For Those Reviewing Adam Please Secure Update Before Reviewing

[Wally West]

This is for all reviewing or are considering reviewing your new Adam. Please get your Adam updated before reviewing. As most know by now the first OTA update was corrupted in some way and caused several Adams to quit functioning. Notion Ink quickly released a recovery rom and instructions how to flash it. They can be found on Notioninkfan.com Notion Ink also brought a halt to the OTA (Over the air) update and closed it down. If you want that update now you can flash the recovery rom. If you do not feel comfortable flashing the recovery rom I suggest you discontinue your reviewing process until your able to update your Adam with a good working OTA update from Notion Ink. I am no way associated with Notion Ink other then waiting for a personally paid for Adam to be shipped to me on the 31st. Rohan has stated that later shipments will all ready be updated. I'm not demanding that you not review I can only suggest. People are making decisions on canceling orders for Adams or purchasing Adams based on reviews that they have seen here and other sites. Adam was intended to have this update, that is why the original OTA was there to be started when you received him. We already know Adam is less then he should be without it. In a bit of irony XDA developers (Rohan says he has love for them) have already ported Adam's new recovery rom to Adams distant cousin the Viewsonic G Tab with some impressive results, So potential reviewers please take my plea into consideration. Peace and Love to all...

Ps Greg at Notioninkfan.com will be releasing his review on Adam this afternoon. I understand he has flashed the new recovery rom.

[turtlesoup]

Why are you so afraid of people giving their opinions? They have a right to review the product they received.

Even after applying the update I've seen comments on
1) Poor color uniformity / washed out colors / bad viewing angles
2) Dark Pixel Qi mode
3) dead zones on the top and left of the touch screen
4) GPS doesn't work
5) no radio app for the "mystery sensor"
6) no weather app
7) lag / force closes with Eden

Maybe you don't think that's important information for prospective buyers but I'm sure some people do.

[Arbusto]

And also getting before and after update reviews is helpful to see how NI handles bug fixes for future updates, etc. People are reporting a ton of bugs that they ASSUMED would be taken care of in the update. So it's just information as to how complete or incomplete we can expect NI to be in the software updates department.

[Wally West]

Why are you so afraid of people giving their opinions? They have a right to review the product they received.

Even after applying the update I've seen comments on
1) Poor color uniformity / washed out colors / bad viewing angles
2) Dark Pixel Qi mode
3) dead zones on the top and left of the touch screen
4) GPS doesn't work
5) no radio app for the "mystery sensor"
6) no weather app
7) lag / force closes with Eden

Maybe you don't think that's important information for prospective buyers but I'm sure some people do.

Dear turtle.

I love and enjoy people giving their opinions. There is no fear here. I would think as a matter of offering a quality review the update should be applied then let the cards fall where they may. I had concerns about the pixel Qi screen before Adam was even shipped and voiced them. I'm not telling people they can't review or that they have to apply the update. It was a suggestion and a plea. Everyone is free do as he or she pleases. It is clear that a number giving reviews, are not fully versed on the workings of all the applications. These early unboxing videos and reviews may not give the true picture of Adam's capabilities or lack there of, even more particularly if the update is not applied. At the very least one should be wise enough to take these early reviews with a grain of salt. It would be truly sad to see someone cancel an order based on a review that was poorly conducted with out enough knowledge and expertise to conduct a quality review. For instance the GPS that does not work, or is it the person who does not know how to make the gps work? Any new device has a learning curve. Just because you know how to make your cell phone work does not mean your an expert on making Adam work. I do think information in a review is important for prospective buyers as long as it is done in unbiased way by someone who has taken the time to apply updates and also taken the time to thoroughly familiarize themselves with the product. Any review done with less effort then that is exactly that a review done with less effort and I for one would not make a purchase or cancellation decision based on it. Having said this I know Adam will be found to have faults. I also know there will be some bad apples in the bunch. They may not be caught at the factory. A review done on a lemon will obviously suck and the taste will be sour. :cool:

[bytheway]

Why are you so afraid of people giving their opinions? They have a right to review the product they received.

Even after applying the update I've seen comments on
1) Poor color uniformity / washed out colors / bad viewing angles
2) Dark Pixel Qi mode
3) dead zones on the top and left of the touch screen
4) GPS doesn't work
5) no radio app for the "mystery sensor"
6) no weather app
7) lag / force closes with Eden

Maybe you don't think that's important information for prospective buyers but I'm sure some people do.

Well, it's only fair to review a product with all updates. Otherwise it's hard to figure out what performance or stability issues might still remain. Could you imagine people reviewing Windows XP before applying all the updates!?!

The result is exactly what you posted: some issues still remain. Considering that this is the initial release of the product, I expect some of those to be addressed soon, either by NI or by a third party (specifically, items 4-7).

Other issues are probably hardware problems ... not much a software update will do about that.

[Wally West]

And also getting before and after update reviews is helpful to see how NI handles bug fixes for future updates, etc. People are reporting a ton of bugs that they ASSUMED would be taken care of in the update. So it's just information as to how complete or incomplete we can expect NI to be in the software updates department.

I agree it is good to have a report after an update. Believe me there will likely be many more updates to report on. Yet these early reviews by folks that have had the product in their hands no more then day or so should betaken with a grain of salt.

[Wally West]

Well, it's only fair to review a product with all updates. Otherwise it's hard to figure out what performance or stability issues might still remain. Could you imagine people reviewing Windows XP before applying all the updates!?!

The result is exactly what you posted: some issues still remain. Considering that this is the initial release of the product, I expect some of those to be addressed soon, either by NI or by a third party (specifically, items 4-7).

Other issues are probably hardware problems ... not much a software update will do about that.

You still have to leave open the possibility that reviewer may not know how a particular application works.

[bytheway]

You still have to leave open the possibility that reviewer may not know how a particular application works.

Well, there's a difference between a "review" and a "user experience." So far we have yet to see a real review -- all we have are the experiences of the first few owners.

So, yeah, you have to take the user's knowledge into account so far.

[Wally West]

Well, there's a difference between a "review" and a "user experience." So far we have yet to see a real review -- all we have are the experiences of the first few owners.

So, yeah, you have to take the user's knowledge into account so far.

You hit the nail on the head. It has a lot different connotation when you call it a user experience particularly if you add the word Early to "user experience" As more people make "early reports" you can start reach a consensus on different issues. I'll continue to use GPS as an example. I have heard one person reporting his GPS works fine. However if you have reports of hundreds of GPS's as non functional you can say Houston We have A Problem.

[mada]

Ive applied the update, at first it was pretty good but the more I use it the more I get force closes and my adam randomly turns off. on average if I use the adam an hour, I will experience a force close at least once or twice if not more. The UI is more responsive for sure but a majority of the problems weren't fixed

[kumar]

Just trying to understand why there are variances in experience.
Some say, force closings almost stopped after some usage and few reboots.
One says head phones work great and other says it is not good.
Most of the you tube videos show normal tablet usage..didn't see much issues (people showed videos, books, email, games)
I guess force closes seem to be issue with how user works with it..for eg: a user click at many places confusing the device and other use may be a bit slow in their clicks.

I compared Adam, Ipad, Samsung you tube videos. reflections seems similar..
I am a bit confused.
Howcome user experience varies so much?
compare (although first one uses AWTlauncher still Adams Apps are used) these.
The second one says all bad..but look at the clumsy way he is handling the device.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej9aIXNgBxM
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhNTCe_p4iI


kumar

[Wally West]

Ive applied the update, at first it was pretty good but the more I use it the more I get force closes and my adam randomly turns off. on average if I use the adam an hour, I will experience a force close at least once or twice if not more. The UI is more responsive for sure but a majority of the problems weren't fixed

Sorry to hear your issues are still present Mada. You may be someone that needs to consider a return, but Only you can be the judge of that. I Only can suggest you give yourself plenty of time with it. Hopefully everything will resolved to your liking.

[Wally West]

Some problems may be self induced others maybe real bugs. Hopefully in time most will be able to learn what they need to learn. Some may have applied the update others may not. Until all Adams are updated and a general consensus on bugs start to appear it will be hard to track down the root of problems. Ahh the bleeding edge of what is the beta testing of the new Adams. The first adopters always suffer the most.

[mada]

i dont think ive ever said the adam sucks or anything because of the software update, just pointed out that x issue was there or y issue was resolved. for me, how customer service handles my request defines the company. general consensus has been that i have a defective product and Im hoping cs thinks so as well and sends me a timely replacement.

Im more than willing to wait on software issues, its the hardware that i cant take. But amitks is right, doing the update might cause problems for warranty issues and what not. after all, not all early adopters are geeks. a lot of them are excited consumers and have a lower tolerance for problems. its also a bit unfair to expect everyone to optimize their machines for their initial impressions, especially if they received official email telling them to wait for an ota

[Nipun]

i quite agree with mada. i too have felt that the moment anyone expresses some honest issue people pounce on him as if he has committed a sin. instead of shouting out the genuine problems we ought to take them seriously so that Rohan and his team listens to them.

[Atlas]

agreed, blind following isn't going to help anyone we need the problems sorted out and to do that we need to track them all down.

[Insinfinity]

I really appreciate seeing the early views of the Adam and thank you for taking the effort to post them.

I haven't ordered mine yet, and I am basing my buying decision on the reviews with the latest update. It would help me distinguish between the problems if there was a disclaimer on all of them stating the status of the update (installed(version), not in stalled).

What would also help massively is if someone could make a sticky thread of all known issues and keep it updated. It could be formatted something like,

Update version: XXX
Issue:
<Issue description><single user/multiple reported><hardware/software - if known><fix found - link>

Then maybe we could compare the differences.

[Wally West]

I agree that we need to get to the bottom of all Adam's problems. The goal is to have as many folks as possible happy with their New Adam. I would never want to pick on Mada or anyone for trying to make an honest assessment of his or her device.

The question now most often asked is "Was your problem before or after the update? Most have reported that after the update was installed things were better, but not everything has been fixed. You can argue it's nice to know about the things the update fixed, but in truth reviewing before the update was applied has generated extra worrying. Believe me we still have plenty to worry about with Adam. I'm not a Fan boy by any measure of the term. Whether you want,dislike,cancel your order, or love the Adam is totally up to you. Needless worrying can lead to bad decisions. If I felt that a lot of the negative things that have been reported were going to be indicative of Adam in general I would be placing my order on Ebay where currently there are ten for sale, all likely going for more then originally paid for.

I do feel badly for Mada who may have to return his Adam. Even I Pad has had lemons and Mada may be a victim of receiving a less then perfect Adam. I'm sincerely hopeful that most issues will be resolved, and that Mada situation will not be a common one.

[sfam]

I think the easy answer to all the variances we're seeing is really shoddy manufacturing controls. This is hardly a rarity, but is almost the norm for a startup who outsources their manufacturing to a 3rd party. Some machines may be perfect, while others have bad headphone jacks, faulty cameras or shoddy Pixel Qi screens. The real easy explanation to this is the manufacturing and installation process doesn't have good quality control yet.

[tdevip]

Anyone having GPS problems (location showing China!), please go outside (no obstructions such as buildings and trees) and let your unit register your location (i.e, let it communicate with satellites). After that I am sure it will show your current location. This was my experience with many GPS units.

[Arbusto]

Anyone having GPS problems (location showing China!), please go outside (no obstructions such as buildings and trees) and let your unit register your location (i.e, let it communicate with satellites). After that I am sure it will show your current location. This was my experience with many GPS units.

If you watch some of Mada's videos, he does just that and nothing. It's always China.

[mada]

not only china, but compass is off by a lot. no one ive talked to have gotten their gps chip to work properly so far.