyone can create a spec list, but we are nowhere close to tablets being able to be thrown together with commodity parts ala the PC world. Anyone who thought differently was deluded

No Android tablet maker can currently compete with iPad. So your argument is pretty weak since for example Motorola cannot compete with iPad.

The hardware in the Adam seems to be good. The screen is a compromise but that was well known that it would be. The small amount of reading I have done on my Adam shows that it works perfectly OK for me. I also have en iPad 2 since a couple of days and I did not find reading on that better then reading on the Adam. And the Adam actually works better than the ipad if you read in very strong light.

[RockdaMan]

Other companies can indeed compete on hardware right now or in the very, very near future. It's just that it will take Google and others longer to rev their software up to the same level as iOS and to get it's app ecosystem up to the same level.

Apple isn't standing still, and neither are any of the competitors. Of note, many seem to release unfinished hardware in an effort to get into the market quickly, instead of polishing them to a high degree.

This could in turn sour users on tablet hardware.

[rhari79]

Engadget is known to be overly critical of non-Apple products. Their main cribs are usually valid, but not to the point of being unusable trash. They are just compromise points. With Apple stuff you still have to compromise a lot.

But i agree, Ipad is the best tablet out there. No question about it.

Managed to buy an Adam very recently from someone who fell for ipad2.

I have seen Advent Vega and Archos mid-range tablets and the Adam is much much better than these in build(it also costs more though).

I prefer the form factor of Ipad over the Adam. Feel its too narrow.

Apart from that the most glaring issues are (some maybe due to the Beast 2.1.3 am using):

1. No touch/light for the capacitative buttons. This is a stupid omission. At night am just groping in the dark for touch points.

2. Microsd and probably usbdisks are not recognised if they dont have a name. simple to fix, but very irritating when you pop in a card in a remote area.maybe due to the firmware.

3. Power button is Kindle type slider, but feels more feebler. Would be better if it was a push button type. less prone to failure.

4. Am used to Apple's ultra-superior touch screens. None of the others come close to this. Hence Adam is a little difficult to handle. Sometimes feels like a resistive screen. The corners are little insensitive.

My Adam is for personal use. So viewing angles are a non-issue. I wanted a non-bright screen and i got something quite close to that.

My general feeling about the software is, unless you are in cahoots with Google, getting android to work correctly is impossible.
I have personally used Archos, Dell and now Adam and all seem to have bugs.
In general It seems only HTC/Motorola and maybe Samsung owners are satisfied.

I wish NI would have gone for Maemo instead of Android.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by tompe

No Android tablet maker can currently compete with iPad. So your argument is pretty weak since for example Motorola cannot compete with iPad.

Your reasoning is faulty. The fact that even companies with huge resources and products and components in the industry can't whip up an answer to the iPad in only a year since it's introduction -- then a coupla Indian dudes who can write a spec sheet sure has heck aren't going to be able too.

Originally Posted by tompe

The hardware in the Adam seems to be good.

Not a single review of the Adam has been positive. Having this or that feature does not an iPad killer make. And the real belly laugh is the Pixel Qi screen is one of the huge disappointments. Rather than being the best of both worlds -- it's the worst of both worlds. What a hoot given all the hoopla.

Originally Posted by tompe

The screen is a compromise but that was well known that it would be.

Sure...that's exactly how _I_ remember all the talk on this forum from a year ago was. "The Adam, you know, it's going to come out with a mediocre Pixel Qi screen that will suck compared to eInk screens for reading and still suck compared to the iPad screen from battery life." Yep. People called that from day one.

Originally Posted by tompe

The small amount of reading I have done on my Adam shows that it works perfectly OK for me. I also have en iPad 2 since a couple of days and I did not find reading on that better then reading on the Adam. And the Adam actually works better than the ipad if you read in very strong light.

You'd have been better to buy an iPad 2 and a Kindle, dontcha think? After all, should you have even had a reason to buy an iPad 2 after already owning an Adam?

Remember, the Adam was supposed to be shipping before the iPad was even announced. It barely made it out the door before the iPad 2 arrived. And STILL it's incredibly buggy. STILL the screen is so bad that no one would WANT such a screen. What they wanted was the IDEA of what the screen promised to be. eInk + LCD, what could be better than that? Well, pretty much anything else is.

The Pixel Qi screen is such a disappointment that only RIM could out do it by putting out a RIM tablet that didn't have email, contacts and messaging -- the very things that made Blackberries "Crackberries" in the first place.

The iPad is so far more than "good hardware". This isn't the PC world where everyone can buy off the shelf components, slap their name on a generic case and say "look at me, I'm a computer manufacturer".

Android isn't "Windows for tablets" yet. A small set of dudes from India weren't going to be able to leap ahead of Google (let alone Apple) and come out with a polished tablet OS.

But wait -- there's STILL more. Even if a miracle had occurred and they had put great hardware with great software -- they STILL aren't even close to having the supply chain magnificence that Apple has. The ability to contract out manufacturing at such a scale that you can have low prices, still make money, and produce millions upon millions of tablets each month.

But wait -- let's pretend they COULD have done that. You still have to have the rest of the ecosystem. An answer to iTunes and the App store.

But wait -- there's yet STILL more. You have to be able to market and sell your product like Apple does. Having your own stores would really help. Having the pull to get into Best Buy, Walmart et. al. is going to be necessary as well.

But wait -- one still isn't going to be able to compete against Apple without the billions and billions of cash on hand that enables you to enter into deals with strategic partners to ensure low price and availability of the components you are going to need to make those tens upon millions of Notion Ink Adam's that folks would surely flock to buy if only "5 engineers from India" managed to do all the aforementioned impossibilities.

There was never a chance Notion Ink was going to make this mythical product that had so many folks salivating over the last year and a half on this forum.

Lee

[HansTWN]

Well, most of the hoopla for the Pixel Qi was right here on MR. I always thought it would be the worst of both worlds at this stage in development.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by leebase

Your reasoning is faulty. The fact that even companies with huge resources and products and components in the industry can't whip up an answer to the iPad in only a year since it's introduction -- then a coupla Indian dudes who can write a spec sheet sure has heck aren't going to be able too.

That was not my reasoning. The fault in you resoning was that they fail because they are small. They fail for the same reason that big players like Motorola fail.

Sure...that's exactly how _I_ remember all the talk on this forum from a year ago was. "The Adam, you know, it's going to come out with a mediocre Pixel Qi screen that will suck compared to eInk screens for reading and still suck compared to the iPad screen from battery life." Yep. People called that from day one.

That it would be as good as an eInk screen is not a common opinion that I saw anywhere.

You'd have been better to buy an iPad 2 and a Kindle, dontcha think? After all, should you have even had a reason to buy an iPad 2 after already owning an Adam?

The iPad 2 was unplanned. My work bought it and I could not exchange it for some other tablet so the choice was an iPad2 or nothing.

And since I am mostly interested in goof pdf reading I will wait and see if eInk will ever work for that. I was not so impressed with the reading experience of my now broken Cybook Gen 3. And really I am perfectly comfortable with reading on a table screen.

Remember, the Adam was supposed to be shipping before the iPad was even announced. It barely made it out the door before the iPad 2 arrived. And STILL it's incredibly buggy. STILL the screen is so bad that no one would WANT such a screen. What they wanted was the IDEA of what the screen promised to be. eInk + LCD, what could be better than that? Well, pretty much anything else is.

I assume you have seen the screen and tested it for reading or?

Yes, a lot of people seems to have unreasonable expectations. That I agree with. My usage pattern is reading mostly when Qi is not needed but sometimes it is unavoidable that I want to read when there is sun light that disturbs the reading. So I expect the Adam to work very well for that.

Buggy software is standard. My old Nokia phone was also buggy when I bought it. Nexus S had some serious bugs the first 3 months and still have some annoying bugs. And the Adam has not made it out of the door since they are not selling it to the public.

Android isn't "Windows for tablets" yet. A small set of dudes from India weren't going to be able to leap ahead of Google (let alone Apple) and come out with a polished tablet OS.

It seems the me that most people that bought the Adam expects to have Gingerbread soon. So they did not trust Notion Ink for the software.

But wait -- there's STILL more. Even if a miracle had occurred and they had put great hardware with great software -- they STILL aren't even close to having the supply chain magnificence that Apple has. The ability to contract out manufacturing at such a scale that you can have low prices, still make money, and produce millions upon millions of tablets each month.

Of course. But why is this relevant? I thought you talked about failing relative to their goals. And their goal was not to sell as much as Apple. I think their goal was that for a lot of people to be a serious alternative and to be a serious alternative in the Andoid tablet market.

There was never a chance Notion Ink was going to make this mythical product that had so many folks salivating over the last year and a half on this forum.

A good product is not the same as being able to sell millions of them. Of course a small company can make a very good product and a big company can make a very bad product.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by tompe

That was not my reasoning. The fault in you resoning was that they fail because they are small. They fail for the same reason that big players like Motorola fail.

They don't have NEAR the resourced required to put together a credible iPad competitor.

Originally Posted by tompe

Of course. But why is this relevant? I thought you talked about failing relative to their goals. And their goal was not to sell as much as Apple. I think their goal was that for a lot of people to be a serious alternative and to be a serious alternative in the Andoid tablet market.

Are you kidding? The Adam was the next messiah, this amazing tablet that was going to wipe iPad off the floor. People were DROOLING over the damn thing which was never more than specs listed on the internet.

Originally Posted by tompe

A good product is not the same as being able to sell millions of them. Of course a small company can make a very good product and a big company can make a very bad product.

They didn't even manage the "good product" part. Did not manage the "amazing best of both worlds screens" part. Did not deliver amazing battery life. Did not deliver amazing anything. Did not deliver anything until more than a year after they said they would. It's been a HUGE joke.

Lee

[jocampo]

Still not convinced. I've read many horror stories about customer support (talking about months ago, not sure now) People who shipped the tablet back out of USA or were not getting basic support for camera or software issues.

Samsung and Apple and even Motorola do not have perfect products but in my opinion, they are closer to what they promised (Xoom not so much) but the main difference is that we're talking about well known companies.

I do not own an Adam but what I've seen on reviews and comments is that the tablet failed on its promise of allowing people to read outdoor with none or minimum glare. It looks like that's not the case.

I am sorry, but still I like the iPad and my opinion, there is no tablet yet that can beat the iPad: hardware and software (supported apps)

[Avarwen]

As of now nothing can touch the ipad they got the jump on everyone. But if other companies play their cards right Apple may not remain king for long. As for the Adam give it time the first gen of anything should be seen as a test run. I'm sure they'll make improvements on the Adam for gen 2.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by Avarwen

As of now nothing can touch the ipad they got the jump on everyone. But if other companies play their cards right Apple may not remain king for long. As for the Adam give it time the first gen of anything should be seen as a test run. I'm sure they'll make improvements on the Adam for gen 2.

Apple's iPad, at generation 1, did not have the bugs and stability problems the wannabe's have had. Gen 1 should have less features, less apps and such like that. Putting out cr@ppy products is about being a cr@ppy company, not about being a first generation.

Lee

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by leebase

Putting out cr@ppy products is about being a cr@ppy company, not about being a first generation.