The Motorola Xoom became available February 24th. With its 10.1 inch screen and 1280 by 800 resolution display, it is perfect for displaying pictures and presentations. The Xoom’s Honeycomb OS runs Nvidia’s Tegra 2 platform, with a dual-core 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, and 32GB of on-board user memory (plus an SD card slot). What’s not to love? Why not rush out and buy it now?
Motorola Xoom – Buy Now or Wait?
You might want to wait a bit before rushing out and buying the Xoom. According to JR Raphael, PCMagazine, the Wi-Fi-only edition of the Xoom may be worth waiting for. The Wi-Fi only version is supposed to be an additional $200 cheaper. In addition, the Xoom has shipped without Adobe Flash. (The Flash upgrade is expected in a few weeks.) Right now the Xoom is available at BestBuy and Verizon stores for $800 with no contract. With a 2 year contract Verizon will let you have it for $600, plus a $20 per month data plan and a $35 activation fee.
Are you a Honeycomb OS purist? Go with the Xoom. Motorola has promised to keep the “proprietary” junk off the Xoom. In addition, Google is using the Xoom to test and develop the Honeycomb OS. When it comes to system upgrades, you can bet that the “pure” Google tablets will get them first. Also, the other Android tablets don’t have as many cool features as the Xoom.
The iPad 2 premiered yesterday and will be available on March 11th. If you are vacillating between the Android OS and the iOS, the new iPad 2 has some really nice features. The biggest drawback to the iPad is that it doesn’t have Adobe Flash either. If you are a Google apps user, you will want to stick with the Android OS. The iPad doesn’t have a USB port and the video calling feature only works between Apple users. If you aren’t sure, wait a week (until the iPad 2 is available) and go to BestBuy and play with both the iPad 2 and the Xoom.
To wait or not to wait? There are almost 100 Android tablets coming in 2011. If you want to wait a little, you will probably see some stiff competition for the Motorola Xoom. Size options will be available, which will give some price options as well. My personal preference is to wait for the Amazon Kindle Android. It will have all the features of a tablet, as well as be Kindle oriented. I love my Kindle, and it seems like a good combination to me.
Rumors are flying that Sam’s Club has the new Xoom Wi-Fi for $539. Hasn’t been confirmed, but it looks like it won’t be long…
[...] a Xoom now or wait? In my blog Motorola Xoom – Buy Now or Wait? I point out the pros and cons of waiting for a better Xoom. The pricing is a bit high, but rumors [...]