Finally, someone is making the device I want (well, 95% of my bullet list, it appears):

Notion Ink Tegra Android Smartpad

• 10" screen
• 1024x600 resolution
• PixelQi display
• 16-32GB SSD, plus SD card
• Expected price around $300
• No word yet on CPU speed or RAM though

Up until now, I had been thinking "EnTourage eDGe", but this one may just change my mind.

They've given it an official name: Adam

And, at CES, jkontherun got some time with a prototype, after talking with an Nvidia guy about their chipset. From 9:29 in the movie, onward, is all about the Notion Ink Adam.

The prototype looks less like an F-19 stealth fighter than the render did. Engadget has a few pics, and a short video, in their article.

If they maintain the $300 price tag, or even go over by just a little, this is definitely the device with my highest interest right now. It would replace my netbook for my general purpose needs (note taking, email, calendar, RSS reading, web surfing), work needs (word/excel document reading, more note taking, ssh and vnc), recreation (media player, some games, there's going to be an apple II emulator even), and it'll even serve as an e-book reader. The PixelQi display looks very usable, and will help with long battery life (on my G1, by far, the biggest battery drain is the display).

Supposedly it'll be $300ish (+/- $50) in April. :-)

*BItes fingers not to make comment about size being less important than what you can do with it...*

*laugh*

Luckily, I can do everything I want/need to with an Android device. :-) So it's more than qualified on the "what you can do with it" side of the equation.

And, my decision to go with 9" or 10" devices follows several years of trying different sized "companion" devices (N800, N810, Samsung Q1 Ultra, Raon Everun Digital Note, Dell mini 9). The 4.1" and 7" screens on the first 4 devices were too small for extensive note taking (not enough information displayed), etc. And the keyboards weren't very useful, either (the N810's keyboard has/had an AWFUL feel; even for the Samsung and the Dell, both left me with the need to get a USB keyboard that I could fold up and take with me).

The Mini-9 was pretty much the right size, but I continually found that the keyboard was dead weight and served no purpose other than "being in the way". If I needed to type, I'd get out my folding USB keyboard and use that (the netbook keyboard was too small for real, high speed or long endurance, typing), so a built-in keyboard, on a device that size, is more of a novelty than a necessity. That's how I arrived at wanting a 9" or 10" tablet as my mid-range/companion device.

So, I pretty much have only been looking at 9" or 10" tablet type devices, with some form of unix/linux/android. The EnTourage eDGe, the Notion Ink Adam, the ICD rumored 11" version of the Vega/Ultra, and a few others. CES had a few more come into the light (HP might have an Android version of their tablet, for example). The Notion Ink Adam, though, so far looks like it hits all of my "druthers", including the PixelQi display.

The rendered image of the tablet looked great.

The actual tablet looks... well... it looks like crap. A rectangular, "sharp" corners device.

I too was looking forward to this tablet being released, based on the rendered image -yes, I know, rendered images are not usually what the product ends up looking like, but I was hoping. But now... no so much.

a) I thought the rendered image looked unrealistic, and not like something I'd want to actually use/carry. It's like something out of a 1970's sci-fi movie (pre-Star Wars, when all futuristic things were white, shiny, and looked unrealistic). Or like a late 1980's "stealth fighter" project (like the saucer of the Enterprise from "Star Trek: The Next Generation"). Or like a surfboard. Just blah.

b) The current prototype looks about as blocky/rectangular as most of the other tablet designs I've seen. Like the HP.

c) Prototypes are also rarely the final look. They've already said (in the videos I linked) that it will get thinner -- it's currently 18mm, and they said they're going to get it down to 14mm, I think. I expect they'll round out the edges and corners, as well. But even if they don't, it's still a sexy looking design to me. Far better than the render.

And, IMO, this is the "design to beat". Any mid-range device I look at, these days, has to be better in specs than the Adam. And better in looks (and, as I've said, I quite like the look of the prototype).

So, for example, if Apple enters the market (like the rumors are once again building up), then they're going to have to beat the Adam on every bullet item ... and that includes the "I don't need a market/store in order to install apps, nor am I limited to just one market/store" features of Android devices. It's going to have to have a 10" pixelqi display. It's going to have to have some form of video out (mini Display Port would do). It's going to have to have USB ports.

Same goes for anyone else who wants my mid-range device dollars.

Eh. To each their own, I think.

Some like them "futuristic" looking, some like them more... average looking. Either way, we'll have to wait and see what the final product looks like.

This looks like a hot device. Here's what I would want:

1) Pen input. When tablets get to this size, the 'stylus' becomes a really useful tool. I wouldn't hesitate to jump at a device like this if it had an ACTIVE digitizer (I'm a wacom owner). Active digitizers are accurate for writing/drawing, and don't register pressure so that you can use it more like a piece of paper, and forgo hovering your hand above the device to write.

That's pretty much it! If it had pen input, it would be a no-brainer. I'd buy one in a heartbeat. Otherwise, I suppose I'd have to consider what the competition had to offer before deciding upon something.

}:^)~

I just watched the video. This tablet is HOT! Wow!

Active digitizer or not, this is one to get.

}:^)~