Advice to those considering a XOOM

[shaneneff]

The Xoom has been and continues to be a solid device and by no means do I regret abandoning the iPad nearly a year ago.

That being said, the Xoom has left a very bad taste in my mouth and I would be very hesitant in making any future Motorola purchases.

Plain and simple, it wasn't ready to be released and continues to have two of its premiere features unusable. As we all know, technology marches on. When or if Motorola addresses these issues it will be irrelevant. Perhaps that's their plan on having to potentially modify several hundred thousand devices.

Deceptive and misleading...not to mention losing the LTE device race. While other manufacturers have LTE devices, MOTO can't produce one that works...even the one they continue to market as LTE upgradable.

MOTO fail! Don't buy, and if you do think of buying one, buy mine so I can get one that works as advertised.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

 

[p08757]

If Motorola or Verizon dont address both of these issues soon, I will start to get pissed. I got mine on launch day, and its been way too long...

 

[tntdroid]

This has been covered so many times already. We all bought it knowing it was not 100% done. That's our fault. Its their fault for giving a time frame they could not reach. Its not moto. They are not building software to skin the Xoom and all that. The SD falls on Google. Other manufacturers have it working due to a work around like the rooted users are using. As for the 4g I'm not really sure what the problem is. Maybe since I have a 3g Xoom and don't use data and I rooted so my SD card works I don't mind that much.

sent by CyanogenMod X

 

[Maikai.Guy]

Well, first, it was well advertised the XOOM was an pure Android experience device, like the Nexus. If you were unaware of that, you were living under a rock. As such, Motorola simply doesn't have the liberty to screw around with the ROM. They must wait for Google to fix it.

I was cool with that... for a while. ;-)

Root your XOOM, install a custom ROM, and your problems go away. That is essentially what the other vendors are doing. The are offering a customized ROM that fixes the shortcomings of Google's Honeycomb.

You want the SD card to work, even though Honeycomb native support isn't available?
You can have it now.

You want USB MSD class, so you can read and write files to a USB key?
You can have it now.

You want the XOOM to run faster and smoother?
You can have that too.

Typing in "about:debug" every time you fire up your XOOM got you down?
You don't have to do that anymore.

Missing Hulu?
No more.

And the list goes on.

Can't help you with the lack of patience for the 4G support. IMHO, it's not so bad. A simple delay. It will come. And in the mean time, I have 3G access and WiFi in a ton of locations and home.

If the negative energy was channeled into learning how to root your XOOM, many of you would be happier people. It's not difficult, it just needs an effort.

If anyone reads my old posts, they will see I'm no fan of Motorola, but I'm making the best of it. The cup isn't even close to half empty. In fact, it's nearly full considering what this thing has done for my work life.

My advice to those considering a XOOM is to buy one and root it.

What's your other choice? Stay in the awful spot you feel you are in? That's a bit masochistic, don't you think?

Considering your anger, if you choose not to root, you should sell it on ebay and move on.

 

[tagacapiz]

amen. I'm not spokesperson for Motorola. I just agree with advice post that there are alternatives/ workarounds.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

 

[varsityhacker]

If my xoom wasn't rooted I would be pissed like all of you that are not. However having rooted I can say the xoom is a great device and I have no complaints other then the 4g debacle.

 

[shaneneff]

Alright already. I typically don't root my phones or tablets for that matter, but if all that everyone says about the rooted xoom is true, I may give it a try.

Dies it void warranty?
Can it permanently brick my device?
Is it easy to "unroot?"
Where's a good online resource I can use to make survey do it right?

I'm still pissed, and still won't buy another MOTO device, but I can't afford another tablet right now, so I am stuck with what I have. I may as well make it the best experience I can. Thanks everyone.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

 

[tntdroid]

Alright already. I typically don't root my phones or tablets for that matter, but if all that everyone says about the rooted xoom is true, I may give it a try.

Dies it void warranty?
Can it permanently brick my device?
Is it easy to "unroot?"
Where's a good online resource I can use to make survey do it right?

I'm still pissed, and still won't buy another MOTO device, but I can't afford another tablet right now, so I am stuck with what I have. I may as well make it the best experience I can. Thanks everyone.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

Yes warranty will be void. Need to unlock it first then root. Take a look at the root section sticky. Has a awesome how to. Doing this alone will not give it more powers. Need a better updated kernel. I run tiamat.

sent by CyanogenMod X

 

[Maikai.Guy]

I don't believe the root sticky in this forum has been updated for 3G running 3.1. At least it wasn't when I was doing this.

I'd suggest visiting the XDA-Developers site and do a lot of reading.
Android Software and Hacking General - xda-developers

You'll need to wrap your brain around what you will be doing. It's not difficult, but it would require some effort from someone coming into this cold... with no experience. IMHO, if you found this forum and own a XOOM, you are more than capable of learning to do this. There are a few walk throughs. All of them lack something, but reading them all will fill in the missing pieces.

If you're new, I'd seek out the fundamental data first. This link is a good start:
xda-developers - View Single Post - [HD Boot Animation] Big DX Xoom Custom Boot Anaimation - 3 to Choose From
I'd suggest rummaging around and reading everything you can. The whole process will come into focus faster and easier than you think.

Your warranty will be gone, but how long does that last anyway? And what does it cover? You'll have to make that decision. It's already been said by Mot that rooted devices WILL be upgraded to 4G, just like everyone else, so don't worry about that.

You can unroot, but why? The stock kernal is out there. You would flash it just like you would any other. I'm not sure if you can bring the unit back to stock and be undetectable that you ever unlocked it and rooted. That's the implication of your question. I never looked into it. Maybe someone else knows this.

 

[pauldroidr2d2]

In my opinion Motorola lied about the Xoom. The device I bought is not what what I was told it would be. I was told by Motorola that I would receive my upgrade in the 2nd quarter. That has not happened.

I was sold a bill of a goods. In my opinion Motorola should be ashamed of itself.

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

 

[Michael Alan Goff]

Okay, I loved my Xoom (not so much now, because it isn't working), but I have to say:

A person shouldn't have to root the Xoom to make it work. I didn't buy my Xoom because I wanted to root it, though I later decided to try. I bought my Xoom because I felt the Honeycomb experience would be greater than the iOS experience.

So far? Yeah, loving it.

Point still stands, though. I shouldn't have to hack my computer to make it work as advertised.

 

[Maikai.Guy]

Okay, I loved my Xoom (not so much now, because it isn't working), but I have to say:

A person shouldn't have to root the Xoom to make it work. I didn't buy my Xoom because I wanted to root it, though I later decided to try. I bought my Xoom because I felt the Honeycomb experience would be greater than the iOS experience.

So far? Yeah, loving it.

Point still stands, though. I shouldn't have to hack my computer to make it work as advertised.

But when people are pointing to other vendor's Honeycomb tablets with working SD cards and saying "How come?!", they need to know those other vendors created custom kernels that hacked the SD card.

How do you get the same functionality on a "Google experience" device without waiting for Google to finally give it to you? You "hack" it.

I pity those uneducated consumers that walked in blindly, but it is what it is. The Android tablet experience is in it's infant stage. No amount of complaining is going to change it. It will get better in time.