The Motorola Xoom is a tablet somewhat like the Apple ipad which has been around for a while now. The new Motorola Xoom is the first official Google tablet.
The tablet has 1GB of RAM and an internal storage of 32GB. The display screen is 10.1 inch. It has a battery with a 3250 mAh capacity, it lasts approximately 8 hours and 20 minutes.
There is a Micro USB port and a Micro HDMI, 3.5mm headset. It weighs around 730 grams.
It also has a camera with 5MP, an auto focus function, dual LED flash, 8x digital zoom and 2MP facing the front.
The Motorola Xoom also has its own GPS, digital compass and ambient light sensor as well as a gyroscope barometer.
You will also have mobile Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and WI-Fi hotspot. All of this in this one little tablet.
The Xoom was created for people who want a multi-touch tablet with a more PC-like feel to it. It is more of a PC than the iPad, which still feels a lot like a mobile device. It will also attract consumers that do not want to use Apple products but still want an iPad-like device.
It helps people who are always on the go to stay connected to their friends and be productive with their time. It runs Google’s Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system.
The Xoom is very easy to use and understand, even if you are a beginner to using these sorts of devices. The widgets function quite well, much better than what iPad has offered so far. It feels very much like a desktop. It has lots of apps such as the email app, web browser and Google Talk as well as a Google Books app.
One of the best features of the Motorola Xoom, is that its Web Browsing functions excellently. You can switch back and forth between Web pages just like with a computer. It also has thumb controls. This means that you just hold your thumb down on the corner of the screen and a little menu pops up, from this menu you can open up new tabs, bookmark a page, refresh a page or go back and forth.
The Xoom has a great performance. Everything works very fast, searching, browsing, animations, loading videos, looking at photos and surfing the Web. It also maintains a very good internet connection. It has very good video chips as well. And the battery doesn’t go faster when you’re doing all these things. It still lasts for almost 10 hours. It’s taller and narrower than the Apple iPad but it weighs the same.
The Motorola XOOM comes with a handset, a charger, a data cable, a quick start guide and a user manual.
Reviews
The reviews were mixed for the Motorola Xoom. Some people loved it and others did not.
On the good side many people said that they found it much faster and more efficient than the Apple ipad. Other people commented that it was so much more affordable then the iPad and it’s even cheaper still if you buy it with a two year contract. Many people also mentioned that the screen is extremely good quality, it’s made form Gorilla Glass which means that you don’t have to put any kind of protector on it to prevent it from getting scratched.
A number of people said they appreciated the Android software and its multitasking function, because the 3.0 software has a menu item at the bottom which allows you to swap between multi-tasked apps. One user said “Chrome’s tablet optimized browser is very nice – tabbed browsing and well integrated that feels much more like a desktop experience than iPads weak Safari browser. The nice browser experience is one of the most appealing features of the tablet.”
One point was that was mentioned, is that although the cameras work very well, it’s not really all that easy to use something this large when you’re attempting to take a photo. Another problem is that glare of the screen makes shooting during the day quite challenging to say the least, and sometimes it’s impossible to even see the display well enough to take any photos. But that is more a problem with tablets in general, rather than a particular problem with the Motorola Xoom.
On the bad side of reviews many people said that the screen has too much glare and also that it is too narrow, which causes them to touch the screen unintentionally. A few people said that they found the graphics to be a bit blurry and blocky. Also a large number of the users feel that Motorola and Google were too hasty in releasing the tablet and that it isn’t completely perfected yet.
A few other people said that the Google apps were not very clear and that there were not enough of them, although the number of apps for the tablet is steadily growing. Another bad point that was mentioned more than once is that the sound quality of the speakers is not very good, they said that it sounded muffled no matter how much they played around with the settings. Some people said that they found the screen too dim and the device too clunky and cumbersome compared to the slimmer Apple iPad.
Conclusion
Even though there are a few drawbacks to the Xoom, it seems to be a very good alternative to the Apple iPad.
Besides the fact that it has a well functioning version of Android, the hardware inside Motorola’s tablet is also very good. It is ideal for an IT or business professional with a busy lifestyle who wants to have a PC device with them wherever they go. It is sturdy and does not scratch easily.
Some things to be mindful of before purchasing it is that, the sound might not be exactly what you are looking for and the buttons are somewhat awkward. It might be a bit more bulky than the Apple iPad, but it seems like the best tablet out there to give Apple a bit of competition.
