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.