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Xoom goes Boom

Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
in Zocalo v2.0
Aparently Best Buy leaked the release date & price of the Motorola Xoom Honeycomb tablet... I was very excited for this as i've been looking for a tablet, and wanted to avoid the iPad... But with the price and data requirements of the Xoom... Ugh $800 bucks for the tab, and you HAVE to buy a minimum of 1 month Wireless at $20 to activate WiFi on the device. Making the Initial price $820, much more than the iPad... Suck suck suck suck suck

[url]http://5.mshcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/motorola_xoom_best_buy.jpg[/url]
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Comments

  • WORFWORF The Burninator
    There's no denying the iPad is the dominant tablet around, so it amuses me that all these other companies think the best way to compete is to make their own devices massively expensive.

    Worf
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    It's like they don't want you to buy it...

    The first iPad is pretty miserable in the hardware department. I suspect/hope that when the next iPad comes out, and shows itself to be far superior to the first in hardware and comparable to all the Android tablets appearing, that the Android makers will realise they need to have competitive pricing.
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    Thats the thing, the Xoom looks superior to the iPad in almost every way. But i'm sure as hell not going to pay that much more for one (hey i might even have a free iPad, my kid's school is auctioning one off, and they are only selling 500 tickets max.. so i bought every ticket my daughter had. not bad odds.
  • WORFWORF The Burninator
    That might be cheaper than buying an iPad but it isn't free.
  • ShadowDancerShadowDancer When I say, "Why aye, gadgie," in my heart I say, "Och aye, laddie." London, UK
    Yeah I hope you're better with the accounts Entil'Zha! :p
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    It is free, Since i was GOING to give the same $50 to the school to help with their trip anyway...
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    Nobody really seems to immediately comprehend how expensive mobile phones and tablets actually are. They are damned powerful, densely packed pieces of technology that offer nothing short of amazing performance in completely unpredictable environments. Tablets are going to be expensive, and the iPad is definitely among the cheaper of the current crop (largely because it is just a glorified iPhone with a lower pixel-density screen), but it's still expensive.
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    at these prices i'm actually tempted to jut grab the Dell inspirion Duo instead, I understand that they cost a lot to make, but I was under the impression that the while idea of the android tablet was for them to be able to dethrone the iPad, which thye will not be able to do at an $800 price tag (IMHO)
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    [QUOTE=Sanfam;191581]Nobody really seems to immediately comprehend how expensive mobile phones and tablets actually are. They are damned powerful, densely packed pieces of technology that offer nothing short of amazing performance in completely unpredictable environments. Tablets are going to be expensive, and the iPad is definitely among the cheaper of the current crop (largely because it is just a glorified iPhone with a lower pixel-density screen), but it's still expensive.[/QUOTE]

    A good tablet is expensive, but placing their pricing above the current market leader seems like a poor decision, however good that market leader may actually be (which is likely to be a lot better soon when the next version is released), people are going to be looking at reputation as much as anything else. The Xoom really doesn't have that much over the iPad other than having cameras and, potentially, software. The screen's pixel density is on par with the current iPad (some rumours are claiming the next iPad will have the same pixel density as the iPhone). I don't see anything in the Xoom that justifies an extra $100.

    Your argument about "amazing performance in completely unpredictable environments" doesn't really make much sense in arguing for tablets being more expensive than anything else. It's just as applicable to laptops.
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    Ok, So i'm really struggling with Xoom Vs iPad2,

    With the rumor that Sams Club will have a Xoom WiFi only in April for $539 it makes my choice more difficult.

    I need one for work, i'm planning on using it mostly for doing inventory/documentation, which i do using Google docs, so i need to be able to easily edit google docs. This would lean me towards the Xoom.

    But I also want to be able to play on it, and the Xoom has much better graphics for movies etc. HOWEVER. the iPad currently has Netflix, while the Xoom does not, also the MLB application doesn't fully work on the Xoom yet. but does on the iPad2... the Xoom will have flash soon, the iPad never will, Xoom has SD, iPad does not.. i just don't know... have any of you guys used both? if so what are your opinions of them. HELP!!!
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    I have used neither. However, I love how light and thin the iPad 2 is, but much prefer the software of the Xoom, UI- and feature-wise. That may well change with iOS 5.0, but I don't expect Apple's increasingly-tall wall around its garden to start growing shorter.
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    thats part of my problem with the iPad., i mean i can accept it in my iPhone, but for a tablet, i need it to do what i need it to do, and i dont want to be forced.

    I have played with the Xoom and I really like it, weight wise it's not too much different than the iPad (the Samsung Galaxy 10.1 tab is supposed to be lighter, but it's total vaporware at the moment)

    i'm really leaning Xoom, and if the $539 Wifi Only price is real, it would be worth it.
  • WORFWORF The Burninator
    Keep in mind, the iPad can always been jailbroken.
  • Lord RefaLord Refa Creepy, but in a good way
    I kind of would want to get the LG G-Slate.. :)
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    Jailbreaking the iPad does nothing to improve it's display, memory and lack of card slot though.
  • samuelksamuelk The Unstoppable Mr. 'K'
    I've had an iPad since August of last year, and I have to say that it's a very nice device. With any tablet, you don't really get to appreciate (or hate) the device by just fiddling with it in the store for a few minutes. My first thought when seeing the iPad was, "It's just a big iPod Touch", and I wrote it off. But after finally buying it and using it on a regular basis, I can honestly say I was wrong.

    Apple is usually never the price leader, but I'm amazed that they can produce a thin, metal-body tablet cheaper than other companies can make a thicker plastic tablet.

    Battery life on the iPad is phenomenal -- I can easily get 8-10 hours with heavy use, including watching a few movies and playing games.

    The display is not as high resolution as other tablets, but it's crisp and smooth. Memory can be an issue, but only insofar as Safari needs to refresh pages when you switch between tabs (a problem the iPad 2 doesn't have).

    Apple's memory management makes 256MB go a long way.

    As for the lack of a card slot, the camera connection kit solves that problem, and even allows the iPad to use some USB devices like keyboards and microphones.

    The Xoom is a nice tablet, but the Android OS is still awkward and hasn't yet seen its full potential.

    The Xoom fares better than the iPad 1, but comparing it to the iPad 2 (a fairer comparison since their release dates are much closer), the Xoom failes in many areas.

    But when you look at the software library, there are some iPad apps that blow away anything Android has so far (Garage Band, djay, KORK iMS-20, iMovie, LogMeIn*, Flipboard, games like Infinity Blade, and the multitude of art apps like Sketchbook Pro, Brushes, Inkpad, etc.).

    There are quite a few things I'd change with the iPad (Flash support, more relaxed OS restrictions, more flexible/customizable UI), but none of these things has yet made me dislike using the iPad -- and I use it just about every day at work and at home.

    I own an Android phone, and while I love it, I can see that the OS just hasn't matured enough to compete with the iPad. Maybe in a year or so, we'll start to see some solid iPad competitors...the Xoom and maybe Blackberry Playbook are close, but we'll see.

    *The LogMeIn app is available for both iOS and Android, but the iOS version is consistently ahead of the Android version. The iOS version was just updated to allow file transfers between the remote computer and iOS device (even with the free version of LogMeIn).
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    Just out of curiosity, are you basing your "maturity" statement of the android OS on using Honeycomb? or one of the phone variants?

    All the apps you mentioned, while great on the iPad are useless to me as this is going to be mostly for Business. the only entertainment apps i'm really looking at on it are Netflix and MLB, both of which i can do with PlayOn...

    I think i'm going to take the risk and buy the Xoom, if i don't like it, i can always sell it and buy the iPad, I can use the Tax deduction either way.
  • samuelksamuelk The Unstoppable Mr. 'K'
    I'm basing the "maturity" statement on all of what you mentioned. And many people who have reviewed the Xoom say the same thing. A lot of the Android apps just don't work well on the Xoom. They don't take advantage of the extra screen real estate. Icons and buttons are tiny, yet are spread out across the screen, leaving a lot of extra unused space.

    I use the iPad for business as well, and one thing I CAN'T do on an Android device is connect to a Cisco VPN, which I can do on the iPad (thanks to the fact that Apple licensed the rights from Cisco).
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    The reviews do consistently say that Honeycomb is nice, but it's not quite ready yet. Fortunately buying now doesn't mean you're stuck with the current software forever, of course.

    If I were you, I would wait for Samsung's 10.1" tablet to be released. It's due pretty soon, as I recall, so you don't have too long to wait. It would give you a wider range of hardware options, and from the specs, Samsung appears to have nicer hardware than the Xoom (lighter, etc).
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    I had been waiting on the Galaxy Tab 10.1, But i really need to have it before we start work, and Samsung has no hard release date other than "April or May" and i definitely must have it before May.

    Samuelk, Thanks for clarifying, it's appreciated.
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    and after watching this video i REALLY want the Samsung, If they would just come out with a solid release date i'd be a happy camper.

    [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtqXLGPzVMk&feature=player_embedded[/url]

    although from what I've read, Samsung has an event in Florida on the 22ND where the galaxy 10.1 is supposed to be officially introduced, and maybe there will be a release.

    If i was getting a Xoom i wanted to order it before the 23rd, as staples guarantees delivery by the 27th if you order it before the 23rd (plus i get 4x bonus points on my CC from staples, so that adds up to about $15 bucks off the price) but I guess i'll wait and see what Samsung does, i love samsung products, my monitor and all my TV's are all Samsung.
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    And now after reading the specs on the Galaxy 10.1 and finding it has no HDMI or SD card, i'm back to being confused and leaning towards the Xoom. AHHH this sucks!
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    Samsung uses their own connector instead of USB. I suspect there will be an HDMI adapter for that. It'd be stupid for them not to have the capability somewhere given the Tegra 2's good support for 1080p. There will be an SD card adapter as well, I'm sure, but I don't agree with samuelk that having a card adapter makes it all OK. Having to carry around the adapter when they could just build the slot in is annoying.
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    I sure hope so, cause i'd like to have that.
  • David of MacDavid of Mac Elite Ranger Ca
    [QUOTE=Biggles;192014]The reviews do consistently say that Honeycomb is nice, but it's not quite ready yet. Fortunately buying now doesn't mean you're stuck with the current software forever, of course.[/QUOTE]

    From what I've heard, that's not necessarily the case with Android devices, since the OS has to go through the hardware manufacturer and carrier. There was a story the other week about Google having to release security patches for obsolete versions since devices were coming out of the factory a couple versions behind with the vendors having no intention of updating them.
  • Entil'ZhaEntil'Zha I see famous people
    Can't go through a carrier when you dont have one.... I'm not going to get a 3g/4g unit, Just WiFi. and while this may have been true pre-honeycomb, i believe thats one of the changes they made, Honeycomb will get the updates across the board without having to wait for vendor updates (from what i've read anyway)
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    [url]http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/22/samsung-galaxy-tab-8-9-and-new-galaxy-tab-10-1-thinner-than-the/[/url]

    Yummy. Wonder if they'll fix the software by then?
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    Those are not bad prices at all.
  • WORFWORF The Burninator
    They're learning.
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    It certainly took them long enough. Motorola hasn't learned yet, though. They still believe people will pay more for the device with less style and no Apple logo.
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