Notion Ink Adam NI3421-A01A9

I have been tracking about Notion Ink for quite some time.. i used to think wow now came the generation of Indian new technology developers. But all the excitement abated,
1. The software is really buggy there are lots of crashes.
2. No Android Market(when is genesis coming?), the device is already outdated.
3.No. gorilla glass as provided by other competitive devices.
4. Outdated software when others are getting Honeycomb and will be upgraded to ICS it is still sitting on Froyo.
5. Customer Support is pathetic..see www.notioninkscam.com a website specifically dedicated to all the problems

bottom line
Do not buy this device now wait for some time for prices to drop since this item doesn't deserves this much price if you are really desperate to get a device get a iberry 10" or if you have money then samsung 750, asus transformer are the best

I have been using the Adam (3G Wifi) since Feb 2011, and would rate it a 7 out of 10 on performance and a 9 on 10 for price.

The good thing about this product is that unlike the Biggies out there, Notion Ink promises support and upgrades on a regular basis.

While the unit is very usable right from the time you open the box, be warned that unless you are ready to do R&D, you wont be able to get things like "Honeycomb" "Android Market" etc. Non Google markets work, you can sideload .apk files, play games/watch movies on the TV through the HDMI port and in general have a good time.

If you are price sensitive and dont mind not having the perfect tablet - this is great.

if you really dont need a tegra 2 chipset, dont bother with this tablet..just get a single core 7 inch - for half the price...

I placed order for this product on 11th Jan 2012 and got it delivered by 13th Jan 2012. Once again, a professional and totally hassle-free service from Flipkart!

I wanted a tablet that serves primarily as a good PDF reader. I own Amazon kindle - but PDF documents render with very small fonts making it not so comfortable to read for long hours.

I've been following the developments on Notion Ink Adam for more than a year - there was a lot hype about it back in 2010.

Here's my review on this product:

Build quality
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1. An all plastic body with a not-so-impressive finish. But it does not feel delicate. The thick plastic build can sure handle Indian usage conditions without looking worn-out. Dont expect build quality and ergonomics of an iPad, Galaxy Tab and the likes. This one looks bulkier
and a bit heavier than most other branded tablets.

2. The slots for USB and mini-USB looks like they might come apart even on slight mis-handling.

3. The packaging from Notion Ink is not as professional as you'd find on other brand products. This is understandable given the fact that Notion Ink is a small and still evolving company compared to other established brands.

Hardware
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1. I still do not understand a bulky 19 volt laptop adapter provided with this tablet. Didn't the world move to micro-USB ?

2. The screen reminds me of LCD laptop screens that existed 6 years ago. Very bad viewing angle, dull display. There's a matt-finished anti-glare screen guard installed - which really does not help in avoiding glare.

3. The screen resolution is 1024x600 which is sub-par when compared to other tablets at this price range.

4. The touch screen is not responsive. It is either a software bug or hardware fault.

5. It did not detect micro-SD card more than 4 GB. I'm shocked - even a cheap mobile phone detects 8 GB these days. I'm not sure if this is a fault with my model. Again - bad quality control.

6. The swiveling camera, though an innovate idea is pretty much useless as the quality is feels like camera found on cheap mobile phones.

7. The battery life is good enough for my usage. One full-day of testing (playing audio, browsing net with Wifi ON, reading PDF documents) lasted for 6 hours on battery.

8. I could not get this device being detected as a mass storage device by connecting to my notebooks. There again seems to be a bug in the stock software.

9. The capacitive touchscreen is useless without good multi-touch gestures.

Software
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The bundled software is in one word - "BAD". The whole idea of layering stock android with so-called "Eden" was a bad move. The whole system is crippled with a totally bug-ridden software. Everything that came bundled - Sniffer, chords, music player, Mail'd - all are crippled in functionality. Infact, with the stock software, its almost impossible to install new software - no support for Android Market!

However, you can easily update the firmware with better third-party/community developed and supported variants of Android ROMs like EdenX, AdamComb, BeastROM and so on. After about 4 days on purchasing this product, I did some research on the Internet and updated to AdamComb 0.3 (based on Android HoneyComb 3.0). The update literally transformed this crippled buggy product into a super-gadget :-). I managed to get it fully loaded with apps from Android Market (which works with AdamComb 0.3 update). However, I could not get the camera to work - not a big problem for me though.
I'm willing to wait for the ICS update from Notion Ink - which would resolve most of the hardware-support issues.

Summary
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As of now, Notion Ink Adam might not appeal to typical end-users who wish to become productive - the moment they unwrap this product. Also, this tablet might not look flashy/trendy like other established brand tablets. This tablet is clearly meant for the geeks and nerds who enjoy tweaking/customizing their tablet with different ROMs. This tablet does come with HDMI port, host-side USB ports (to which you can plug-in pen drives, external hard drives, mouse, keyboard, etc).

When I first opened the package and took out the tablet, I was very disappointed - that's because I was expecting something like an iPad or Galaxy Tab. But after 4 days of researching on the internet and following the forums and mailing list archives of Notion Ink Adam community, I updated my Adam and fell in love with it. This product does have a great community-following. I was surprised to know that flashing a custom ROM on this product was easy - no need to mod the hardware or other hacks that would void the warranty. Infact, Notion Ink made this product more hacker-friendly - which is a good move.

Do NOT buy with product with very high expectations - but you can join the adam community and contribute to make this product better.

Been using this device for quite along time now and fairly happy with it.

Software:
I think the Eden is a good idea but badly executed and probably came out a little too late, Its buggy and sluggish, NI have sent few updates and the recent ones looks like you can finally use it but no its quite buggy and besides there is no market access?? Why not? I mean if ita not enough to have buggy and fairly less usage of Eden we are bounded by lack of options NI come on grow up.
Hardware: I think its debatable whether its good or not but those who like think-pad edges will probably have no problems digesting sandwich type bulk, apple fan boys who want android would need to look elsewhere. While hardware is solid but not really fantastic, min usb port gave way and went inside the case, so flimsy as well.
Design: This one really cannot win any awards for sure, the promised things were never included in the final product anyway.
As fas as notioninkscam is concerned I think one does not need to be swayed away by everyone anyone that makes any website to spread self infused hatred use your own head, the company lives as for now I think I am fairly happy for what the device can do and I paid 4k more than this flipkart price ;)
I would recommend touching and using this device before you decide to purchase one even if you are a staunch supporter of your own company.

I would like to add that NI as an Indian company sucks far less than RoyalEnfield ;)

I bought Adam few months ago and got bugged up with the screen viewing angle. Its like how LCD screens used to be 10 years back. Can't watch video clearly as you need to exactly position the device in one angle that gives decent picture quality. Even a little turn is a nightmare as you see only shadows of the image.

The software has lot of bugs and it keeps on shutting down. After getting Android Market access thanks to flashing the ROM I was able to load good apps, but these force close most of the times. I think adam has few issues in supporting this as well.

Overall a disappointing product. At this price point you can get a great 10" tab. Happy researching!!!