Ipad fanboys on the Xoom board. - Xoom General

First off, why the heck did you buy a Xoom in the first place, it's kinda like you were asking for trouble and then paying for it, kinda stupid.
You say that the lack of high def video support is your main beef (especially after certain people point out that the vaunted all high powerfull apple didn't have all that many tablet apps on its initial release), but your keep switching the bar for what the problem is. You now say that the problem is no native, "Hardware" support for high def, but apple doesn't have that either, even the vaunted Ipad 2 doesn't seem to come with a hardware decoder for high def, and you apperantly realize that a software decoder is on the way, one way or the other, for the Xoom, so your only beef is it's not here now.
You know what, I'm not normally one of those Linux geeks who likes to show how smart I am and disdains others trying to play with my software, but [email protected] you apple guys are some annoying perfectionist f√cks that I'd rather not have on my team, and not just perfectionist but blind to the faults in your own chosen gods.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App

Many people like myself picked up an iPad when it was apparent that Android had nothing to compete with it. I bought mine over the summer expecting Android to release something, anything, that could compete with it during the fall, at which time I would sell the ipad and pick up the Android tablet. During that period of waiting, I picked up a Galaxy S phone, specifically the Epic4g. I later found out that Galaxy S phones were nearly identical to the iPad hardware wise. I am continually blown away by how awesome this phone is and its capabilities. I am not an iPad fanboy. I think the hardware is amazing, but iOS is annoying and far too simple. So that is where I am coming from:
The FACT that the Xoom is incapable of playing high profile [email protected] or higher is ridiculous given its specs and who the manufacturer of the SoC is. I'm sorry. The iPad running XBMC and my Galaxy S phone natively can play files that the Xoom cannot, and that is kinda pathetic, as neither of those devices are dual cores and both are running years old GPU tech. Maybe sometime in the future the Xoom will be able to software decode these videos by maxing out both cores of the CPU, but that is both not ideal and unlikely and will destroy battery life compared to hardware decoding which uses the GPU.
And yes, the iPad hardware decodes these videos using XBMC the same way that my phone hardware decodes natively. Natively they limit the capability of the ipad to pimp their iTunes garbage, but the capability was there in the hardware for ingenious people to take advantage of. The iPad had Air Video also, which mitigated much of its unjailbroken shortcomings until XBMC was ported. No such capability exists for the xoom according to the very people who brought the port of XBMC to the iPad.
As for the rest of your post where you go on about "teams" and other nonsense, what are you talking about. People can appreciate both platforms and both devices.
tl;dr: Part of the reason some of us were/are upset at this glaring shortcoming is that we have been waiting forever for an Android tablet to come swoop us off our feet and for months now Nvidia has been pimping its SoC as the bringer of all things HD and graphically sexy. Then we come to find out that oh yea, it only plays this VERY VERY specific kind of HD that no one uses and that is surpassed by last years PHONE technology. Its not the end of the world, but its personally what I use my iPad for most.

I have both so its easy to compare one to the other. With that said, looking forward to Xoom updates to bring feature parity. Hopefully something can be done with the craptastic video playback support.

No offense, but I enjoy snuggling up with my gf in front of my regular LCD TV to watch my movies. Why go through all that trouble of jailbreaking when another update will force you to revert? And why go through all that trouble to play a movie on a tablet when I can I play it back perfectly on my hdpc? I have more than a ½ TB of movies and how many movies are on my tablet....just three. Why? Just to show it off to others. In the end each is their own. But I didn't purchase my tablet to just play movies or music. I purchased it for productivity simply. Not saying ipad can't be that, but I prefer to free myself from iTunes. It's a bastard and no hack or mod will make any apple product work my way.

muyoso said:
Many people like myself picked up an iPad when it was apparent that Android had nothing to compete with it. I bought mine over the summer expecting Android to release something, anything, that could compete with it during the fall, at which time I would sell the ipad and pick up the Android tablet. During that period of waiting, I picked up a Galaxy S phone, specifically the Epic4g. I later found out that Galaxy S phones were nearly identical to the iPad hardware wise. I am continually blown away by how awesome this phone is and its capabilities. I am not an iPad fanboy. I think the hardware is amazing, but iOS is annoying and far too simple. So that is where I am coming from:
The FACT that the Xoom is incapable of playing high profile [email protected] or higher is ridiculous given its specs and who the manufacturer of the SoC is. I'm sorry. The iPad running XBMC and my Galaxy S phone natively can play files that the Xoom cannot, and that is kinda pathetic, as neither of those devices are dual cores and both are running years old GPU tech. Maybe sometime in the future the Xoom will be able to software decode these videos by maxing out both cores of the CPU, but that is both not ideal and unlikely and will destroy battery life compared to hardware decoding which uses the GPU.
And yes, the iPad hardware decodes these videos using XBMC the same way that my phone hardware decodes natively. Natively they limit the capability of the ipad to pimp their iTunes garbage, but the capability was there in the hardware for ingenious people to take advantage of. The iPad had Air Video also, which mitigated much of its unjailbroken shortcomings until XBMC was ported. No such capability exists for the xoom according to the very people who brought the port of XBMC to the iPad.
As for the rest of your post where you go on about "teams" and other nonsense, what are you talking about. People can appreciate both platforms and both devices.
tl;dr: Part of the reason some of us were/are upset at this glaring shortcoming is that we have been waiting forever for an Android tablet to come swoop us off our feet and for months now Nvidia has been pimping its SoC as the bringer of all things HD and graphically sexy. Then we come to find out that oh yea, it only plays this VERY VERY specific kind of HD that no one uses and that is surpassed by last years PHONE technology. Its not the end of the world, but its personally what I use my iPad for most.
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Thank you for being reasonable, even if I was coming off as some what of a d/ck. We actually do not fully know yet if the Xoom's hi def restrictions are totally related to hardware yet, some on the notion ink board have hinted that it is merely a problem with the OS and that the hardware can handle it, this actually makes sense when you think about it, after all nvidia is first and formost a graphics oriented company. So we could see an OS fix and have a hardware native solution.
Whatever the problem might be, the issue I generally have is that the apple fan boys are quick to dismiss the overall capability of the system in favor of a system that is fully developed, you can't compare nor compete with a system that is fully developed to it's ultimate potential with a system that is just beginning to feel itself out into what it can become. You might love the finished product of the Ipad, but at the same time understand that it has limits that the Xoom doesn't.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App

If the Adam has a Tegra 2 and can play high quality videos, the XOOM is absolutely capable of it. Right?

I bought an iPad2 tonight to have both

arrtoodeetoo said:
If the Adam has a Tegra 2 and can play high quality videos, the XOOM is absolutely capable of it. Right?
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Yes, exactly, the problem seems to be OS related, so fixable.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App

cwizardtx said:
I bought an iPad2 tonight to have both
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That's the best of both worlds. Enjoy!!!

muyoso said:
tl;dr: Part of the reason some of us were/are upset at this glaring shortcoming is that we have been waiting forever for an Android tablet to come swoop us off our feet and for months now Nvidia has been pimping its SoC as the bringer of all things HD and graphically sexy. Then we come to find out that oh yea, it only plays this VERY VERY specific kind of HD that no one uses and that is surpassed by last years PHONE technology. Its not the end of the world, but its personally what I use my iPad for most.
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+1 on that one sir. you have no idea how long i was following the tegra 2 story last year. it is disappointing that there's a ton of codec issues on the xoom. I'm quite sure this is a software, not hardware issue.
However, Google/Motorola needs to be aware of this asap. The louder the noise, the more they will do something about it.

richardjr said:
Yes, exactly, the problem seems to be OS related, so fixable.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
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Except that the Notion Ink is similarly incapable of high profile [email protected] or higher video playback. Its a Tegra 2 issue.

cwizardtx said:
I bought an iPad2 tonight to have both
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win!
i like apple's hardware just fine (my work machine is a macbook pro, which boot into xp) and i still have a 7 year old 64gb iPod and it still works somehow. what i don't like is apple OSes and walled gardens and devices that i can't do what I want with. i like to feel like i own a device. and i guess i might have to admit i'm a bit of a fanboy. i'm pretty bought in to the whole google ecosystem. I've even got a Cr-48 my xoom is sitting on top of.
but the positive side of this iOS vs Android thing is that we're getting some kickass products from the battle. without the fierce competition (in the wake of Apple changing the smartphone market with the first iPhone) we'd all still be stuck on palm/webOS, blackberry or winbloze mobile.

muyoso said:
Except that the Notion Ink is similarly incapable of high profile [email protected] or higher video playback. Its a Tegra 2 issue.
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OK, well I have asked my brother whom is a programer for Motorola what the actual hardware support is and I have posted on the nvidia developer site to explain what the capabilities are hopefully I will get a reply.
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muyoso said:
Except that the Notion Ink is similarly incapable of high profile [email protected] or higher video playback. Its a Tegra 2 issue.
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Can the Ipad or Ipad 2 support [email protected] or higher video, and I mean native hardware, not software, and is the tegra 2 not capable with a software correction while the Ipad or Ipad 2 is, in other words is one device especially deficient as apposed to the other?
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App

Well... I am for one have switched to the other side - and LOVING IT!
Dont get me wrong - once the Android platform is a little more mature - I will be back! Until then good luck and enjoy waiting for fixes, games, apps and the 2nd generation around the corner.
(You may ask why did I give up my Android - well it was ViewSonic with a TERRIBLE screen. I also found the applications to be very substandard (games, etc.). I am one of those Linux/Java geeks who LOVE recompiling kernels, developing fixes/apps, etc. but for now.. I just wanted something that I would be productive with.
Anyway... I write this for google and other android manufactorers to see... I will be back.. I promise but I will NOT spend $800 on a beta platform ($400 would have taken me)!
I think I chose wisely
READ:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4215/apple-ipad-2-benchmarked-dualcore-cortex-a9-powervr-sgx-543mp2

I have an ipad, pretty much since day 1. How could you not be a fan? It is a market defining device like the ipod. MS has been talking tablets for 10 years and hasn't been able to pull it off. I don't use mine for movies or music and I still like it. For my uses, the Xoom is a better fit as it has a real file system, sd memory, usb hosting, Motorola seems to have warmed to rooting, etc. but my ipad (which I won't be upgrading) is still an excellent device. Android needs a media manager, hopefully a unified Android platform, to compete with ipad for most people. Maybe that will be Google Music?
Thank you Apple for raising the bar. If it wasn't for the iphone we'd be stuck with WM5.0 or a RIM still doing text only emails. As long as Google and Apple are chasing each other devices and innovation will be better and better and we have choices.

richardjr said:
Can the Ipad or Ipad 2 support [email protected] or higher video, and I mean native hardware, not software, and is the tegra 2 not capable with a software correction while the Ipad or Ipad 2 is, in other words is one device especially deficient as apposed to the other?
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
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The iPad supports nothing out of the box for obvious reasons. Its a closed ecosystem. The hardware is willing but iOS is unwilling. Installing XBMC however allows my iPad to play up to high profile [email protected] 720p videos before it begins to show signs of stuttering. Everything I have read including a direct quote from the dev behind the XBMC release for iOS who bought a Tegra 2 developer kit to begin the porting to the Tegra 2 platform is that Nvidia's Soc is incapable at a hardware level of high profile video @ L4.1 or higher. That is, with perfect drivers and codecs, that is the maximum it can achieve. The iPad2 will be able to do a lot more than the original iPad most likely. I wouldn't be surprised if it was capable of 1080p high profile @L5.1.

stanglx said:
Well... I am for one have switched to the other side - and LOVING IT!
Dont get me wrong - once the Android platform is a little more mature - I will be back! Until then good luck and enjoy waiting for fixes, games, apps and the 2nd generation around the corner.
(You may ask why did I give up my Android - well it was ViewSonic with a TERRIBLE screen. I also found the applications to be very substandard (games, etc.). I am one of those Linux/Java geeks who LOVE recompiling kernels, developing fixes/apps, etc. but for now.. I just wanted something that I would be productive with.
Anyway... I write this for google and other android manufactorers to see... I will be back.. I promise but I will NOT spend $800 on a beta platform ($400 would have taken me)!
I think I chose wisely
READ:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4215/apple-ipad-2-benchmarked-dualcore-cortex-a9-powervr-sgx-543mp2
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SERIOUSLY! I returned my Xoom to Costco on thursday and got my ipad 2 yesterday and I'm extremely glad i did ($400 bucks in my pocket :]). I dont care how "closed" it is, the iPad handles media beautifully. The xoom couldn't even handle the large pdfs i threw at it, zooming and page turning was a stuttering mess (i know its a software issue but still!) while the iPad zips through the pages with such ease. This goes for movies as well, xoom=stutter or forceclose while ipad = smooth. And the apps, wow, they are amazing. Garageband on a tablet is so ridiculously awesome. And now there is a flash player for ipad! The iswifter app for ios played every damn flash video and game i through at it.
While the cameras on the xoom are better, the ipads cameras are plenty sufficient for what most people are going to use them for. Video chat and photbooth lol. For all other stuff i have my Epic 4g which takes beautiful pictures Speaking of epic 4g, i can finally use wireless tether now because the ipad supports BOTH infrastructure and adhoc. I know the Wireless tether 3.0 supports infrastructure but it caused my phone to reboot way too much.
For all you people saying the ipad 2 sucks and what not, please do read the anandtech review of it.
I still do hope xoom does well though. If it doesn't, developers won't move their apps from the appstore to the market place. Hopefully by the time the Galaxy Tab 10.1 comes out, honeycomb will be a little more mature. I Can't wait to see whats in store for android at google io this year (got my student ticket )

Congrats. Go post it on an apple board where someone cares. This is xoom board. it's a xoom dev board even.

Did anyone read the anandtech review of the PowerVR SGX543MP2 that they just posted? Holy testicles, it demolishes the Tegra 2 GPU.

Related

Returned my Xoom =[.

I returned my Xoom yesterday to Best Buy( No Re-Stocking Fee) in Prep for the iPad2.
Sadly, the ONLY reason i'm returning is because of Tegra2 and it's depressing ability for High Profile video.
Kind of crazy all I really need is a great multimedia experience and my Xoom just wasn't it! So many foreclosure's if I have even 3-4 Tab's open in the browser.
I hope Moto/Google fixes this issue I have no problem buying one again in the future.
Bye! You really didn't need to start a separate thread for this.
Come back when you're tired of iOS.
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Bauxite said:
Bye! You really didn't need to start a separate thread for this.
Come back when you're tired of iOS.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
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Really? Would appreciate if non helpful replies be kept to themselve's as yours.
There will be no getting "tired" of iOS. I want a device that works.
When and if the Xoom will "Work" I will be back. Idc about what Operating System it carries. Android and iOS are both incredible.
jamaicansolja said:
Really? Would appreciate if non helpful replies be kept to themselve's as yours.
There will be no getting "tired" of iOS. I want a device that works.
When and if the Xoom will "Work" I will be back. Idc about what Operating System it carries. Android and iOS are both incredible.
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If all you want is high profile video, I hope you don't get a notifcation or 20 while watching all those videos. I hear iOS notifications are wonderful when you're trying to concentrate on one thing.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
If all you're concerned with is high profile video get an Archos 101, and you'll be fine
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jvs60 said:
If all you're concerned with is high profile video get an Archos 101, and you'll be fine
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Owned 2 Archos products in my day.. Very mediocre cheap products compared to the rest. iPad 2 is my best bet for now. Obviously alot will hate on my decision but it's clearly the best "Tablet" as of now. Hopefully I will be able to re-enter the HoneyComb seen shortly as I love the potential.
Bauxite said:
If all you want is high profile video, I hope you don't get a notifcation or 20 while watching all those videos. I hear iOS notifications are wonderful when you're trying to concentrate on one thing.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
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I like all mobile devices. I like android more-so than ios, but man - you are about as bad a fanboy of android as the fanboys for apple. That is not something you should be impressed by.
I'm pretty sure you can turn ios notifications off if you need to. BTW.
jamaicansolja said:
I returned my Xoom yesterday to Best Buy( No Re-Stocking Fee) in Prep for the iPad2.
Sadly, the ONLY reason i'm returning is because of Tegra2 and it's depressing ability for High Profile video.
Kind of crazy all I really need is a great multimedia experience and my Xoom just wasn't it! So many foreclosure's if I have even 3-4 Tab's open in the browser.
I hope Moto/Google fixes this issue I have no problem buying one again in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just curious (and I mean this in nicest way possible)...why did you find it necessary to create a thread just to tell us you are getting rid of your Xoom?
jamaicansolja said:
Kind of crazy all I really need is a great multimedia experience and my Xoom just wasn't it! So many foreclosure's if I have even 3-4 Tab's open in the browser.
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Click to collapse
My Xoom never had any "foreclosure's" [sic].
jamaicansolja said:
I returned my Xoom yesterday to Best Buy( No Re-Stocking Fee) in Prep for the iPad2.
Sadly, the ONLY reason i'm returning is because of Tegra2 and it's depressing ability for High Profile video.
Kind of crazy all I really need is a great multimedia experience and my Xoom just wasn't it! So many foreclosure's if I have even 3-4 Tab's open in the browser.
I hope Moto/Google fixes this issue I have no problem buying one again in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both my wife and I have the Xoom. And we rarely get force closes if at all. The video complaint I can kinda understand but:
A.) How many 1080p movies can you fit on a Xoom or any mobile device anyway
B.) I am super confident it will be taken care by a Dev or Google itself
I will never go back to ios. A screen full of icons is so 1990s
I do find it amusing you want "multitasking" and yet you go with the ipad 2. Irony!
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
I wonder when all the apple fanboys will go back to whatever message board is most appropriate to talk about apple products....
I owned an iPad for 10 months. I got my Xoom on day 1. With all of the Xoom's temporary shortcomings, I'd pick it over the iPad any day. Personally I feel that the iPad 2 is a joke - definately not worth upgrading from iPad to iPad2. It's like when the iPhone 3g got upgraded to the 3gs. Laughable!
tlogank said:
Just curious (and I mean this in nicest way possible)...why did you find it necessary to create a thread just to tell us you are getting rid of your Xoom?
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+1 explanation please.
Also, you complain about "non helpful" replies yet you started a whole "non helpful" thread. Where's the logic in that?
I wish people would realise that XDA forums are NOT for complaints.
You know apple fanboy == attention whore. :]
tlogank said:
Just curious (and I mean this in nicest way possible)...why did you find it necessary to create a thread just to tell us you are getting rid of your Xoom?
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Because I love the community and I will no longer see you folks.
Strange, ...
Are you sure that iPad2 is capable of playing that H.264 High Profile?
Have you checked the official spec of iPad2?
http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/
Video formats supported: H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format
Nothing mentioned high profile ...
jamaicansolja said:
I returned my Xoom yesterday to Best Buy( No Re-Stocking Fee) in Prep for the iPad2.
Sadly, the ONLY reason i'm returning is because of Tegra2 and it's depressing ability for High Profile video.
Kind of crazy all I really need is a great multimedia experience and my Xoom just wasn't it! So many foreclosure's if I have even 3-4 Tab's open in the browser.
I hope Moto/Google fixes this issue I have no problem buying one again in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
colbyb25 said:
Both my wife and I have the Xoom. And we rarely get force closes if at all. The video complaint I can kinda understand but:
A.) How many 1080p movies can you fit on a Xoom or any mobile device anyway
B.) I am super confident it will be taken care by a Dev or Google itself
I will never go back to ios. A screen full of icons is so 1990s
I do find it amusing you want "multitasking" and yet you go with the ipad 2. Irony!
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure he said multimedia man lol
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
colbyb25 said:
Both my wife and I have the Xoom. And we rarely get force closes if at all. The video complaint I can kinda understand but:
A.) How many 1080p movies can you fit on a Xoom or any mobile device anyway
B.) I am super confident it will be taken care by a Dev or Google itself
I will never go back to ios. A screen full of icons is so 1990s
I do find it amusing you want "multitasking" and yet you go with the ipad 2. Irony!
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A) Very True. But, I should be able to easily fit 720P video and/or be able to get software that can decode for me correct? Having to convert manually will never be a solution in 2011 for me to play on a Tablet.
B) This is Theory.
I do want to multi-task I actually sold my iPad for the Xoom; because I have all Android phones*.
I love the screen full of iCons once customized. I think this is also opinion. I love BOTH Android and iOS. But "Honeycomb" just isn't ready for the public. And we don't know how long untill we get updated officially. I root my device's but don't like to really tweak to much. So, even if a XDA hack solution is available I and the common folk won't use it.
The Xoom is sexy and I F*(&*(& Miss it like HELL right now!!!
But, I remember how easy it was to just upload a dam 720P Starcraft2 video from YouTube downloader.
Quite funny as to why you actually went for Xoom in first place?
Just read 1 of the article & it actually sums up entire Tablet war....
1)Various so called websites{Engadget--funded by Steve Restriction Jobs & others} complaints are glitches, battery life, and slowdowns. Yes, glitches and slowdowns are there. Do they ruin/hinder the experience at all? Heck no. People fail to realize that Android Honeycomb is a much more sophisticated interface than iOS. When you take into account everything Android does over iOS (widgets, customization, live wallpapers, true multitasking, better web browsing etc.), of course battery life and performance will take small hits. But in the grand scheme of things, Android has improved tenfold from Android 1.0 and performs amazingly well for everything it does. iOS is an app driven interface, which isn’t a bad thing, but the user has no freedom to customize the device to make it their own. The experience gets boring for someone who has used iDevices for a few years now. If you took a tech blogger’s iPad and compared it to a random 80-year old grandmother’s iPad, they would nearly look identical. But if you took my Xoom and compared it to anyone else’s in the world, I guarantee they would look completely different.
2)It isn’t fair to compare the performance of Android Honeycomb to iOS for previously stated reasons. I get a laugh when a tech journalist “compares” Android Honeycomb to iOS and says Honeycomb isn’t as fast and continues on to crown iOS/the iPad 2 like it’s perfect. Someone who reviews technology for a living should make it clear that Android has much more going on at any given time compared to iOS.
3)Another funny thing I see people say a lot is the Motorola Xoom/Android Honeycomb will never be as popular as the iPad 2/iOS. Uhh, okay? Why does it matter to YOU which one is more popular? Use both, see which one you like more, and go with it. Android Honeycomb will catch on and so will the Motorola Xoom. They aren’t aimed at the same audiences. Apple markets the iPad as this magical, cute, family friendly device while the Xoom is marketed as this totally bad ass, rugged machine that can turn into a spaceship if you try to grab it.
This guy has just summed up the entire Android 3.0 Honeycomb story.
iPad an oversized ipod Touch Tablet
I'm not a fanboy but can someone please explain to me why it's so difficult to play Video on this thing? Can someone also explain why the browser crashes? My device wasn't rooted but it would crash if it had to many tab's open and when I moved to quickly between them. Completely stock with only CNN tablet app installed.
What i'm saying is I paid 847$ for this. I expect it to just play the standard of HD Video. If it cannot handle this standard, you will have to decode the video specifically to this standard. Some as you see on the forums are still having this issue with certain solutions.
This iPad as a ex user didn't have these issues with video. So ofcourse the iPad2 will improve. BUT I feel the Xoom is better hardware so the problem is "how" long will the wait of fix be? I then see an Update that doesn't even list anything about Flash, SD Card Support, but a Time fix?

Got the Xoom while waiting for the iPad 2!

So after watching Apple royally screwing up the launch for their customers (not themselves, of course), I decided to give the Xoom a try. I had already tried the original iPad and really loved it for what it could do, especially the battery life which was simply amazing.
Funny thing is, I'm really enjoying the web experience of the Xoom more than the iPad. I just hated the checkerboard while scrolling but I guess the iPad 2's engine has solved that problem. I also am enjoying the Xoom's speakers which are much louder than the iPad as that was one of my main issues since I like listening to the talk radio while in the shower. One thing I have noticed is that there seem to be more free apps for the Android than on the iOS side which is another huge plus.
I have read that many Xoom users were having issues with the browser crashing but so far after using it almost all day I have experienced just one force close. I agree with those that say the Xoom feels like a half baked product or was launched a bit too soon but if Google's commitment to their android OS is any indication then I see no reason why the Xoom can't become a serious iPad 2 competitor.
I have been using the Xoom since about 12:30pm and the battery finally died around 8:30pm, not bad at all but still nothing compared to the iPad which gave me almost 11 hours for the same type of use i.e web surfing and watching some videos on Youtube. Before I bought the Xoom I also played around with the new iPad 2 which was on display at my local BestBuy store and I really liked the design but something about the widgets that just seemed so boring compared to the honeycomb.
Yes I know the iPad 2 just spanks the Xoom as far as graphics go, according to Anandtech but then I never use the tablet for gaming. For that I have my 2010 Mac Pro and I don't really game much even on that. For me the Xoom is full of potential and because of that reason is a gamble while the iPad is safe territory but the potential is somewhat limited.
From the reviews/comments I thought I would really hate the Xoom but so far I'm really having fun with this thing!
It took me a couple weeks to notice the browser issues. I've actually had quite a few browser related problems since then. The Xoom is a riot. I love Honeycomb.
The Xoom is for geeks and techies. IPad is for ggeneral population
ipad2 for wife and xoom for me.
Well put.
My wife wanted a tablet for movies and games and is heavily invested in itunes, so the Ipad2 was her choice.
I, on the other hand, and an android geek and so the Xoom was wht I got this weekend.
I really dislike the whole Itunes echosystem and like my media to be portable to as many devices as possible (My pc, my phone and my tablet and my laptop).
you made the right choice
I have the same setup and it works great. Why only have one when you can have both? Each one has its strengths but I personally use the Xoom and wife uses ipad
kiwiruss said:
Well put.
My wife wanted a tablet for movies and games and is heavily invested in itunes, so the Ipad2 was her choice.
I, on the other hand, and an android geek and so the Xoom was wht I got this weekend.
I really dislike the whole Itunes echosystem and like my media to be portable to as many devices as possible (My pc, my phone and my tablet and my laptop).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
To be honest.. My experience with the Android platform was very short lived. Now I will admit I was running a GTablet (Tegra 2, etc.) with Froyo.
What I found was
General instability - Didnt crash all that much, maybe once or twice over a 10 hour period. In this day in age, crashing is unacceptable - especially for a $400 plus device.
Lack Luster SDK - I didnt find the SDK all that polished. I was surprised to see how much deprication there was and how little developers did not adhere to new develop APIs. One thing that still perplexes me is that the depricated APIs were being suppressed by Google during compile within the Android Framework!!! This caused a bunch of issues on the GTablet - easy to fix but still..
Market - Mostly poor applications - For a platform that has been around now for a while I found over 70% of applications were of poor quality. Either they were unstable, unusable or just down right JUNK. Dont get me wrong I was attracted to the Android platform due to its openness but honestly I also want quality.
Fragmentation - I noticed that though a robust SDK it didn't absorb well the various platforms. Each platform needs to be tweaked for that device to properly work. Typically this should be absorbed by the framework... This lends to the reason why most wait for fixes from their cellular vendors/phone manufactorers and not from Google. I think this is a big mistake. Eventually Google will cave in due to the poor implementation quality from these 3rd party vendors. Information Security will drive this..
Performance - Generally OK but I found too much overhead from the OS and Framework. The OS and framework need some optimization. This will reduce the need of a tablet having 1GB of ram... That is insane for a device like this!
Anyway.... Soo I ended up selling the GTablet and just picked up a IPAD 2... All I can say is that they are in two difference classes - this coming from a Linux/Java developer...
I will eventually head back to Android once it becomes more mature as I am most comfortable in that environment - until I want a tablet that I can be productive with, less on the fiddling side.
^
I've noticed that unless an application comes from a major company, more than likely it will look horrible or just "unkept". Obviously as I have said "more than likely" there are a few exceptions, but other than that many Android applications simply don't match their iOS relatives in terms of aesthetic appeal. Or even overall quality for that matter. I'm shocked that Android doesn't receive horrible backlash from this.
To make things worse, you were using 2.2 on a tablet. Pre-3.0 versions of Android on tablet devices simply fail to even rival the iPad. I wouldn't even choose one myself despite my undying love for Android.
Choice is amazing isn't it. Nobody made a rule you can only pick one and be stuck with it. I agree apps on IOS are superior in general to Android but everything else on Android is better than IOS. The notification system and half ass mutiltasking on IOS alone drives me crazy. Also most apps on IOS are used a bunch in the beginning and then never again, there was even a study on this a while ago. So I only have a few things I do frequently and the Xoom does them excellently.
stanglx said:
To be honest.. My experience with the Android platform was very short lived. Now I will admit I was running a GTablet (Tegra 2, etc.) with Froyo.
What I found was
General instability - Didnt crash all that much, maybe once or twice over a 10 hour period. In this day in age, crashing is unacceptable - especially for a $400 plus device.
Lack Luster SDK - I didnt find the SDK all that polished. I was surprised to see how much deprication there was and how little developers did not adhere to new develop APIs. One thing that still perplexes me is that the depricated APIs were being suppressed by Google during compile within the Android Framework!!! This caused a bunch of issues on the GTablet - easy to fix but still..
Market - Mostly poor applications - For a platform that has been around now for a while I found over 70% of applications were of poor quality. Either they were unstable, unusable or just down right JUNK. Dont get me wrong I was attracted to the Android platform due to its openness but honestly I also want quality.
Fragmentation - I noticed that though a robust SDK it didn't absorb well the various platforms. Each platform needs to be tweaked for that device to properly work. Typically this should be absorbed by the framework... This lends to the reason why most wait for fixes from their cellular vendors/phone manufactorers and not from Google. I think this is a big mistake. Eventually Google will cave in due to the poor implementation quality from these 3rd party vendors. Information Security will drive this..
Performance - Generally OK but I found too much overhead from the OS and Framework. The OS and framework need some optimization. This will reduce the need of a tablet having 1GB of ram... That is insane for a device like this!
Anyway.... Soo I ended up selling the GTablet and just picked up a IPAD 2... All I can say is that they are in two difference classes - this coming from a Linux/Java developer...
I will eventually head back to Android once it becomes more mature as I am most comfortable in that environment - until I want a tablet that I can be productive with, less on the fiddling side.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
ok one issue I have noticed while watching video streams on the Xoom is that the quality seems blurry. On the original iPad the same videos looked very clear and sharp. I watch Twit.live and revision 3 and while they were pretty sharp on the iPad, they just look blurry on the Xoom. What's going on here? Is that related to H.264 issue? I heard there will be a fix for that but I'm not sure. On the positive side tethering the Xoom to my T-Mobile Vibrant was effortless and worked beautifully!
f1restarter said:
ok one issue I have noticed while watching video streams on the Xoom is that the quality seems blurry. On the original iPad the same videos looked very clear and sharp. I watch Twit.live and revision 3 and while they were pretty sharp on the iPad, they just look blurry on the Xoom. What's going on here? Is that related to H.264 issue? I heard there will be a fix for that but I'm not sure. On the positive side tethering the Xoom to my T-Mobile Vibrant was effortless and worked beautifully!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you using flash or HTML5? If it's flash, all the videos are blurry with the leaked 10.2 Flash apk. I'm hoping it's fixed in the final version. HTML5 videos look great although keep in mind the XOOM has a much higher res display than iPad (1280x800 vs 1024x768) and a bigger screen so if the video is low quality it will show on the XOOM and not on the iPad.
Ahh the high res screen. That makes sense! Yes I'm using html 5 and had my dolphin HD browser set to "iPad" in the UA. I had installed the leaked flash apk but it just seemed like a huge mess with it not being touch friendly at all, so I uninstalled it and am hoping they improve flash before releasing it officially. Personally I'm just hoping google would simply get rid of flash crap once and for all and just go with HTML 5.
I got the Xoom and I love it. Once we get the update for official flash and the SD card this thing is going to rock. I have a Samsung Fascinate and I would never buy another Samsung phone.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
I love my xoom! Every time I think I may want to trade it for the iPad2 because maybe iOs has better apps or a better gpu, I think what am I going to be doing 90% of the time on my tablet, browser and gmail. Which does this the best hands down? Xoom!!! Plus the xoom is Google's reference hardware and will be updated quicky and often! The rest will come!

I like the Playbook more than the Xoom because...

I currently have the 3G Xoom that I bought the first week that it was out.
I also bought the 64 GB Playbook on its release day.
This thread is for people who is thinking of getting a smaller device than the Xoom.
Playbook vs. Xoom:
Advantages of the Playbook:
1. More portable and lighter. I carry it almost everywhere I go because it can fit into my leather jacket pocket. I can hold it up longer than I can do with my Xoom while laying in bed without the fear that it will fall on my face.
2. Better screen. The whites of the playbook is whiter. The picture looks sharper. It seems to have a better viewing angle.
3. It can play high-profile h.264 movies. It cannot play .mkv container movies yet but if you convert the high-profile h.264 movies to .mg4 (using the free program called XenonMKV) then it plays flawlessly with its high-profile h.264 quality unchanged from original....only the 5.1 DTS sound is downsample to stereo AAC.
4. Multitasking is better on the Playbook than the Xoom.
5. The speakers are better on the Playbook because it directs the sound toward you instead of away from you.
------------------------------
Disadvantages of the Playbook:
1. Smaller screen than the Xoom
2. No default email (yet)
3. Cannot play .mkv container file (yet)
4. No micro SD card (but if you buy the 64 GB version then you don't have to worry about lack of space)
5. Not rootable (hope someone at XDA developer or any skilled person can hack it in the future)
6. No cellular feature (for the wi-fi only version)
7. Less apps (will improve in the future)
---------------------
For me, I like the Playbook better despite the negatives. I am trying to sell my 3G Xoom but I am keeping the 64 GB Playbook. I don't even have a blackberry phone and yet I still like the Playbook more.
It comes down to how I use the tablet the most that make me decide which is better. For me, it is portability (will use it more often) and watching high profile hi-def movies.
What does no default email mean? Like I could not use Gmail or Exchange?
Really I appreciate your opinion and if you would like I would take the inferior Xoom off your hands if u are giving it away.
Brenardo said:
Really I appreciate your opinion and if you would like I would take the inferior Xoom off your hands if u are giving it away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not giving it away. I am trying to sell it.
Ok, that's nice... thanks.
I don't really care though. If I was in the slightest bit interested in Blackberry, I would have waited around for the Playbook. If I wanted something 7", I would have gotten one of the many 7" Android tablets by now.
okie dokie
4. Multitasking is better on the Playbook than the Xoom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Explain. 10char
Why is this even in a xoom forum...troll elsewhere please.
www.facebook.com/redcardgreencardpage
jondwillis said:
Explain. 10char
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mutitaking seems to be better on the Playbook because I can open more windows. I believe that the Xoom can only have the most recent 5 that you can choose to mutitask. The Playbook can have more than 5.
Will the apps come for the playbook? Apps never came for Blackberry phones...
they will have the ability to use Android apps, but its still to be seen how well it will be integrated into the ecosystem.
csseale said:
Why is this even in a xoom forum...troll elsewhere please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, because there is no forum that is dedicated to the Playbook here in XDA-developers forum.
Also, I also have the Xoom so I can make a comparison between the two devices.
Earthbrain said:
Mutitaking seems to be better on the Playbook because I can open more windows. I believe that the Xoom can only have the most recent 5 that you can choose to mutitask. The Playbook can have more than 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll give you that, the 5 item back history seems arbitrary and limiting. Its not like the apps are killed, you just can't get back to them super quickly.
Earthbrain said:
Mutitaking seems to be better on the Playbook because I can open more windows. I believe that the Xoom can only have the most recent 5 that you can choose to mutitask. The Playbook can have more than 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wouldn't base my opinion on that, seeing as how there aren't really any decent apps for the Playbook, according to the Ars review posted today ;-)
Don't get me wrong, I liked the Playbook when I first heard about it. The specs are awesome, but it has two major downsides: lack of good 3rd party apps, and no native email/calendar/contacts sync support. It has to sync via a Blackberry handheld. Frankly, that sucks, and it's a gaping hole in design.
ANY other tablet, even the cheapo Android tabs, can sync your email without requiring any 'bridging' to a mobile phone.
The QNX OS is great, a lot like webOS, very intuitive and flexible. But without even basic messaging available out of the box (unless you already have a blackberry mobile), this is an epic fail in my book, and a major lost opportunity. "I coulda been a contender..."
The Xoom has its issues of course, but it isn't hampered out of the box like the Playbook is. I'm disappointed in RIM.
Earthbrain said:
I currently have the 3G Xoom that I bought the first week that it was out.
I also bought the 64 GB Playbook on its release day.
This thread is for people who is thinking of getting a smaller device than the Xoom.
Playbook vs. Xoom:
Advantages of the Playbook:
1. More portable and lighter. I carry it almost everywhere I go because it can fit into my leather jacket pocket. I can hold it up longer than I can do with my Xoom while laying in bed without the fear that it will fall on my face.
2. Better screen. The whites of the playbook is whiter. The picture looks sharper. It seems to have a better viewing angle.
3. It can play high-profile h.264 movies. It cannot play .mkv container movies yet but if you convert the high-profile h.264 movies to .mg4 (using the free program called XenonMKV) then it plays flawlessly with its high-profile h.264 quality unchanged from original....only the 5.1 DTS sound is downsample to stereo AAC.
4. Multitasking is better on the Playbook than the Xoom.
------------------------------
Disadvantages of the Playbook:
1. Smaller screen than the Xoom
2. No default email (yet)
3. Cannot play .mkv container file (yet)
4. No micro SD card (but if you buy the 64 GB version than you don't have to worry about lack of space)
5. Not rootable (hope someone at XDA developer or any skilled person can hack it in the future)
6. No cellular feature (for the wi-fi only version)
7. Less apps (will improve in the future)
---------------------
For me, I like the Playbook better despite the negatives. I am trying to sell my 3G Xoom but I am keeping the 64 GB Playbook. I don't even have a blackberry phone and yet I still like the Playbook more.
It comes down to how I use the tablet the most that make me decide which is better. For me, it is portability (will use it more often) and watching high profile hi-def movies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thanked your post because as I see you do actually own a Xoom you are giving us a brief rundown of a feature comparison between the two devices.
When I heard about this device on the radio I was interested until I heard all the **** it just can't do.
No email app out of the box? Really? That's hilarious, what a worthless peice of equipment if I can't read e-mail on it. App support? Lol WHAT App support have you seen in overwhelming display from Blackberry? All I know about Blackberry is that my experience in supporting their god awfull devices is just that... god awfull.
The screen is better, thats good.. smaller size is cool but then I agree with another guy... I'd just get a smaller android device.
With all that said, thanks for your write up and I hope that we dont get a huge proliferation of non-Xoom comparisons as a result.
cwizardtx said:
With all that said, thanks for your write up and I hope that we dont get a huge proliferation of non-Xoom comparisons as a result.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me, I love to read about device comparison. The more, the better. However, I would prefer that the person who writes the comparison actually own the devices and have been using it for at least 1 week.
I actually currently have 4 tablets. They are the jailbroken ipad, T-mobile Samsung Galaxy tab with custom ROM Overcome 1.6.3, Xoom 3G, and the 64 GB Playbook.
Each has its strong and weak points. I use each one according to the situation that I am in. I don't like to bash other devices (or the people who buy them) because of the reason that I just mentioned. I just like to point out the advantages and disadvantages and let people decide for themselves.
You must have really weak arms if the Xoom is a challenge for you to hold up for long periods of time. Try going to the gym?
Also, I can see why the Playbook would be able to play high profile h.264, it's pushing less pixels and has a higher clocked CPU. How does it do playing 720p Youtube videos in browser though? You know how often I've played 720p video files on my Xoom? Once, because I wanted to try it. How often do I Youtube? Just about every day and the new Flash 10.2 makes 720p video playable on the Xoom(granted overclocked to 1.5ghz, the Xoom at stock clock does pretty poorly with 720p video on Youtube still).
Earthbrain said:
For me, I love to read about device comparison. The more, the better. However, I would prefer that the person who writes the comparison actually own the devices and have been using it for at least 1 week.
I actually currently have 4 tablets. They are the jailbroken ipad, T-mobile Samsung Galaxy tab with custom ROM Overcome 1.6.3, Xoom 3G, and the 64 GB Playbook.
Each has its strong and weak points. I use each one according to the situation that I am in. I don't like to bash other devices (or the people who buy them) because of the reason that I just mentioned. I just like to point out the advantages and disadvantages and let people decide for themselves.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well there's also the fact that if people in this forum were at all interested in other devices I'd wager that we'd be in other device forums looking for those reviews. Honestly... I want to come to the XOOM Forum to read about the XOOM and not a bunch of other stuff which is why I left my reply off with the comment I did. I gave you thanks for your comparison between two devices but something tells me that a new rash of "im taking my xoom back for XYZ thing" is around the corner and let me tell you those get old and boring fast.
Again... appreciate your write up. From the looks of the features of that tablet... I wouldn't even be able to use it for the most menial of day to day things and thats laughable (to me).
Elysian893 said:
You must have really weak arms if the Xoom is a challenge for you to hold up for long periods of time. Try going to the gym?
Also, I can see why the Playbook would be able to play high profile h.264, it's pushing less pixels and has a higher clocked CPU. How does it do playing 720p Youtube videos in browser though? You know how often I've played 720p video files on my Xoom? Once, because I wanted to try it. How often do I Youtube? Just about every day and the new Flash 10.2 makes 720p video playable on the Xoom(granted overclocked to 1.5ghz, the Xoom at stock clock does pretty poorly with 720p video on Youtube still).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you ask 100 people if they would prefer a lighter tablet or a heavier tablet, I would bet that more than 50% of the people would say that they prefer a lighter tablet. I would even bet that most professional weight lifter would prefer a lighter tablet.
The Playbook is great at playing 720p youtube videos. In fact, flash seems to be better on my Playbook than on my Xoom, even when I just upgrade to the latest Flash version on the Xoom yesterday.
Earthbrain said:
If you ask 100 people if they would prefer a lighter tablet or a heavier tablet, I would bet that more than 50% of the people would say that they prefer a lighter tablet. I would even bet that most professional weight lifter would prefer a lighter tablet.
The Playbook is great at playing 720p youtube videos. In fact, flash seems to be better on my Playbook than on my Xoom, even when I just upgrade to the latest Flash version on the Xoom yesterday.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I weight train, I'm not a professional but I do alright, the weight on the Xoom truly doesn't matter. 1.3lbs or whatever it is is next to nothing. Your experience with Flash on the Playbook doesn't seem to match that of anyone reviewing it.
To OP, I think you are compare two devices with different usage.
I’ve a Xoom mainly to use at home, and a Samsung Galaxy tab as media consumption device for daily commute.
I think the playbook cost too much and not offer any advantages over Android and Apple products.
For example, the Playbook doesn’t have enough apps to attract any android and Apple users and it don’t have 3G version.
I’d recommend 7” Android tablet for anyone who wants a mobile device.
I.E. the cheaper Galaxy Tab have all the advantages you listed, plus with Overcome ROM is very fast and lag free. Since its running Androide 2.2, nearly all the apps in market will work on the device. Also it can play mkv files.
P.S. I use MultiTasking Pro as work around for the limited app switching in Xoom, works well and I can also close most of the apps.

[Q] Motorola Xoom vs iPad 2, and Honeycomb Apps

I'm on fence on whether to buy a Motorola Xoom (32GB WiFi EU) or an iPad 2. In terms of price, here in Malta the Xoom seems more worth it as I can get it for 498 euro whilst the iPad 2 Wifi 32GB is at 609.
My main concerns are regarding software, and more importantly, apps availability. Now, before you bash my question, I've read a lot of reviews for both devices, and I've gone through lists for Honeycomb apps, but I'd like input from actual Xoom owners that are using it day to day.
Thanks in advance,
Emmanuel
well email and surfing is alot more fun and productive on a Xoom compare to an Ipad2 because of the integrated email and the flash enabled full size browser experience
but if you look at the build quality of them it sure looks like the Ipad2 went thought a lot more intensive QA then the Xoom since on the back of the xoom you kind of able to push in the plastic a bit.... thats makes me a sad panda
anyway comparing xoom vs ipad 2... there is only one logical answer
android =widgets
IOS = no widgets
and with widgets you get your information a lot faster like news, socks and twitter on one page... so yeah and i do use that alot
productivity = xoom
build quality = ipad2
that said i still think the ipad2 really rocks since it's a finished product but it does not have the widgets
I've owned an iPad and now I own a XOOM. For me personally, the ipad doesn't come close - the OS is far too restrictive and the dependency on iTunes was a killer for me (I use linux on all of my home machines, forcing me to run a windows virtual machine just to activate the damned thing).
With that said, the XOOM, or rather, Honeycomb doesn't even come close with regards to app availability. Even if you take the huge headstart that apple have (1 year+), the ipad has simply always been better marketed and there are a lot more apps available. Let's not even get started on the android market place; it's dire. The worst. And for some reason, it's even worse on honeycomb than it is on phones; no ability to rate apps, plenty of bugs (some of which have been addressed in 3.1), no ability to view only tablet apps, terrible filtering and search in general, etc. Apple's app store is how it should be done, the android market place has a long way to come.
The situation is improving for honeycomb and I personally wouldn't dream of going back to the ipad, but for friends and family who couldn't care less about the restrictive nature of iOS and the other things that I dislike, I would recommend the ipad.
With all that said, it looks really weird to see me almost recommending Apple, because I personally can't stand the software. Oh well...
Well, I've never owned an I pad but I have just purchased the xoom and I LOVE it!!!
Most comparisions regard the xoom better, but with the I pad having loads more apps - to some people, this is the deal breaker.
However, if you want a true tablet experience and not just an oversized iPod touch, then go for the xoom.
The xoom has better OS, greater browser and keyboard, better cameras and support flash, it is also not tied down to any PC software such as iTunes and includes more customization options such as widgits. (Android includes a free turn by turn navigation system too)
Oh and the maps and YouTube apps are better on the xoom and have more features (Google property pays off)
I made my decision and I'm happy with my xoom - but the choice is yours.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
I have to disagree. I think the xoom build quality is top notch and better than the iPad. It's just when I hold the iPad I feel like it will break... to thin for my liking.
Now applications look better in my opinion on the iPad. Like it was mentioned here the Apple eco system keeps me away.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk
I have owned an iPad, and will likely own an iPad 2 when the current shortage lets up. There is very little left to say about the iPad (either version) that hasn't been said already. They are exceptional devices, gamechangers, perfectly designed to introduce mobile technology to mainstream users. Almost anyone can be up and running in 15 minutes with an iPad, even with no experience and iOS rewards those who embrace its deliberate limitations.
My first experience with Android was with an Archos 5 tablet, and then an Archos 101. I bought both as relatively inexpensive ways to get acquainted with Android. and both were very frustrating experiences in different ways. They really made me begin to view Android as a very niche market.
However, when I needed a new phone and decided that I couldn't wait for a Windows Phone 7 device to be offered here, and refused to get an iPhone, I opted for the Galaxy s and a whole world opened up to me...which then led me to my new Xoom.
I have been playing with it for about half a day now after doing a great deal of reading...I unlocked it, tried to root it and ran into the "stuck on the red M" problem, spent about 2 hours reading and sorting out how to get myself out of the trap via adb, rooted it at last, installed CWM then flashed the Tiamat kernel and finally began loading up my apps. Loved every moment of it. The build quality of the device, in my opinion, is excellent. It feels much better and more substantial in my hands than the iPad. The screen is top notch and I really like the honeycomb environment for work and play.
Most of all, I like the fact that Android is a living, breathing OS. SO much to explore and learn and investigate.
The iPad, for all it's many good points, as I said before rewards those who embrace its limitations. The Xoom rewards those who refuse limitations, who are willing to spend the time and effort to learn how it works and discover ways to do it better.
The iPad is the USS Enterprise...sleek and beautiful but cold and a bit sterile for all its power. What you see is what you get.
The Xoom is the Tardis...a hodgepodge of history and possibility, all wrapped in a shell of sweet wonder....and it is bigger on the inside.
With a Xoom I could have never ever owned a PC and set it up and get it working. It does not require you to hook it up to itunes first. With the iPad... yea I dont know about 15 minutes but after you hook it up to your computer to unlock it (lol) you can finally use it. In my house we have both, I like the Xoom better
you said
"The iPad, for all it's many good points, as I said before rewards those who embrace its limitations. The Xoom rewards those who refuse limitations, who are willing to spend the time and effort to learn how it works and discover ways to do it better."
I couldn't have said it better. The Xoom is my third Android tablet, my second Tegra2 tab, and the most hands-on and most rewarding and fun to own. I have never liked the Apple zeitgeist and have always avoided that product. I prefer the freedom to mess around, get into scrapes and come back from the brink with a better tab and a lot more knowledge. I think that as an open source, Android will continue to grow and evolve in wonderful ways and I want to be along for the ride.
Also, this thing is built like a tank.
rschenck said:
The iPad is the USS Enterprise...sleek and beautiful but cold and a bit sterile for all its power. What you see is what you get.
The Xoom is the Tardis...a hodgepodge of history and possibility, all wrapped in a shell of sweet wonder....and it is bigger on the inside.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That made me giggle . But I think the ipad are like the dalek. Cold personality and desire only perfection. seek only to dominate the world!
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
inspiron41 said:
That made me giggle . But I think the ipad are like the dalek. Cold personality and desire only perfection. seek only to dominate the world!
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Steve Jobs as Davros ...*shudder*
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
i'll keep this short as can be...
iPad/iOs = Checkers.
Xoom/Honeycomb = Chess.
I have played around with both Ipad and Xoom. I currently own a Xoom. Ipad is probably fine if you want something simple with few options(not talking about apps).
The Xoom is pretty cool, and even cooler after unlock & root. The downside is app / game availability, but it's getting better every day.
The killer for me between the two is multitasking. The xoom has it, the ipad not so much.
And also, no itunes. The xoom works out of the box.
The Ipad on the other hand has more accessories, wee..
Keep in mind that these sorts of issues are ultimately a matter of taste, so the things I don't like the iPad may not bother you at all.
I bought an iPad2 and returned it within 48 hours. I really can't explain my utter contempt for that device, but I just hated everything about it. I'm not an Apple hater, mind you; I owned every iPhone through the 3GS and was one of those dorks standing in line on launch days. I really, really wanted to like the iPad 2, but after having owned two Android handsets (and being a big gadget whore) I couldn't stomach going back to an iOS product.
What I hated about the iPad 2:
-Screen resolution sucks
-Too thin and flimsy feeling
-Stock keyboard is HORRIBLE and there's no way to change it
-No widgets
-No UI customization, period
-Cameras suck
-"Notification system" is sort of a joke
-"Multi-tasking" is also sort of a joke
-Far higher cost for iPad apps vs. iPhone/iPod apps, developers nickel & dime you for every little thing (subscriptions, in-app purchases, etc) - seriously, the whole ecosystem was like a giant money sucking vacuum
-QA on my particular unit was terrible - massive light leaks around the edges of the screen and 3 stuck pixels within 1 day of use (and this is not an isolated issue, though Apple is replacing defective units but making sure to blame their supplier)
iOS is getting long in the tooth, and this is hugely magnified in tablet form, especially with the crappy-looking display. I felt like I was using old technology, despite the awesome internal specs. The best comparison I can come up with between Honeycomb and iOS on a tablet is something like Windows 7 compared to Windows 3.1.
hello,
i'm maltese too, on a xoom us wifi .. from amazon.com
worked out to 508 eu including hsbc's 'conversion charge' of 8 eu or so.
ipad vs xoom.. depends on what you need.
if you want a platform to play stuff from itunes.. ipad
if yiu want a portable computer you can meddle with.... xoom of course.
build quality, screen and battery life are excellent too.
cheers
btw where is that price from?
when i bought mine it was closer to 600eu for wifi eu
which is why i got the us one..
While I will state now I am no expert on iOS or the Ipad1/2 I will say this:
My Xoom has me constantly entertained and I've NEVER felt I needed an app that I didnt have at least 4 decent choices of. I have also never left limited on my Xoom for any tasks I wish to undertake, I stream all my media from my computer (via WiFi OR 3G) so everywhere I am I have access to all my media (and now thanks to Google Music moreso) and with Remote Desktop I have access to my Linux and Windows machines no matter where I am. The Xoom constantly feeds me information without having to do anything but look at my homescreens.
I have played with friends Ipad1/2's and while for the most part things seemed smooth and work well I always had this feeling of being lost when looking through the app screens, its like all the icons look the same (same size, many of them same colors) just felt very sterile and un-enjoyable and you get ZERO information without going from one app to another just felt like so much work for simple basic information readily available on my Xoom.
I've never been a fan of iOS or Apple's strategy towards their customers but I really tried to look at my 2 options without bias before choosing my Xoom. As several others are stated you really dont have any choices with Apple products, you take what your given and if you dont like your options you dont have any more to look at.
Android (despite its fragmentation in some areas and flaws, hiccups in others) is the best choice if you like options and a desire to learn more and have real options with your chosen device. If you want something simple that tells you what you want then Apple products are for you. If you dont mind a hiccup with something here and there and having the ultimate say in the apps and add-on parts for your device then I say without a doubt Android is the way to go. Widgets are the best thing to happen to phones/tablets as it gives you so much information without having to do anything to get it and you can always enter into that app for a more detailed look and more options.
As for the comment on Apple App Store having more options, maybe it does but judging by the amount the Android Market has grown over 1 year I highly doubt Apple will be able to say the same thing next year. More and more developers either jump ship from Apples restrictions in apps or choose to release their products on both Android and iOS platforms which means in many cases the Apple App Store is slowing down and stagnating in some areas due to the open nature of app development for Android OS, its infinitely easier to write and sell and app for Android than iOS.
As a side note a friend of mine and I compared apps, we both had some niche apps and some common ones... my total cost was about $40 (like I said I have some apps that cost about $15, my phone apps only had a grand total of like $10) but all in all his total for all similar (sometimes the same app) was about $200, that alone pushed my decision for another android device with the Xoom vs Ipad2.
If your cheap and want to hack get the Xoom. If you want to easily be able get VIDEOS to play fluently for rent or TV episodes get iPad. I got the ipad because it was so gay to get Videos on the thing. Having to convert then drag to device verse iTunes makes iTunes seem easier. Especially is JB.
Xoom =iPad none is clear winner
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
jamaicansolja said:
If your cheap and want to hack get the Xoom. If you want to easily be able get VIDEOS to play fluently for rent or TV episodes get iPad. I got the ipad because it was so gay to get Videos on the thing. Having to convert then drag to device verse iTunes makes iTunes seem easier. Especially is JB.
Xoom =iPad none is clear winner
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure I would call the Xoom cheap (not in build quality and certainly not in price) and I don't see what the sexual orientation of the iPad has to do with the issue.
I feel the video converting question is a non issue. For me, converting via iTunes or by a third party app is just as big a pain, and the iPad's native video app is even more limited codec-wise than the Android stock Video. Anyway, just use a player like MoboPlayer or VPlayer which can show pretty much anything, and you are golden.
However I agree that there is no real BEST TABLET...it is just a matter of personal preference.
jamaicansolja said:
If your cheap and want to hack get the Xoom. If you want to easily be able get VIDEOS to play fluently for rent or TV episodes get iPad. I got the ipad because it was so gay to get Videos on the thing. Having to convert then drag to device verse iTunes makes iTunes seem easier. Especially is JB.
Xoom =iPad none is clear winner
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So spend more money for the more restrictive device? Also, you don't have to hack the xoom. The Xoom has more option out of the box than the ipad.
You didn't manage to get gay videos on the Xoom?
Croolis said:
btw where is that price from?
when i bought mine it was closer to 600eu for wifi eu
which is why i got the us one..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's on www.expansys.com.mt, excluding VAT.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

So happy with my xoom

From time to time I read other tablet forums. All I can say is omg people are funny, why buy a product with light bleeds, creaking, bad speakers, random reboots. My xoom has none of those issues, and the part that really gets me is these people just chalk it up to that's just how it is. If I pay 400 or 500 or 600 I want it to work as advertised. I have a brand new jeep I be damn if I have problems with it and just say well that just part of owning a jeep. As long as consumers let the business get away with half ass products then it will continue. Maybe it's just me but I don't feel like light bleeds, random problems are normal at least not at these prices. Sorry just venting.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA Premium App
I kinda agree with you. Pricing isn't everything - build quality is often overlooked by people. When I hold my Xoom in my hands, I feel like I'm holding a solid, serious product. Cheap plastic might be lighter, but it's more fragile, and feels cheaper too.
In this world, I always say you get what you pay for. There's a reason why you can buy a 300$ CheapBrand laptop, or a similarly-specced 400$ SeriousBrand laptop - one of them is much more likely to die on you before the other one.
The Xoom is by all mean not perfect, but I don't see any of the currently available alternatives as being perfect either - they all have their flaws. The Honeycomb tablet market is a brand new one, I'd expect things to get more interesting with second generation products.
Agreed, it's just as I read the xoom forum its mostly people have done something to there xoom not they opened there box and problems were there from the starting point. Xooms not perfect but I have confidence that my xoom will turn on, and will not have bleeds, nor creaking / separation issues.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA Premium App
nthknd said:
Agreed, it's just as I read the xoom forum its mostly people have done something to there xoom not they opened there box and problems were there from the starting point. Xooms not perfect but I have confidence that my xoom will turn on, and will not have bleeds, nor creaking / separation issues.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that I think about it, the only problem I read about with an out-of-the-box Xoom was some dust under the screen. And that was just ONE person. From what I've read, iPad 2 issues were practically an epidemic.
nthknd said:
From time to time I read other tablet forums. All I can say is omg people are funny, why buy a product with light bleeds, creaking, bad speakers, random reboots. My xoom has none of those issues, and the part that really gets me is these people just chalk it up to that's just how it is. If I pay 400 or 500 or 600 I want it to work as advertised. I have a brand new jeep I be damn if I have problems with it and just say well that just part of owning a jeep. As long as consumers let the business get away with half ass products then it will continue. Maybe it's just me but I don't feel like light bleeds, random problems are normal at least not at these prices. Sorry just venting.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
honestly im very happy with my xoom. i rarely ever get any lag and i have had one or two browser crashes, nothing else. I'm an advanced user, been rooting my android phones for years now, and i still dont feel the need to root my xoom yet.... Build quality is great, software is fine too.
Sure, a sd card would be nice, but right now i dont even use a quarter of my onboard storage. 4g would be nice, but in my case i mostly use my xoom on the subway, where 4g goes in and out. its much better for me to have a solid 3g conneciton then switching back and forth between 3g and 4g (like my darn thunderbolt) and having no connection for a minute between each tower
anyway, im a happy xoom owner
I'm happy with my xoom.
I'm a bit happier with my iPad2.
Xoom just feels bulky, heavy, and laggy compared to iPad2.
I bought my Xoom a few weeks before the company I work for decided to give everyone an iPad2. I usually use the iPad now as it is overall just slicker, easier to carry around, and has more polished Apps. I do use the Xoom a lot for music streaming, love google music. And occasionally I'll browse on it because dolphin browser handles flash where iPads fail.
If I were spending money on something, it'd be a tough call. I love android, love my HTC Incredible phone, but the build quality and feel of the iPad is superior. SmartCovers are awesome, it feels clunky to have to find the on-off button on the back of the xoom, etc. I think Android is superior to iOS for sure, but right now we're going through the growing pains of a new OS and a new platform... Can't wait for someone to design hardware with usability on par with the iPad.
Ipad2 is good. But Xoom is better and more functional
biscoradio said:
I'm happy with my xoom.
I'm a bit happier with my iPad2.
Xoom just feels bulky, heavy, and laggy compared to iPad2.
I bought my Xoom a few weeks before the company I work for decided to give everyone an iPad2. I usually use the iPad now as it is overall just slicker, easier to carry around, and has more polished Apps. I do use the Xoom a lot for music streaming, love google music. And occasionally I'll browse on it because dolphin browser handles flash where iPads fail.
If I were spending money on something, it'd be a tough call. I love android, love my HTC Incredible phone, but the build quality and feel of the iPad is superior. SmartCovers are awesome, it feels clunky to have to find the on-off button on the back of the xoom, etc. I think Android is superior to iOS for sure, but right now we're going through the growing pains of a new OS and a new platform... Can't wait for someone to design hardware with usability on par with the iPad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My kids love ipad2 that I bought for my wife. However, when I bought them a xoom, they never use ipad2 again.
I'm liking the xoom too.
I wish it had better codec support but I thought about it rationally. I'm not going to have to much 720p stuff with my 1.5mb down dsl connection.
Xoom love
I love my Xoom too. Carry it around all day and keep it by my side while watching TV at night.
I think 97% of the people who have them love them.
Motorola -- not so much.
Mostly because Motorola not only fails to communicate -- they REFUSE to, it seems.
I suspect their lawyers don't want them to talk to customers about non-working parts such as the SD card and 4G because that would provide evidence in any legal proceedings that eventually come about.
And then when owners see the Xoom ( Wi-Fi ) being sold at a 17% discount on Ebay coupled with the lack of communication it makes for unhappy owners.
Does not help Motorolas reputation or to sell more units.
i love my xoom. I gave my Icrap pad to my aunt. I was waiting for a good android tablet and look what I got. The best tablet on the market. Yes it root and clock at 1.4ghz. But look what I can do compare to the icrap apple. Add one new feature every year. Lol its funny to me. I feel my xoom will be around for some years. OK 2-3 years tops but that's how the tech world is. I see alot of new stuff coming soon for the xoom.
I love my xoom and its various customizations. 3 of my friends have ipad 2 and I think they were just going nice and easy because they're not tech savvy enough. Still, how can anyone say the ipad 2 build quality is superior to the xooms? It is not even comparable, I mean what does the light weight have any real meanings beside making the device all plastic? I can glance at the black ipad for a second, but holy ****, the white one looks exactly like an iclone or Iclown from China. Don't even bring facetime and the cameras in the competition. They're useless. And prices of the ipads are wayyyyy over of what they should have been. Anyways, I'm a happy xoomer !!!!
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
Kippui said:
I'm liking the xoom too.
I wish it had better codec support but I thought about it rationally. I'm not going to have to much 720p stuff with my 1.5mb down dsl connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Easily resolved by using Moboplayer or Rockplayer.
OS-level codec support should never be an issue IMHO. I don't see anyone complain that Windows has no built-in support for Matroska, for example
If you ever think your xoom isn't up to par go check out the transformer forum nothing but complaints and people on there 2nd or 3rd replacement due to various problems, and I keep reading its a good buy for the price, not when it comes to my time and stress level. Oh here's the funny part ausu wants you to pay for return shipping if you need a replacement or repair. Really?
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA Premium App
I love my xoom also. I don't care about the sd slot working because honestly 32gbs is more then enough and they don't even advertise about that. The only thing I am missing is my 4G. Even if samsung comes out with their tab who the hell wants to use touch wiz or whatever the hell it is as well as who wants to wait that long for updates? Lets go moto
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
I really, really love my Xoom. I'm one of those people who carry it around constantly. Even when I could use my PC I'm using the Xoom to check my emails, FB and of course, xda. I'm using it on the road for work instead of lugging around a notebook. It's everything I need in a tablet computer, and more.
I started out in November with a Pandigital Novel (eclair) that I rooted and modded to the point where I got bored and gave it to my Mom. In February I sprung for the 1st Tegra 2 tab available at that time, the little orphan eLocity A7-froyo 2.2, a sweet and powerful little tab, but quirky build and short battery life. Still, I rooted and modded and finally gave it to my daughter when I got my Xoom in April. I figure I've been averaging 3 months on my android tablet progression, doubling my expenditure with each purchase, but the Xoom is different. This one's a keeper!
RMerlin said:
Easily resolved by using Moboplayer or Rockplayer.
OS-level codec support should never be an issue IMHO. I don't see anyone complain that Windows has no built-in support for Matroska, for example
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The xoom can't play any 720p file that isn't baseline. Most scene/anime stuff is 720p High Profile which will not play on the xoom.
I cant drop my anime onto it without issues
The 720p stuff I occasionally download wont work without recoding.
Unless you have some sort of solution that none of us Xoom/Transfomer/Acer Iconia users dont know lol?
Hello
I have to agree as I love my xoom also. A quick visit here and my UK xoom is now running 3.1 with full 3g working. SD card slot working a treat and am able to mount and unmount my external hard drive. Not to mention it purrrring along at 1.5ghz .
As for build quality I have no idea why some people are moaning. Its by far the best made and solid feeling tablet out there. I say if people don't like them then sell it and move on.
I love my Xoom. I haven't used any other tablets, so I can't compare. I've never had any problems with the Xoom. And with the 3.1 update, things are even better. I think the browsing experience is excellent especially with Dolphin Browser. Love being able to see flash videos right in the page.
Hoping for more apps to come out as Honeycomb gets more popular. That would be my only gripe, the lack of apps for my tablet.
I had the huawei s7 and the galaxy tab before getting the xoom. i wonder how the devs at google i/o are liking their 10.2 tabs? I hope they stick to using the xoom for developing so we get the latest api's. The xoom2 will probably be out around October with kal-el and who knows what else. tech is moving so fast, I don't expect any device to be current for more than 3 months. I've had my xoom 2 months so... Of all the new tabs coming out I don't see any that will take me away from xoom although i'm interested to see how the HP touchpad does as WebOS was the first smartphone os i used.
Kippui said:
The xoom can't play any 720p file that isn't baseline. Most scene/anime stuff is 720p High Profile which will not play on the xoom.
I cant drop my anime onto it without issues
The 720p stuff I occasionally download wont work without recoding.
Unless you have some sort of solution that none of us Xoom/Transfomer/Acer Iconia users dont know lol?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try Moboplayer? I don't know if it can do it, but it cam play a lot of stuff that the built-in player (and many other third party players too) can't play smoothly. Make sure to install the optimized codec pack on top of it, see what happens. For the Xoom, you want the ARM V7_VFPV3 codec pack.

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