Held and played with Xoom at Costco today! Awesome!!!

[naldiian]

Looks like Costco has demo units at the Verizon Kiosk as of this morning, and they are fully operational.

I was at the Kirkland, WA, Costco at lunch time and the lady was nice enough to let me play around with it for a few minutes while she explained that they would not have final pricing details for it until this evening with some additional documentation they are expecting with the full shipment of Xooms.

They have not been told not to sell them under any circumstances until they open on Thursday...even offered to give her an extra hundred bucks to see what she would say. No go.

Anyway - they are absolutely awesome. It is surprisingly heavy and solid for how small it is. Amazing screen color and brightness, at least in the store there. Didn't do to much with it, but the thing is fast... It just seemed so responsive at everything I did with it - switching between apps, loading apps, browsing a couple of sites. The only thing that is slow is the screen orientation response, and that has been mentioned before. It switches very quickly, but has a long delay before switching that is surprising. No big deal.

Anyway, I am now even more useless at work and waiting impatiently for Thursday morning to get here.

 

[Stang68]

Sweet! I'll stop by my Costco tomorrow to see if they have theirs out. I'll be there at open on Thursday morning to buy mine.

 

[BlackPrince310]

Haha "I am even more useless at work now", I feel you man! I'll be at Costco as soon as it opens

Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk

 

[Low023]

Was the back of it metal with the rubberized feel that other Motorola products Droid's have?

 

[naldiian]

I thought it seemed like just brushed aluminum finish really, but dont recall exactly what it as like on the back actually. Very easy and comfortable to hold as I didn't think much about it.

 

[anon(52425)]

No such luck at any of my coscos. I was told it was a huge no-no if they were out before Thursday.

 

[wg#AC]

I did the same. I had just gotten to my local costco when the guy had it sitting in front of him. He let me play with it. He had just unboxed it and turned it on so it is hard to say how fast it is but out of the box it was fast. I noticed how much faster it was than my X. Second I noticed even though I was expecting this thing to feel like it weighed in at only a pound and a half it felt very solid so a little heavier than I expected but I got use to it no time. As for the screen, like everyone else has said it can be a little slow switching between landscape and portrait, however the screen is one beautiful screen. Very vivid colors it reminded me of the X when I first got it. Did I mention how fast this thing is!! I like how they stacked the sim card and the microsd card slot together. Yes you can miss the microsd card if you did not know it was there. Speakers sounded decent considering I was trying to hear them in a crowded costco they were not bad. The side volume rockers took some getting use. I am not sure if this is because I am a big guy with large hands or what. All i can say is it felt weird trying to turn the music up and down. it had a rounded back I am guessing to keep the speakers off the table when laying flat. it goes from being about .5in in the middle to only about .25in on the sides. I did not get a chance to check out the cameras or browsing experience since it it was not activated yet so those reviews will come from someone else or from you when you get it on Thursday.

I also got to see one at my local Verizon store today. I did not get to much hands on with that one. But I can tell the people that worked there had. And even after they had played and downloaded a bunch of stuff onto it it was still fast not like other phones and what not that after the public has gotten there hands on it it slows down this thing was no slower than the one I played with at costco. However I did get a chance to see the accessories with this one and play with them a bit. The portfolio case looks nice. It was a little more plastic feeling than I thought it would be but it did a decent job of protecting your new Xoom. The bluetooth keyboard was of similar disappointment it uses 2 AA batteries and felt like plastic not the nice rubberized aluminum of the Xoom. But it did do what it was suppose to do and did it very well. I can not think of a reason you would ever want to but the keyboard works from several feet away. These were the only accessories they had out for me to play with so the rest of them you guys will have to see for yourself.

Overall I am not sure how I am going to be able to sleep for the next 2 day now waiting for the Xoom to come out. It was that nice and while I was at Costco I asked the guy if I could buy it right then and there and he said that he would call his boss and they said I had to wait... that sucked I was so stoked to pick it up right there and then.. So overall minus my excitement that would give this thing a 15 out of 10 I will say it is worthy of a 9.5 out of 10. the .5 is for the price not the experience.

Hope this helps everyone out...

 

[Low023]

So the Xoom is rubberized aluminum! Awesome does it feel exactly like the back of your Droid X?

 

[BlackPrince310]

I did the same. I had just gotten to my local costco when the guy had it sitting in front of him. He let me play with it. He had just unboxed it and turned it on so it is hard to say how fast it is but out of the box it was fast. I noticed how much faster it was than my X. Second I noticed even though I was expecting this thing to feel like it weighed in at only a pound and a half it felt very solid so a little heavier than I expected but I got use to it no time. As for the screen, like everyone else has said it can be a little slow switching between landscape and portrait, however the screen is one beautiful screen. Very vivid colors it reminded me of the X when I first got it. Did I mention how fast this thing is!! I like how they stacked the sim card and the microsd card slot together. Yes you can miss the microsd card if you did not know it was there. Speakers sounded decent considering I was trying to hear them in a crowded costco they were not bad. The side volume rockers took some getting use. I am not sure if this is because I am a big guy with large hands or what. All i can say is it felt weird trying to turn the music up and down. it had a rounded back I am guessing to keep the speakers off the table when laying flat. it goes from being about .5in in the middle to only about .25in on the sides. I did not get a chance to check out the cameras or browsing experience since it it was not activated yet so those reviews will come from someone else or from you when you get it on Thursday.

I also got to see one at my local Verizon store today. I did not get to much hands on with that one. But I can tell the people that worked there had. And even after they had played and downloaded a bunch of stuff onto it it was still fast not like other phones and what not that after the public has gotten there hands on it it slows down this thing was no slower than the one I played with at costco. However I did get a chance to see the accessories with this one and play with them a bit. The portfolio case looks nice. It was a little more plastic feeling than I thought it would be but it did a decent job of protecting your new Xoom. The bluetooth keyboard was of similar disappointment it uses 2 AA batteries and felt like plastic not the nice rubberized aluminum of the Xoom. But it did do what it was suppose to do and did it very well. I can not think of a reason you would ever want to but the keyboard works from several feet away. These were the only accessories they had out for me to play with so the rest of them you guys will have to see for yourself.

Overall I am not sure how I am going to be able to sleep for the next 2 day now waiting for the Xoom to come out. It was that nice and while I was at Costco I asked the guy if I could buy it right then and there and he said that he would call his boss and they said I had to wait... that sucked I was so stoked to pick it up right there and then.. So overall minus my excitement that would give this thing a 15 out of 10 I will say it is worthy of a 9.5 out of 10. the .5 is for the price not the experience.

Hope this helps everyone out...

Haha 15/10, great write up dude. I'm very excited for Thursday.

 

[wg#AC]

So the Xoom is rubberized aluminum! Awesome does it feel exactly like the back of your Droid X?

I have not had my case off my X in so long let me take is off and take a look....


As a matter of fact it does feel about that same... something I did forget to add to my post at the top if you look on the back the very top bar were the speakers and the camera is that part is plastic so everyone will need to be careful.

 

[qnet]

Thanks for the reviews, I knew it would be awesome, I could tell from the little video footage I seen. I love pure Google devices. I recently purchased the Nexus S after being disappointed but, I was wrong. I may end up selling my MT4G LOL!!

I can't wait to get this tablet.

 

[naldiian]

I do agree - the thing was almost shockingly heavy when I grabbed it. Strangely, I quickly appreciated that it wasn't as light as I had imagined as I reached for it. It just seemed so comfortable to hold and work with after a few seconds... any lighter and I think it may have been too easy to push off balance as you move your hands around.

I really cannot wait to pick the thing up Thursday morning - and then spend 4.5 hours playing with it on my flight home from Seattle to Dallas. Just gotta figure out where to get it charged up before the flight.

 

[wg#AC]

I do agree - the thing was almost shockingly heavy when I grabbed it. Strangely, I quickly appreciated that it wasn't as light as I had imagined as I reached for it. It just seemed so comfortable to hold and work with after a few seconds... any lighter and I think it may have been too easy to push off balance as you move your hands around.

I really cannot wait to pick the thing up Thursday morning - and then spend 4.5 hours playing with it on my flight home from Seattle to Dallas. Just gotta figure out where to get it charged up before the flight.

I really wish I could play with mine on Thursday after I pick it up but I will be playing hooky from work in the morning and needing to return by noon so I will get mine activated and then go to work. And I do construction work so no way to play with it while at work. talk about a long day.. :'(

 

[asabino]

Yup I'm bummed, I have to show up for response to terrorism training for the fire dept thursday morning while my wife picks up the xoom at bb! Damn! Hopefully we have a short day and work through lunch

Swyped! On "droooiid X!"

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

Congrats man! Can't wait to get my hands on one myself. Too bad there aren't any Costco's in my area.

 

[bigguy_132]

Chris did you decide yet if you are getting the 3G one or holding off for the wifi only?

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

Chris did you decide yet if you are getting the 3G one or holding off for the wifi only?

I think I'm going to be getting the 3G version. I'd like to have that option in the event that I might want to take advantage of it down the road. Definitely not getting a 2 year contract though.

 

[csmith75]

Did you try holding it in one hand and was it comfortable?

 

[anon(52425)]

I'm glad there is some heft to the device. My friend has a tab and it feels the slightest bit cheap. Its not too much heavier than the ipad and I think that's an ideal weight.

 

[naldiian]

Yep, it is hefty and feels very solid, but seemed comfortable to hang on to one-handed to read or watch videos. That said, I didn't hold it long enough to know if there would be fatigue issues when trying to read something lying down or anything like that. I imagine that could be an issue since it weighs and pound and a half.

On the other hand, that solid weight is what made it feel very stable for use lying in your lap or on a table without having to hold it in place with one hand while navigating the screen with the other.

I am assuming that it will be a good idea to get a case or portfolio like Moto is selling for it to make it easy to stand the thing up at various angles to watch movies or read on flights. Guess I need to invent a hanging mount solution to hold the thing above you when reading in bed 8 )