A week with two tablets.

[imwjl#AC]

Hi,

I am evaluating tablets for 3 different customer requests and projects and of course can't ignore personal interests and fun too. I have had Xoom and iPad 2 for a long week.

At this point all I can say is I sure hope the Honeycomb and related (hardware and apps) progress fast. At the moment I worry that the Xoom/Honeycomb is not yet polished enough in two ways. First is I've had some app crashes with the Xoom including the built in maps. I've not had one crash with the iPad and its similar or same apps. I can live with that but that's a big flag raised as far as putting tablets in the hands of unsophisticated users.

My kids and boys especially like the Xoom more than the iPad 2.

For personal use I would rationalize one as an ebook and newspaper reader. I've read and am reading Kindle books with both. They both work but the iPad Kindle app seems more polished. I like the idea of browser doing everything but find reading my Wall Street Journal is easier with the reader app than the Xoom's browser.

My guess and hope is the software and hardware development will happen fast like it did with phones.

I don't have any final conclusions yet and my customers have not made platform choices but right now I have some concerns that the Honeycomb and hardware is not ready for prime time in the way the competition is.

I think I'm fair in my analysis. I have a Droid X and iPhone on my contract, support several technology platforms.

 

[crewcabrob]

We are pretty lucky at our house, we have 2 Xooms, an I pad and a Galaxy tab. Right now, the only thing the ipad is used for is one game. The other tablets are used form more general stuff and get picked up the most.

Rob

 

[Suntan]

I think I'm fair in my analysis.

No offense, but you didn?t really give any analysis.

I mean, everyone here already knows that the Xoom has a tendency to crash apps. It?s not a closely guarded secret.

I think most people, trying to decide between the Xoom and ipad2, would like to hear opinions about the usability difference between the two. As opposed to just hearing info that is already quite common knowledge on the web. So don?t take this as being negative that you are bashing the Xoom. Take this as, you could help people out a lot more if you actually discussed some real world usability differences between the two, since you have both.

-Suntan

 

[clevin]

We are pretty lucky at our house, we have 2 Xooms, an I pad and a Galaxy tab. Right now, the only thing the ipad is used for is one game. The other tablets are used form more general stuff and get picked up the most.

Rob

Im interested to know the usage comparison of xoom and galaxy tab in your house, which was used more? And if there are things each of them are especially used more often for?

Thanks

 

[gizzyman]

Its not the xoom thats crashing app's, its the app's being poorly built and and being made/updated for honeycomb.

I do not see alot of the app's being updated because most probably are not making the developer much money so they are not gonna work to make it compatable with honeycomb.

the few games that are made for honeycomb rock, smooth, perfect... dont blame the tablet, blame the developers.

 

[gizzyman]

at my house, my kids get the sumsung tab and they dont get to touch my xoom.... but they get tired of the tab because it freezes so much

Im interested to know the usage comparison of xoom and galaxy tab in your house, which was used more? And if there are things each of them are especially used more often for?

Thanks

 

[Suntan]

the few games that are made for honeycomb rock, smooth, perfect... dont blame the tablet, blame the developers.

I don?t think anyone here is ?blaming? anything. Just discussing the realities.

-Suntan

 

[mellex]

the few games that are made for honeycomb rock, smooth, perfect... dont blame the tablet, blame the developers.

So true the ipad 2 is the some OS as the ipad Xoom has a new OS give the developers time to make honeycomb apps

 

[eyecon82]

I also bought the Ipad 2 and the Xoom....

here are my findings

the only thing Ipad has on the xoom is the better viewing angles on the screen, better response time from landscape to portrait mode, better GPU, and of course more Apps....plus it is slightly thinner..but that comes at a price of fragility. The xoom has gorilla glass.

The xoom has unparallelled multitasking. It doesn't reset the app unlike Ipad. I love how you have full access to the system essentials by pressing the bottom right of the screen without it interfering in your current screen. Also the pop-up notifications are great along with the task bar. For example, if you want to check weather on Ipad, you have to go into the app; however, on the xoom you just look on the task bar and it is in the tray. And we can't forget scrollable widgets!

Battery life seems to be equivalent

oh and you can't forget that the xoom can handle java and flash unlike Ipad...hence, you can do Uworld on it...

Also, no need to convert videos in order to watch them on Xoom..it has a DIVX/VLC player (rockplayer)

 

[karmamule]

Hi,

...

At this point all I can say is I sure hope the Honeycomb and related (hardware and apps) progress fast. At the moment I worry that the Xoom/Honeycomb is not yet polished enough in two ways. First is I've had some app crashes with the Xoom including the built in maps. I've not had one crash with the iPad and its similar or same apps. I can live with that but that's a big flag raised as far as putting tablets in the hands of unsophisticated users.

My kids and boys especially like the Xoom more than the iPad 2.

For personal use I would rationalize one as an ebook and newspaper reader. I've read and am reading Kindle books with both. They both work but the iPad Kindle app seems more polished. I like the idea of browser doing everything but find reading my Wall Street Journal is easier with the reader app than the Xoom's browser.

...

I remember when I got my first generation iPad that apps would close much more frequently than they do now. Even to this day I have iPad 2 apps that close on me occasionally. If I had to estimate I'd say it happens once or twice a week. My main point here though is that iPad apps closed a lot more frequently when it first came out, and that developers have, on average, been turning out better apps as they gain more experience with the iPad. There's every reason to expect the same will be true of the Xoom and other honeycomb-based tablets as well.

The other thing I've noticed is that when the typical iPad app has a problem it usually just vanishes in a blink, and you tap on its icon and it's back. It all happens so quick that the few times it happens (these days) that it almost doesn't register unless it happens a couple times in a row.

Xoom apps, on the other hand, seem to flame out in more style (at least in my experience so far), and are more likely to noticeably freeze up, then perhaps a dialogue box pops up, then you force close them. iOS seems very hasty to just dump apps and make you restart them, with the benefit being that a crash feels less intrusive.

Also, as someone who is an ardent ebook reader I actually prefer the Xoom to the iPad 2 for ebook reading because the slightly higher screen resolution makes a noticeable difference to me (and everyone else who looked at them in side-by-side comparisons with me). Yes the iPad version of the Kindle app is a bit slicker (right now), but that bump in screen resolution is key for me.

I hope whatever tablet you ultimately use most brings you many hours of enjoyment!

 

[eyecon82]

my ipad 2 has restarted on its own about 4 times that I've noticed.....

 

[Bossxii]

my ipad 2 has restarted on its own about 4 times that I've noticed.....

If your iPad 2 is rebooting on it's own? I'd swap it for a new one. I've owned the original and the now the 2 and haven't heard of one restarting on it's own.

 

[crewcabrob]

Im interested to know the usage comparison of xoom and galaxy tab in your house, which was used more? And if there are things each of them are especially used more often for?

Thanks

My wife carrys the Galaxy Tab in her purse all the time and uses it for corperate email and very little else. Every once in a while I will see her use it to look at a web page, but very rarely does it get used. The only time I even get to touch it, is to place it on the charger for her or use it when we are out and I didn't bring my Xoom. I suppose one of our teenage daughters will use it to play Angry birds a few times a week too.

My son has a Xoom as do I. The ipad was a free-bee and not really asigned to anyone inparticular. That could be the reason it doesn't get used that much. One daughter carrys a new iphone, and I really thought she would take control of the ipad as it is the same OS. She really hasn't even looked athte ipad since she got the new phone.

 

[imwjl#AC]

No offense, but you didn?t really give any analysis.

I mean, everyone here already knows that the Xoom has a tendency to crash apps. It?s not a closely guarded secret.

I think most people, trying to decide between the Xoom and ipad2, would like to hear opinions about the usability difference between the two. As opposed to just hearing info that is already quite common knowledge on the web. So don?t take this as being negative that you are bashing the Xoom. Take this as, you could help people out a lot more if you actually discussed some real world usability differences between the two, since you have both.

-Suntan

OK, so it was some quick thoughts instead of analysis.

Usability.... It has the iPad beat as far as calendar apps and one's own control of hardware. The width and weight are less friendly for tucking in the same bag as a laptop.

The Kindle app formats better with the iPad and iPad's better viewing angle helps the ebook reading - especially propping it up with the new magnetic cover as a stand.

Apps not designed for the larger display generally look much better with the Xoom.

One surprise for me is my liking the New York Times and Wall Street Journal reader apps instead of the web view which is a plus for the iPad.

A mark against the Apple for me is always seeing the keys as CAPS.

Wyse Pocket Cloud works fine with both.

I am sure my personal use will involve both because I support technology platforms and these will be used as client systems.

One more on personal use. Both the Xoom and iPad made me wonder if a bigger Kindle is right for my personal use because reading is what I would use these for. If I keep one personally I'll sell my small Kindle 3 and cancel the newspaper in my driveway each morning.