Skip to main content

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$

Popular posts from this blog

Things you never cared to know about Mayonnaise

I have decided to start a new Rubric. Once a week I will write a post about a random subject. Having the subject coming out of MY head, it can be about anything. I constantly have a lot of random "Why?" and "How does?" questions floating around in my head. I will try to explain how I arrived to the subject at hand and promise to do diligent research on Wikipedia and provide you, the unfortunate reader, with either the interesting or unusual bits of info. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED! In addition to that I have a slight fetish for trivia. The rubric will be called: Things you never cared to know about Today's topic is Mayonnaise . How did I arrive to that? As I was making breakfast in the morning, I decided that I wanted to take a pita pocket and stuff it with something. The pitas are usually fairly dry, and you have to toast them. I did not have Hummus or Babaganoush (GOD! I just love saying BA-BA-GA-NOUSHHHHHHHHH!) I put a little Mayo inside to soften it up. So, ther...

Crazy ideas - UPDATED

Here's a crazy survey I thought off. If you had a time machine where would you travel first? Assuming the fact of course of universal invincibility. ----UPDATE---- As my brother mentioned, with time travel universally available getting rich schemes would be less than doable. My aim is more towards investigating great mysteries of history. Therefore: a. To the Big Bang b. To see an asteroid killing dinosaurs c. To see the exodus of Jews as it really happened d. Try to see if Jesus hubbub really happened e. Forget the past, I'd go to the year 2020 to see who winds World Series and place a bet accordingly. f. Suggested by Ilya . Back a day or to to purchase winning lottery ticket. e. Try to see if Atlantis existed. f. Travel to the future to see the explosion of our Sun. I am torn between the dinosaurs and the World Series. Please suggest the choices. Should I add Buddha and Muhammed to the list as well? From the curiousity stand-point. I still rather see the dinosaurs.

Weekend update

Finally some beautiful weather here in Chicago. We have decided to go to our regular hunting grounds at Lincoln Park Zoo. We slept well into the morning, picked up our good friends and in the company of four adults and three children went to see the animals. The photographer in me was screaming bloody murder to go out and make pictures. Thankfully my wife was very tolerant this time around with me running around like a madman taking picture of anything that moved. Lincoln Park Zoo is a great little place. It's free (if you don't consider $17 parking) they have all the animals kids love to see, and none of the animals where you stand scratching your head wondering how do you explain platipus to a 5-year-old. One bad thing that happened today, is I think i forgot to close the car, and somebody got in and stolen my Magellan GPS. Luckily nothing else was in the car, so other then that the car remained untouched. Unpleasant, but I have only myself to blame, and I think I'll live...