Interesting new tablet

[stuckless]

I just hope they give me one for free when I attend GoogleIO

[Clift]

Originally Posted by mayamaniac

It doesn't stop the millions of people who bought the iPad for about the same price. The Xoom is coming out a year later, but it does offer better features with dual core CPU, front and back cameras, and flash player support. And from the looks of it, Honeycomb looks like well designed for tablets.

But if you didn't buy an iPad because of the price, then I can understand your disappointment that the Xoom isn't priced lower. So basically, they are targeting the same crowd that bought the iPad, and not you and me. It has nothing to do with replacing laptops or phones, the tablet is a unique product by itself and as the iPad has proven, there's a big market for it, even with the high price.

I agree, except for one thing:
right or wrong (like it or not?) Apple buyers are accustomed to paying more for less. The Android crowd (or does the XOOM transcend that) or mass market crowd doesn't view the percieved value of another tablet as that of the APPLE iPad. I may full of dung anyway. To me, $499 would have been directly comparable to the cheapest iPad, and I would have to seriously consider the XOOM. At $599, not so much.

I do understand that you're getting more with the XOOM, but this is my dilema: I plan to use a tablet mostly for web surfing on the couch or when I travel and as a music/movie entertainment device. I don't actually need a dual core, HDMI output, 1080P packing MobileMonster. But at the same time I can't accept a device that will be used as a laptop replacement when I travel to not have Adobe Flash. So maybe I'm b*tching 'cause I'm too cheap to get it at $599 or $600 or whatever.

[mayamaniac]

Originally Posted by Clift

... To me, $499 would have been directly comparable to the cheapest iPad, and I would have to seriously consider the XOOM. At $599, not so much.

I do understand that you're getting more with the XOOM, but this is my dilema: I plan to use a tablet mostly for web surfing on the couch or when I travel and as a music/movie entertainment device. I don't actually need a dual core, HDMI output, 1080P packing MobileMonster. But at the same time I can't accept a device that will be used as a laptop replacement when I travel to not have Adobe Flash.

if you want a $499 tablet without dual core, HDMI, or 1080P, then that is the cheapest iPad. You can surf the web and do what you described. The Xoom doesn't support full flash, only flash video player. You can also play flash videos on the iPad with the Skyfire browser.

By the way, the dual core does speed up the web page loading.

Originally Posted by Clift

So maybe I'm b*tching 'cause I'm too cheap to get it at $599 or $600 or whatever.

I'm in the same boat, too cheap and don't have disposable income to spend that much on something I don't really need.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by mayamaniac

The Xoom doesn't support full flash, only flash video player.

You sure about that? because my android 2.2 Droid does support full flash (though some more complex applets, like facebook games, will still fail due to limited RAM). As far as web browsing flash necessity, it handles it just fine.

[Clift]

yeah the XOOM supports full flash.

As much as I hate to admit it... I tried surfing over to playhouse Disney tonight with Dolphin Browser HD on my Droid 1 OC to 1 GHz and the video choked... Not only that but the page took forever to load. Maybe the XOOM is worth it after all

[eats crow]

[osx-addict]

I guess you'll know what the new iPad offers next week.. Apple's having a press release that the media is invited to on March 2nd.. Should be interesting..

[Clift]

I wonder how well the Viewsonic gTablet stacks against this once it gets updated (or gets an xda ROM) to Honeycomb?

Pros for gTablet:
-Price (~$375)
-WiFi version available now

Cons:
-Cheap screen
-Lower resolution
-Questionable quality
-Only 512 MB RAM

http://www.viewsonic.com/gtablet/

[SprDtyF350]

Originally Posted by Clift

I wonder how well the Viewsonic gTablet stacks against this once it gets updated (or gets an xda ROM) to Honeycomb?

Pros for gTablet:
-Price (~$375)
-WiFi version available now

Cons:
-Cheap screen
-Lower resolution
-Questionable quality
-Only 512 MB RAM

http://www.viewsonic.com/gtablet/

I have a G tablet and love it. When it first came out it was not good. The TapnTap interface they installed was really buggy. It did not take long and the folks at XDA had it running nice. I run a rom named VEGAn on mine. It can do Flash, I can tether it with my phone, it is fast, and it was a lot cheaper than an Ipad. The display is the only weak spot for me. It is basically a netbook lcd and so the viewing angles are not great. It doesn't bother me but others it bothers a lot. For the price I think it is hard to beat. A Tegra 2 with 512 ram and 16gb onboard storage. A usb port that with VEGAn has mouse and keyboard support. Also has a microsd slot and with the dock HDMI.

The G tablet also does full flash.

There are a bunch of different roms, a couple of Cyanogen Gingerbread versions, and i expect not long after the Xoom comes out we will have Honeycomb for the G tablet also. It so far has been virtually unbrickable too. I have tried!! And always been able to make it work again..

I have been using it lately with the Playon app that is in the market. I can watch the normal Playon stuff but also it lets me watch my Sage recordings and movies from my server. Surprisingly well too.

Anyway, I don't hate Apple, and I am typing this on my Mini Mac. I don't work for Viewsonic either. Just think the G tablet is pretty good. I would not have recommended it back in November when i got it but I would now.

[Fuzzy]

Xoom is released tomorrow from Verizon... $600 with a contract, and $20/month 1GB plan.

I've heard passing mention of some level of HLS (HTTP Live Streaming support) which may make me quite happy using the sage mobile web interface. Time will tell... Sage or no, i think I'll be purchasing one.

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

I've heard passing mention of some level of HLS (HTTP Live Streaming support) which may make me quite happy using the sage mobile web interface.

Actually that HTTP live streaming has made it in Android OS 2.3 already... Just need to use the httplive:// instead of the regular http://

[mayamaniac]

Originally Posted by Clift

yeah the XOOM supports full flash.

As much as I hate to admit it... I tried surfing over to playhouse Disney tonight with Dolphin Browser HD on my Droid 1 OC to 1 GHz and the video choked... Not only that but the page took forever to load. Maybe the XOOM is worth it after all

[eats crow]

According to news site [1] [2], they said the xoom will shipped without Flash. And today, they say you have to send the Xoom to motorola for 6 days if you want LTE hardware added. What is motorola thinking??? First the $800 price and now no flash and jump through hoops to get LTE.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by mayamaniac

According to news site [1] [2], they said the xoom will shipped without Flash. And today, they say you have to send the Xoom to motorola for 6 days if you want LTE hardware added. What is motorola thinking??? First the $800 price and now no flash and jump through hoops to get LTE.

I don't expect to have access to LTE networks for quite some time anyways. I'm buying it for the tablet, to be used most of the time via WiFi. (keeping in mind, I live in a city with free wifi over the entire downtown area). 4G would be nice, but I had heard back at CES that they weren't sure then if it was going to be software only, or if any hardware mods would be required. If/when the network becomes available in my area, I can certainly do without the device for a few days to get it upgraded for free, without spending any money out of pocket, or even changing data plans.

How much of a hardware upgrade is required to upgrade the iPad to 4G?

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

Actually that HTTP live streaming has made it in Android OS 2.3 already... Just need to use the httplive:// instead of the regular http://

Hasn't worked for me, at least not from the sagetv streaming services feature. even building my own URL with the httplive://sagetv:8080/stream/HTTPLiveStreamingPlaylist?MediaFileId=6639157

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Hasn't worked for me, at least not from the sagetv streaming services feature. even building my own URL with the httplive://sagetv:8080/stream/HTTPLiveStreamingPlaylist?MediaFileId=6639157

Well, that's a different issue... Try this:

httplive://devimages.apple.com/iphone/samples/bipbop/gear1/prog_index.m3u8

[Clift]

4G upgrade will be 100% free including shipping.

Fuzzy, if your City is mostly WiFi then why not wait for the WiFi only XOOM?
I'm still sitting on the sidelines, albeit salivating the whole time...

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by Clift

4G upgrade will be 100% free including shipping.

Fuzzy, if your City is mostly WiFi then why not wait for the WiFi only XOOM?
I'm still sitting on the sidelines, albeit salivating the whole time...

Because I don't stay in my city. besides, since they offered such small/cheap data plans, its worth having the option of everywhere connectivity.

[panteragstk]

Xoom review