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Possibly un-joining the herd... iPad2 vs. Xoom

Because I can be an indecive bastard once in a while, I've picked up Motorola's new Xoom tablet. I am going to compare both tablets in the next couple until I make up my mind by the end of the week.

First impressions on both units.

1. Xoom is a little more solid. It weighs more, according to specs by .3 lbs. But it feels like if I drop it, nothing will happen to it. iPad2 feels very light and very compact, but I am afraid I can drop it.

2. Both units are blazing fast, as fast a my ocassionaly laggy Wi-Fi can be of course. I have downloaded Contract Killer on both units, and FPS rates for a 3D game seems good.

3. I would have to get used to iOS, although it seems pretty straightforward and user friendly. On the other hand, I am fairly familiar with Android OS, and Honeycomb doesn't change the basics but improves on a lot of fronts.

4. As far as hardware goes, Xoom is a much nicer stacked unit. Both front and back cameras are higher resolution and there is an expansion slot for MicroSD, making it fairly easy to expand 32G to 64 if I so desire. iPad2 comes with only 16G, and I don't want to shell out additional cash just for the privelege of owning a higher memory block count.

5. Xoom is $100 more.

6. Xoom does not charge from USB, but has an AC adapter, another charger I would have to carry around with me.

7. iPad is extremely proprietory, which is a double edged swrod. Apps come more robust and built to Apple specifications, and little viruses go through. ON the other hand, I had to specify my credit card number as soon as I opened the iTunes store. Even if I don't plan on byuing anything. What if my kids when playing with the tablet, purchased couple of hundered of apps. Granted there are possible parental controls on iPad, but I would have to pay for it as well, I bet.

I think that's all for now. Me and the missus are gonig to evaluate both candidates.

Comments

Brian Greenberg said…
I gave my kids their own iTunes accounts. If you create the account while buying a free app, it let's you create the account *WITHOUT* a credit card. Then, you can control what, if anything, they spend by buying them iTunes gift cards.
Didn't think of that, but totally makes sense.

What I would like to have from tablets is the ability to setup different profiles.
Aleksey said…
did you buy both tablets?
Aleksey said…
XOOM now 500$

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