the tablet war is heating up

Why does the Xoom's SD card slot not work, anyways? It can't be because of Honeycomb, because, as with the Iconia, there are other Honeycomb devices in which the SD card slot is actually working.
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Because unlike everyone else Motorola seems to be waiting for Google to release the official Honeycomb SD card code instead of doing what many of the others honeycomb tablet manufacturers did which was make their own.


It's the Xoom's screen (doesn't help that Motorola has a tendency to pick cheap screens on most products). When you turn the brightness up things gets really faded.

So, would you consider it a poor screen then? The resolution is supposedly quite good, even better than the iPad's.

I do know that when I've looked at samples in the store, I've been fairly impressed with the image quality.....but just noted the overall darkness of the image. But given the OS' desktop background is dark, compared to the default bright background on iPad 2's, it's hard to compare them.

I've read there are issues with images in the image gallery app appearing washed out, but that this is a Honeycomb issue, and that downloading 3rd party gallery apps (like Quickpics) works much better...or was that fixed with this update to Honeycomb?

I've never owned an Android device before......I'm looking at it instead of the iPad 2, as I have my iPhone, am not entirely happy with it, and everything I've seen of my business partners' iPad2's is that they're basically like giant iPhones. Given that I'm in web development, Flash support is a must. From what I can see, by testing the devices in stores, there are many sites that work perfectly on the Xoom and Iconia A500, via Flash support, when I'd need to download an app (taking up HD space) on the iPad 2 to deliver the same functionality.

I also like that Android is seemingly more customizable. On my iPhone, I've downloaded a Mercury and Atomic browsers, as Safari is too limited...but there doesn't seem to be a way to make them my default browsers, so, if I click a link in an e-mail, it opens Safari...I then have to copy the link, close Safari, open Mercury, and paste the URL. My understanding is that Android gives more control to configure things as I'd like them.


For the most part it seems to depend on an app.. which is often the case with android.

Only like once or twice did I have it crash while using the browser (flash was playing on the site). Though every so often it would lag (maybe a site's javascript is at play... but not sure).

The only other times it "crashes" or has strange bugs or lags usually was when I'm logging on or awaking from the xoom sleeping. The error is a result of the device being encrypted and it hick-upping after I typed in my password. It's a minor annoyance since once you close the error message it allows me to reboot.

I've yet to have my Xoom lock up to the point of having to turn the power off and restart (which occasionally happens on my droid 2).

That's good to know. I don't expect any devices' apps to work perfectly. My iPhone has frozen (not as often as my Blackberry did), and I've had many apps crash. Big deal...you launch them again.

On the topic of using Flash....has Flash seemed at all laggy to you? I've seen it play on the Blackberry Playbook, and in many cases, it appears flawless...pretty much as good as it does on my PC. But many of the Xooms I've looked at were not configured....the store staff never bothered to install Flash. So I don't know how well it works on the device.

Have you tried Google Talk? Did that work well?

All the reviews I've read commented that there were only 50 Honeycomb apps.....but those reviews were being written in February/March. Upon review a few days ago, I think I counted about 500 apps......so that's like a 900% increase in 2 months. I figure even more will arrive.

I've been seeing between 8 - 12 hours average with moderate to heavy use with the wifi turned on all the time. I've heard running movies sucks the life out of the batteries. HOWEVER it should be noted that the Xoom recharged very fast. Only problem is that it doesn't power by usb...


The problem with formats is that you have to have the proper codexs installed or supported on the device to view them. I'm not certain which ones are supported beyond: MPEG4, H.263, H.264.

Pardon my ignorance, as converting videos isn't something I've done much of. So I don't know a lot about it.....aside from the fact that my Windows 7 machine had problems with videos and music at first, until I had to download a Windows 7 codec pack from MajorGeeks.com - Download Freeware and Shareware Computer Utilities., which made the problems go away.

So, are you saying the Xoom only supports particular video codecs, and they *don't* come installed on the device?

I have a lot of Blu-Rays with the "digital copy" discs. Traditionally, I've been getting a bunch of them into iTunes, but I've got several discs which still have to have the digital copies burned to the hard drive, and I've been holding off, wanting to find out what format I'd have to have them in, to play on a tablet. Or is that not possible?

I read from a guy online who said he just put the digital copy disc in his DVD-ROM, grabbed the video file, and moved it over to the video folder on his Xoom and it played. Have you tried watching those videos at all?

8-12 hours of battery life doesn't sound bad. I'm assuming if I turned WiFi off (like if I was using it as an e-reader at the cottage, where there is no Internet access) that it would last even longer.

Right now it's hard to tell how the Galaxy 10.1 will be handled update wise. Ever since they received the class action lawsuit, Samsung has done their damnedest to turn around the negative image they received for not updating androids to the point where alot of their phones and the Galexy Tab 1 will run 2.3 in a few weeks. Unfortunately, who knows how long this change will last beyond the mandatory 18 months per product if upgradable benchmark.

Hmm...hopefully they wouldn't need to be sued. I get really annoyed at unsupported products. The issues I've had with my Samsung monitor haven't exactly got me to stage a love-in for the company. Given their reputation for screens, I'm disappointed that, with my dual monitors, I have to keep bringing my documents over to my second, older monitor, for them to appear, you know....not fuzzy. Given the monitor came out in December 2009, you'd think they'd have a driver to fix the problem, but when you read online, it's just person after person posting about the same problem.

I appreciate your taking the time to answer my questions.

Overall, if you had to make the decision again, would you buy a Xoom or other Honeycomb device again, or recommend it?

Banshee
 

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So, would you consider it a poor screen then? The resolution is supposedly quite good, even better than the iPad's.

Resolution is better (160 dip), however, I did notice that the colors seem faded when comparing the same app on various tablets and phones with similar settings.

I've read there are issues with images in the image gallery app appearing washed out, but that this is a Honeycomb issue, and that downloading 3rd party gallery apps (like Quickpics) works much better...or was that fixed with this update to Honeycomb?
I actually just downloaded QuickPics to check. There's a slight difference in coloration between the standard app and Quickpics. The images in Quickpics look slightly more saturated.

On the topic of using Flash....has Flash seemed at all laggy to you? I've seen it play on the Blackberry Playbook, and in many cases, it appears flawless...pretty much as good as it does on my PC. But many of the Xooms I've looked at were not configured....the store staff never bothered to install Flash. So I don't know how well it works on the device.
Yes and no. I've played some flash games and flash movies that were not laggy what so ever as well as others which were so laggy that they crashed the browser.

Unfortunately, what makes it difficult to evaluate between a pc/laptop the xoom and a phone of course is the device's RAM size. For instance one AIR game I made was unplayable on my Droid2 (too laggy), but played perfectly on my Xoom.

Have you tried Google Talk? Did that work well?
I haven't yet.

So, are you saying the Xoom only supports particular video codecs, and they *don't* come installed on the device?
They are installed on the device, I just don't know whats on the full list of viewable codecs.

I have a lot of Blu-Rays with the "digital copy" discs. Traditionally, I've been getting a bunch of them into iTunes, but I've got several discs which still have to have the digital copies burned to the hard drive, and I've been holding off, wanting to find out what format I'd have to have them in, to play on a tablet. Or is that not possible?
Let me grab a digital copy of a dvd and test it out, but it should be possible.

Have you tried watching those videos at all?
I haven't (I tend to use the Xoom for writing and for PDFs).

8-12 hours of battery life doesn't sound bad. I'm assuming if I turned WiFi off (like if I was using it as an e-reader at the cottage, where there is no Internet access) that it would last even longer.


Overall, if you had to make the decision again, would you buy a Xoom or other Honeycomb device again, or recommend it?
Tough question.

From what I seen/read, I would have gotten either a Xoom or a Galaxy 10.1; however, the fact that the Xoom is a Vanilla Android and doesn't require a special usb adapter is what would have caused me to pick that device over the Galexy 10.1.
 
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Third is what is going on at the apple stores this weekend.
Apple retail stores will be shrouded in black during the overnight hours from Saturday May 21st into early Sunday May 22nd. Why?
With it being there 10th retail Anniversary who knows?

From what I read they a "relaunching" the Apple Store. So yes, Apple Store 1.x is dead.

The reports/rumors I read (via gawker) states that they are adding in new "bars" and replacing all the product signage with iPad displays that contain all the product information... you know so they can get you to experience an ipad and buy one along with whatever device you will get. If that rumor is true, just imaging the Divide By Zero you will get when you see a iPad display with an iPad next to it that talks about it's features. Though technically, I don't even think they will need an iPad display... just a button on the Apple Store App that saids "read about the iPad."
 

From what I read they a "relaunching" the Apple Store. So yes, Apple Store 1.x is dead.

The reports/rumors I read (via gawker) states that they are adding in new "bars" and replacing all the product signage with iPad displays that contain all the product information... you know so they can get you to experience an ipad and buy one along with whatever device you will get. If that rumor is true, just imaging the Divide By Zero you will get when you see a iPad display with an iPad next to it that talks about it's features. Though technically, I don't even think they will need an iPad display... just a button on the Apple Store App that saids "read about the iPad."

I read today they are refering it as Apple Store 2.0
I also heard the employees will be using ipads to complete your purchases.
With all these Ipads it makes me wonder if this will increase the snatch and grab robberies they have been having.
 

I read today they are refering it as Apple Store 2.0
I also heard the employees will be using ipads to complete your purchases.
With all these Ipads it makes me wonder if this will increase the snatch and grab robberies they have been having.

they already use ipod touches with a wierd addon pack that might be a credit card reader.

switching to iPads would just be bulkier and costly. But that's Apple's call
 

Resolution is better (160 dip), however, I did notice that the colors seem faded when comparing the same app on various tablets and phones with similar settings..

That's interesting. I'd likely have to test by taking some photos where I could be assured of colour correctness, and load them onto a few devices, and see which look best.

At least in the TV world, particularly with LCD TV's, I find that default settings often seem over saturated and over bright, because that attracts the eye, which helps sell TV's....even if it's not true to life. I wonder whether the same thing happens with tablets? I suspect the truth is somewhere in the middle.

Out of the tablets I've looked at recently, the ones that seemed the most vibrant were the Playbook, then the iPad 2, then the Iconia, then the Xoom....but the Xoom's resolution is a lot higher than the overall vividness of the colours.

I've read in reviews that there's a visible grid on the screen of the Iconia, but I don't see it....I don't think....I *did* see, very faintly a tiny grid of cells, but we're talking millimeters here....Unless you really look hard, it's not really noticeable.

[
I actually just downloaded QuickPics to check. There's a slight difference in coloration between the standard app and Quickpics. The images in Quickpics look slightly more saturated.


Yes and no. I've played some flash games and flash movies that were not laggy what so ever as well as others which were so laggy that they crashed the browser.

Unfortunately, what makes it difficult to evaluate between a pc/laptop the xoom and a phone of course is the device's RAM size. For instance one AIR game I made was unplayable on my Droid2 (too laggy), but played perfectly on my Xoom.

Most of the Xooms I've looked at in the stores don't even have Flash configured. So it's been hard to really see it. I found one that had Flash, and I played a video about that NHL player who died last week, and it seemed kind of choppy....but then I went and viewed Flash videos on other sites, and they worked fine....so was it the Flash on the Xoom, that individual unit, or something with the video coming off that site? I wonder.

Things were pretty seamless on the Iconia I looked at....but that was at Staples, and they don't carry iPads, so they seem to take proper configuration of all their other tablets more seriously than Best Buy/Future Shop, so it could have been as simple as that. As I understand it, both have the exact same OS, the same processor even....so the performance should be pretty much the same.


I haven't yet.

[
They are installed on the device, I just don't know whats on the full list of viewable codecs.


Let me grab a digital copy of a dvd and test it out, but it should be possible.
.

I'd be very interested in hearing what you found out. I've been waiting to download a bunch more off my disks, if that would prevent me from using them on a tablet (ie. if I brought them into itunes). I'd much rather have them on something like a tablet than on my iPhone. That's nothing against the iPhone....it's just if I had a choice between watching a movie on a 3" screen and a 10" screen, I'd take the 10" screen.

I've tried them on my laptop, but it becomes a chug fest, an I don't have enough battery life to get through a movie anyways.

[
From what I seen/read, I would have gotten either a Xoom or a Galaxy 10.1; however, the fact that the Xoom is a Vanilla Android and doesn't require a special usb adapter is what would have caused me to pick that device over the Galexy 10.1.

Yes, connections are important to me as well. Apple's proprietary connections are one of the things that turned me off there.....and the initial reviews of the limited edition Galaxy 10.1 seem to indicate it doesn't have the plethora of connections that the Xoom and Iconia have. I having to buy a bunch of proprietary cables just to use a device. I've got more USB, micro USB etc. cables than I can shake a stick at, so I'd rather stick with them. Even HDMI cables. A good one is what...$10?

I haven't heard a final answer regarding the Galaxy 10.1 though....I'm not sure whether reviewers looking at the limited edition one just haven't found those outputs because they're simply well hidden, or if they're just not there. And if they're not there, is that because these are limited edition units? Or will they also not be there on the consumer Galaxy 10.1?

I'm all in favour of light......but I lugged a 17" desktop replacement laptop that probabl weighs 5 lbs around Paris and Rome for hours on end in the fall....I'm really not scared of a 1.5 lb tablet. :)

Banshee
 

they already use ipod touches with a wierd addon pack that might be a credit card reader.

switching to iPads would just be bulkier and costly. But that's Apple's call

I wonder if they're using the Square Up app? Seems like such a useful service, and it's not available in Canada (of course) :(

Banshee
 



I think it's likely they'd use a proprietary app so that they have complete control over security, but it's possible they'd use an existing app as a convincing demonstration of what other businesses could do.

Heh....no demonstration needed here. Just need the rules to change so it could be used in my country. I've got a small company, and something like Square Up would be so helpful. Instead, we're forced to apply for Merchant ID's and such, which often aren't given to small companies....failing that, it's chasing clients for cheques, asking why their payment is 60 days past due, trying to figure out how to pay the mortgage when your clients haven't paid you yet...

Some things about bootstrapping just suck.

Seems like a fantastic app for a small company.

Banshee
 

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