
£329?
Nah, I'm still not tempted.
I'll keep my TouchPad, thanks.
Dixons has knocked the price of the 32GB Motorola Xoom tablet to £329 - not at all bad when you consider the fondleslab was priced at £500 at launch. And the other 32GB Xoom, the one with 3G connectivity as well as Wi-Fi, is now just £400, down from £580. Both versions run Android 3.0 Honeycomb - though Android 3.1 is now …
...until they do the same as HP and drop the whole idea as a total flop. I'll then pick on up from a clearance store for what they are really worth - £200-£250 tops.
Serves them right for thinking the buying public would pay such a high price for a wannabe ipad in the first place.
This is damn right, esp if they are missing a few key features: Like an IPS or equiv screen. Tablets need much better viewing angles. 10+hour battery, and esp a long life if in standby, if its sitting on the sofa all night I don't want it loosing more than a few % battery.
If you have both of those, (and the storage size etc) is the same, then you still can't charge iPad prices unless you've got iPad build quailty as well! Sorry plastic isn't it.
The Asus Transformer, is still the only Android tablet worth buying, mainly due to the IPS screen. They have accepted its plastic, not quite as well built, and aren't charging premium price.
Sony Tablet S, same as any other honeycomb pad spec wise, still plastic build, ok nice design and the remote's a nice feature...but that doesn't make it worth iPad pricing.
The Xoom is one of the only tablets I've been tempted by - I really can't stand why everyone has such a downer on it, in comparison to everything else out there. The initial price was too high, yes, but that dropped very quickly to more comparable prices.
I actually prefer the weight and chunky feel - at least I know I'm not gonna snap it.
...is that it's video playback ability is pretty poor. This is mainly down to the Tegra 2 chip (so it's the same issue as most other Android tablets). The other thing is, Motorola have already confirmed that only the US Xoom is a Google Experience Device. All non-US ones are not and thus you could be waiting a while for the latest Android OS updates.
Strangely enough from DSG too.
I picked up the Advent Vega (tegra chipset, 10" screen),
Spent a couple of hours installing the vegacomb firmware (honeycomb 3.2 for Vega). Before doing anything else. Follow the guide to the letter and even a 6 year old can do it (she did about 50% of the work)
Yes that's not for the average consumer, but on a tech site I don't see why there are so many complaints when they are available at the price you want. And a couple of hours tinkering gives you all the latest android release.
Or is it not the price but just a need to moan about tablets in general?
"Otherwise All tablets are too overpriced for my tastes. If I have over £300 to spend them I'm buying a laptop. Yes I still call them laptops, big whoop, wanna fight about it?"
Many people want tablets to use as media players, web browsers etc. (for which they are very good) - give me 10+ hours battery life. I have an iPad and a laptop and a netbook - the iPad gets used far, far more. Sure there are things it cannot do and if I wanted to write a huge document it would be quicker with a proper keyboard but that is not what many people want them for...
Remember the EU Xoom has the added problem of being nothing like the US Xoom, in that the software is out of date and probably will always be. "Avoid" has been my advice to those that ask me.
I still think the Transformer is the best "premium" Android tablet option. As for a budget one, you can get a refurbished Vega for £140 from Dixon's ebay outlet and shove an unofficial Honeycomb build on it.
The Touchpad offer tempted me into trying to find out what the attraction of the Tablet format actually was. I'm still searching.
The only thing I find great is the instant 'on' and hardly a worry about the battery state. Wanna spell a word? TouchPad -> Google -> Result. Beats a dictionary anyday. But take away that speed to result benefit and there was nothing else. Everything it does is done better on a netbook (apart from boot). And you don't sacrifice screen for keyboard.
I know iOS & Android have more and possibly better apps but what can they do that a netbook can do better for half the cost? Answers on a memory stick please - oh hang on a minute ...
Tablets vs netbooks? For me, the tablet is a fraction of the bulk, at lot less weight and displays comics and books it portrait mode perfectly.
This is why I sold my netbook.
HDMI, USB etc? Don't need 'em - got 'em on my laptop. Physical keyboard ditto. But I'd rather pull out my tablet on a plane or on the sofa for a quick read/surf/email than the notebook. Or the netbook.
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Have any of the people slapping this down actually used one?
I got one at the previous price of £349 from PC World. Unlocked it, stuck on the latest custom rom with 3.2 and without all the crap, now runs superbly. Connects to my NAS, plays every video I file I throw at it. Great for browsing. Easy to just drop in my smaller rucksack and take to work for browsing / reading / watching on the train journey.
To all the people moaning about the screen. Having owned the first iPad for a very brief time, I can't see where it is any worse. The screen seems perfectly adequate. I am colour blind, does that make a huge difference? :-)
Single charge has lasted 2 days so far with a fair bit of playing on it and watching 2 movies. Now down to 44%. Also filled out the online form at Motorola and now have a free wireless keyboard & mouse kit on its way.
I have a macbook pro 13" which I use purely for xcode now, where I used to use that for a bit of sofa browing and perhaps to watch a movie in bed, I now use the xoom. Smaller, better battery, easier to hold etc.
I was sceptical of tablets in general, and as my past experience of Motorola was not stunning I had reservations.
Then I tried a friends.
Then I bought one. 32GB with 3G.
It is now my most used device. It gets used everyday, for hours from watching video to writing documents. I am amazed just how much use I get for it, and how many new uses I keep finding. Worth the 479 I paid, absolutely.
My only complaints are the poor volume buttons and insanely weak charger and its associated annoyances, but ignoring that minor grumble, it rocks.
Most useful gadget i have bought in a while (and I buy loads).