Farewell Xoom

[mr.seth.price]

*Let's keep this civil please, it's all based on personal preference*

Well, I just came back from Best Buy. Returned the Xoom. Funny BB Mobile guy said shortly after the Ipad 2 announcement he got a few calls on the Xoom return policy. We actually both had a laugh.

I was honest with him when he asked why I was returning it. iPad 2.

Here is my take on it. I LOVE the Xoom, I really do. It does SO friggin much but at the end of the day I would do what my friend down in LA was doing. I asked myself what I was doing on the Xoom that I wasnt doing on the iPad and if the cost made sense. And after serious thought, it didnt make sense.

2 weeks ago I had a 16GB wifi only iPad that I took everywhere with me. I did everything on it. I browsed, I read books, I had it setup in the back seat for my son to watch movies while on car trips, I used the countless apps available, Netflix, music, etc. Used the thing to its full advantage.

Then I caught wind of the Xoom, the price was high, yes but I love Android too and thought why the hell not. I had a nice tax return and some extra cash to spend.

After a few days I was starting to realize that for ME, the difference in my usage between the 2 just wansnt that different. And truth be told, the cost just wasnt worth it to me in the end.

I can do the same on the iPad 2 (FOR MY PURPOSES) for less money. Granted I am grabbing the 3G version but at 629, its easier on the wallet.

I will miss you Xoom. I really will

I can totally agree with your reasoning. I have to wait till the middle of May to get one (cash flow) but I find myself doing the same reasoning in my head. By then though who knows what will be out and what the prices will be.

 

[moosc]

omg fyi the front facing camera on ipad2 blows total crap. ipad2 is crap, and i really wish folks would get of the price point. after 2 years your paying more ipad2 then xoom. im glad your ditching your xoom.. my self im waiting till spring and buying Toshiba android tablet. that my friends will stomp ipad2, xoom, paybook, flyer or any other tablet.

 

[Air Force One]

Why? I don't think they should have put Sense on it, and they should have just made it the Nexus One of Honeycomb. The Nexus One still is a beautiful device and one hell of a workhorse.

I actually like Sense myself. I tried a sense ROM on my Nexus and now am planning on my next Android device to be a Sense device...I love those opening weather effects And the widgets.

 

[Air Force One]

The first Honeycomb tablet should have went to HTC.

I agree HTC would have made a sweetly built device, BUT I bet battery life would not have been as good as it is with the Moto Xoom. I don't know why but HTC has issues with battery life.

 

[hoonaynay]

Here's a better question: if the iPad was good enough, what in the hell makes the iPad 2 worth paying another $600+ for? The iPad clearly isn't too slow, and the dual-core processor is nothing. Are you paying $600 for the neat little cover? The cameras? It can't be the cameras. Surely someone like yourself has enough money that you've got a pretty new phone, right?

Why the out of the blue pissed off attitude? Why does anyone pay extra to upgrade their device? Asking someone why he wants to purchase the newest device is an inane thing to do. If you have that mindset, I'm assuming you're not planning to ever upgrade your devices? And what if he wants to pay $600 for two cameras? Does the way he spends his money harm or affect you in any way? Does your wellbeing depend on him Not buying the iPad 2? Why be a troll? And why is the A5 processor nothing? Have you walked around Cupertino testing it out? This is the one reason I always regret skimming through forums; people such as yourself who have such a hard time understanding that others can have their own beliefs and opinions.
And there's no need to make snide remarks to someone you don't know. Show some courtesy and stop being an imp.

And to end that tangent, I was excited to see the xoom, but the price point was too high for what I was going to use it for. My 16gb WiFi iPad does everything I need it to do (kindle, vlc, netflix, email, nyt and wsj) and now that its jailbroken, heeeheeeheee. The iPad 2 looks like an awesome device, but I'll hold off until my OG starts fading away.

 

[cody_21]

I am seriously thinking about jumping ship too but I don't know what Verizon's return policy is since I ordered it online.

 

[Air Force One]

I was all ready to return my Xoom if the iPad 2 made any huge update. I was watching the live blog at Engadget on my Xoom and I swear to god I nodded off as soon as they started talking about those stupid screen covers.

If the iPad 2 had brought a new screen I might have thought twice. To be honest, I'd be seriously surprised if Apple even uses that second A5 processor...my own opinion is that they basically will solder it in there just so they can say they have a dual core processor...and they are only doing this after they saw what the competition is doing. They won't actually utilize it , imo.

 

[booboolala2000]

It seems that you might be missing your apps as well. To me the I pad 2 looks like a sleeper. And it doesn't sound like you were taking advantage of the upcoming LTE portability. That is one of the main reasons I got mine, the I pad won't be LTE until next summer. And we know that by the end of the year the tablet market for Android will be very sufficient. It's nice that you gave it a try, but now with the restocking fees and what not, you really haven't saved that much and have lost out on LTE capability. Try back next year and maybe the price levels will even out, or who knows, maybe Samsung wont price their 10in at a crazy price like they did with the first GTab. Happy hunting.

 

[XzombieX66]

Awesome dodge-ball ref....

But um, whats so bad with HTC?

I have used HTC at my work for a few years now and everything i get from them is very cheap and breaks very easy. Just never been a fan of their devices.

 

[david6785]

yeah returned mine too, i wish they had placed the power button and charger on the side it was a deal breaker for me but i love honeycomb. im probably going to pick up the lg or samsung i looked at there ports and there mostly on the side including the speakers. it was tough returning it but theres to many tablets coming out to settle for second best!!

 

[Smokexz]

I dislike the Xoom, price, size, and I just don't like Motorola...



I am getting the G Slate(Optimus Pad, for you UK folk).


Better cameras than the iPad(VGA vs 2mp)

Better UI, no matter what Steve Jobs says that is not a tablet UI, the unlock screen looks like it has been scaled up! Kind of a joke to me...

This iPad garbage, the fact that it is very fragile (held it, used it, disliked it), the UI is semi optimized for tablets, apps aren't 100% backwards compatible, and then the issue is that it offers nothing new, no SD card, so I am limited to 16 gigs, which my iPod touch chugs up from the apps and music(you know, the thing it was made to do...). Finally, HDMI... not a huge thing for me, however it is a nice feature, but, the iPad has a proprietary connector(sorta like MHL, only it is completely different in that it cannot charge the device or even make it cost affordable). the Pad has dual core, a FULL tablet OS, better cameras, smaller(but still big) screen, and to end it all, it has more connecting options with more openess.


I understand, doesn't work for you, however the iPad 2 is just so unimpressive compared to all the Android tablets because it is the same thing, with just an Apple on it, and (IMHO) a locked up non-tablet OS.

 

[booboolala2000]

Wi Fi was not enough for me. I am already surprised at how much data I am using with this thing when not at home. It looks like I will need to upgrade my data plan to the 3gig plan for the next few months, then maybe it will plateau somewhere.

 

[crspy]

I don't blame the failure of the XOOM on Motorola but on Google. Google should of subsidize the XOOM, since Motorola has no incentive to subsidize the product themselves.

 

[scorpiodsu]

I said last week that the Xoom is overpriced for what it does RIGHT NOW. Doesn't have enough apps yet dedicated for the platform. But right now it doesn't do anything much more than an iPad except widgets and customization. Is that worth 300 hundred bucks? Or even 170? Nope.

 

[Air Force One]

But right now it doesn't do anything much more than an iPad except widgets and customization. Is that worth 300 hundred bucks? Or even 170? Nope.

easily worth it to me...

 

[spas2k]

IF the XOOM fails it is because they didn't release a variety of models, wifi only included. I had this grand plan of tethering a blunderbolt 4g data to a wifi zoom for under $1000. life would have been grand and i'd be set for atleast 8 months or so... but...

It just seems like they do everything wrong and hey rushed out the product(s) in order to beat apple. I can understand that, as it seems that Steve-o's address was more low key than normal because he knows that there are other "great" products out there.

That being said I'm torn between the two, mainly because of what the XOOM will be able to do, compared to what the apple is already able to do. Netflix, garageband, more games ect... All right there a few days after it's announced and shown to the public. Over here in android land? 2-3 months, maybe if we get around to it. Maybe we'll have a wifi-only version when sales stutter. Maybe we'll have a price drop when the Ipad2 kicks the crap out of the xoom and other competitors come to the market.

I hate to say it, even though I prefer android (by a wide margin), the difference between the two companies is night and day and I'm getting fed up with the constant present and wait attitude.

 

[kingboarder]

I'd like to chime in here as well and tell you that I returned my Xoom at BestBuy yesterday. It wasn't an easy decision though....

I really love the UI of Honeycomb with the great homescreen and live widgets, the true multitasking and tabbed broswing.
However, I disliked the fact that Google has pretty much put out beta software here. I mean, I didn't do anything fancy with the Xoom, had I think only 5 Apps installed but yet the Xoom sometimes froze, randomly rebooted or was in need for a manual reboot to get it working again. Plus, I really hate Verizon and just need a GSM device since I'm overseas a lot.

I think that Google's Honeycomb platform has great potential, but for now the iPad 2 just is a better deal to me. It does Hulu Plus and Netflix out of the box, has FaceTime (all of my family and friends have iPhone 4s or Macs), has better email, is thinner, lighter and cheaper.

So sorry Google and Motorola. I think you should have held on to this device for a little longer and tweaked the software a little more before releasing it.

 

[MoreGeeBeez]

The Xoom is failing. I blame Motorola. I'm still annoyed at my DroidX's locked bootloader.

Open OS locked to a carrier = fail
Open OS exclusivity to Motorola for a couple months = fail
1 $799 model at launch = fail
Rushed OS = fail

People keep talking about specs but the ipad runs flawlessly. Do you hear anyone complain about XBOX 360s having 512mb ram? PS3 having 256mb ram? Wii having 64mb ram? My comp has 8gb of ram & a better graphics card than a 360 and it plays ModernWarfare worse. The xoom has a 2mp front camera but the quality transmitted over gtalk is vga. It plays 1080p video on a 1280x800 screen. I don't care if it can play 2160p because it has a 1280x800 screen.

It took Android until Froyo to be a solid OS. Honeycomb is clearly rushed and a beta. Wake me up when Ice Cream arrives on a $499 tablet and I'll sell my iPad2 and buy whatever non-Motorola tablet is out there.

 

[original00]

The Xoom is failing. I blame Motorola. I'm still annoyed at my DroidX's locked bootloader.

Open OS locked to a carrier = fail
Open OS exclusivity to Motorola for a couple months = fail
1 $799 model at launch = fail
Rushed OS = fail

People keep talking about specs but the ipad runs flawlessly. Do you hear anyone complain about XBOX 360s having 512mb ram? PS3 having 256mb ram? Wii having 64mb ram? My comp has 8gb of ram & a better graphics card than a 360 and it plays ModernWarfare worse. The xoom has a 2mp front camera but the quality transmitted over gtalk is vga. It plays 1080p video on a 1280x800 screen. I don't care if it can play 2160p because it has a 1280x800 screen.

It took Android until Froyo to be a solid OS. Honeycomb is clearly rushed and a beta. Wake me up when Ice Cream arrives on a $499 tablet and I'll sell my iPad2 and buy whatever non-Motorola tablet is out there.

I totally agree. People don't get that specs don't really matter, its all about the user experience and Apple has a history of doing more with less specs. I love android but Moto dropped the ball on the xoom pricing. I swore off apple products but there is not denying that the ipad is a great device. I have wanted a tablet for soooo long but I will not pay 800 for a tablet that is not fully baked. I will be getting the ipad 2 and probably switch back to honeycomb in the fall when there are more apps and competitively priced tablets.

 

[brucewilsonpa]

Exactly the reason it will fail. Moto wanted to be the first to the market with a 4g honeycomb tab and they were (minus the 4g). sad that if you want this device to work to its full potential you have to send it in for an upgrade. I am considering the ipad 2 but do like the xoom as a device. there is no purpose for me to have 3g or eventually 4g on my tab so i will wait for a wifi only. Once again apple shows why they rule the tab market, maybe samsung can get it right

That's why Moto rushed to market. It may be incomplete which upsets us early adopters but Moto succeeded in getting lots of'them into users hands before Apple could announce I pad 2 so we're not just comparing paper specs on a yet-to-be-released device, we have real experience and from what I read most are pleased by our XOOM so there is a growing body of pro-XOOM users to offset the usual media and faboy hype over the iPad2 which most of us can recognize is NOT better than our XOOM and in alot'of ways is not as good. It might backfire but if the XOOM is as successful as my experience with suggests it should be then the pundits will eventually point to the "rush to market" as a brilliant strategy.