Eve V tablet hits shipping delays, may get screen upgrade as a result

The Eve V tablet is basically what you'd get if Microsoft had polled run a series of surveys asking users what they want before shipping a Surface tablet. Because that's pretty much exactly what Eve Tech did when designing this crowdfunded tablet, which had been set to ship earlier this year.

Obviously the company didn't meet that estimated ship date, which is pretty much par for the course when it comes to crowdfunded devices. But Eve did show off finished prototypes to journalists recently, and it did show up at the FCC in June, so it looks like the tablet is almost ready to go.

So what's the problem? According to an update at the Eve Community website, there've been a problem getting screens for the tablet. But while resolving the issue could take some time, it could also result in a better tablet than expected.

Here's the deal: the first batch of screens weren't up to snuff, and the supplier has been slow to provide new screens.

So Eve is turning to the community again and asking what to do next. One option is to wait things out and see if the distributor eventually comes through. Another is to request a refund and switch to a different screen.

The latter option means the Eve V tablet probably won't ship to backers of last year's crowdfunding campaign until August or September at the earliest. But when it does, it may have a 2880 x 1920 x pixel display instead of the promised 2736 x 1824 pixel screen.

If Eve goes with a 12.3 inch option from Sharp, the new screen could also be more energy efficient, consuming half as much power as the current option. Eve is also looking at a 12 inch screen from AUO, which is also said to have lower power consumption.

Both options would be more expensive than the current screen, but Eve says that would only affect future tablet sales. The new screens would be a free upgrade for folks who've already paid for a tablet through the Indiegogo campaign.

It's still a little unclear whether simply asking the community what it wants is a better way to design a tablet than doing market research. Sometimes people may say they want features they don't actually use. And plenty of potential customers won't bother to participate in optional surveys. But one upshot of the way Eve is designing this tablet is that the company's been pretty transparent about the reasons each piece of hardware was selected… and it looks like Eve is also being fairly transparent about reasons for delays.

via MSPowerUser

Source: Eve V tablet hits shipping delays, may get screen upgrade as a result