Mead Advance Notebook Review

by Kevin O'Brien

The Advance notebook is the latest notebook from Mead that offers a soft touch grip, unique color patterns, and compatibility for multiple working environments. The Advance has a revolutionary cloth hinge for enhanced flexibility and long-term durability. To find out more about this new multi-function notebook from Mead, read our full review below.

Mead Advance Specifications:

• 300KB of writing storage
• Compatible with 3-ring multiple storage devices
• Includes business card holders
• Tablet pen holder on front cover
• SpiralGuard comfort grip
• Comes in six stylish colors
• Durable poly cover
• Warranty length varies depending on retailer

Build and Design
The Mead Advance notebook has a unique design with colorful artwork on the top and bottom cover. Mead offers six stylish color options for this notebook to easily match any personality or wardrobe. The innovative cloth hinge gives users a comfortable gripping surface for carrying the notebook around.

Build quality varies greatly between the exterior covers and the inner working surface. The outer poly covers offer water resistance and wipe-friendly surface for easy cleaning. The cloth hinge appears to resist water and stains to stay clean over a long period of time. One of our primary concerns is how fragile the inner surface of the notebook is, being very susceptible to stains from many chemicals spanning from ink to graphite powder. The papery medium tears easily and if it gets wet is almost always ruined.

The Advance was extremely durable in our drop tests, handling falls from 1 foot to 30 feet showing only minimal damage. It also offered a unique “glide-mode” to safely float down from tall structures.

Keyboard
The Mead Advance doesn’t offer a standard keyboard, but instead gives users a huge tablet writing surface. Pen input is excellent with the surface texture giving adequate traction that greatly resembles paper. Flex of the writing surface varies depending on if you are using it on a desk or your lap. On a hard desk surface the rigidity of the surface is so great that you could walk across it without any problems. If you were using it on your lap the notebook bends greatly, but the unique surface can handle extreme angles without distorting or cracking.

Display
The display is similar to an eReader screen, viewable in many lighting conditions and very easy on the eyes. Colors vary depending on what you are working with, able to transition between color or black and white modes at the flip of a page. Viewing angles are some of the best we have ever seen, with no viewing distortion at steep vertical or horizontal angles. The viewing range was very interesting in that you can sometimes see letters or images from behind the display. The matte finish was sunlight readable with no glare visible even in extreme conditions.

Performance
Performance was excellent in the small range of activities the notebook could handle. Boot time is immediate, showing the idle desktop display as soon as you open the notebook. Shutdown times are the same, needing no waiting time before you close the cover and go. Stop-motion video capabilities were great, with no stuttering or pauses as long as your hand can keep up. Games like Tic-Tac-Toe or Connect-The-Dots ran at constant frame rates no matter what resolution the game was being played at. It was very easy to change between each mode by simply turning a page. The Advance offered removable storage but it was generally one-time use, not being able to be reconnected to the notebook without aftermarket hardware. All of our benchmarking software wasn’t able to run on the proprietary operating system, so we were not able to provide wPrime, PCMark05, or 3DMark06 benchmark results.

Ports and Features
No ports were found on the Mead Advance, greatly limiting future expansion and accessory compatibility. Even the Macbook Air offered more USB ports! External storage slots were limited to card holders inside the front cover and a universal pen holder. The holder worked with every pen we tested it with, including models from Wacom, Bic, Pilot, and Sharpie.

Heat and Noise
The Mead Advance offered excellent thermal performance, staying at room temperature throughout our battery of tests and benchmarks. The cooling system was also completely silent, perfect for use in a quiet classroom or meeting. The notebook also worked well in extreme environments like the cold of a freezer without affecting its performance.

Battery Life
Battery life was excellent on the Advance, with an almost-indefinite lifespan depending on use. During the review we never had to charge the notebook and even after the review was nearing completion the Advance was showing no signs of slowing down. This style of power offers many advantages, working in remote conditions or storing for long periods of time. This notebook easily beat all others that we have reviewed, shattering previous records.

Conclusion
The Mead Advance notebook proved to be very useful throughout our testing, offering some great features we don’t see on most units we review. The indefinite battery life meant we never had to keep the notebook tethered to a wall in meetings, airports, or classrooms. The sunlight readable viewing surface was easy to read in most lighting conditions and had better than perfect viewing angles. Durability was better than most rugged notebooks we have reviewed, suffering minimal damage from drops off rooftops or falling from a desk. Overall the possibilities are endless for the Mead Advance notebook, limited only by your imagination.

Pros:

• Sunlight readable screen shows no glare in any situation
• Compatible with many forms of pen input
• Withstands drops even from tall buildings

Cons:

• No USB ports ... or ports of any kind
• Inside surface easily stained by ink or graphite
• Flammable
• Removable storage not easily reattached

Disclaimer
If you haven't already figured it out by now ... APRIL FOOLS!

 

That was hilarious. Thank you very much.

 

Awesome! Nice work man!
I have to admit it took me long till I actually got the joke.
Although I feel kind of stupid now, you made me laugh!

Grtz

 

I was waiting for this!

 

that was awesome! haha!

 

Ahh good ol NBR. Although the cardboard laptop was better, still good for a laugh before school!

 

<ninjatext>

 

lol awesome

 

thanks 4 your effort kevin

 

Bwahaha, good stuff Kevin, thanks for the laugh
I was sadly fooled

 

I <3 April 1st!

 

Great review!

Just one question, is the UPH (Universal Pen Holder) 1.1 or 2.0?

 

USB ports on notebooks.. hmm.. it may be a great idea if utilized right.

 

You are F R E A K I N my dear boy.

Look behind you it is a Pink Elephant!!!

Ha! April Fools!!!



-Hack

 

Lol at this

 

it doesn't seem to be very spill-proof. any word on when a ruggedized version will come out?

 

anything about warranty?

 

Too Funny! GOOD ONE!

 

I thought you guys were actually reviewing a notepad as like one of those accessory reviews for a bit

 

I have a few quick questions:
- Does it smear when erasing? (I hate this type of paper. The paper I am using now is severly weakened when erasing very lightly and smears--it's almost newspaper like.)
- Is it user upgradeable?
- Is there any sort of storage for loose, full-size papers? It looks like the front panel ( http://www.notebookreview.com/shared/picture.asp?f=41991) does not have any such storage, but there wasn't a view of the back panel.
- Are there any hopes of Mead coupons coming out to lower the price? Just wondering if I should hold off on buying or not.

And a few comments:

- I wouldn't say flammable is a con.
- With my handwriting I could probably almost double the writing storage.

 

Just one question that I did not see in this excellent review. How much does it cost? By the way I have been waiting for this and if the price is right just might take the plunge. To finally see a review of an actuall "notebook" is awesome. Keep up the good work NBR!

 

I was in desperate need for a new notebook. Your review helped me make the decision. Thanks!

 

this will conquer the "netbooks" out there....

 

When are you going to review the Mead Ports, the high-end one that competes with the Macbook Air for thinness and has one and a half USB ports?

 

ah come on, lame... you should've done something with the site...

 

Flammable and Inflammable!

 

The resolution is AWESOME!!!111 Im going out today for this to replace my laptops!

 

I am so buying this! I need a replacement for my Macbook Air!

 

Heck, at first I read the headline as "Meet Advanced Notebook Review" and thought it was a site-related joke or so . . . . I must be very blurred . . . .

Btw, darn nice one, Kevin!!!

 

You guys should wait for the new model which can hold SLI pen holders and RAID 0 border lines both vertical and horizontal. Also I heard that you can split each screen to 4 where you can use multi cores at the same time without any issues!!!

I can't wait to sell these on ebay.

 

i like your notebook

how much ?

 

i lol'd
hats off to notebookreview

 

I liked the 30ft drop test. Not many notebooks intentionally get tested for that.

The big drawback is the extra weight if you need more capacity. Is there an option for storing photos?

John

 

Excellent review. Nice job fully testing this revolutionary product with the 30ft drop test(though, I would have liked to see a video review).

To store photos, you will need this attachment...comes in difference sizes, colors, stickness, etc for all your photo needs

 

I am shocked!! I have invested all of my funny money on Dell's, Toshiba's - Asuses (spelling?) - and here was the perfect notebook right under my nose for so much less!! Great, and very enlightening, review!!

 

you forgot to talk about pricing..

it's a great review

 

Lol... Great review, Kevin.

 

LOL

No benchmarks??? How long would it take you to write out the digits of Pi.

 

fantastic - absolutey great!

that made me laugh!

thanks!

 

Someone needs to do a review of a mouse by the end of the day

 

what is the resolution?

 

Anything you want it to be

 

OMG! notebook of the future! hahaha. thanks for the great laugh!

 

This seems to be one of the best April Fools Day ever.

 

He's Banned??

 

lol no he's a head Honcho here they are all Red.

 

I would have liked to see video and music on this, but for the price, I guess you can do without.

Also, sad to see no wireless. I suppose this is for those that really want to pay attention in class.

 

I knew it was coming

 

I heard that it can do Crysis 2 all WUXGA All Max...

 

Oh Darn.......I can't order one in RED :cry:


Cin