Somewhere, I have a stylus that works with screens that aren't supposed to support styli (like the iPhone). I'm planning to see if it'll work with the Adam. But, failing that, have you looked at the EnTourage eDGe? 10" "dual book" (two screens) Android device. 1 e-paper + pen screen and one LCD + finger screen. That's my current "second choice" device.

Depending on timing of funds and stuff, I may get both :-}

The EE seems like a pretty neat device! I'm all Notion-Ink, though.

Here's my take: I like the dual-screen of the edge, but I think for the cash, I'd rather not carry around the additional weight, especially considering that one screen only functions as a reader only, and I'm very unlikely to use both simultaneously (unless some new software really benefits from this layout -- actually reference manuals would be nifty while coding). If the other screen was a Pixel-Qi, it would be a different story as two fully functional screens would be tremendously welcome.

The other aspect that kind of gets to me is the 'stylus'. I love pen input on larger devices, but only if it's an active digitizer. Having used a bunch of pen input systems, nothing is more annoying than writing without being able to rest your hand while you do so (like when writing on paper). With a resistive screen, while it certainly is possible to write, only the pen can generally touch the surface or problems arise.

I really like the size, form, and function of the Notion Ink (tegra2 -- drool). It seems to strike a tremendous balance of features and functionality, and is really worthy of my dollars. I'm with you 100% on this: it'll replace my crap netbook with superior battery life, and function as the e-book reader I've always wanted. Plus with my BT keypad, it'll be a serious remote terminal for all of my hacking needs.

If you do end up getting an EE, I'd love to hear your testimonials! It is a very interesting looking device.

As an aside.....

Isn't the android app format wonderful? Consider that the Adam (and EE for that matter) will have the benefit of a large and mature app selection at launch! Something tells me that android is about to gain some serious developer momentum as the market is likely to grow quite a bit.

Further aside...

I'm now seriously re-thinking purchasing the N1 (patience can be a b*tch). I was originally going to use the N1 as a SIP phone, camera, and web device, GPS, but I'd much rather use the Adam as the Web and GPS device. I may just get a cheap phone that does SIP, and get a camera separate. Something tells me I'll get far higher utility out of this combination. I find using a tiny screen is murder for extended periods, and while the 5MP camera on the N1 seems 'above average' it's still a far cry from even a crappy point and shoot camera.

Hmm, there are G1's going for $200US on ebay...

}:^)~

10 inch Pixel Qi display -- sweet! Finally a screen that will not be constantly frying my eyes! And it looks alright, too. That One Guy, what's your problem with rectangles having corners? Would you have preferred to read from an oval screen? Remember, this isn't supposed to be put in ones pockets...

From what I've seen, this is a winner.

It seems like Notion Ink is paying attention to detail. For example: the final Adam will have a matte screen! FINALLY! This means no glare (like modern HDTVs), which is a 'feature' that most laptop screens annoyingly lack.

I fully agree, this is a pure win.

}:^)~

Does anyone have any more info on this tablet? I'm itching for details/impressions/videos.

}:^)~

Here's one thing that I'm hoping to see on the Adam: two portrait modes. Let me explain:

The device seems to have a raised ridge along one edge. I know from experience holding my netbook that has a protruding battery that this makes holding the device in portrait much more comfortable.

Of course, if the image flips only to the right from landscape, or left from landscape, then it becomes more comfortable for right-handed or left-handed individuals. As I am right-handed, I would prefer to hold the ridge with my left hand and interact with the tablet with my right hand, so the screen would have to rotate right or clockwise to enable me to do this.

But it would also be nice for left-handed individuals to have the same comfort, so it would be good if the screen could be rotated both left and right, clockwise and counter.

Right now, based on the video, it appears as if the screen rotates right, which is GREAT for me, but would suck for lefties.

This is purely software, and shouldn't be a large problem to solve, but it is a usability wish of mine.

}:^)~


PS. It seems that I'm not the only one that recognizes that a pen and a tablet makes a LOT of sense. Who wants to place a bet that the apple iSlate will have this functionality built-in? Who wants to bet that it'll have an active digitizer? I suppose tabletPC owners are intensely loyal for a reason....
http://jkontherun.com/2010/01/11/whe...-not-a-tablet/

It would be nice if OS makers in general got that screen orientations should be fluid and universal, instead of assuming only 1 or 2 such orientations. But, I have yet to see anyone support that (last time I looked, which, admittedly, was a while ago, even the iPhone doesn't allow full 360 bidirectional rotation of the screen). So, my expectation is that the Adam wont do it either. I don't know of any Android device that does. There is 1 device orientation for Portrait, and 1 device orientation for Landscape.

It would be really nice. I can vouch that the newest iPod touch (based on the same hard/soft guts as the 3gs) only rotate in one direction as well. For a handheld, this is adequate, though it would still be useful if it would rotate all the way around for a very care-free, pick-up-and-use usability. As these machines are largely symmetrical and have accelerometers, there's no reason why they couldn't.

I also like the idea of fluid, quick rotations. I really like the seemingly-composited way that the iPhone does this. I highly suspect that the reason the iPhone web browser scrolls as fast as it does, is due to the actual page rendering being mapped to a polygon or set of rectangular polygons that can then be moved, scaled, or rotated near-effortlessly by the GPU. I suspect that the delay in rotation of the screen upon device re-adjustment, isn't a question of performance, but a developer defined setting of stability of image for situations where the device may be teetering on the edge of horizontal and vertical orientation; this prevents the display from switching back and fourth like mad.

Thankfully, android is improving by leaps and bounds, so a simple all-rotation mode like this is entirely possible with forthcoming versions. I suspect that with asymmetrical tablets, it may become more of a desire than a novelty.

Now where's my active digitizer?! I lust at the thought of replacing pen and paper with this unit especially given the ultra-low power Pixel Qi screen. I tried this with my N810 (one of my desired use-cases), but it -- like the 4.3" screen size -- turned out to be too small and uncomfortable to be useful to me for extended periods. Still, using a pen is very liberating, as nothing really comes close to the paper writing/drawing experience. With an active digitizer, a bluetooth keyboard, and speech-to-text input, this would prove to be the ultimate note taking device.

Of course, this will not be the case for Adam, but perhaps Adam 2? Someone is going to get it right, I just hope that they carry over the other great characteristics of the Adam.

}:^)~

No sooner than 20 seconds after my post:
Inklet Trackpad Tablet app for Macbook is Wacoms Worst Nightmare

Lets hope that Ten One Designes or a competing company releases a version for android! At $25 it is a bargain. Perhaps it will be possible to do pen input on the Adam after all....

EDIT: This device is available for the Morotrola Droid! It looks as if android is supported. I will be keeping an eye on this one! This is the best news I've read today.

}:^)~

If you REALLY want a pen based input, then I think the eDGe is going to be more what you want. It has 2 screens: an e-ink with Wacom Penabled input (pen only) screen, and an LCD touch screen. You can write and take notes on the e-ink screen using an included pen ... or you can do touch input on the LCD. And since the e-ink screen is "Wacom Penabled", it probably does exactly the kind of input you want -- pen input while ignoring your fingers/palm if they also happen to be resting on the screen.

I'm willing to bet (but have no direct knowledge) that the Notion Ink Adam wont be able to do "pen input while it ignores your palm resting on the screen". Maybe, but I wouldn't hold my breath. You could always go to their web page and/or blog and ask, though :-)