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I have had an ipad since release. We have used it for school, presentations, documents, email, etc. I can already say it is nothing compared to the xoom.
I've had it less than a day, and I have run into a few quirks. The ipad did too, like wifi dropping on me constantly on release. Anyhow, just sitting here chatting with a friend, browsing the market, internet, xda, etc, I can't help but notice how much better it is than my ipad. Quickly swapping between apps, voice input, etc. I can plug it into the TV and instantly show my wife an article I've found.
Sure the apps aren't there yet, but they will be. The quirks will be fixed, and it can only get better. For all the "I'm taking it back" threads I just don't get it. I'm hooked.
This is the tablet I was looking for.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
i envy you. I originally was going to wait for the xoom but i got impatient and bought an ipad. Then xoom came out and i sold my ipad and bought it. First day amazed, second annoyed. Im getting ALOT of keyboard lag and I need a good pdf reader. The ones for the phone are not cutting it. Tried ez and repligo both lag like crazy.
Definitely returning this for the xoom for ipad 2. Ipad 2 will be my placeholder until Honeycomb gets more apps and bugs fixed.
iPad has nothing over the Xoom? Really? Not even a better screen (I would take IPS and much much better viewing angles and color reproduction over higher resolution)? Lighter weight? Thinner body? Better, more diverse accessories? And that's not even mentioning the better app store at launch which you just handwaved away but a lot of us consider to be pretty important.
It's one thing to be a fan of the Xoom (which I am). I'll even admit that I do have an anti-Apple bias and that I'll probably never purchase an Apple product. But it's another to completely toss all objectivity out the window and just become a cheerleader for a product that so obviously isn't perfect.
It's not as if the benefits I listed above are limited to Apple. Samsung's new Honeycomb tablet is taking care of 3, potentially 4, things from that list. It'll have a lighter weight than even the iPad 2, a thinner body than even the iPad 1 and Xoom, all while having pretty much the same internals as the Xoom. It also might have a better screen (still looking into this). And the delayed release of the product after the release of the SDK means launch customers will have a lot more apps available to them.
Liking a device doesn't mean you have to be blind to it's shortcomings.
EDIT: I just noticed that most of my recent posts are criticisms of the Xoom and I want to clarify. I'm not trying to bash the product. I just think we should be holding Honeycomb tablet makers to, at the bare minimum, the standards that Apple has set with its wildly successful iPad. Clearly that's being done with some factors. Xoom has more connectivity options, a higher resolution screen, an OS that's better suited for tablet work and productivity, etc. But it's obviously not being done with others, especially screen quality which is a huge HUGE deal with tablets, and I don't think Honeycomb tablet manufacturers should get a pass on that.
You plug your tablet into a tv to show her an article?
I own both as well and I love the potential here but wouldn't say that the I pad 1 has nothing on the xoom. The screen is better as mentioned before. Colors and viewing angles. Also overall OS smoothness. The ipad is silky smooth everywhere. The Xoom is smooth sometime then it gets choppy. Right now that is my biggest disappointment. I mean functionally it is fine the the chop gets a little annoying tbh.
On the ipad for example I neverrrrr had a case of music coming in and out while I surfed the web or download files using filer. On this device I randomly get delays in sound when I perform other tasks. Like ashura3 mentioned not to hate on the xoom after all I actually have one and I am going to keep it for sure but being objective the ipad is pretty slick in what it actually does. And insult to injury google and Motorola have had alot of time to look at what apple did before shipping this device. We are comparing the almost 1 year old device on top of that all the early reports and videos I watched and read about yesterday on the ipad show an extremely fast polished ipad2.
I understand its limited in certain aspect but take like functions or apps and compare how the work and objectively it is hard to say the I pad has nothing on the xoom.
ashura3 said:
It also might have a better screen (still looking into this). And the delayed release of the product after the release of the SDK means launch customers will have a lot more apps available to them.
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If I supply is correct the display is a 16bit tft. That would explain the differences I see when looking at the two and comparing the IPS 32bit display on the ipad. All the other downsides of the Xoom can be easily addressed but like the lack of SD or 4g upgrade on the ipad, there is no way the xoom screen will be as nice unfortunately. It isn't a terrible screen but there is a difference and it is pretty obvious to everyone I nave showed both devices to.
But the iPad 2 has a magnetic dust cover!!!!
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I have an ipad and just got the Xoom. The Xoom is certainly a nice device, I don't think the screen is so bad but it isn't IPS.
I think Motorola blew it big time although I hope they do succeed. They should have released the wifi version before Apple announced the ipad 2 event. As a consumer that just wants a wifi tablet, are you really going to spend $800 on a Xoom or $500 (less for a ipad 1) for a ipad? Even if both are the same price, how many people do you think are going to buy the Xoom over an ipad? Let's hope the Xoom does better than the Zune.
The whole user experience of the Xoom isn't nearly as good as what iOS offers. I'm keeping my Xoom as I would rather have Android than Apple (sd slot, usb and I like the file system better for my field work). If Apple had released a 2x res screen with sd slot as some rumors had mentioned, I would have stuck with iOS.
Long term, Android has a good shot but I don't see the Xoom making a dent getting Apple's market share. The cost, hardware and software don't surpass the Apple user experience. There is no compelling reason to switch from iOS or choose Android unless you're a fan of the platform.
I don't have an iphone nor a Mac so no fanboy here but you can't beat the ipod and the ipad is getting to be just as iconic. Jha has done a good job but I think he completely underestimates what Apple is in the market to think that the Xoom is going to compete against the ipad at the same cost.
google voice... the ipad has it...
Ehhhh.... this is what were supposed to do. Early adopters are basically testers, if you guys see anything you don't like, email google and suggest them. You guys are doing a great job of testing out the device. Also, in order for android tablet apps to increase in numbers fast, there's gotta be customers for developers to sell to right? I purchased a xoom to fill my needs, it does get laggy sometimes but it isnt such a dealbreaker to me right now. Looking at the I pad 1 or 2 it doesn't matter. It's still the same ****ty grids of icons from page to page. But I,too, really think motorola should just release the damn wifi version before the I pad 2 takes a whole bunch of customers.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
My emphasis was more on the software experience rather than hardware. I don't see how iOS is going to hold its own once Honeycomb has its kinks worked out. The user experience is just that superior to the iOS grid of icons.
The xoom isn't that special for hardware. Every few months something faster or thinner or brighter is going to come along, but I don't see Apple drastically changing their operating system anytime soon and I think Honeycomb itself is going to be the real threat.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Sirchuk said:
My emphasis was more on the software experience rather than hardware...
The xoom isn't that special for hardware... but I don't see Apple drastically changing their operating system anytime soon and I think Honeycomb itself is going to be the real threat.
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AMEN to that! I was just thinking that this morning... This isn't really a "war" between Apple and non-Apple. It's about user experience, needs etc. Since hardware is always obsolete the moment you leave the store (or click check out) the software is the main determinant. Unfortunately, it looks bad right now for HC. But the more I see users post their homescreens with all the wild widgets and customization going on the more I feel "home". I LOVE the apps on the iPad and the screen (I'm playing with a coworker's iPad today) but the user experience is reminiscent of my iPhone...
Just out of curiousity, does anyone know what the Frequency Response is on the Xoom, I can't find it listed anywhere in the specifications. I know its listed for the iPad. I would like to know what it is on the Xoom though.
Anyone?
Being an owner of both, I have to say that the iPad has the luxury of being on the market for a whole year. Last April, iPad was in the same position as a Xoom is today with the uncertainty, bugs and the like. Compairing to Xoom today, its not really in that bad of a position. My Xoom has already replaced my ipad and I'm super excited to see where this thing can go.
I've had my Xoom since launch, and have not had a single issue of lag, or sound problems. Everything has ran very smoothly... Not a android or apple fanboy, I've used them all, i just like the notification system and widgets on honeycomb much better than the ipad.
I like a lot of things I'm hearing about the Atrix, i'm just concerned about the low data speeds, and wonder if the iphone 4 might just have it beaten (for now).
Seems like many of you out here have good experience on both. You guys can help me (a lot) by rating which phone is better in my areas of biggest importance. And i know i am going to get iphone haters but I'm not sure i understand specifically WHY. The phone really is a great device, so please be fair to it here, but do feel free to also tell me why you think i won't like it.
1. GPS
2. Internet Browsing speed/ease
3. Stability/Speed
4. Call Quality/Least dropped calls
5. Speaker Quality/Volume
Feel free to touch on any deciding factors you might feel i did not have listed...and thanks
Your going to get some very biased answers asking this on the atrix forums, let alone xda!
Sent from my DAMN Galaxy 4G¡!
1. GPS
Pretty damn good; I used it while walking down the street to the coffee shop and got a fast lock and accurate reads.
2. Internet Browsing speed/ease
Very, very fast, although not that much faster than current generation top tier phones.
3. Stability/Speed
Amazing; the phone in its entirity feels fast and snappy. It never sslows down, even when a lot of applications are running.
4. Call Quality/Least dropped calls
I'm part of the group that never gets dropped calls or a bad signal wherever I am. Nothing but positive experiences with me.
5. Speaker Quality/Volume
Very good. Calls canned through clear. However, there is a widespread issue with the notice cancelling feature. If you have it set too high, people can't hear you.
I ended up taking mine back though. The fact that on the same wifi network, it only beat my Nexus 1 aand Captivate by asecond or so; and the quality of the screen isn't that great, even though it has a higher pixel density.
Honestly i had this same debate before i bought my atrix, after having my jailbroken iTouch(which isn't much of a difference from an iphone) and my htc aria, i've noticed how locked down the iphone is, and i love customizing my phones/devices, and android seemed like it had so much more to offer, i can't lie, i like the design of the iphone 4 and almost bought it, but the atrix is waaay more powerful and has a very bright future ahead of it rather than the iphone 4 which is about to be sorta outdated in a few months when the iphone 5 comes out(which really isn't gonna have much of a difference from the iphone 4.
This is my first motorola phone with motoblur, and a lot of people don't like motoblur but actually it's not bad at all, i blame the bad rep on the motorola backflip
ok now to answer your questions:
Motorola Atrix
1: the GPS works great, no complaints
2: the internet is blazing fast and very smooth
3: 1ghz dual core processor, pretty self explanitory lol, but i haven't experienced any lag at all
4: I haven't had any dropped calls, and the speaker is very clear and loud
5: speaker is clear and loud enough to hear from another room
and no i'm not giving a biased opinion, i like both phones, but the Atrix seems more stable and dependable which is important when on the go
I will play devil's advocate for you. My buddy's Iphone 4 is "faster" in a speedtest.net race. I have NEVER seen him upload anything through his iphone. So saying that the iphone is faster is almost a mute point, but it does upload faster. Our download speeds are the same, his Iphone, my captivate, and sadly my Atrix all hit the same download speeds.
The ONE thing that makes me android green with envy, his stupid "unreal" games. I mean its freaking gorgeous to look at, I dont even know the name of the game but its badass. I know that we are going to get some sweet game via nvidia tegra zone, but so far they all look cartoony to me. I am sure we will eventually overtake the iphone in terms of games.
Ok so back to why my phone is better... I can use my phone as a nintendo, supernintendo, playstation 1, or nintendo 64 AND connect it to the big screen AND play the games from my wii remote...
And we have webtop so neiner neiner.
atrix screen
I strongly disagree with the previous post. The Atrix screen is GREAT. Motorola did not include any hi res movies either becasue they were rushing it out the door or just not fully developed the apps. But I have seen hi res videos on the Atrix and the screen is excellent. The Atrix beats the IPhone hands done in every category. Droid phones can be optimized and customized and the result is a phone that does exactly what you want, better than any other phone out there. Trust me, get the Atrix...spend time here looking at the apps and homescreens and spend time on it....it's worth it!
Dillsnik said:
1. GPS
2. Internet Browsing speed/ease
3. Stability/Speed
4. Call Quality/Least dropped calls
5. Speaker Quality/Volume
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Click to collapse
WINNERS:
1. Atrix - by a lot
2. iPhone 4, by a small margin
3. Speed goes to Atrix, stability goes to Atrix if you are familiar with Android
4. Atrix, hands down. very loud speaker, very clear voice. Far fewer dropped calls.
5. ATRIX - loudest speaker I've ever had.
I just came from the iPhone 4 to the atrix, so I figure I can speak better then most.
I really like both of these phones, and figure that either way you go will be a win for you. So that's the good news.
Some quick comparison thoughts:
The screens on the same are very very comparable. They both have a notably high pixel density, and look super sharp and clear. The colors on the iPhone are perhaps a tiny bit better, but maybe that's just a trick of the mind. Regardless, they are very comparable.
Both phones are fast, very fast. Generally, I would say that the Atrix is a bit more responsive then the iPhone. But this is not true when it comes to changing orientation. I've noticed that the Atrix can stutter for a second, where the iPhone was instant. Could be my launcher.
GPS is excellent on both. But the Atrix comes with Google Navigation built in, which basically gives you a full blown GPS on your phone. iPhone requires an expensive app, or more of a maps view then a nav view.
Stability wise, I'm torn. The Atrix does... weird things sometimes. I can't exactly explain it. I had to do a battery pull to get it to work yesterday... brought me back a few years to my blackberry days. Not that it's a terrible thing, but it is a little different. I don't think I was forced to reboot the iPhone once due to issues. It is very very stable.
Build quality goes to the iPhone 4 hands down. The Atrix has little annoying things like the fact that the back on it creaks on some phones (mine is one). Not a big deal by any stretch. But I do miss the awesome build quality of my iPhone 4. Again, Atrix is awesome, but just can't compare to the best in class iPhone.
I love the notification LED on the Atrix. That was probably the thing I missed most on my iPhone.
Call quality and clarity is better on the Atrix. The earpiece is crystal clear, which I can't say for the iPhone. My friends say I sound better on the Atrix too.
To me what it comes down for overall is the software though. I am by no means an expert developer or crazy programmer, but I am very good with most technology. I love controlling my experience, and being able to mess with it. The iPhone is... for lack of a better word, very boring. It is kind of all the same stuff, and once you have it for a week, nothing ever really changes on it. You have the same home screen and everything else. It is what it is.
The possibilities on Atrix are endless. Even without an unlocked bootloader, there is a ridiculous amount of stuff you can do with this phone. Depending on your mood on a given week, you can completely customize things to fit your demands. What widgets and setup you use one day you can completely change the next. I like that freedom a lot.
And call me stupid... but I love my live wallpapers. They are so cool to me.
Overall, the move to Atrix was an awesome decision for me.
I just switched from an iPhone 4 yesterday to the Atrix and the bottom line is that I am incredibly happy with the switch.
A lot of people covered the basics: The GPS is great and built in Nav is nice. Call quality is very crisp, the phone is fast and web browsing is just as smooth as the iPhone. I have had no difficulty adjusting and actually, a lot of things, such as notifications, are designed much more logically.
My reason for a switch was that I was very bored with iOS, going through 3 generations of the phone. The OS is sort of stagnant.
There are a few hiccups on the Atrix - I don't love the texting app and the way it handles embedded images. I also think that the battery indicator is a little strange - still figuring it out.
Aside from, the customization options (even without bootloader access) are incredibly diverse. I love the screen (don't understand all the hate, honestly) and I similarly have had no problems with motoblur yet. Some of the moto widgets are bad, but I just delete them.
One more key factor - I LOVE BEING ITUNES FREE. It is SO nice to just drag and drop files to my phone and have them show up appropriately. It's a world of difference.
If you have any specific questions for a recent iPhone 4 switcher, feel free to PM me.
Thanks
As an owner of both phones, I can say both phones are great. As much as I hate Apple as a company, it has saddened me the past year to say build quality wise, nothing really compares to the iPhone4...it's like a nice expensive watch, glass on both sides and metal on the sides. The Atrix's plasticy build with small creaks here and there(all phones with some plastic removable battery cover will always creak). Both phones are pretty snappy but iOS has always been more smooth and fluid when it comes to UI transitions. My i4 is jailbroken and tweaked to hell, but I don't theme it with Winterboard as I see some lag with it. Apple must use a better digitizer and have some better touch algorithm implemented, because no other touch device is on par with them. The Atrix screen comes close, but you still can feel the difference on touch response. You can also tell the IPS screen on the iPhone4 is still sharper and produces colors more accurately, but then again, it is an IPS screen. While I've always loved how the Android browser loads the pages quickly with no transparancy checkerboard, browsing on the iPhone4 is just smoother, but that could be a by-product of the better screen. Sometimes people say I sound muffled on the Atrix, but it may depend on how I hold the phone.
I wanted to see the hype about Tegra2 so I download Samurai2 for Tegra2. It looks stunning on the Atrix, however, it looks just as good on the iPhone4 too. So that was kind of a letdown to see that Tegra2 was matched by Apple's 9month old SOC. I also have a NexusOne(currently running on Modaco's GB) and love how I can install ROMs and Nandroid to backup my device to try other other ROMs, but with this bootloader lockdown and the possibility that there is a Nvidia efuse in Tegra2, it makes buying Moto almost as bad as buying Apple. While xda is a great community with some very very intelligent people, the jailbreak scene on iOS has worked wonders because they only focus on one OS version for basically one device(Pod/Pad/Phone/TV).
Basically, you shouldn't even consider the iPhone4, when the 5 is coming. Spec wise, if it's using the dual core A5 chip that they just announced on the iPad2, then it will probably be one of the fastest and most powerful phones available. The only thing is, you have to deal with the Apple tax of iTunes and a locked down system until it's jailbroken. The Atrix is a great phone and if you had to buy a phone tomorrow, it should be the one to get...but July isn't that far away.
If you can wait....
I have been thinking about both. It might make sense to wait a month until iPhone 5 details come out. It is supposed to have a HW upgrade and there are some pretty interesting rummours out there (NFC, etc).
Do not buy the iPhone 4 right now as 5 is coming out in a few months...
That being said, the Atrix has VERY fast web browsing. From what I remember of using the iPhone 4 for a month, whenever you try to scroll quickly or zoom out quickly, you get a slight gray loading area. This also happened on the Captivate and n1, but on the Atrix, that never happens on heavy content sites like Engadget.
If you really dont care about the differences between iOs and Android, and LOVE gaming and the best battery life of any smartphone, get the iPhone. But if you want "freedom" and hands down the best integrated google service, get the Atrix.
I think both devices are extremely good. If you want to live in the iTunes ecosystem, then the iPhone is the way to go. However, I have not a single dropped call with my Atrix in St. Louis, and my cousin's iPhone 4 drops calls constantly. It's not the network, it's the phone.
The iPhone has a better app store ecosystem in that the quality of apps are often better and there are a ton of high-quality iOS games from big developers, not quite up there for Android yet.
The iPhone also has a very good camera and camcorder. Better media support (as in netflix, hulu +, AirVideo streaming, etc).
The Atrix is a great all-around device too. I think the camera and camcorder are pretty good, and the screen is wonderful. I just can't use a 3.5" screen on the iPhone anymore. And the iPhone notification system is just terrible.
Google Maps, Voice and Gmail are extremely good on the Atrix and they are all lacking on the iPhone. I also think the battery life on the Atrix is incredible. I'm getting better battery life than I had on any other phone ever.
I had to make this decision and I chose the Atrix.
illmatic416 said:
Basically, you shouldn't even consider the iPhone4, when the 5 is coming. Spec wise, if it's using the dual core A5 chip that they just announced on the iPad2, then it will probably be one of the fastest and most powerful phones available. July isn't that far away.
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Agreed, At least on a personal level. used my upgrade for the Atrix, returned it for the iPhone 4 a few days later. Today ill be going back, returning the iPhone and getting the Atrix at full price ($499). That way ill get my full upgrade back for July when I see how the next iPhone looks (if its not a 4" screen I doubt i'll waist my time, but we will see). I'm considering just staying with the Atrix and maybe supplimenting my lack of iOS games with the iPad 2, but we will see.
iPhone screen seems awfully small after using an atrix
I went from an iPhone 4 to an Atrix, and i don't miss the iPhone at all, really. Will the iPhone 5 be better? Possibly. Will i care? Not really. The main turn-off for me in regards to any Apple product is their OCD towards iTunes. I want my phone to be a phone..... just as much as i want a 16GB storage media to be a 16GB storage media. I don't want to have to either constantly sync it to iTunes, or rely on some 3rd party work-around to be able to access the data stored on my phone without using Apple's sh*tty software.
If it wasn't for iTunes, lack of complete customization, and basically being just another sheep in the herd carrying one around.... i wouldn't mind another iPhone. But until that time comes (which it never will), buh bye iPhone.
elementaldragon said:
I went from an iPhone 4 to an Atrix, and i don't miss the iPhone at all, really. Will the iPhone 5 be better? Possibly. Will i care? Not really. The main turn-off for me in regards to any Apple product is their OCD towards iTunes. I want my phone to be a phone..... just as much as i want a 16GB storage media to be a 16GB storage media. I don't want to have to either constantly sync it to iTunes, or rely on some 3rd party work-around to be able to access the data stored on my phone without using Apple's sh*tty software.
If it wasn't for iTunes, lack of complete customization, and basically being just another sheep in the herd carrying one around.... i wouldn't mind another iPhone. But until that time comes (which it never will), buh bye iPhone.
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Definitly agree
Well, the choice also depends on whether you prefer stable and simple os or a more complex but not as cleaned up os. As for now, I agree with the other posters to wait for the iphone 5, then compare. Right now I have the atrix, and already the iphone 4 camera and screen are both better. The atrix may be powerful, but nothing is capable of fully utilizing it, not to mention that the iphone 5 will be just as, if not more, powerful. The atrix may be good in a few months, but for fast updates, reliable stability, and damn nice designing, wait for the iphone 5.
Oh and android doesn't have monopoly (I mean the board game)
Thank you everyone
Thanks to all that contributed...some very good points made all around.
Basically here's how i have broken down the comparison with all other things being practically equal:
Iphone has slightly better screen, excellent build (best of any phone possibly), and better cams, but proprietary OS etc make it hard(er) to customize.
Atrix has more customization/freedom, led notifications, possibly better call quality, and the potential to be a great phone once it's cracked.
I can't hold off for i5, although i'm sure i can give it a look when it's here. For the meantime i think i am going to go with the Atrix. It's a shame Apple turns off so many with having to use itunes bc i think that is where it's biggest argument against seems to be from and i am sure if i owned it i would not like that either
after 4 years of using an iPhone, once I tried out Android, I stayed. User-customizability is what won me over (among other things such as notifications, google apps, swype, google nav, google voice, etc).
My timeline of smartphones as follows:
iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, Evo, Captivate, Nexus One, Atrix
My roommate was test driving a xoom and he eventually settled on ipad2. When I took the xoom for a test drive and directly compared the youtube streaming (mortal kombat miniseries "legacy") the ipad2 was way smoother/better. Does 3.1 close this gap? This is one of the deal breaker items for me and I wanted to hear if anyone had an opinion.
where did he test the two? did they have the same connection? ive never had any issues streaming youtube on mine....
Both at my house over wifi. It's not a "problem" per se, however, when directly compared I could clearly see it was not as smooth. I think it might be an issue of flash implementation with honeycomb.
3.1 is noticeably faster than 3.0 so yes the gap is closed! Much more stable also. Whether the gap is completely removed, I'm not so sure. The one thing the iDevices do well is smoothness and I think if you choose to be picky android, although just as fast, is not consistently as smooth. I will say however that some parts are very smooth so it may just be a case of developers catching up and making better use of hardware acceleration. I firmly believe android has much more potential than the current iOS and the apple philosophy of 'do a little, but do it well'. Just looking forward to seeing 3.1's potential fully realised.
Ps. YouTube is one of the apps which is much better in 3.1
Was this through the YouTube app or the browser?
I dont remember. They're not equal?
You tube app doesn't use flash, so flash implementation wouldn't matter. And if it was in browser it would have used html5 on both xoom and ipad (both are webkit browsers)
In browser would be the best comparison.
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Well, if this helps at all, I bought the I pad 2 and returned it within 48 hours. That thing sucks out loud. Bought a Xoom 2 days later and havent looked back even once. And I am NOT an Apple hater - I was an iPhone user until about 8 months ago, one of those stand-in-line-on-release-day types since day 1 of iPhone 1.
iOS on the iPad doesn't even begin to hold a candle to honeycomb. The best way I can describe the difference in the UIs is like Windows 3.1 vs. Windows 7. I absolutely hated it.
Honeycomb is not as smooth in terms of scrolling, which is a bit of an annoyance, yes, but its certainly no less fast overall.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
I have both the iPad 2 and the Xoom, and they're both great devices in their own right. The iPad 2 is definitely smoother than the Xoom over all. However, the Xoom can do so much more than the iPad ever thought about. Until the Xoom came out, I was a die-hard iPad fan, and I carried my original iPad every where I went. When the iPad 2 came out, I sold the original to my mother-in-law and got the iPad 2. At the time, I thought that it would be the end of my tablet-buying for the year. Then I got a chance to play with a Xoom and I had to have one. Since I got the Xoom, the iPad has become my wife's tablet and the Xoom now goes every where with me.
All that being said, I'll leave you with this: I remember reading an early review of the Xoom where the reviewer stated that you either know you want one or you don't. I knew that I wanted one and I couldn't be happier with mine. However, if you're looking for an iPad-esque experience, this ain't it. The 3.1 update has done a lot to polish the rough edges that Android has, but there are still some things that feel half-baked. However, if you've already got an Android phone then you know that things get better over time. Case in point: when the HTC Evo 4G came out, it was a great phone but the overall experience was lacking in a few places. HTC promptly released the 2.2 update followed by a few maintenance updates that turned the phone into a beast. I feel that the Xoom will follow a similar paradigm.
I did a review over here. Head over to take a look and hopefully this 2-miniseries review (both general and apps focused) will be helpful~
2-miniseries Part 1
2-miniseries Part 2
It is pretty simple (not like those major portals), but it is from a very ordinary users' view and most importantly, someone who spent 650 USD on the device.
If it is helpful, don't buy me a beer. Search through my searchbox on my site or take a look at my sponsors great products on the link. Appreciated! =)
I have an ipad 2 and recently got a 3G Xoom as a gift. I've played with the Xoom when it first came out and the OS was basically one giant FC with browser and most apps crashing left and right. However 3.1 took care of that and now everything is much smoother. The ipad has way more and better apps.BUT honeycomb OS is much better suited for tablets and since it's a pure Google device you can tweak the hell out of it. The ipad has superior hardware and apps,but being tied to iTunes and having to employ rediculous work arounds to perform simple tasks due to no file system access makes it pretty worthless for most work related tasks. If you just want a toy then the ipad is great,while Xoom is a better productivity tool and more of laptop replacement.
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I remember when the Xoom first launched I went to check it out at BB. The experience wasn't all that great and it didn't feel smooth. I settled with an iPad 2 on launch day. I love the iPad and all it has to offer but I couldn't stand not having Flash, Customization & Jailbreak. I watch a lot of Youtube (everyday) but I prefer to do that on a computer.
Since the 3.1 update things have sped up and the OS is much faster. I ended up trading my iPad 2 for my Xoom from a local person on CL. I still have the iPad 1 to fall back on for the apps.
I owned an ipad 2 previous to my xoom.
I think that has spoiled me and now I find myself complaining that the xoom isn't as smooth as the ipad2
but things like flash, real multitasking, widgets made me stick with my xoom even though it has its lagging issues
Alright guys, as promised here is my in-depth review of the Droid Xyboard 10.1
Its important to note that I’m coming from an Archos 101 tablet, Gen 8 model, running Froyo, on a 1Ghz ARM processor with 256 MB of Ram!
I also have a Motrola Atrix 2 phone which I got recently running GingerBread on a 1Ghz TI OMAP4 dual Core processor with 1 GB ram
So that was the extent of my experience with Android.
I picked up the Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1 64GB and signed up for a two year contract with Verizon.
I wanted to first start off by saying, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this tablet… absolutely love love love it!
Yes its incredibly overpriced, and yes the 2 year contract is freaking ridiculous, but come to think of it, I would really like to keep the tablet for that long… or even longer, so the contract serves as a nice reminder for me not to upgrade the second something better comes out and avoid that vicious tech cycle that we all know :-D
Now, my justification for that crazy price is that, I consider the Xyboard a premium product. You see folks, initially when I purchased my Archos, I mainly just wanted to use it for watching movies on a plane (I travel a lot for work), and for some basic internet browsing. After using it for a while, I’ve discovered that this tablet could really be used for a lot more… but the weak processing power of the Archos is just flat out sad. So I realized its time to upgrade, and this new tablet would be used for much much more than just movie watching. I’m practically replacing my laptop with it (I have a 17” Sony which is pretty much a desktop now in my study),
So I use the Xyboard for work, and grad school, and movies, and playing games, and chatting, and internet, and a lot of things. 64 GB might be overkill, but since I’m keeping this for at least 2 years, I figured I’d look ahead to the future, and pay for that now, instead of regretting not having storage later down the line!
I spent a lot of time debating whether to get the Xyboard or the Quad Core Transformer Prime. Really… I freaking stressed about it.
Now on paper, everything was screaming GET THE PRIME!!!!!! But my heart was just not convinced… Aside from the fact that I’m really biased towards Motorola Products (I once spent months scouring the earth trying to find the original Motorola Q unlocked in GSM when it was first announced), and aside from the fact that I really prefer to buy American Brands (Very Cliché – I know)….
I was just worried about the Asus being the first Quad Core tablet, what sort of bugs would arise…. There was a major problem with wifi in the first batch released, and I’m hearing its happening even with later batches that got shipped out to customers, plus there’s also a GPS problem, plus I was concerned about the single speaker (which lies RIGHT where you would be holding the tablet), and some people on forums have stated the touchscreen has its blips!
For some strange reason I just KNEW I would regret not buying theXyboard – I dunno why, it was just a feeling, and now that I have it…… I’m soooooo glad I never bought the Asus and I bought this tablet instead.
Now, enough blabbing, let me start the review, and break it up into different sectors.
1. Name:
I know a lot of people hate the name, but I liked it… Maybe its because I’m biased toward Motorola, but I thought it was original… A. Because they linked it with the Droid brand which has been hugely successful, and B. Xyboard get a geek like me very excited! I feel like I’m about to take on SKYNET with this bad boy! I don’t blame people for thinking it’s a dumb name! But I like it.
2. Design and Hardware:
Ok, I personally think this is the sexiest tablet on the Market… The design is obviously mimicking the Droid Razr… but in my eyes its very reminiscent of the original Motorola Q (The silver version released with Verizon and Sprint – not the black GSM version).
We all know very well those tapered edges were done to avoid lawsuits from Apple, Motorola should just drop the whole “they were made to make the tablet easier to hold” – which is not the case, the edges dg into your palm and are annoying, nothing unbearable but if you hold it in landscape mode for a long time you will definitely start feeling them digging in. Again this isn’t all that annoying, but its only fair to point out that its there!
The back is aluminum and feels and looks AWESOME! I also really like the rubber lining, both for aesthetics and for the way they feel in your hand, just makes it less slippery when holding and doing work.
The Droid Xyboard feels VERY STURDY!!!! Maybe not as sturdy as the original Xoom because that thing was built like a tank, but it feels like a quality build! Especially when I compare it to my Archos 101 which is all plastic on the (except for the internal metal frame), the Archos 101 just feels very cheap when compared side by side… But the Archos feels lighter in the hand…. Again its not that Xyboard feels heavy, its just heavier but STURDIER than the Archos! But I guess its not really fair to compare a budget tablet like the Archos which is $300 and a premium tablet like the Xyboard which is 730!
I know that the power button on the Xoom was a huge complaint, and its not much better on the Xyboard either. Its not AWFUL… but its not the best design… just takes a few seconds to find it in the back, I have yet to have to turn the tablet over to turn it on and have not pressed the volume buttons by accident or anything. By the way, the volume buttons are raised a bit higher so easier to control, the power button is more recessed so needs some work to make sure you’re pressing it right. Not terrible, but not great either!
The TI OMAP4 Dual Core processor is really very snappy… nothing out of this world, but you wouldn’t use it and go “ewwwww this tablet is so slow” no no no, its very impressive! More on this in the software section!
3. Screen:
WOW…. JUST WOW!!!!!!! The IPS Screen is AWESOMMMMMMMMEEE!!!!!!! I can’t say that enough, its HOT!!!!! I was never one who though that the Xoom’s screen was THAT bad (granted I’ve never owned one, I’m going only by my tinkering with it in Best Buy), but the Xyboard’s IPS screen blows the Xoom’s screen away… This is important for me because as I said I watch a lot of movies on my tablet, so this could come in handy.
I have the brightness always set to 30% and even then its PLENTY BRIGHT!!!!! Albeit, I still would prefer it to be even BRIGHTER than it is now… but really, I don’t think there is room for complaining, the quality is just superb!
Again, comparing it to my Archos – which was also always set to 30%, it blows it away, the archos screen, wasn’t very good – it wasn’t terrible, but it had poor viewing angles, plastic display, and it only had a resolution of 1024X600… So the Xyboard 1280X800 IPS screen really does a number on it…. It has awesome viewing angles too!! You can practically hold the Xyboard completely to the side and still comfortable watching whatever is playing.
I did notice though that my Atrix 2 set to 30% is noticeably brighter than the Xyboard set to 30%... guess that qHD screen they have on the Atrix 2 is no joke :-D
There is just one bug regarding the screen that REALLY annoys me… For some reason, sometimes when I take the tablet out of sleep mode, the screen will be set to MAXIMUM brightness!!!!! Even if I have it set to 30%, dunno why it does that… I end up having to press the power button one more time, then press it again and its back to my normal setting.
I guess that’s really a software problem…. Its not a deal breaker or anything, just gets obnoxious, because I have the Auto-Brightness set to off.
4. Software:
Since I’m coming from Froyo and Gingerbread, Honeycomb is very new to me. Albeit it’s a very sexy interface, but its not without its fault!
To be fair the software for the most part is VERY snappy…. Does what I want it to do right when I want it to do it, just like gingerbread on my atrix 2 which is also a TI OMAP4 Dual Core…
But honeycomb does every now and then have some hang ups and lags! For the most part though its not a big deal..
BUT… this is what pissed me off more than anything, I’ve had the tablet for 1 week… and I’ve already had 3 or 4 random reboots…. These are the things that piss me off beyond belief… now, I’m a major techie and I know not all electronics function 100% perfectly, but still it really got to me. Nevertheless, its important to note that I was really pushing the tablet when all this happened, I had multiple sites open, some videos, 3D games, etc… so its not just doing it on its own!
Overall, I really can’t complain much about the software. They promised that the Xyboard will be upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich, so we’ll wait and see what improvements this will add.
Also, strangely enough, the Xyboard does not come with any stock File Manager, I dunno how this tablet passed a quality check while missing this feature! Anyways, I ended up installing Astro File Manager and problem solved, I just thought it was REALLY WEIRD! lol
5. 4G LTE
I haven’t used this feature much, I mainly use it with wifi, but the instances that I used the 4G LTE, it was FAST… I ran a speed test and got 24 MB/S
When I do use the mobile network, I usually use it on 3G which is really plenty fast, and save the battery draining 4G LTE mainly for streaming videos!
Also, just for the hell of it, I tethered the Xyboard to my Atrix 2 using Bluetooth and got it running on AT&T’s HSPA+ 3G network, and it worked just fine! :-D So its cool, if ever I’m travelling in a non-CDMA area, I can always tether it to a GSM phone and still have web access!
6. Video playback
This is a very important feature for me, because I am a big movie buff, and I will be using the tablet a lot for movie watching…. So it came as a major shock to me to see that the stock video player on this tablet kinda sucks. It wouldn’t play any of my HD movies (some Xvid, Avi’s, all 720p), even though the specs say it will play 1080p… Not sure whats going ont and was kinda pissed by this!
If Archos did anything right with their tablet, its that their tabs will play ANYTHING and Everything, throw at it any 1080p MKV Blu Ray Rip and it will play without a single stutter!
Anyways, to bypass this issue, I downloaded both Mobo Player and Rock Player, set to soft decoding (not sure what the hell that means) but my 720 p movies played just fine then, and looked ABSOLUTELY STUNNING on the IPS screen! Problem solved I guess! I have yet to try any 1080p movies, so I can’t really comment on that!
7. Gaming
Ok this is really a hit and Miss…
Riptide plays AWESOME on the Xyboard, beautiful graphics (minus the water effects you get on the prime due to the Quad Core power), but it ran for me without any lags or stuttering, great response, really no complaints there!
Grand Theft Auto III also ran excellently on the Xyboard…. There were a few instances of SLIGHT stuttering but it wasn’t anything all that noticeable, and the game was very playable and enjoyable!
Gameloft games are where the major problems lie! I dunno if someone at Texas Instruments slept with some Gameloft executive’s girlfriend, or what… but most of the gameloft games do no play nice at all with the Droid Xyboard!
Few games work…. For example, Lets Golf is pre-installed on the Xyboard and plays just fine!
But many of the Gameloft games just flat out do not show up on the android market, and when I sideload them, they will either A. Not Function at all, or B. the Introduction/cutscene of that game will play but when it comes to the actual game it will either shut off or the screen just turns white and you can still hear the game sounds.
I tried, Nova, Asphalt 6, 9mm, backstab, Rainbow Six, Nova 2, - these games all had problems!
I WAS able to install the Galaxy Nexus version of Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus – and that game plays fine with very smooth graphics and no hiccupts, but it doesn’t take up the whole screen… I guess because it was meant for a different device.
Heavy Gunner 3D, installed fine and plays, but has some CRAZY lags, so I uninstalled it!!!!! (But it worked just fine on my Atrix 2)…
Angry birds play with no problems whatsoever!! So do some other games like Frontline, Blood and Glory, Captain America, Madden NFL 12! Those work perfectly!
I see Shadowgun and Samurai II Vengeance both on the Android market, and from whatever I’ve seen online they play well on the xyboard too!
So its kinda just gameloft that’s having the major glitches! Not sure why they were so focused on just the Tegra 2 devices!
8. Audio
Not gonna say much about this, because at the end of the day its still a tablet, not a home theater, but I have no complaints, the sound is good, the two speakers perform well…. And the output through headphones is very good too!
9. Camera
Haven’t used it much, but its good (not great), its 5MP for the back one, and 1.3MP for the front – don’t really think one needs more than that on a tablet…. My Atrix 2 is 8MP and does 1080p video capture… so if I must take a pic, it will usually be with the phone, but its good to know that the one on the tablet is there (The Archos only had a front facing camera so this is an upgrade for me!)
Something I can’t get much info about is, I dunno if the video capture for the rear camera is 720p or 1080p, I really can’t find much about it, and right next to the camera the words written are “HD Video” - my atrix 2 says “8MP 1080P) – not sure about that one, maybe somebody can shed some light on this, I’ve heard two different things so I really dunno – guess I can go test it out on the device itself – but I’m lazy :-D
10. Battery
Battery is EXCELLENT!!!!! Engadget rated it at 8:55 hours, I say that sounds about right, maybe even longer if you’re just web browsing and not watching many videos or gaming… the Xyboard just won’t die!!!! And its standby time is awesome!!! I left it not charging over night, turned it on 8 hours later in the morning and the battery was still at 100%
Overall, I honestly have to say, I’m soooooooooooooo happy I bought this of the Asus Transformer Prime…… I’m sure that that the Asus is awesome and has a lot going for it…. But if anything, my heart is right there with Motorola and the Droid Xyboard. VERY happy with my purchase, and no regrets for paying that outrageous price! Note that, its STILL more than $100 cheaper, than a 64GB ipad 2 with 3G But I’m not gonna sit here and compare…. Apples VS Oranges…er… Android!
Should you upgrade your Xoom to the Xyboard? I really dunno… The Xoom is an awesome product, and it will be getting ice cream sandwich. If you’re happy with it and can look past the screen and the form factor, then I really don’t see why you should upgrade! If I had a Xoom, I probably wouldn’t have!
I upgraded to the Xyboard because I was coming from an Archos – which at the end of the day is really a budget/el-cheapo tablet!
Yes I probably could’ve gotten a Xoom and been plenty happy, but since the latest and (greatest?) was available and my budget at this time permitted it, I decided to go for this!
One thing that was hard for me to accept was the fact that I have a 32GB Micro SD card in my Archos (which by the way, now I will be selling my Archos, if anyone is interested :-D) and was very hard to justify to myself paying more for memory, when I have memory sitting there, but I guess I was able to finally look past that lol. Seems that this is where things are headed considering the Samsung Galaxy Nexus also does not have a MicroSD slot just like the Xyboard!
I ended up taking the 16GB micro SD out of my phone, and put in the 32GB one.
Well, this is what I have to say about this. Overall, VERY HAPPY! No regrets, and looks like I’ll be using this baby for a while… Not only did I have to sign a contract with Verizon, had to promise the wifey two years with this tablet to justify the ridiculous price :-D Guess you can say its an investment of some sort!
Feel free to shoot me any questions or concerns and I’ll be happy to answer them to the best of my ability!
All the best!
Ach
Nice writeup.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
Nice read and congratz on your new tablet. I love my XOOM!
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
Great Unbiased Awesome Review Better than jon4lakers
Nice writeup, ty mate. I was on the fence of either keeping the xoom (bought Dec 21 open box for $348) or pay $499 for Asus prime. I was lucky to pick up the prime locally on the Dec 26, was super excited couldn't wait to go home and compare it to the xoom. Boy I was super disappointed, screen bleed like crazy (worst than my Evo 4g, and Evo got it bad) , 7 dead pixel and absolutely non working gps. Returned it next day and again lucky enough they had one more left for me to swap. Store clerk suggested I'd open it right there and then to inspect it, which I did. 2nd one was better no major screen bleed and only a couple tiny dead pixel, which I can live with. Tested GPS and was able to lock outside the store eventually. Told the clerk this might be a keeper, again really really excited.
Got in the car, tether the prime to my phone. Open up Google nav and finally got lock after like 10-12 mins, long time compare to my phone or the xoom. Drove away and shortly after notice the Google nav was way off and inaccurate, OK keep driving maybe it fixes itself. Drove for about a mile this thing telling me GPS lost signal and just stuck at searching. Damn the whole trip home the prime GPS was useless.
finally get to compare the xoom to the prime. I came from the evo 4g which have one of the worst camera on a phone as far as low light goes, so my expectation is high for the prime which advertise to have sensor that allow awesome capture and recording in low light environment. Side by side I quickly test the xoom and prime out in low light. In low light the prime picture is over expose by the flash where as the xoom picture came out nice and well balance as far as light exposure goes. I even lower the exposure and set ISO manually and the picture doesn't come out any better than the xoom. I'm no expert by any means but my eyes can tell which picture looks better and the xoom does an excellent job in low light compare to those of the prime. Video recording the prime can do up to 1080p and xoom only in 720p and below. Again in low light the xoom killed the prime in video recording. The prime recording came out with a lot more noise and color are a little too orange. The xoom seem a bit wash out but a lot more natural looking then those of the prime. High light or day light doesn't really matter they both look good, heck my evo 4g looks good in day light.
I played with almost all the available tablets camera including the big name ipad2, Samsung, Acer and Toshiba and IMO the xoom is the best and ipad2 is the worst camera in a tablet. People gonna laugh as why I care so much about the camera is not like it can replace any point and shoot camera anyways, but I just do, sorry. Lol, not that im hauling this thing around with me to take photo and video but nice to have it when you need it.
On the other hand the prime display is stunning, rocking IPS+ and is super gorgeous, something i wish the xoom would have. Battery on the prime is also better. Prime is lighter which is more comfortable to hold, but I like the xoom design better. I'm sure prime have a lot more horse power due to the new teg3 and gpu.
But between the non working gps, dead pixel, not so stellar camera and higher price, those right there is enough for me to return the prime and keep the the xoom. Now that I've read your review of the Xyboard comes with ips display I'm over here drooling over it. I'll be super happy if the xoom comes with IPS display, but can't justify paying the high price of the Xyboard. So Congrats! on your new purchase my friend I'm sure you'll have a great time with your new toy. now for me this $348 xoom is good to hold me of until Motorola or the rest drop something new in my price range and with IPS display (will not settle for less).
I guess a a happy medium for people who love their xooms, but REALLY REALLY REALLY want IPS - could be the Xoom Family Edition...
Pros:
IPS Display (I've seen it myself and its hot)
Confirmed by Motorola to be getting Ice Cream Sandwich
Micro USB Charging
Tegra 2 Dual Core processor
Thinner and Lighter than Original Xoom
Cons:
Only has 16GB of internal memory (But has MicroSD card slot - so thats good)
Currently running Honeycomb Android 3.1 (not 3.2)
Screen is not Gorilla Glass
Slow Charging due to MicroUSB (they said the same about the Xyboard but I haven't noticed anything too bad, not sure if FE is the same)
Does not have 3G/4G capabilities
Price at Best Buy has been fluctuating between 350 and 450 (Today its 399) http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/U...es/Tablets/MOTOROLA-XOOM-FAMILY-EDITION-US-EN
I've seen lots of discussion comparing with the various iPads, but not much discussion on the Sony Xperia. I was pretty much sold on the Note originally as I LOVE my S3 phone, but I must admit I do see the reason behind all the negative Samsung reactions in terms of bloatware. Man do they put a bunch of junk on there! Luckily I have my S3 rooted and have successfully turned off bunches of bloat, and the phone is now massively faster . . . . . even on the stock ROM.
The more I play with the Xperia and read the reviews, the more I like it. The biggest 2 drawbacks in comparison are (1) lower screen resolution and (2) no S-pen. Neither one of those are deal brakers for me, but they do factor into the overall decision.
So, I know I'll get lots of pro-Samsung comments given the forum I'm in, but I'd like some honest feedback. Has anyone had lots of time with both tabs that can give some user level insight as to which way they would recommend? I have no doubt both are quality devices. Just trying to make a smart spend with my hard earned $. :fingers-crossed:
Thanks in advance.
~Vol
P.S. The new Kindle HDX is sneaking into the discussion, too. It has a *whopper* of a set of specs at a great price point. Root and install a well-built custom ROM, and maybe it kills all of them??
Vol4Ever said:
I've seen lots of discussion comparing with the various iPads, but not much discussion on the Sony Xperia. I was pretty much sold on the Note originally as I LOVE my S3 phone, but I must admit I do see the reason behind all the negative Samsung reactions in terms of bloatware. Man do they put a bunch of junk on there! Luckily I have my S3 rooted and have successfully turned off bunches of bloat, and the phone is now massively faster . . . . . even on the stock ROM.
The more I play with the Xperia and read the reviews, the more I like it. The biggest 2 drawbacks in comparison are (1) lower screen resolution and (2) no S-pen. Neither one of those are deal brakers for me, but they do factor into the overall decision.
So, I know I'll get lots of pro-Samsung comments given the forum I'm in, but I'd like some honest feedback. Has anyone had lots of time with both tabs that can give some user level insight as to which way they would recommend? I have no doubt both are quality devices. Just trying to make a smart spend with my hard earned $. :fingers-crossed:
Thanks in advance.
~Vol
P.S. The new Kindle HDX is sneaking into the discussion, too. It has a *whopper* of a set of specs at a great price point. Root and install a well-built custom ROM, and maybe it kills all of them??
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Click to collapse
I love the resolution and feel of the 10.1 2014 but hate lack of root (0x0) and the physical button. S-Pen is a must for me or I would probably just go with the upcoming Nexus 10 refresh.
I really just wanted to say.....GO VOLS
Are you saying root and custom Roms won't be possible on the 2014? THAT would be a deal breaker for sure! Haven't looked much at the N10, but I guess I should. When is refresh product due out?
And on the Big Orange, I firmly believe Butch is the man to get it done. Our true freshmen have shown some "sparks" here and there. Just don't have the exp or conditioning to bring it for 60 solid minutes. I remain big time optimistic we are finally headed back up. Goodness knows we mist definitely bottomed out over the last few seasons. Wow.
ckelly33 said:
I love the resolution and feel of the 10.1 2014 but hate lack of root (0x0) and the physical button. S-Pen is a must for me or I would probably just go with the upcoming Nexus 10 refresh.
I really just wanted to say.....GO VOLS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what refresh? as far as i know nothing has been announced and rumors say there wont be another 10 inch nexus this year
The Xperia Tab Z was my first choice was as I have an Xperia Z1 phone, however I ended up returning the XTZ after a couple of days and getting the new Note 10.1.
The biggest issue with the XTZ for me was the video playback quality. When viewing 1080p movies it seemed to be dropping frames, and as well Netflix and Youtube playback was no where close to my iPad. I didn't want a situation where I was only able to use the tablet for some things and then had to go back to using my iPad for watching movies or reading ebooks. There is also the issue of the Bravia engine on the XTZ which seemed to be putting too much contrast and sharpening into all of the videos and images. I can understand why they are using Bravia as it does give the illusion of a slightly higher resolution display, but it's no where near iPad quality.
The XTZ is a great tablet though, and if the Note 10.1 didn't exist it would be the Android king without a doubt.
The best thing for me about the Note 10.1 is that it is capable of doing everything with pretty much state of the art quality. I've had a few jaw dropping moments with it where the display truly give the illusion of looking through a window. It's fantastic for video playback.
It's been a long time coming to finally get an Android tablet that matches or exceeds the iPad and I'm so far pretty thrilled with my 10.1.
30Seconds said:
It's been a long time coming to finally get an Android tablet that matches or exceeds the iPad and I'm so far pretty thrilled with my 10.1.
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Click to collapse
What are your comments on the bloatware and all the built-in Samsung apps? Did you delete or disable a bunch of those? And I doubt I'll be doing much movie watching on the tab, but I do like to play some of the higher end games every now & then. Currently read a lot of e-books on a rooted Nook Tablet, but hoping the new device will ultimately replace that as well. And I agree that one of your obvious goals is one of mine. Use 1 tablet for pretty much everything outside of phone & texting with my S3.
I also remember now why I punted the Nexus . . . . . no SD card. That plus constantly changing connectors plus the "do it our way or not at all" mentaility is the main reason I moved away from Apple products. I used iPhones up through the 4 models, and then made the Android switch. Haven't looked back on that particular decision!
30Seconds said:
The best thing for me about the Note 10.1 is that it is capable of doing everything with pretty much state of the art quality. I've had a few jaw dropping moments with it where the display truly give the illusion of looking through a window. It's fantastic for video playback.
It's been a long time coming to finally get an Android tablet that matches or exceeds the iPad and I'm so far pretty thrilled with my 10.1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Truth. The display is the best I've ever seen on a tablet. At full brightness it's absolutely incredible. The functionality of the SPen was the main draw for me with this tablet though. If you're a student or work in a setting that demands a lot of note taking then this tablet is the way to go. If I didn't need these functions, I would have waited for the new Nexus 10, which I'm sure will be superb as well. The ability to use this tablet as a virtual notebook for all of my classes made this the right choice for me though, even though it was quite expensive.
I currently own both of these tablets Samsung better screen better speakers and its faster I would go with the Samsung myself but the Sony is a nice tablet I have it running pacman ROM and it is very smooth
I am going to China on the weekend and was actually thinking of returning my samsung taking the Sony with me and then trying to find the 10.1 LTE version in Hong Kong on my way home so on a side note does anyone know how much the LTE version will cost in Hong Kong and a good place to buy it thanks
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium HD app
I loved my Z while I had it. My only complaint was that bad boy was a fingerprint magnet. I haven't yet tried a Note 10.1 2014 because there is no development for it or the Note 3.
golfinggino said:
I currently own both of these tablets Samsung better screen better speakers and its faster I would go with the Samsung myself but the Sony is a nice tablet I have it running pacman ROM and it is very smooth
I am going to China on the weekend and was actually thinking of returning my samsung taking the Sony with me and then trying to find the 10.1 LTE version in Hong Kong on my way home so on a side note does anyone know how much the LTE version will cost in Hong Kong and a good place to buy it thanks
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know, 10.1 2014 is not yet available in Hong Kong.
Vol4Ever said:
What are your comments on the bloatware and all the built-in Samsung apps? Did you delete or disable a bunch of those? And I doubt I'll be doing much movie watching on the tab, but I do like to play some of the higher end games every now & then. Currently read a lot of e-books on a rooted Nook Tablet, but hoping the new device will ultimately replace that as well. And I agree that one of your obvious goals is one of mine. Use 1 tablet for pretty much everything outside of phone & texting with my S3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far all I have done is install Nova Launcher and turn down the animations to 0.5 in the developer settings. This makes it more than fast enough for me and I am not going to root or flash until we get a look at more finalized OTA firmwares. I know there are a lot of early reviewers that say this tablet lags, but since the first OTA update it has been running as quickly as one would expect it to.
I'm completely thrilled with this tablet, I can finally get rid of my IPad.
I've had the chance to own both for a while and there's pros and cons to each. The xperia was light, quick enough, NFC, DLNA, etc. Screen was good for movie watching. Expandable memory. Water proof. And it seemed less bloated although it really does have a crap load of Sony stuff on there. On the flipside, as one user said, it was a finger print magnet. It also felt extra long in portrait mode. Luckily it's a light tablet so it's not super uncomfortable but it does create a weird experience in portrait. Also, being a snapdragon s4 chipset, it's significantly slower during intense operations or even if you put a live wallpaper like ditalix live wallpaper on it.
The note has all the specs necessary, minus NFC. S pen is great just like my note 3. Screen in gorgeous. Relatively light in the hands. But again, as another user mentioned, the physical button is quite annoying in portrait mode and for a tablet so expensive, there should be no stuttering. Rooting is a fix for that though.
Although, neither was meant for portrait use, Web browsing feels more natural in portrait mode, much like the ipad. I still own both tablet, along side the ipad air. Note 10.1 2014 is my productivity beast at work and I travel with it. The xperia is my wife's favorite because she can read in the pool with it without a care, and takes it to the beach. The ipad is my favorite at home. Perfect for browsing the Web, chromecasting content, watching videos in bed, reading magazines, etc. Although, the note can do those things perfectly fine, it just doesn't have the same feel as the ipad for me when I'm in lazy mode.
Basically, if you u spend a lot of time outside with the tablet, xperia. If you need productivity first, note. If you want an all around great experience without all the bells and whistles, ipad.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using xda app-developers app
30Seconds said:
The Xperia Tab Z was my first choice was as I have an Xperia Z1 phone, however I ended up returning the XTZ after a couple of days and getting the new Note 10.1.
The biggest issue with the XTZ for me was the video playback quality. When viewing 1080p movies it seemed to be dropping frames, and as well Netflix and Youtube playback was no where close to my iPad. I didn't want a situation where I was only able to use the tablet for some things and then had to go back to using my iPad for watching movies or reading ebooks. There is also the issue of the Bravia engine on the XTZ which seemed to be putting too much contrast and sharpening into all of the videos and images. I can understand why they are using Bravia as it does give the illusion of a slightly higher resolution display, but it's no where near iPad quality.
The XTZ is a great tablet though, and if the Note 10.1 didn't exist it would be the Android king without a doubt.
The best thing for me about the Note 10.1 is that it is capable of doing everything with pretty much state of the art quality. I've had a few jaw dropping moments with it where the display truly give the illusion of looking through a window. It's fantastic for video playback.
It's been a long time coming to finally get an Android tablet that matches or exceeds the iPad and I'm so far pretty thrilled with my 10.1.
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To echo this, I would go into Best Buy to play with the tablets all the time, coming closer and closer to pulling the trigger to purchasing but stopping. When I read the specs of this tablet, I had to bite and I've been rewarded immensely for my purchase. I've had those jaw dropping moments as well. I ask it to do so much and it's almost like it's mocking me, tackling everything I throw at it with ease.
Between the Note and the Xperia, it all comes down to the screen. The Note wins, hands down.
I do like the whole waterproof thing, and it's a touch lighter than the Note. But the large bezels really make it feel clunky and less weildy in landscape mode. Samsung's decision to trim the bezels really pays off in usability. It feels closer to the iPad in portrait mode even though it's still the same 16:10 screen.
BTW, another area where the Note wins hands down is reading comic books. It's the closest thing to the printed page. I am awed by how great comic books look on the Note, even though the pages are less resolution than the screen itself.
I was looking at buying the xperia but decided to wait for this to come out. I tried both of them in a shop and the xperia was too bezzly for me and the screen of the Note was unreal. Anyways I just got my Note about an hour ago and the screen alone makes this awesome.
I have had a Xperia Tablet Z since it was released and its very nice. My wife loves it as well. The thing that is nice is that its extremely fast and has no lag. I am very impressed with the build quality, and battery life as well. I am not a fan of the case I have on it because it is a el cheapo leather case that is not that impressive. That doesn't detract from how happy I am with this tablet.
I am going to get a Note 10.1 2014 through work in the next week or so. When that comes in, I will give my wife the Xperia since she loves it. I think the Note 10.1 is going to be better for what I do than the Xperia. I am most worried about lag or response time with this device. I am going to use Nova launcher for sure, and root the device if possible.
One area where the Note beats the Xperia hands down is remote desktop. The MS app defaults to 1280 x 800 on the Note and is very fast. It defaults to 1980 x 1200 on the Xperia and chugs along with lots of tiling with tiny touch targets. The SPen allows you to hit touch targets too small for your finger and allows you to hover over links and menus. It's a fantastic rdp implementation on the Note but almost unusable on the Xperia.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2464769