Why does the Xoom Price seem so bad?

[slwerner]

<i>”a good 7" tab will have huge advantage in terms of portability, comparing to a laptop, a 10" tablet, however, is not nearly as portable, so its advantage over a laptop is very small.”</i>

As one who uses both a laptop and a Xoom (as well as a Droid X) for actual work functions, I fail to see that the 10” Xoom looses functionality in portability compared to a 7” tablet.

The ability to hold a larger device with one hand may be different (although I can easily hold the Xoom in portrait mode with my thumb and fingers wrapped around the sides, so I may be biased by having larger hands), but other aspect of “portability” would be no different: fast startup, the ability to hold in on hand, while using the other hand for data input, etc.

It’s advantage over trying to use a laptop while moving about is enormous.

So, I just don’t get what you mean by a 10” tablet being “not nearly as portable”?

 

[Maikai.Guy]

Priced right for the premium piece of equipment it is. What people fail to realize is this is a premium piece of equipment. Go back 10 years and there were similar things being said about Sony VAIO Notebooks and the other notebooks available in its day.

I paid a premium for the convenience and form factor back then... I'll pay a premium for the convenience and form factor today.

 

[slwerner]

<i>?a good 7" tab will have huge advantage in terms of portability, comparing to a laptop, a 10" tablet, however, is not nearly as portable, so its advantage over a laptop is very small.?</i>

As one who uses both a laptop and a Xoom (as well as a Droid X) for actual work functions, I fail to see that the 10? Xoom looses functionality in portability compared to a 7? tablet.

The ability to hold a larger device with one hand may be different (although I can easily hold the Xoom in portrait mode with my thumb and fingers wrapped around the sides, so I may be biased by having larger hands), but other aspect of ?portability? would be no different: fast startup, the ability to hold in on hand, while using the other hand for data input, etc.

It?s advantage over trying to use a laptop while moving about is enormous.

So, I just don?t get what you mean by a 10? tablet being ?not nearly as portable??

 

[clevin]

So, I just don’t get what you mean by a 10” tablet being “not nearly as portable”?

can you put your xoom in your coat pocket so you can carry it around without an extra bag or hold it all the time?

can you hold your xoom horizontal (when the web is easily readable) for a an hour with one hand when you can handle coffee, food, etc with the other hand?

can you carry your xoom to almost everywhere and use it? restaurant? mall? movie theatre, class room, heck, even restroom?

Fact is xoom is a couch device and it is not easy to carry around and u can't use it in many places.

 

[terrain]

Picking up a new sim card for my xoom lte tethering decvice (see Thunderbolt) I noticed the gtab again. Had to stop myself from saying 199 on contract not too bad.... good form factor...

I have a dx and TB and still think seven inch would fit into my uses.

 

[slwerner]

<I>" Fact is xoom is a couch device and it is not easy to carry around and u can't use it in many places."<I>

I'm having no trouble at all standing here and holding my zoom in one hand while typing this with the other.

This is very portable.

True, it won't fit in a pocket. But for me, that's just not a serious issue.

This Xoom is far-and-away more portable than my laptop, and only slightly more "cumbersome" than a smaller tablet would be for me.

I believe your over-stating the advantage of a smaller device.

 

[clevin]

<I>" Fact is xoom is a couch device and it is not easy to carry around and u can't use it in many places."<I>

I'm having no trouble at all standing here and holding my zoom in one hand while typing this with the other.

This is very portable.

True, it won't fit in a pocket. But for me, that's just not a serious issue.

This Xoom is far-and-away more portable than my laptop, and only slightly more "cumbersome" than a smaller tablet would be for me.

I believe your over-stating the advantage of a smaller device.

I actually handled 10" tab, 7" tab and my 11" laptop. I believe you need some hands on with galaxy tab.

10" tab is not gonna sell well at high price, mindlessly pricing it as if Motorola has large fan base as apple is purely dumb.

 

[fridge011]

Is this conversation gonna change in 5 days when the wifi only comes out and it's 600 not 800?

 

[Bossxii]

Is this conversation gonna change in 5 days when the wifi only comes out and it's 600 not 800?

It will be a great deal, but at $799 it's still in line with Apple. iPad 32 gig 3G is $729, you do however get to buy the overpriced accessories to use video out of $39 bringing you to $768. The Xoom is LTE compatible, although a possible pain to send off, still a free and ready this year. The SD card slot basically allows up to a 32 gig card so now you looking at a 64gig device with unlimited storage by carrying a postage stamp case with SD cards in it.

If people still don't see the benefits, let me list a few.

Email attachments, Android works just as a real PC would.
Standard tab'd browsing with Flash giving access to more web content.
File system
Not tied to iTunes
Ability to Download directly from the web.
LTE support In 2011
Built in HDMI for video out.
Major customization Of the UI
Superior notification system
True Multi tasking vs iPads "task switching"

I'm sure I'm missing as many things as I listed. Android is not perfect, it's not as polished, but the ability to something as basic as email attachments and download from the web just make to much sense to me.

Cheap doesn't always mean a better value, if it did every luxury car maker would be out of business. Bring something of value for my money and you will earn my business, by comparison the Xoom offers more features and function for the price.

Still think Moto is overpricing it's device, considering this is basically the G1 of tablets that serves as the development platform. Fully supported by Moto to root and will be receiving updates and OS upgrades when they are released. Xoom owners wont be held hostage by some carrier or other manufacturer finally decides they want to update their own UI tweaks to support what Google released.

 

[88 FLUX]

can you put your xoom in your coat pocket so you can carry it around without an extra bag or hold it all the time?

can you hold your xoom horizontal (when the web is easily readable) for a an hour with one hand when you can handle coffee, food, etc with the other hand?

can you carry your xoom to almost everywhere and use it? restaurant? mall? movie theatre, class room, heck, even restroom?

Fact is xoom is a couch device and it is not easy to carry around and u can't use it in many places.

These "facts" of yours all vary based on the user and are definitely not facts at all. They are simply opinions which you are entitled to. But just because they are your opinions doesn't make them right for the majority.

1. I wouldn't even want a 7" tablet in my coat. So this is a non-issue for me.

2. Yes I can without any problems.

3. I use(d) my Xoom everywhere. ESPECIALLY coffee shops with limited space (my Starbucks is always packed). MUCH more convenient than when I used to bring my laptop. I have used it in the restroom no problem. Anyone using their tablet in a movie theater shouldn't be at the movie theater. And if I'm at the mall shopping, I don't have a need to use the tablet whether it is 7" or 10". However, in the case of the last two, I would have no problem using it in either situation if I actually wanted/needed to.

4. It is very easy to carry around. Might I redirect you here if you are having issues carrying around the very portable Xoom for more than a couple minutes?

 

[willray411]

You know, when talking about the Xoom, I'd have to say releasing only one version is something I'd expect Steve to do. I can see Steve saying, this is the one tablet there is, and you have no other choice. Isn't android about choices? Why would motorola come out with only one version to start with, then not tell us if or when there would be a wifi version. The specs on the xoom are much better then the Ipad 2, yes. But just 1 version of a tablet isn't for everyone. If a car maker made one and only one type of car, you think they'd make it? If a PC maker made only one type of PC, would they make it?

 

[TheBaran]

I thought it was very reasonable.... I got lucky or something I got with my company's discount and contract for $499. I bought one for me and one for my wife after I found out that price.

I like it alot and look forward to 4g next.

 

[Maikai.Guy]

You know, when talking about the Xoom, I'd have to say releasing only one version is something I'd expect Steve to do. I can see Steve saying, this is the one tablet there is, and you have no other choice. Isn't android about choices? Why would motorola come out with only one version to start with, then not tell us if or when there would be a wifi version. The specs on the xoom are much better then the Ipad 2, yes. But just 1 version of a tablet isn't for everyone. If a car maker made one and only one type of car, you think they'd make it? If a PC maker made only one type of PC, would they make it?

Chillax. The WiFi unit is being released on March 27th, isn't it? That's only one month later.