Motorola Xoom - Verizon

[drbandkgb]

So from time to time Ms kgb brings home toys from where she works for the family to test and play with.. Tonight the Xoom came home..
As most of you know Im no fan of the Android software. Since these little tablets are really internet browsers I thought Id give it a try and see what all the buzz is about.

At first glance the thing looks very cool.. Seems to be well built and not too heavy. The screen is sharp and shows web sites very clear..
Its also 4g and I have to say is pretty fast.
That seems to be where the cool factor ends with it.

The XN web site loaded fast and looks very clear..

The Keyboard is nice and large just like you would expect.. Then you try to type on it... BLAAAAAAAA!!!!
This thing couldnt keep up with my 20 month old daughter typing gibber gabber.. You almost have to pause with EVER letter you type or the thing seems to loose key strokes..

I wanted to type a nice review as I played on XN but id still be typing the first sentence. So I jumped on my trusty iMac and did this right.
I do not have much experience with these tablets but Im going to say this one would not be on my short list..

1-10 Ill give it a 5

 

[RATTFINK]

Sounds like there should be a speed setting for typing. I could figure it out. Send it to me.

Sent using telepathy.

 

[J Everett]

I played with a lot of android tablets. The Xoom is one of the worst by a major name brand (there's a lot of crappy tablets from brands like Archos). The Samsung Galaxy, Asus Transformer and the Kindle Fire were the only ones worth considering, and the Kindle only because of the price and I wanted the smaller tablet because it is primarily my e-reader and secondarily a tablet. In fact, the only bad thing about the Kindle is that app access is only through Amazon's app store, and there's a couple of apps, namely Google Earth, that aren't available via Amazon. But, I got Netflix, Pandora, Tapatalk, email, and a browser, so really, that's all I wanted in my tablet. The keyboard is responsive enough, and the battery life is impressive, though not as impressive as my old Kindle. But the Fire does so much more.

If I was doing it again though, I'd get the 7" Samsung Galaxy for $100 more.

 

[Macland]

I'm planning on getting the Kindle Fire shortly

 

[J Everett]

Got my Fire a few days ago. Tried to root it today, but ADK was being uncooperative. I'll figure it out tomorrow.




Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk

 

[civicjoe]

The only thing I find appealing about the fire is its price. If it had 3G or 4g I
Might be more interested. I guess I could tether to my phone but that's going to use extra battery power. I did play with a fire when it came out for the price it's nice but yeah


Sent from the Nighthog mobile command unit.

 

[xearth]

The Galaxy 10.1 is clutch, that's what I've got right now. And if you use a blue tooth keyboard you'll find that's way faster on the tablet, and the response time is identical to typing on a PC. The screen can't detect your responses anywhere near the rate the keyboard can (and your fingers are already waiting on the keys on the keyboard and you can't really do that on the screen )

And definitely tether whoever said that above!!! I love using my phone's interwebs on the tablet anywhere. Just makes me keep a set of charging cables at work, home, and in the X

 

[Kris&HerX]

I've had my Toshiba Thrive since October or so. It's pretty nice. A lot of external ports which makes things so much easier. Also got a free back cover for it. It's Android Honeycomb 3.1. I've had a couple of glitches and now the screen flickers when I lay it down. Plan on at least sending it back and letting it get fixed. Otherwise I really like it. 10.1 inch screen, pretty lightweight, and did great on the airplane. I also wish it had a better camera. 2.0 MP on the front and 5.0 on the back. Oh well. College student here.... just wanted something cool and I got a good deal by buying my laptop and tablet together.

 

[J Everett]

Toshiba Thrive is a pretty damn nice tablet. I can't believe I forgot about it. Thanks for adding it to the list, Kris.

 

[RATTFINK]

This is where I go before I purchase an electronic gadget.


CNET - Top 5 Tablets

 

[NMTerras]

I love my ipad but it sucks i cant tether unless i jailbreak my iphone. Boo.


Sent from my brain using technology

 

[dhyde79]

you should be able to tether if you have a 4 or newer iphone....(you just have to pay for it)

as far as the Xoom goes....being a verizon rep, when it first launched, they hyped it up like MAD to us, never really was impressed.

I found it difficult to use compared to other android tablets, but, then again, I'm fairly anti-android so I didn't really try very hard.

one interesting thought for you though, if you've got one that was pre-4G upgrade, you have until the end of this month to send it back in for the upgrade if memory serves correctly, I'll get the answer for sure tomorrow at work, after the cutoff they won't be accepting any more for the upgrade....and that update enables the memory card slot as well, I think for read only but I'm positive I've read that there was a software update or a hack that you could do easily to enable it for read/write, and you could put an extra 32GB card in there and be set for space.

 

[Kris&HerX]

Toshiba Thrive is a pretty damn nice tablet. I can't believe I forgot about it. Thanks for adding it to the list, Kris.

You're Welcome!

 

[Macland]

You welcomed a motorola xoom?

 

[TN4x4Xterra]

Welcome!

Been drinking?

 

[drbandkgb]

That's the XN commitment


Zzzzz...zzz..zzzzz

 

[Kris&HerX]

Been drinking?

I don't know what you guys are talking about. Someone said thanks, I said you're welcome.


Gah... boys.

 

[kgbanddrb]

one interesting thought for you though, if you've got on, you have until the end of this month to send it back in for the upgrade if memory serves correctly, I'll get the answer for sure tomorrow at work, after the cutoff they won't be accepting any more for the upgrade....and that update enables the memory card slot as well, I think for read only but I'm positive I've read that there was a software update or a hack that you could do easily to enable it for read/write, and you could put an extra 32GB card in there and be set for space.

Even though I don't work in sales or care....I had heard this as well...so...I concur fellow Verizon rep

 

[dhyde79]

Yeah, I don't really care either, just a note I thought I'd throw out there in case anyone knew of friends that had them....

I'm much more fond of apple and blackberry devices...but, figured I'd share a bit of info on topic