Core said-" The eye-catching form just couldn’t generate the enthusiasm needed to get consumers to swallow the $2,000-plus price tag"
So if it is a rival for apple’s air then what went wrong that it didn’t sell well? is the trend in computers about to change?
Also curious on the design. Simple, clean but how does it sit with the screen leaned backwards and keyboard pivots high close to screen. Probably the friction hinge is strong or/and the little black thing is a stopper. Maybe I have to see it to understand.
The interesting thing is, having the keyboard angle like that is less ergonomic for fluent typist’s for a couple reasons. For individuals that “hunt & peck” for keys, the angle is ideal, because it requires less neck movement transitioning eyesight from the keyboard to the monitor to confirm the correct type/actions. Not to mention, holding your wrists up at an angle like that can cause problems down the road…
I guess my point in regards to the design is: It’s strange that Dell sacrificed the ergonomic quality of the Adamo because they found a form factor (which is nice) that was supposed to rival Apple’s market appeal.
Spec wise it was not a beefy machine compared to laptops of the same price range. I like it myself for the design. But the consumers are picky with specs comparison with high-end computers even though 90% of the people out there don’t need the computing muscles.
How does one adjust the angle of the keyboard without tilting the monitor? How does one make sure that
overhead office lighting doesn’t reflect in the monitor?
That was my senior thesis project, so I had to build an appearance model. The mechanism I used in the laptop was a damping hinge, which is what makes those little flip open calculators open and prop up. I used it because it didn’t require the dexterity to get in there with your fingers to open the lid, it was just a simple push to prop open to the ideal angle for the user. There are a couple companies that make some nicely designed versions suitable for laptops.
I’m not sure what Dell’s mechanism was or what they were thinking…
I don’t think it’s just the hinge that broke it. I’d question if there is a market for this sort of laptop at all anymore. I was surprised recently that apple bothered to release a new mackbook air, and so were my collegues, the netbook and the the tablet have really killed this sort of thing.
FYI there were a couple versions of the Adamo including one with a regular hinge. But at the end of the day it was a Macbook competitor that offered neither the performance nor quality of any of the Apple products at a price that was directly in line with the Macbook Pro’s.
It’s funny you mention sacrificing ergonomics for form factor in regards to Apple, because they throw in stuff like that all the time. Where something is a beautiful and interesting form, but in practice does not really work well ergonomically. Like this little diddy for example.
Hm, so I have even less ideas how the Adamo could have gone so terribly bust. Looks like even the best of us
some times fail spectecularly. Live and learn, I guess.
I wonder how a major company doing serious business could release such incompetent crap to the public.
On his page, he writes about himself in 3rd person. Enuff said 