I love my Xoom - Tablet Evolution - 1 Week Opinion

[Calidude#AC]

It's been a week of non stop use for me.

I thought this thing would sit on my coffee table and be a go to Wiki device with some email accounts and angry birds tied to it and let me just say I was wrong. Before I got the Xoom, I really wanted a tablet but wasn't quite sure how it would fit in to my every day life.

I got my Evo on launch day and wouldn't give it up, but the Xoom is becoming my go to communication device, my go to stats for work device, admin device, default browsing device and I've played more games in the last week on my Xoom than I have on my xbox or PC combined in the last 6 months.

Honeycomb is the base of a true new version of Android, this is really more like a super fast portable PC than like a handset.

Android handsets are great and you can do a lot on them, but the Xoom, everything just seems easier and it's so fast it makes the tedious type of stuff a tad more pleasurable because:

a) I'm not fumbling around a smaller screen and
b) when I do things I feel like I'm on Star Trek:TNG and I've just checked the ship's logs for the overnight watch.
c) It's faster than waking up a PC
d) I can get to more information faster than switching tabs on a browser
e) You can bring it practically anywhere
f) The battery lasts forever

I have to say, this is an awesome device and as well the Thumb Keyboard app is a MUST HAVE - it changed the whole input experience drastically. I hope Moto or other tablet OEMs or Google start buying licenses in bulk and just release it on anything 7" or bigger.

I know there's been some threads focusing on the Xoom's competition the last 24 hours - please, direct your attention here:

YouTube - Tablet Evolution presented by Motorola

About your doubts:

If you're concerned about Adobe Flash, or your favorite apps being Honeycomb compatible, or Google updating the market, or the 4G upgrade, or the sdcard, or whatever it is, just realize owning a Xoom right now is like investing in the future. You're ahead of the curve waiting for literally more than a thousand different things to catch up and inter-operate with each other. All of these issues will be worked out in due time (which I believe to be extremely short if you've seen the number of app updates in the last week).

This is a tremendously awesome piece of hardware made by one of the world's best companies that has been around for quite some time. The software was literally designed by some of the smartest people on the planet.

Couldn't help but cringe a little when I read this whole thing.

 

[thechidz]

I'm pretty impressed, but waiting for flash and some great apps before I start gushing

 

[kesnik]

I walked into verizon on 03/02 to check out the xoom. I couldn't leave without one. I questioned how much I would use a tablet but then I used the xoom. I am very impressed with the speed (processing/graphics). I can't seem to put it down. IMO this will replace my laptop which I just used for couch surfing or surfing in bed. I still use my desktop for gaming and serious browsing/comparisons/shopping.

I didn't signup for a contract, I was able to buy the device retail with no ties to Verizon, however I did want the ability to connect to 3g or 4g down the line.

Some other things that i was impressed with:
Amazing battery life - 6+ hrs with heavy use and I only depleated the battery halfway

Honeycomb OS - Just wow. Android 2.2 is cabable but the GUI seems raw. I didn't expect honeycomb to be so polished.

Room for improvement:
The widgets are not resizable - I want to have a scrollable twitter or gmail widget 2 wide by 5 or 6 tall. I would love a feature like Launcher Pro has for resizing widgets.

auto rotate still has some lag

Not a xoom problem but but why can't make a call through gmail like I can on the compter or, for that matter, through google voice. I can access the google voice website but the app will not install on the xoom.

maybe someone can clarify (I haven't tried yet) - can you charge with the usb connection? or just the dedicated power connection?

-Kesnik

 

[rohdawgeleven]

Not a xoom problem but but why can't make a call through gmail like I can on the compter or, for that matter, through google voice. I can access the google voice website but the app will not install on the xoom.

maybe someone can clarify (I haven't tried yet) - can you charge with the usb connection? or just the dedicated power connection?

-Kesnik

Google Voice is not available for the Xoom (yet) due to the lack of "required telephony" Why the Lack of Google Voice on the XOOM? No Telephony of Course. - Droid Life: A Droid Community Blog

Can't charge through the USB, just the power connection....nobody seems to know why they did this.

 

[2CupsWithString]

Google Voice is not available for the Xoom (yet) due to the lack of "required telephony" Why the Lack of Google Voice on the XOOM? No Telephony of Course. - Droid Life: A Droid Community Blog

Can't charge through the USB, just the power connection....nobody seems to know why they did this.

A USB connection will not always deliver enough juice to charge this thing. I haven't been "hurting for a charge" since I got it and charge it every other evening.

I would appreciate getting some GV love on this thing though, that's for sure.