From the review:
<i>”The Xoom is clearly designed to be used more in landscape mode than it is in portrait”
“The lightweight design makes it easy to use single-handedly, and very comfortable to hold for long periods, unlike the Xoom.”</i>
For me, personally, one of the biggest “knocks” on the Xoom (vs other tablets) is actually one of the worst considered of factors – the “weight”, which is really more a “one-handed use” issue.
Yes, the Xoom does weigh more (the price for using metal for the case), but for the average person of normal physical strength, this isn’t really the supposed “deal-breaker” some try to make it out to be.
In the end, it’s the way in which different tablets tend to be held that will make the most difference, because of the difference in torsion which will be felt by the hand which is doing the holding.
One need only compare the difference in holding their Xoom in portrait vs. landscape orientations (for a right handed person, holding it at the bottom left-hand corner with their left hand). The difference is that the same weight is distributed out over lever-arms of differing length (simple physics here), with the longer lever-arm of landscape mode producing more torque.
Thus, the greatest difference due to weight differences is going to be noticed when holding various tablets in landscape orientation. (given that the iPad 2 is actually a bit wider than the Xoom, it’s supposed weight-based comfort is going to be fairly slight over the Xoom’s if both are held in portrait mode)
The real disadvantage the Xoom suffers is that it is designed more for landscape mode use (as noted in the review).
But this disadvantage only comes into play if people are actually using the tablets in prolonged one-handed fashion.
How many people really try to use any tablet, including their light-weight iPad 2’s in that way?
In my own personal usage, I carry my Xoom around to different locations at work, and use it “on the go” for data entry and note-taking. And yet, I’m more likely than not to set my Xoom down to actually do any input. And, in cases where no surface is available to set it down, rather than hold it by the lower corner of the bezel, I tend to take advantage of the Xoom’s narrower width (relative to the iPad 2) to simply hold it like a phone in portrait mode. It’s obviously not as easy to do (and likely not possible for those with smaller hands), and I would not be too comfortable doing it fro prolonged use. But, my one-handed usage (as I suspect is true of 90%+ of other users) tends to be short-term. When I intend to engage in more prolonged use, I set my Xoom down (just like most all of the rest of you) so as to be able to use both hands for the actual work that is to be done.
I just don’t buy the idea that the Xoom’s additional weight is some great “handicap” for most users, given the way most users will actually be using a tablet. [/rant]
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