$799 for the Xoom? Ouch!

[Maikai.Guy]

Why would the average user pick this at $800 over an iPad? Maybe some geeks like us will know the difference, but many of us will be pissed at Moto for this pricetag and lack of options.

I agree with you. Motorola has done a p--s poor job of differentiating the XOOM to the huddled masses.

But "lack of options"? Which options are missing? Replaceable battery?

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

Which is a real shame, because the Xoom in many ways *does* stand out. Advertising is the key these days...I'd think Verizon (who generally does a fantastic job with it) and Motorola should know better.

 

[Baconator]

Xoom - $799 + tax + one month of data + tax again

Oh and I forgot, plus 4G upgrade + tax again

 

[Maikai.Guy]

Which is a real shame, because the Xoom in many ways *does* stand out. Advertising is the key these days...I'd think Verizon (who generally does a fantastic job with it) and Motorola should know better.

Verizon just did a pretty good job with the iPhone commercial. :-(

They didn't show off a single working feature. All they did was show how high tech and sexy it looked.

All that garbage about the masses dressed in white and one guy standing out. There was very little branding. There were no compelling differentiation and you could barely make out what the product looked like.

Motorola blew it... BIG TIME.

 

[ckeegan003]

I understand that the Notion Ink and Viewsonic products are cheaper (in price, specs, and build quality), but let's compare products from reputable companies for a second.

Dell Streak 7 - 7" screen (800x480), 1Ghz Dual-Core, 512mb RAM, 16gb internal storage, Dell Stage skinned Froyo
$199.99 plus required 2 year agreement (minimum $24.99 for 200mb) = $799.75 (plus taxes and fees)

Galaxy Tab - 7" screen (1024x600), 1Ghz, 512mb RAM, 16gb internal storage, Touchwiz skinned Froyo
T-Mobile - $549.99 full retail or $249.99 plus required 2 year agreement (minimum $24.99) = $849.75 total plus taxes and fees

Verizon - $499.99 full retail plus $20 (1 month of data) = $519.99

Sprint - $299.99 plus required 2 year agreement (minimum $29.99) = $1,019.75 (or pay $200 EFT for a total of $529.98)

iPad 3G 32GB - 9.7" screen (1024x768), 1Ghz processor, 256mb RAM, 32gb internal storage, iOS
Direct - $729

Motorola Xoom -10.1" screen (1280x800), 1Ghz Dual-Core, 1gb RAM, 32gb internal storage, Vanilla Honeycomb
Best Buy - $799.99 full retail plus $20 (1 month of data) = $819.99

Still seems like a no-brainer to me.

 

[macewank]

can they even do that? honestly? How is it legal for them to charge me for a service so I can unlock a feature that doesn't require that service? doesn't make any sense at all to me.

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

can they even do that? honestly? How is it legal for them to charge me for a service so I can unlock a feature that doesn't require that service? doesn't make any sense at all to me.

It's not truly unlocking the feature. Verizon or Motorola would have to actually make changes to the software in order for them to lock down WiFi, which would make the "Stock Honeycomb" statement invalid. All they're probably going to do is force you to pay for the first months data plan before leaving the store with the Xoom. After that, you can stop paying for a data plan, and you will still be able to use your WiFi.

 

[macewank]

It's not truly unlocking the feature. Verizon or Motorola would have to actually make changes to the software in order for them to lock down WiFi, which would make the "Stock Honeycomb" statement invalid. All they're probably going to do is force you to pay for the first months data plan before leaving the store with the Xoom. After that, you can stop paying for a data plan, and you will still be able to use your WiFi.

Yeah that's what I was thinking too, but even then, there's never been anything stopping me from buying a device at full retail and walking out without it activated. I'm curious to see how VZW plays this.

 

[willray411]

$800, eh, its funny how much $100 difference makes. I most likely would have gotten it at $700, but now I'll wait till the wifi version comes out, and till the IPAD2 comes out and it has another price drop, then I'll pick up the Xoom.

You know Motorola, I didn't want to have to play the waiting game, but you just came out with some aggressive pricing.

 

[cparker5]

I agree with you. Motorola has done a p--s poor job of differentiating the XOOM to the huddled masses.

But "lack of options"? Which options are missing? Replaceable battery?

Options are not the same thing as features. Sure this has a lot of cool stuff, but out of the gates we only have one choice of features.

 

[anon(43926)]

Horrible choice. I rather get an ipad. Our wait for the ipad 2 with camera. Way over priced. They just blew there chance to get in the tablet market.

Sent from my ass using angry birds app.

 

[Cyber Warrior]

It looks cool and all....but $800....not happening. Go out and buy a Galaxy Tab or wait for the Galaxy Tab2... or maybe HTC will release something soon. At almost 10 inches it was too big to begin with... I'd rather carry around my laptop...I paid $425 for my SGT at Bestbuy.

 

[accordngs]

Weird....

at $700 I was 99% getting this.

Now at $800 with required 1 month data plan....only at 10%.

Makes me want to wait for the price to drop, or see what comes out next. Bummer, was really looking forward to getting this.

 

[cordoni]

Nook color with honeycomb flashed is looking better and better.

Sent from my Froyo Fascinate using Tapatalk.

 

[Menno]

Which is a real shame, because the Xoom in many ways *does* stand out. Advertising is the key these days...I'd think Verizon (who generally does a fantastic job with it) and Motorola should know better.

I don't think verizon had any say in this ad.

 

[Joelist]

The pricing shows poor marketing thinking at Motorola. Basically, I would call it lack of a longer range view of things.

The right approach would have been to sell the Xoom for as close to cost as they can stomach (cut the per unit profit margin as low as possible). Also advertise it more heavily and push it directly against the iPad, showing off the superiority of both the tablet and its OS. You sell far more units that way and build market and mind share for the future.

 

[E_man]

All I can say is, Helloooooooooo Toshiba. Nearly identical specs (even stock android), wifi only, a better looking style, rubberized back, built in HDMI, full sized USB, replacable battery, and all sorts of other goodies.

 

[cparker5]

All I can say is, Helloooooooooo Toshiba. Nearly identical specs (even stock android), wifi only, a better looking style, rubberized back, built in HDMI, full sized USB, replacable battery, and all sorts of other goodies.

Here is my issue, I not really in the mood to wait. I would like a tablet by mid-March. I won't be a guinea pig of Motorola's for $800 when I can get a tested and proved iPad for less. It is amazing that $100 can sour me so much on a product, but I just refuse to pay $800 for this tech.

 

[qnet]

Yeah, I'm starting to have my doubts about getting it also. I really want it and, probably still would have paid $800.00 for it but, I don't like having to sign up for a data plan to activate wi-fi. It's not that I can't do it, it's just the idea of what they are doing.

I may just wait a little and see what happens. The thing is, if people like us, who know all about this tablet are having doubts, imagine how it is for most consumers who don't know anything about it.

If it came 4G LTE ready and, a workable sd-card slot right off the bat, then the price would almost make a little more sense.

 

[dsignori]

The pricing shows poor marketing thinking at Motorola. Basically, I would call it lack of a longer range view of things.

The right approach would have been to sell the Xoom for as close to cost as they can stomach (cut the per unit profit margin as low as possible). Also advertise it more heavily and push it directly against the iPad, showing off the superiority of both the tablet and its OS. You sell far more units that way and build market and mind share for the future.

Amen. This is exactly my feeling as well.