Thoughts on Hardware/Software upgrades?

[anon(18050)]

I'm curious as to what others think about the fact that it's a 3G tablet with a 4G upgrade coming in Q2 and that SD support will require a software update before it will function.

My take:
Obviously, the tab just simply isn't ready. And not just the tablet, Honeycomb as well. Moto and VZW want to get this thing out quick and before anybody else can, which has me slightly scared. I'm sure they can get the 4G upgrade and the SD card software worked out in due time, the whole thing just kinda makes me a bit uneasy for some reason.

But at the same time, I don't really care. It's got Honeycomb, which simply looks amazing and it has the hardware to run, well... everything. Most people also don't get 4G, and I for one live in an area where I likely won't get 4G for at least 2 years. The no-SD support won't affect me right away either for one reason, 32GB internal storage. I have a DInc with a 16GB SD and I don't even use half of that, so I would imagine 32GB would last me more than enough until the SD card patch comes out.

As you can see, I'm pretty torn. I love what the Xoom has to offer, but I'm a bit on the edge because 4G and SD not being ready just makes me a bit uneasy. Whats your take?

 

[cjohnson481]

my two cents:

SD card support in a software upgrade - at least they know about it and will fix it. it coming with an sd card slot and then having software enable it is better than not having it at all. 32 GB is a nice big storage for it already and should last for a little while until the software upgrade is available.

3G-4G upgrade - they are supporting the product, rather than saying early adopters are $hit outta luck. would it be great if it was just launching as 4G, obviously, but at least it isnt samsung sticking it to the galaxy tab owners announcing that they are coming out with a 4G LTE galaxy tab with no way to upgrade the 1st generation one. i would rather send it to motorola and have the people that manufactured the device do the hardware upgrade to it, than have a vzw rep do it and possibly mess it up.

 

[2CupsWithString]

I don't think either are a big deal. I was listening to the AC podcast from last night and Mickey said it was "crippled" but really it comes with 32GB of storage which is HUGE for the tablet platform and it will have a 3G/Wifi connection available.

I just don't see myself in the first little while with the Xoom going "DAMN! I wish I had an extra 16GB of storage or need to be on 4G right now".

I get what you're saying about the completeness of the product, but they already said these things will be addressed and that's great to hear from an OEM/Carrier.

 

[anon(18050)]

I don't think either are a big deal. I was listening to the AC podcast from last night and Mickey said it was "crippled" but really it comes with 32GB of storage which is HUGE for the tablet platform and it will have a 3G/Wifi connection available.

I just don't see myself in the first little while with the Xoom going "DAMN! I wish I had an extra 16GB of storage or need to be on 4G right now".

I get what you're saying about the completeness of the product, but they already said these things will be addressed and that's great to hear from an OEM/Carrier.

Mickey is actually the reason I made this thread, as I was pretty much like you. It had everything I needed and nothing really set off any alarms to me, but I respect his opinion so I figured there must have been something I was missing and wanted others opinions. Moto is one that [usually] lives up to their word, so I trust that they'll get everything rectified within a reasonable time-frame. (This one kinda seems, to me at least, like it may be on Google) Thanks for the opinions so far and keep 'em coming!

 

[Auzo]

For me, I love being a beta tester as long as I get a product ASAP. I know patience is a virtue, but unfortunately I have none.

If this was samsung or sony it would be much much harder since they suck something awful at software updates, but Moto has a great track record in that area and if its not already fixed by release I would say that it will be fixed within a month.

Note: I assume this is more of a google fix issue. Honeycomb wont be widely released until March but this tablet will be released in February (both kind of rumors). Maybe the SD Card fix will come with the wide release of 3.0

 

[terpitude71]

if i was going to be a day 1 adopter, i would probably be annoyed with having to go back to a store and possibly even need a new tablet for an LTE upgrade. price of early adopting though.

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

I think it's annoying, BUT as long as this hardware upgrade is offered at no cost, then I won't do much complaining. When they start charging people for it is the day I smell a class action lawsuit.

 

[2CupsWithString]

I think they'll just swap out or add a radio.

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

From what I've heard, a few Verizon's reps at CES tend to agree that it'll be more along the lines of just swapping it out for a new LTE enabled Xoom. Which would make more sense, anyway.

 

[2CupsWithString]

From what I've heard, a few Verizon's reps at CES tend to agree that it'll be more along the lines of just swapping it out for a new LTE enabled Xoom. Which would make more sense, anyway.

I heard that too from what I've read, that seems like a pain though if you have to go to a store and get the 32GB of internal storage backed up and put on a new tablet. I guess we'll see.

 

[dsignori]

From what I've heard, a few Verizon's reps at CES tend to agree that it'll be more along the lines of just swapping it out for a new LTE enabled Xoom. Which would make more sense, anyway.

That would seem cost prohibitive though it would seem. The sheer # of tablets X $500 (or whatever the price) per pop. Seems hard to imagine they would go this route ..

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

Cost sometimes isn't everything, as actually modifying the internal components of the device to update it to LTE are not only more time consuming, but can also be incredibly risky. I'm not sure Verizon (or myself) want someone tinkering with the insides of my device.

 

[dsignori]

Cost sometimes isn't everything, as actually modifying the internal components of the device to update it to LTE are not only more time consuming, but can also be incredibly risky. I'm not sure Verizon (or myself) want someone tinkering with the insides of my device.

I agree with this completely. I really don't want anyone opening mine up to be honest.

Still, if only 5,000 people exchange 3G tablets for new 4G ones as speculated, at $500 per tablet, they just lost $2.5 million. And there will probably be lots more than 5000 out there. But I guess until we get some official declaration about the process, it is all speculation. This whole thing still seems so odd to me ...

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

Not necessarily. Keep in mind that Verizon can take the returned devices and upgrade them to LTE, restock them, and sell and/or use them as refurbs.

 

[J T M]

Not necessarily. Keep in mind that Verizon can take the returned devices and upgrade them to LTE, restock them, and sell and/or use them as refurbs.

Exact-a-mundo.

 

[2CupsWithString]

The more I think about it, I think the Xoom will come with an empty expansion bay or maybe a modular radio component on the under side of the battery.

Just thinking about the cost of each tablet they are replacing PLUS the amount of time it will take to transfer up to 32GB of data, I don't think they'd release a device with that kind of upgrade path it just seems too complicated.

 

[JoseN305]

I believe they decided to go this upgrade route just to the be the first tablet out with honeycomb

 

[Auzo]

I have been very curious as to the logistics behind this upgrade. There are a few options but they all have their downsides.

1) Modular 4g Radio addition: High frequency wireless chips are very finicky and I feel the only quality way to install it would be to solder it in. "Plug and Play" slots would not work for these units because at high frequencies there are a lot of parasitics that are inherit to those types of slots and they would just kill link quality. I doubt Verizon has the ability to do this kind of install on site.

2) Modular Flash Rom swap: Maybe they will have new Xooms with the LTE chip in it and they will just swap out the 32GB Flash. No restoring of user data would be needed then. This is unlikely but imo its an easier on site installation than the radio chip. Then they can send the old Xooms back for a proper radio upgrade and resell them later.

3) Full exchange w/ data restore: Probably the easiest but most expensive (up front) solution. They would just move all your user data over to the new one and take back the old one. The old one would get sent back for a radio upgrade and later resold.

 

[Baconator]

Okay I have only one concern. If I get the Xoom the first day it comes out and I take it back to get the 4G radio. Is money coming out of my pocket for this upgrade? If it is then I will wait for them to come with 4G. The day I have to pay for an upgrade because THEY didn't have their stuff together is the day pigs fly. It wasn't me who wasn't prepared it was them.

 

[anon(18050)]

Okay I have only one concern. If I get the Xoom the first day it comes out and I take it back to get the 4G radio. Is money coming out of my pocket for this upgrade? If it is then I will wait for them to come with 4G. The day I have to pay for an upgrade because THEY didn't have their stuff together is the day pigs fly. It wasn't me who wasn't prepared it was them.

I personally don't think thats a problem if they price the upgrade right, which from what I read is going to cost $. You really can't blame them with focusing on a 3G model first that you can trade-in/upgrade to 4G, as I would guess 90%+ of their userbase doesn't have 4G yet. That said, we also don't know the pricing. Say 3G is $500, 4G is $600 and the upgrade price is $100 (or say, $75 if 3G model is purchased before a certain date), it really wouldn't be a bad upgrade pricing model. Really early to start complaining about the upgrade costing considering we don't even know anything at all concerning pricing.