1. The build quality is horrible. The audio in and out jacks don't match the case. The back of the case is super loose and flimsy. It comes with three neodymium magnets for who knows what purpose, that are impossible to separate from each other.
2. The software doesn't function. Their "touch view" or what not crashes, and the status bar at the bottom disappears and won't come up.
3. The entire OS is not optimized for touch. You have to tap and hold on menus to get them to stay on the screen.
4. There is no pen storage. The pen was "stolen" from a PDA and has the curve at the top to match some arbitrary PDA's pen slot.
All in all - a waste of money, a waste of time waiting and a waste of a good idea.
Discussion about
A disaster of a device
1. The build quality isn't great, I agree-- the whole thing has a cheap feel to it. I've had the same problem with the audio jacks. I haven't used the magnets, but they're included to be mounted on the back (exterior) of the device to hang it on a fridge. Gimmicky, but there is a purpose. Also, there is a trick to separating them which is documented somewhere.
2. The software is admittedly still in beta development. I've been having the best luck with AI's modified Ubuntu from the latest release. It's not as optimized for the specific hardware, but it's much more stable.
3. You're right; for the most part, it's a desktop OS with half-baked touch capability. I think the tap-and-hold gesture is mainly needed for what would ordinarily be a right-click; regular menus work fine for me with simple taps.
4. Right again-- the stylus was apparently an afterthought. I rarely use the stylus; mainly my kid uses it for TuxPaint.
It's still rough around the edges, enough so that it hasn't become my primary laptop. But I do like it, and the software is improving, although it still has some major hurdles (power management; audio in Ubuntu; wireless encryption).
I got it to have a silent Linux laptop with a touchscreen and great battery life. It's close, but not quite ready.
2. The software is admittedly still in beta development. I've been having the best luck with AI's modified Ubuntu from the latest release. It's not as optimized for the specific hardware, but it's much more stable.
3. You're right; for the most part, it's a desktop OS with half-baked touch capability. I think the tap-and-hold gesture is mainly needed for what would ordinarily be a right-click; regular menus work fine for me with simple taps.
4. Right again-- the stylus was apparently an afterthought. I rarely use the stylus; mainly my kid uses it for TuxPaint.
It's still rough around the edges, enough so that it hasn't become my primary laptop. But I do like it, and the software is improving, although it still has some major hurdles (power management; audio in Ubuntu; wireless encryption).
I got it to have a silent Linux laptop with a touchscreen and great battery life. It's close, but not quite ready.
On the Always Innovating wiki, there are instructions for upgrading to the latest version. I haven't tried the Windows-based update or the update on the TB itself-- I use the update script on a linux pc. The latest OS version is 2010-01.a, and it includes AI OS, Ubuntu, Chrome, and Android.
Good luck!
Good luck!
