Database Users

[Review] Xoom vs Galaxy Tab 7"

After having a bit of time to play with my Xoom, I'd thought I'd tell everyone how I felt about the Xoom and whether you should be think of upgrading from your Galaxy Tab.
Build quality
The Xoom is very will built, all the components are solidly put together - there are no rattles or any bendy bits. That said the extra weight of the tablet is definitely noticeable compared to the Tab, and certainly makes reading while holding the tablet in one hand less comfortable - plus you don't really need the larger screen for this use.
The screen does not go quite as bright as the Tab, and is not so readable in sunlight. Also it attracts fingerprints like moths to a light, after an hour of using it it looked worse than an iPad does after a whole day, though you can't really see the fingerprints while the screen is on.
Software
This is the main part I was excited about - there has been quite a bit of hype surrounding Honeycomb. Sadly, IMHO, quite a bit of it is just hype -- the main changes are in the home screen and the task/notifications bar. Both of these work really well, the 3D carousel effect when turning pages of the Home screen is really smooth, and the new notification system works really well giving you a system which works quite like a desktop. Sadly you can't pinch the screen to show all of your desktops at once.
The rest of it though, it is pretty buggy. The settings app and gmail apps have force-closed on me a number of times - these are pretty important parts of the OS and so it's seriously disappointing to see them not quite finished. The Facebook app seems to work for a few mins then crashes and won't work until I restart the device.
The browser is very nice, with proper tabs (and incognito tabs!), but if you dare to switch on Flash 10.2 all the time then the whole thing is no faster than the Tabs browser with Flash enabled -- in fact it's quite possibly worse than my Tab with an OC kernel and the latest leaked ROM.
But main problem is - where is the software? Google made much issue about Android 2.x not being fit for tablets but the truth is all they've mostly done is what Samsung did - the email app now has one pane with a list of your emails in and another showing the content of your email. It's the same with the other apps, nowhere is there an incredibly large difference in functionality between the modified Samsung apps and the new Honeycomb ones.
Sure you get a film editor app, but that was pretty much put in to grab a bit of press after Apple put iMovie on the iPad - I'm sure most people, me included, would prefer a decent photo editing/retouching app more than a pretty basic video editing one.
No free, Xoom optimized apps with the device or a store for them like you get with Samsung.
And then we get to media playback, or rather, the almost complete lack of it. So you've just bought a nice new tablet that will play "HD". Like to play your MKV on it? Nope. AVI? Nope. Xvid? Nope. DivX? Nope. WMV? Nope. MP4 and MP4 only (to the point where you have to rename M4V files to MP4 to make them work even though they are the same thing but with a different extension). Yes I know I can use RockPlayer etc but this simply isn't as good as native support. If Archos could afford it the Moto sure can.
That might not be so bad if there was a store like the Samsung Movies Store or iTunes where I could buy or rent a movie in a compatible format. Except this being a "Google Experience" device there are no apps apart from the few that Google put on there (and aside from film studio that's just upgraded standard Android apps). So you have a tablet that doesn't support that vast majority of media formats used by the largest desktop OS; I feel justified in saying that is a slight fail -- is Youtube supposed to be my entire source of entertainment? It's not like you can call the quality of most Flash videos on the web HD.
The one upside is the tegra 2, and all the nice games it will let you play. Except there are only a couple at the moment, and if the Tegra Zone app is to be believed, most of them won't be out for another couple of months. That said the few that are available are very nice, and run perfectly smooth.
Overall
Overall I'd give the Xoom 7/10. It's good, and the first Honeycomb tablet, but I think it will probably not be in the top 5 come the end of the year.
I can understand some people might buy it over others on the promise of slightly quicker updates, but I'm seriously considering taking mine back and waiting for the Tab 8.9, I have a few more days to play around with it before I decide. Sure it will have customized interface so it might not get updates as quickly, but actually it will do much more out of the box than the Xoom does, and it will still probably do more than the Xoom will even after the Xoom has received an update.
I used to be someone who bought plain Android devices on the basis that they quicker updates (have an NS, had an N1, etc), but a lot of the time it makes little difference. Google doesn't actually release updates often enough anymore for that to be much of an issue, and in some cases these days manufacturers have actually made things better than Google did (e.g. the standard browser in the Galaxy S on 2.2 is far better than the stock browser on a Nexus S on 2.3).
Sadly in this case the bad experience reflects badly on Motorola even though it isn't really their fault - they've had nothing to do at all with the software. At the same time that is their fault - it's their tablet and if I was head of a Motorola I'd want to make sure the software I was putting my name on did everything I wanted and worked properly - Android manufacturers should stop getting so desperate to compete with Apple and actually focus on the quality of their own products.
So my advice would be wait. And possibly in this case don't let the factor of whether it's a pure Google device affect your decision so much -- Honeycomb is still an infant and it really needs some features added on for a full tablet experience.
* I was completely aware the Xoom would come with no added extras like the Tab did when I bought it. I just thought Google would have put more work into making Honeycomb for great for tablets.

That's a pretty accurate description. I went through 2 XOOM's which I bought once they released the WIFI only model, and my experience was the same if not worse. Lots of potential, but they really missed the mark with that one. The second XOOM had a hardware failure and refused to charge, and since I was pretty let down overall, and that needle thin power adaptor is just waiting to snap off, I got rid of it entirely. I bought my first Galaxy Tab WIFI model Monday from Tigerdirect, got it Wed and have used it since and I absolutely love it.

That's an interesting review.
It surprised me that honeycomb still isnt working perfectly. I thought that they would update it regularly.
The Xoom seemed to me, to be a liitle bit too fast released device.
I also agree that it probably wont be the best in the flow of the year - off course.
I think HTC looks quite promising, if they release a bigger version of their Flyer.
Let's see if the Companies learn from the others - if a company releases later, it always has a lower risk of failing, because it can learn out of the mistakes of the others...

And then we get to media playback, or rather, the almost complete lack of it. So you've just bought a nice new tablet that will play "HD". Like to play your MKV on it? Nope. AVI? Nope. Xvid? Nope. DivX? Nope. WMV? Nope. MP4 and MP4 only (to the point where you have to rename M4V files to MP4 to make them work even though they are the same thing but with a different extension). Yes I know I can use RockPlayer etc but this simply isn't as good as native support. If Archos could afford it the Moto sure can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This, x1,000. I own an original iPad, and picked up a T-Mo Galaxy Tab for $100 on Craigslist. Once the wifi Xoom came out, I went to Staples to pick one up.
Disappointment doesn't begin to capture it. Such a lovely screen...why, why, why wouldn't you include a Movies app with the tablet? Videos that played flawlessly on the Tab would stutter and whimper on the Xoom. That's just inexcusable.
I also co-sign everything you said about Facebook; I had the same experience with Seesmic.
I bought it on Friday evening. I returned it on Sunday afternoon. I can handle rough edges with software, but this goes beyond that. And selling it for $600? Yeah...not so much.
That said, I'm keeping an eye on the Asus Transformer; $399 is a sweet price point.

rnoboa said:
That said, I'm keeping an eye on the Asus Transformer; $399 is a sweet price point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're interested, here's my short review of the Transformer, originally posted in the Transformer XDA forum. I do compare it to my Galaxy Tab, so I don't think it's unreasonable to post here!
Regards,
Dave
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I've had my Transformer for 4 full days now, and I've a few comments to make for prospective purchasers.
First of all, a little background - I've had Android phones since the original G1 was released in the US (I was there when it was released), and since then have owned the HTC Hero, the HTC Desire, and now the Desire HD (and a Pulse Mini as a backup device).
I also have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7", which I've been using since October last year and I still think is a fantastic device, so most of my observations on the Transformer (henceforth called the TF) will be in comparison to Galaxy Tab (henceforth called the GT). As an aside, I also have a Toshiba AC100 Android netbook, so I think I have some feel for how the TF will be once the keyboard dock arrives.
Build quality
The TF feels like a really high quality device. I know some people have reported issues with back light bleed etc, but I've had no such issues. The aluminium case is really nice to the touch, as is the back of the device which is a plastic made to look a bit like carbon fibre.
Design - the design is generally really nice, though if I had one criticism it is the size of the bezel is rather large. Additionally, it does feel a little odd holding the device in portrait mode as it comes over as very tall and thin, especially when compared to the GT.
The IPS display is lovely and crisp, though it does seem a little less bright than the display on the GT.
OS and software
This is both simultaneously the best and worst feature that the TF has over the GT. In general browsing use, the TF is much more like a laptop/desktop experience than the GT, and you can see Honeycomb has great potential. However, it does feel very much like an unfinished product.
When the GT first came out, the stock browser was notoriously laggy (fixed in later iterations), and the TF suffers from the same issue - in fact it is worse because whilst the GTs browser was basically just laggy, the TFs browser is laggy and buggy.
Specifically, clicking on links in other applications often causes the browser to pop up, but it doesn't load the new page - this can be fixed by "killing" the browser and restarting it, but it shouldn't be this way. Whilst I much prefer the native browser when it works correctly, I'm now using Opera Mobile for day to day use.
Honeycomb Gmail on the TF is a revelation - it is a far superior client than the client on the GT.
Other minor Honeycomb/TF complaints are:
1. There doesn't seem to be a way to clear all notifications easily.
2. Just getting to the Settings menu is overcomplicated.
3. The keyboards do seem overly large in my opinion, and there don't seem to be enough long press options to get to alternate characters, though I'm aware these are easily replaceable.
4. Overall the TF performance is good, but I don't feel that Honeycomb is taking advantage of the dual core Tegra 2, and thus in general use it doesn't really feel any faster than my single core GT.
Media Playback
This is an easy one - the GT is a better media player than the TF, simply because it natively supports more formats (e.g. DivX).
I'm not unused to transcoding video to H264, as I had to do this often on my earlier Android devices, but with the advent of Cortex A8 class devices with Neon, I found software players like RockPlayer more than acceptable. This does not seem to be the case for the TF, since Tegra 2 doesn't support Neon instructions. However, the AC100 is a Tegra 2 device, and the built-in media player is much better than the stock TF one too, so really I think that Asus should have done more here.
With the TF, I'm back to having to transcode media, and to be honest for the most part that means I'll just my GT instead.
Overall Usage
Here's where it gets interesting!
The TF provides a very different experience to the GT and for the most part it is very enjoyable- when I bought the device, I knew it be mostly be a "coffee table" device, and that the size, weight, and built-in 3G of the GT was going to a distinct advantage over the TF when it comes to travelling.
What I didn't expect is that the GT still holds some advantages at home too.
Put simply, the TF is still too big and heavy sometimes - when I get up in the morning, I usually take my GT off charge and slip it into the pocket of my dressing gown, and this means it goes with me when I go to make a coffee, visit the "office" in the bathroom etc.
Also, late at night, if I want to watch something whilst lying in bed, the GT is simply much more comfortable to hold for any period of time, and coupled with better media support is always going to be the preferred option.
The Future
I don't think it is really fair to judge the TF until the keyboard dock becomes available, because I honestly think this will significant change the nature of the device.
When I first got my AC100, it was running Eclair and to be honest it was pretty rubbish, but it got so much better when Froyo landed.
I can see the TF similarly getting a completely new lease of life once the dock arrives.
Also, Honeycomb does feel like a work in progress, and I'm hoping for regularly updates to this device, which again should improve the experience, along with more Honeycomb specific apps on the market.
Conclusion
I think the TF is a fantastic product and the price is extremely good for what it is. I certainly wouldn't want to put anyone off buying one if they have a genuine interest this form factor. In the UK at least, I think the Xoom has priced itself out of the market massively, which currently leaves the TF as the 10.1" tablet of choice.
The biggest issue for me is that 10.1" tablets are generally too big and heavy, and whilst newer tablets may be lighter, they will still be similarly sized unless they can dramatically reduce the size of the bezel.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9" may well be a better compromise, and I will be looking closely at this once it arrives. However, it won't fit in a jacket pocket, so would still likely just be a coffee table tablet for me.
Ultimately, I think my ideal tablet device would be a 7" form factor device like the GT, similar internal hardware to the TF (dual core, IPS, memory etc), and built-in 3G. Until something like this ships, I think my GT will still be my primary media consumption/browsing device.
Steve Jobs may think that there is no market in 7" tablets, but in my case he's wrong!

Thank you soooo much for the Tab vs Xoom reiew. I was looking at the Xoom a couple weeks ago, but when I saw Sprint marked the Tab down to $199, I bought it instead. Although the Xoom is a gorgeous device, I am becoming quite sold on the 7" size. After using my Tab for a week, I love it! Now if the Xoom was only, say $100 more than the Tab, I may change my mind, but as it is now, it's way too expensive for what it offers out of the box. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to see the Xoom have a price drop soon.

How bad is Honeycomb? The reviews of the G-Slate, Xoom, and even Eeepad Transformer suggest that Honeycomb itself is... not ready and quite laggy. How does it compare to plain old Froyo on a 7'' Tab?

so if understand correctly, android market does not install the tablet version of gmail or any other app on the galaxy tab?

You will have special section of apps created for the Honeycomb and for 2.2 or 2.3.
Apps that are not suppose to work will not be shown on the Market.
Some apps created for phones freeze or fail to work but overall you can find apps that suit your needs. I would agree that at this point software has rough edges but this is always an issue for the early adopters. The 1st iphone had no software choices at all and it took more than half a year to get something else.
Screen size and resolutiin make Xoom almost a laptop.
I like Xoom but prefer Galaxy Tab because of size and weight.

Are you keeping your A500 or gonna try the next best thing?

I am still on my 14 day return and have been thinking about this. Android biggest problem is something new is always right around the corner. I think a lot of you are here cause the Asus was unavailable and may still be waiting on that.
So are you keeping it.
Did it surprise you enough to stay with it.
Is the upcoming Samsung Galazy Tab 10.1 or the burning desire to have the Transformer gonna make you take it back.
Maybe the Toshiba Tab with it's built in USB might persuade you.

Sticking. Stuck.

I bought the Acer because the ASUS wasn't available, but I'm quite happy with it anyway. As you said, there's always something new around the corner, but what I've seen about the Toshiba models put them in the Xoom price range, and I haven't seen pricing on the Samsung 8.9 and 10.1 (new thin models, not the 10.1V original design.)
Honeycomb in general's still a very new system, and I expect by this time next year most of the things we're looking at as "missing" or "broken" will be available and/or fixed. Kinda the way I'm still using my (original generation) Droid phone, which, when overclocked and ROMd over to Gingerbread is just fine

Actually...
I figured that I'd get it to play with Honeycomb and wait for some of the vaporware tablets to emerge. I had bought a Xoom but it was a real POS - nothing worked including the falsely advertised charging dock, etc. So I returned it.
Now I'm absolutely keeping the Iconia - I have a rooted Nook Color - very nice but not in the same league as the Iconia.
Don't believe all the BS put out about how bad the screen is, or other stuff.
I rooted it (easiest root I have ever done) and everything works as advertiszed.

I still got until Monday wiki decide Saturday if I will return or not to get the transfoemer, tegra 3 tablets are also coming out in august
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App

Got both the Asus and the iconia and will keep the iconia ..
The Asus just feels so cheaply made that no amount of screen quality can make up for it feeling like a cheap toy in my hands.
I can understand the whole IPS vs standard screen debate as i have owned many great screens over the years including IPS desktop screens and iPads etc etc .
They both have there pros and there cons but a good screen and good build quality are more important to me and the whole USB host thing built in without the need for a dock or separate accessory is just great.
Will never need a keyboard attached to it either and i think thats what really pushed me over the edge to keep the Acer.
Not slamming on the Asus btw because its decent in other areas but after getting 2 with some nasty light bleed on top of questionable build quality the Acer just took the crown for overall winner .

I am keeping mine. I actually had a Xoom first and took it back...thought it was too expensive for what it was. I actually really like the Acer better. I love the USB port, the micro card slot actually works ( didn't on xoom as of yet), It feels a lot lighter and I actually like the bezel being larger as it is easier to hold without hitting the screen. The viewing angle is good (not sure why bad comments on that). I like it a lot.

Keeping. Was waiting on the Asus, but i'm more than happy with the screen of the Acer, absolutely love the usb port, and since removing the phone apks, I have no complaints about battery life. I'm happy.

Right before I got the Acer I had purchased a used Galaxy Tab 7" thinking that would satisfy me.
Then I saw the Acer. Once I touched it I fell instantly in love and fought myself not to give into temptation everyday. Suddenly it hit me... I have a Bestbuy card and it means I can take 18 months to pay for it without a dime of interest.
1/2 hour later I had the Iconia in my sweaty hands.
Sure the wife *****ed but hey, it's only a new toy once.
For me it's a keeper. Like others have said, the USB port is a big factor and I see nothing wrong with the screen.

Keepin'. I am surprised how much I enjoy the Acer iconia Tab. The USB port makes all the difference. I think the build quality is very nice indeed and I really like the design. Root doesn't hurt either.
I was an early adopter of the Linux Eee Pcs and thought they were very solid little machines, but later models had some serious build quality issues. So the Eee Transformer quality/build problems I have read about do not surprise me one bit. . . .
Also have the Galaxy Tab 7" and a Nook Color. Not sure which one of those I'm sticking with though. I like them both but I leaning toward the Nook and selling the Galaxy Tab on Ebay.

Keeping for sure

I will be taking mine back, but only cause I will be waiting for Samsung galaxy tab 10.1. The weight of the Acer is an issue for me, but can understand why it is. Feels very sturdy. I absolutely love the USB port & sdcard working out of the box. So testing the Acer gave me a few things to think about far as what I want in a tablet. I know Galaxy tab 10.1 will not have USB port. Not sure how Toshiba's will feel.
I definitely recommend people to try the Acer
Also the corners of acer are kind of pointy if holding for awhile.

def keeping mine. I don't know why the Asus got so much media and Acer didnt

I'm still on the fence. I'm coming from daily use of a convertible Fujitsu with stylus and have wanted something this light for a while and miss not having a stylus for normal handwriting.
There are also some things I may not be able to live without which require Window$ but I'm going to give it another week and see if I can see a way to fit it into my normal working life.
If there weren't things that were broken out of the box (gps, compass) I'd probably be leaning more towards keeping at this point

Took a day or two to work out a couple of bugs, but now my A500 is rock solid, smoking fast, amazing battery life. I'm 100% satisfied. This should be fine for me until a Tegra 4 comes out in 2012...
The only thing I am waiting for is a new kernel so I can see what this baby will do when it is overclocked.

bhageman said:
Took a day or two to work out a couple of bugs, but now my A500 is rock solid, smoking fast, amazing battery life. I'm 100% satisfied. This should be fine for me until a Tegra 4 comes out in 2012...
The only thing I am waiting for is a new kernel so I can see what this baby will do when it is overclocked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any tips tricks as to what you did to fix / customize?

nubbin77 said:
Any tips tricks as to what you did to fix / customize?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-Immediately did a factory reset. Eliminated problem with screen coming back on after screen time out and an odd problem I had with my screen timeout being stuck at 15 seconds.
-Rooted with GingerBreak (make sure you lock in portrait during process)
-WPA supplicant
-changed phone.apk and telephony___.apk to .bak to kill the phone processes. Mad a HUGE improvement in an already satisfactory battery life. WARNING: This will brick your phone if you do a factory reset without changing them back.
-Installed ADW for my home screen
-Installed SyncSMS to get SMS functionality
Apps that help:
-GingerBreak
-Root Explorer
-Terminal Emulator
-Uninstaller for Root
-Super Manager
-ES File
Apps I love:
-PlayOn: Streaming TV from my NAS drive
-SugarSync: All my work docs in the cloud
-WinAmp: Sync music with my desktop over wifi
-Feedly: Google RSS feed looks like a magazine
-Chrome to Phone

Still on the edge
I like the screen and feel of it, but with Honeycomb there aren't many apps out there that run on it (without FC all the time).
I'm trying to justify keeping it for work, but there's no Activesync (without rooting), Calendar is a joke and other than playing movies/games on it what do YOU use it for?
I can't see dumping my laptop anytime soon, so my question is what are you using it for? Serious question.
Thanks
S

I wanted the EEE TF as well but got the Iconia in the interim. I'm pleasantly surprised. I don't want the TF anymore. After playing with a friends, I'm not convinced it's worthwhile to exchange them. It has a gorgeous display and is a tad lighter but I'm afraid I've been jaded by the really bad things I've read about it and am convinced the first batch was very shoddy. Unfortunately, by the time it's released there will be competitors with possibly better options (toshiba, samsung, sony, htc, etc.)
My goal is to get something I'm 100% happy with. I'm 98% happy with the Iconia.
What's in that 2%? Limited video file and format playing ability and bugs due to Honeycomb right now.
Otherwise, hell yeah! I'd have liked an IPS screen. This AUO screen isn't bad at all but it's no IPS, right? Acer could have at least pegged Samsung for PLS.
It's also in wrestling with the idea of having the faith in Acer to believe they really will update and fix these things in the near future. These companies aren't known for keeping their products updated beyond a certain period. I can easily see their promised June update becoming Samsung-esque and not seen for months if ever.
That being said, I've entertained the idea of returning it and waiting to see what I can get in June. But tech is tricky and if you decide to wait, you can easily end up waiting forever for the next best thing as it's always around the corner. If the competitors are too expensive, it's not like the A500 won't be there for me to fall back on, it may even be cheaper! Of course, just like a cell phone - once you own one of these things you come to depend on it rather quickly if you're used to doing things a certain way.
I use it for everything now. My notebook sits in it's bag most of the time.
It's awesome for multimedia, period.
I use it in the kitchen and around the house to play music and videos if I don't feel like sitting in front of the TV.
I use it in the kitchen to look up new and different things to cook.
I use it as a visual remote for my PC (to control music or manipulate downloads). I use it in the couch to look up stuff I see on TV.
I bring it with me EVERYWHERE, yes...I now own a manbag.
I use it on the road when I'm out with the wife and she's in Macys/JCPenny/Kohls or any of those places I don't feel like venturing with her into for hours.
I use it when I'm at the cafe or out at dinner. I don't have it out all the time, but it's with me in case I want to use it and I must say, it's nicer than flipping out a netbook which I guess is ironic but I always thought that was so odd looking. You know, when people pop their netbooks out on a table in the middle of 4 people being social. For me it's a matter of looking up something quick and then popping it back in.
The list goes on and on.
It's basically replaced my android phone in its smart abilities while managing to be more comfortable in that the screen is bigger. It's replaced my notebook in it's lighter tasks like multimedia due to it being ultimately way, way more portable and touchscreen.
My dilemma is living without it for 2 months while I wait for something that I'm hoping will satisfy me 99 or 100%, should I decide to return it. I still have a few days to decide.

kalric said:
Calendar is a joke
S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried Jorte?

share your impressions

Hi
I have rooted Desire and I just love Android, so I'm buying Android tablet for browsing web, watching movies and some gaming. It was hard to figure out which tablet to buy but I think I'll get Transformer instead of Galaxy Tab 10.1 as it is more functional. So it would be nice if you Transfomer owners could share some impressions.
How good is build quality?
How responsive it is?
How fast it is?
How good does it play 1080p vidos?
Does it work with turn-by-turn navigation?
And would you recommend it?

People have had issues with build quality but I personally haven't. My TF101 has been fine.
Responsiveness is top notch, no issues here.
Depends on what you're comparing it to, it's benchmarks are above the Xoom and Galaxy tab 10.1, but if this relates to real world performance I don't know.
It plays low profile 1080p flawlessly, and 720p high profile flawlessly. Don't quite know why you'd want to watch 1080p on a 750p screen though.
Yes it has turn by turn navigation.
I'd recommend it if you need the extra features it has over the Galaxy tab.

seshmaru said:
People have had issues with build quality but I personally haven't. My TF101 has been fine.
Responsiveness is top notch, no issues here.
Depends on what you're comparing it to, it's benchmarks are above the Xoom and Galaxy tab 10.1, but if this relates to real world performance I don't know.
It plays low profile 1080p flawlessly, and 720p high profile flawlessly. Don't quite know why you'd want to watch 1080p on a 750p screen though.
Yes it has turn by turn navigation.
I'd recommend it if you need the extra features it has over the Galaxy tab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What he said. Screen is totally mindblowing , btw!
I myself have had absolutely zero issues, like seshmaru, but buy it 4m a store, and open and check it, would be my recommendation. Light bleed is the most common issue, followed by some creakiness issues and speaker balance issues, very rare though
Sent from my cell phone. DUH.

Mine eee pad had serial B5xxxxxxxx. So far no issues with it.
But it's quite heavy to hold the eee pad with one hand and using it while laying on the couch.

I got mine like two weeks ago, and I guess I'm lucky that it's pretty perfect (although there's a slight creakiness on one corner).
I don't have any complaints right now, but I'm scared to get the dock because I keep seeing problems about it (battery, lag, what else??).

seshmaru said:
Don't quite know why you'd want to watch 1080p on a 750p screen though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As has been said many times on these forums, it's more about not having to re-encode 1080p movies you already have just to play them on the TF.
Regards,
Dave

I am on my 2nd transformer now, the first one had some light bleeds along with head pixels in the midldle.
The only thing that i suggest is to root it when you get it and throw Prime 1.4 and a custom kernel on it so you see the true speed of it. Im semi please with it, still better then the ipad 2 imo. there are some issues but should be fixed over time. the only really annoying issue is when typing in the browser and how long it takes to show up on the screen.

Then I'll get one. Actually after some googling on iPad 2 I understood that I really wont get one, Transformer has so much better hardware and I love honeycomb. iPad has 0.3 Mpix front camera and 0.9Mpix back camera, lol.
Thank you all for helping.

I just put Prime 1.5 on it, run really smooth..

my only issue is the lack of volume. Its too low for my taste. Other than that i love my TF.

KRolands said:
Hi
I have rooted Desire and I just love Android, so I'm buying Android tablet for browsing web, watching movies and some gaming. It was hard to figure out which tablet to buy but I think I'll get Transformer instead of Galaxy Tab 10.1 as it is more functional. So it would be nice if you Transfomer owners could share some impressions.
How good is build quality?
How responsive it is?
How fast it is?
How good does it play 1080p vidos?
Does it work with turn-by-turn navigation?
And would you recommend it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With all the issue pointed out here I was a bit worried about buying one. I have not had any issues except for bugs which are part of honeycomb. When I got my Galaxy S2 there were a lot of people *****ing about various issues but when I got my phone I had none of these so called issues once I tweaked things! So each to their own.
You'll find that most posts are about complaints. Very few people come online and say how awesome something is. Most of the time there are solutions to issues but people don't want to search.
1. I chose it over the Galaxy Tab 10.1. I like how light the Tab is but I love the dock and the extra features that the Transformer has to offer.
2. Build quality on mine is outstanding. I have had a lot of android devices and you can see the extra effort Asus put into the dock and the tablet. I don't have any light bleed or flex on my device. Even the USB docks have magnetic port covers. How cool is that? Keyboard is very nice and the keys don't feel cheap.
3. Very fast device and very responsive. Interesting to see how both the Tegra processor and the Exonys (in my S2) differ in different tasks but both are blazing fast (the S2 is faster at rendering pages on wifi vs the transformer). Make sure to update to 3.1 firmware. Mine came with 3.0 which was not very responsive and sucked [email protected]
4. No idea about the 1080p. It is touchy at playing high def files (honeycomb hardware decoding issue). My S2 plays 1080 no problem. I find 720p MP4 videos plays perfectly fine if encoded with the proper specs for the transformer
5. Yes turn-by-turn works great. I tether with my phone and off I go
My only complaint is an issue with honeycomb and the stock browser lag when typing. Also, no auto correction when typing on the hardware keyboard.
Cheers. Hope this helps

I have used the Transformer for couple of weeks now having previously owned the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 inch.
All in all, my impressions are very positive and I would definetly recommend the device. The screen's great, device is quick to use, to comfortable hold in hand thanks to clever backside texture and reasonable weight, overall design is good. The keyboard dock has been a true surprise, it is way better than in many laptops and the integration with the tablet is seamless.
My unit (Scandinavian) is faultless, no cranky build quality or light bleeds.
However, there are some things to improve
- Flash performance: Flash being the most obvious advantage over iPad, I was disappointed that my old Galaxy Tab plays Flash better than this Dual Core Honeycomb device
- Browser is a bit buggy (closes unexpectedly once a while)
- Lack of Honeycomb apps evident, no way to sort out Honeycomb apps from all Android Market offerings (not a Transformer issue, though)

KRolands said:
Hi
I have rooted Desire and I just love Android, so I'm buying Android tablet for browsing web, watching movies and some gaming. It was hard to figure out which tablet to buy but I think I'll get Transformer instead of Galaxy Tab 10.1 as it is more functional. So it would be nice if you Transfomer owners could share some impressions.
How good is build quality?
How responsive it is?
How fast it is?
How good does it play 1080p vidos?
Does it work with turn-by-turn navigation?
And would you recommend it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had my Transformer for just over a week now and am absolutely loving it. I have had no problems with my Transformer apart from when I managed to brick it and then get it working again (my fault not ASUS ). The screen is great (though I wish it was SAMOLED+ because my SGSII has an amazing screen) and the build quality is very good - it feels a little heavy compared to an iPad but also very sturdy.
After updating to 3.1 the tablet is very smooth - with the possible exception of the browser when using the dock. Sometimes it takes a couple of seconds for the tablet to realise I'm typing something but generally not too bad. Using the tablet as a tablet (on-screen keyboard) there is no lag anywhere. Youtube 720p and normal 720p play flawlessly and look great. I haven't personally tried a 1080p video yet. Turn-by-turn navigation works well and it's nice they included a GPS chip in it, though you still need WiFi/3G for it work correctly.
The main attraction for me is the fact the Transformer is basically an Android Netbook! Good sized, clear screen with amazing battery life (I get about ~16 hours with Auto-Brightness and browsing/watching films). The best thing is when you root it and under/over clock it however! Under clocked to ~800Mhz I can browse for hours and hours, it's great! Over clock to 1.6Ghz and it's blazingly fast and everything (and can probably handle full 1080p video).
My only slight disappointment is in the rear camera which despite being 5MP is pretty crappy but it's not very often I use it. Bonus points for having Polaris Office and a Remote Desktop service packaged in for free which means I've been playing Portal on mine through my gaming laptop just for fun!
-X

motorola xoom vs sony tablet s

Hi,
I am new to the world of tablet & I am going to buy my first tablet & got stuck with two choices - xoom & sony tablet S (ruled out tab 10.1 due to lack of expandable storage option). can you guys please suggest on this? (p.s. - android OS is not new to me)
Also, I would be grateful if you guys can inform me about the 3G frequency band being used in xoom. Also, please let me know what type of SIM being used in 3g xoom for ex - normal SIM card or U-SIM.
p.s. - didn't found any thread for this comparison

Both tablets aren't really very smooth.
Of the two, its hard to choose. The sony tablet looks very nice.
As the owner of the xooms, the display is dull and poorly calibrated, unbearably ugly heavy and fat. Shadowgun isn't completely smooth. Playable, but not smooth.
Live wallpapers does not work, UI still lag. Sony tablet also didn't get such rave reviews
You sure you need so much space? Please consider the samsung 10.1, due to the ****ty screen of the xoom I didn't even bother putting videos on the tablet.
32GB sounds enough I seldom use my sd card too.

Mine has a good screen, the weight is fine, live wallpapers work fine and ICS is on par with iOS.

The Xoom's panel is really bad.
I wouldn't think like that if I also didn't own a Galaxy S2. Comparing the 2 panels is like comparing a V12 Ferrari to a V8 Mustang on a racetrack. Obviously the Mustang is pretty and powerful, but once you have them side by side competing against each other, you come to think that the once mighty Mustang might be just a cheap POS when compared to the almighty Ferrari V12.
The other downside of the Xoom is the lack of 1080p output on the micro-HDMI port. I can connect if to my big LED TV, but all I get is 720p.
It has many obvious advantages over the Galaxy Tab 10.1, but if image output (either on its display or on TV) is important to you and a deciding factor, rule the Xoom out.

ccaian1 said:
Both tablets aren't really very smooth.
Of the two, its hard to choose. The sony tablet looks very nice.
As the owner of the xooms, the display is dull and poorly calibrated, unbearably ugly heavy and fat. Shadowgun isn't completely smooth. Playable, but not smooth.
Live wallpapers does not work, UI still lag. Sony tablet also didn't get such rave reviews
You sure you need so much space? Please consider the samsung 10.1, due to the ****ty screen of the xoom I didn't even bother putting videos on the tablet.
32GB sounds enough I seldom use my sd card too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would return the Xoom if you are not happy with it. I love my Xoom and wasnt expecting the best of the best when I purchased it. The build quality of the Xoom is far superior over any other Android Tablet out there right now. Maybe the screen isnt the best or some other asepects but that doesnt bother my. It does what I want it to do. Enjoy. Thanks

hotdude2411 said:
Hi,
I am new to the world of tablet & I am going to buy my first tablet & got stuck with two choices - xoom & sony tablet S (ruled out tab 10.1 due to lack of expandable storage option). can you guys please suggest on this? (p.s. - android OS is not new to me)
Also, I would be grateful if you guys can inform me about the 3G frequency band being used in xoom. Also, please let me know what type of SIM being used in 3g xoom for ex - normal SIM card or U-SIM.
p.s. - didn't found any thread for this comparison
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For us to better help you, I would suggest listing things that are important to you.
Then instead of people complaining about things only they care about, you can actually get some usable opinions.
Also,the Xoom uses a standard SIM. Not sure about the bands it uses.

ccaian1 said:
Both tablets aren't really very smooth.
Of the two, its hard to choose. The sony tablet looks very nice.
As the owner of the xooms, the display is dull and poorly calibrated, unbearably ugly heavy and fat. Shadowgun isn't completely smooth. Playable, but not smooth.
Live wallpapers does not work, UI still lag. Sony tablet also didn't get such rave reviews
You sure you need so much space? Please consider the samsung 10.1, due to the ****ty screen of the xoom I didn't even bother putting videos on the tablet.
32GB sounds enough I seldom use my sd card too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I completely disagree with you, regarding the performance of the Xoom.
My experience is the opposite. On EOS ICS, especially, my Xoom is super smooth, fast and responsive. I have a good screen. I can do everything I want with my Xoom. I don't have all the troubles reported by owners of other tablets, including the Transformer Prime. I don't know the Sony tab but, the Xoom is a terrific device...even better than when it was first released, because of the software development.

Also have to disagree with ccain1,
the xoom is a nice product, performance wise even on stock ICS the performance is great, no lag, very smooth. apps are snappy.
as for the screen, majority say its dull, but thats because its not as contrasty as the samoleds that people regard as the holy grail of screens, the screen does the job, looks fine with movies, youtube and games. its just a heavy duty LCD screen.
they arent many niggling issues that other tabs suffer from that many complain about. (transformers dock/battery issues, 10.1s screen "oil mark" defects/all other tabs lack of updates)
Plus the Xoom, is considered a nexus device, which is why its the only tab released last year that officially running ICS. and likely will continues to receive updates.
You also gotta realize that is this complaint/fix heavy forum. Most things you read hear unfortunately will be negative, people don't come to brag about how things are great too much, only to complain and look for fixes.
bundled with a 32gb mSD you max out at like ~60GB of usable space.
easy to unlock/root
it is kinda heavy tho buts a 1st Generation tab, @ 1.7lbs, same weight as the first gen ipad

Only have the wifi version of the Xoom so can't tell you anything about its 3g. Have never tried the Sony model so can't give you an opinion on it. However, what I can tell you is that the Xoom has taken me completely by surprise. I was lucky enough to pick up a cheap xoom at the airport and within one day I had rooted it and put a custom rom on it. It was really easy even for a non-techie like me. And when the ICS custom roms started appearing it was not a problem putting that on it. It's a whole new experience from Honeycomb.
All in all I can only recommend the Xoom. Unless you can get the Sony model a whole lot cheaper I can't see the reason for you not getting a Xoom

Don't get the Sony. Made of plastic, even the screen is plastic, not Gorilla Glass like the Xoom. There's no development on the Sony and is not very popular. ICS on the Xoom is very very good.

I was also considering between these two and I finally chose xoom. It is cheaper and the screen is gorilla glass.

I don't what you are looking for in the Xoom so like others I will give you my opinion based on my needs. I am middle aged business man not interested in rooting and playing games on the Xoom. I use it for travel and work when I don't need my laptop. I have the 4G version so still on Honeycomb. All the griping about lag, delays and fingerprints is just that gripes. If someone thinks a tablet should be the end all to all of the computer needs well they are not very realistic. Got a problem with fingerprints then get a screen protector or a stylus pen. Need to access your laptop from afar, download an app and there you go. Wanna watch a movie on the plane no problem works great. Do you want to read in bed it works great. Good battery life and one last thing I would rather have a little bit heavier device that is built better then save a few grams for a plastic device.

KGOKnicks said:
I don't what you are looking for in the Xoom so like others I will give you my opinion based on my needs. I am middle aged business man not interested in rooting and playing games on the Xoom. I use it for travel and work when I don't need my laptop. I have the 4G version so still on Honeycomb. All the griping about lag, delays and fingerprints is just that gripes. If someone thinks a tablet should be the end all to all of the computer needs well they are not very realistic. Got a problem with fingerprints then get a screen protector or a stylus pen. Need to access your laptop from afar, download an app and there you go. Wanna watch a movie on the plane no problem works great. Do you want to read in bed it works great. Good battery life and one last thing I would rather have a little bit heavier device that is built better then save a few grams for a plastic device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed!!
Minus that im a younger geeky dude that like to expirement with rooting and getting my hands dirty unlocking the true potential out of our devices, The only thing I hate about the Xoom is motorolas lack of not being able to give there customers the support we deserve and for releasing other newer products before perfecting the ones that have been released!!!

KGOKnicks said:
I don't what you are looking for in the Xoom so like others I will give you my opinion based on my needs. I am middle aged business man not interested in rooting and playing games on the Xoom. I use it for travel and work when I don't need my laptop. I have the 4G version so still on Honeycomb. All the griping about lag, delays and fingerprints is just that gripes. If someone thinks a tablet should be the end all to all of the computer needs well they are not very realistic. Got a problem with fingerprints then get a screen protector or a stylus pen. Need to access your laptop from afar, download an app and there you go. Wanna watch a movie on the plane no problem works great. Do you want to read in bed it works great. Good battery life and one last thing I would rather have a little bit heavier device that is built better then save a few grams for a plastic device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree.... I purchased my Xoom on day one and haven't looked back. With the HC upgrades and now ICS it's like I have a brand new top of the line device.
Even with all the new tablets being released I have yet to see one that is as well made as the Xoom.

[Q] Any drawback of A500?

Hi folks over A500 forum, i'm thinking to get myself an A500, but i afraid that i'll regret buying this tablet, because i've read some quite hmmm.... negative feedback about it.
some says that the charger wouldnt charge [i can assume that he has a faulty unit], poor mic, gps, unresponsive keyboard, weak wifi. So can anyone of you kindly enough to tell me what can i expect this tablet will be weak at?
I can tolerate at the poor camera quality though.
Please tell me, thanks!~

I have not found any issues at all with my tab. It is not an A500 but may as well be. (Gateway A60 running A500 roms). I use it at work and at home.
This tablet is pretty much perfect. The camera quality is fine as far as I am concerned (Front and rear), it is easily rootable, even if you install the OTA updates and the price point is where it needs to be.
The only thing that I have been on the lookout for is ICS but so far I am OK with HC. Way better than the Froto on my gtablet.

smishra said:
I have not found any issues at all with my tab. It is not an A500 but may as well be. (Gateway A60 running A500 roms). I use it at work and at home.
This tablet is pretty much perfect. The camera quality is fine as far as I am concerned (Front and rear), it is easily rootable, even if you install the OTA updates and the price point is where it needs to be.
The only thing that I have been on the lookout for is ICS but so far I am OK with HC. Way better than the Froto on my gtablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Perfect info. Any more? =D

Go to the store and play with the Tablets... the gps is a issue.. mic is a issue (only with video chat)
you need to root to fix the gps issues the patch is in the dev section also to tether again patch here in the forum.
keyboard that is stuck sucks badly... install THUMBS KEYBOARD
SUMMERY REQUIRED TO MAKE MY ICONIA PERFECT FOR ME..
BUY AND PUT A SCREEN PROTECTOR ON IT. (Even Gorilla glass can Scratch)
ROOT. install acer recovery install .. flash recovery ... Im now using the RA Recovery
install Root Explorer file manager (there is a free verson on makert.but support the dev BUY IT)
Install Titanium Backup (again Buy it DEV is awesome on this program)but to many updates pushed to often
Install the ad-hoc fix.
install Thumbs Keyboard
Install the gps fix
Install splashtop HD.. (to access my home computer)
Install IPRINT APP for my Brother Printer.
Install Office Program.. (i have two some do certin things better then other . find the one thats right for you)
Install CO-PILOT (THIS ACTUALLY BELONGS BELOW THE GPS PATCH)
Install sync sms .(to forword text msg to and from my tablet from my phone)required drop box account
Install DROP BOX
Flash my UI FOLDERS. to change the colors of the ui to A BURGUNDY Pinkish Color.. (I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS .ADVANCED USER EXPERIENCE REQUIRED)AND DEV TOOLS Needed on your Computer and I USE ADOBE CS5..
Setup my email accounts sometime in the above events
Backup my tab with T B
BACKUP MY TAB AGAIN IN RECOVERY..
After all of the above.. my tablet fits my life Perfectly..

As already said by others, weak GPS, keyboard kinda sucks, glossy screen that really shows finger prints, etc. What I haven't seen mentioned, is the inability to properly play HD mkv's, most ppl will say you don't need high quality on tablet, and they are right, but, what if you want to hook your tab to a hotel TV to watch HD, etc. There also seems to be a lot of stuff in the market that is not compatible with this tab (specifically for me, mybuick and onstar)
That being said, having a usable USB port is pretty handy, the micro SD,(missing on the Zoom) micro HDMI are all nice to have. Microphone works well for apps like Skype as long as you use headphones.

You should be using headphones for video conversations anyway, otherwise the mic picks up the sounds coming from the speaker and then you have yourself a poorstorm of feedback.
I have never had any sort of keyboard issue with my tab. This is actually the first I heard of any sort of keyboard issue.
The rear camera is 5 megapixels, so expect 5 megapixel quality. Except for the newest Tegra3 tabs, this is the best camera you can get on a tablet.
You have to expect that this tablet comes from the first generation of real Android tablets that hi the market. As a result, you have to expect that there will be some issues with it. The good thing is that devs has created fixes for common problems (like GPS, wifi etc) so if you are someone who is in to rooting, this is a great tablet.

hardslog said:
You should be using headphones for video conversations anyway, otherwise the mic picks up the sounds coming from the speaker and then you have yourself a poorstorm of feedback.
I have never had any sort of keyboard issue with my tab. This is actually the first I heard of any sort of keyboard issue.
The rear camera is 5 megapixels, so expect 5 megapixel quality. Except for the newest Tegra3 tabs, this is the best camera you can get on a tablet.
You have to expect that this tablet comes from the first generation of real Android tablets that hi the market. As a result, you have to expect that there will be some issues with it. The good thing is that devs has created fixes for common problems (like GPS, wifi etc) so if you are someone who is in to rooting, this is a great tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So true.. MY TAB WORKS Well as stated above.. But it does not come without some work... i have read forums of other tablets. we have less trouble then average..

Oh ok, thx for those feedbacks! BTW, have any of you suffer from keyboard delay? I played Transformer, G Tab10.1, and A500 at the store before, and fall in love with the port and weight of this tablet. But the thing that frustrated me is the keyboard delay it has[btw, i dont really know what happened on that tablet though]
And how was the wifi strength? I heard reports say that it drops quickly?

I love my a500 and should you learn to root and flash you'll uncover the real power and potential in the device. that being said it should be mentioned the a500 is old tech that is going to be replaced by newer more powerful models this year. as these models come out the cutting edge developers will migrate and Dec on the a500 will slow down somewhat. this does not mean the a500 isn't a good purchase option. its great hardware that with the right software is just amazing. but it is on the backside of its lifespan and that carries some downfalls that should be mentioned.

A501, same as A500 except with 3g...
I've never had wifi dropouts, either at home or at work.
The public wifi at work is pretty bad but I have never had a problem logging on and its never dropped out.
Keyboard, again no issue here...
Haven't really played with GPS properly but do use co-pilot. I do find we seem to have pretty bad satellite reception here in OZ but when I have played around it seems pretty reliable, but again only done short trips...
Love the USB, this is why I bought the Acer A501 in the 1st place, no other tab had one. Expandable memory also a BIG plus...
I like the fact I can attach a 1Tb HDD and use this on my tab too...
No real problems, aside from the locked bootloaders Acer insists on sticking on its tabs, most things are fairly good.

I love my A500, but after taking it to meetings and with me pretty much all the time, I find it a bit heavy. I use it almost exclusively professionally and end up using dropbox more than USB drives. I would probably go with a GT10.1 because of the weight and thickness.

Thanks guy! but i bought the G Tab 10.1 instead of A500, because it is really a lot lighter than A500, and my dad prefers it more ;D
Thanks anyway!

Picked up my A500 from The Source on a boxing day special price. It was a bit of an impulse, but also a bit of tech jealousy as my cousin had bought one the week before so he could learn to program apps for it and I got to play with it a bit on New Years. ANYWAYS. I loved it right away, and the prospect of rooting it was pretty awesome.
I have zero faults with this machine. It looks great, works great, was easily unlocked/rooted, and there is a ton of support on this forum. I just keep trying out new roms (4 diff. builds so far) and new kernels (on my 3rd one of those), and I'm having a lot of fun with it.
Only drawback is that I didn't buy one sooner.

picking one up today... 32GB for $220 I think its a fair deal...main reason i would even consider it is becuase its ICS upgradable
I also have a HP Touchpad with CM9 ICS... thats a great piece of equipment if your into modding as well!

mind telling where you got 32gb one for that price?? Im looking to get one myself by budgets tight so any savings is appreciated.
BTW one question about the tablet itself can someone give me an idea about the average battery life, Yes i know battery life is very subjective but i need some kind of referance as i read a review by engadget and it basically said the iconia had the worst battery life of all of the major 10 inch tablets.

220$ for a 32gb?! Who did you steal this from?? haha
I got mine from acer's official ebay store, 330$ (shipping+tax included), refurb 32gb. Works fine.

docnas said:
mind telling where you got 32gb one for that price?? Im looking to get one myself by budgets tight so any savings is appreciated.
BTW one question about the tablet itself can someone give me an idea about the average battery life, Yes i know battery life is very subjective but i need some kind of referance as i read a review by engadget and it basically said the iconia had the worst battery life of all of the major 10 inch tablets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've gotten 5 days on standby with battery drain to 42% (busy week, it just sat on the bedside table for that time no usage). I figure it could have gotten to 10 days.
When I was using it as an e-reader running the Kindle app almost exclusively I was getting on average 3 days of use between charges, reading for about 3-4 hours a day (Game of Thrones books are LONG and addictive).
Right now I've been playing games on it and I can easily go a whole day (overclocked at 1504mhz) before having to charge it.
Standby had wifi turned on, but off when the screen was off. Reading I always had it in airplane mode, and playing games can be a mix between airplane and wifi. Actually it hasn't seemed to make a huge difference that I can see.