alanpugh wrote:A lot of people are talking about this, and one even went so far as to say that, if the Xoom dropped to $200, it *might* be worth considering.

7" little screen, 8GB of storage, 8 hour battery life... No.

If you want a slightly oversized phone with a quarter of the storage and less battery life, then yes... the Fire's a better deal. The Xoom is a far better tablet, hence the higher price tag. I wouldn't trade mine for anything on the market.

The Kindle Fire is not as good as an oversized phone would be. An oversized phone would have bluetooth and an SD slot. Not to mention 3g connectivity.

madisn wrote:Kindle fire and xoom are two totally different animals. The fire is a bad ass e-reader, but with only 8G storage, no cameras, no speakers it just cant compare to the xoom. The Fire I ordered for my wife will be great for books and internet browsing, but the xoom is a power packed tablet that can also be an e-reader. I have had my xoom since day one and love it.

FYI - the K Fire has top mounted speakers...it would be sad to tout fine music and video capabilities and disable sound.

groundz wrote:Doesn't the Xoom need to be docked in order to use the HDMI out functionality? It says so on the CNET review...

It does NOT have to be docked to use the HDMI!!!

Will the USB port on this support an Ethernet adapter? I need to connect via Ethernet to a device I need to use with this.

I've heard of that being done with a rooted Xoom but short of that, I don't know if it will work.

NascarDad wrote:Kindle Fire is a badly hobbled tablet. No 3g so that cloud is not available , for example, when you drive somewhere, the kids cant access that cloud to watch movies or download games

No SD card, so you will be stuck emailing stuff around if you want to get it on or off the tablet, or carry around your laptop and a USB cable with it too

No Bluetooth, so you can't tether it to a 3/4g phone o transfer files, use a bluetooth printer.

It is simply a very limited capacity movie player that can play Angry Birds and surf the web a bit, and let you buy more movies from Amazon of course.

How much does 3g access cost for an iPad? You can get a personal wifi device from any provider and use it for up to 5 devices. So for the same price as you pay for iPad 3G, you get 3G access to any
wifi device you already own (Ipod touch, Fire, Kindle,laptop, netbook, whatever).
What am I missing?

njack26 wrote:What am I missing?

Google Market and a camera!

Seriously, better a Nook Color than that nonsense Kindle Fire. I've gotten better tablets at CVS for $99.

Woot loves to sell the tech dodos. First it was the Hp touchpad at near retail price before the firesale. Then it was the Samsung Galaxy S at 150 dollars a pop. Now it is the Xoom at 350, when the Fire is around the corner.

The only real business tablet is the Ipad b/c business people actually use it and there are niche apps that cater to them for real artist, engineers, architects.

When Apple has 80 percent of the market, developers find it worthwhile to develop niche apps b/c their is customer base to make it worthwhile. Android tablets...not so much

So that leaves pleasure, which the Amazon Fire will infinitely more suited for b/c of its integration with Amazon prime for movie streaming and music and at only 200 bucks a pop.

I often see the Xoom in stores right next to the Acer Iconia Tab. I know they're pretty similar in specs and the Tab has a USB port, so why is it cheaper?

As a refurbished model, how can I be sure this is Honeycomb 3.1?

Okay ... n41 ... all of the above notwithstanding, my son's birthday is fast approaching and he is very excited about the prospect of getting one of these.

Almost bought a second one for myself, but decided I could resist the instant gratification until after the Nook Color 2 (et al.) announcements ...

JamesHuston wrote:Bad timing or great timing....seeing that Amazon owns Woot! it looks like great timing

WHAT! Amazon owns woot! I feel VIOLATED. I love woot I read all the posts even if I have no intention on buy the item just for the laughs. Now I find out it's owned by a big conglomerate company only looking out to make themselves richer! And that it’s not just a bunch of awesome people sitting around the small cozy office writing slap stick funny descriptions to set themselves apart from the rest of the world. What about the little guy, hu! Now it just feels fake and cheap. I am deeply disturbed by this news

I might have considered this but I think the whole Tablet world is on pause right now, waiting for reviews of the new $199 Amazon Kindle Fire. Some say that it's a game changer, finally making Android level with the iPad. Combining two of the Internet's most powerful entities -- Amazon and Google (Android) -- will certainly prove formidable. I don't know about the technical specs, but at $199, it hits Apple where it's weakest: Being overpriced.

MSNCB video comparing the Kindle Fire vs iPad

I've had one since launch and it continues to get better; especially now that the updates are coming out. At $350, this is a great price.

stevec5000 wrote:I've had a tablet for years but never found a use for it yet.

Take the "T" off the end and you will find your use.

i buy one but in the procces of purchase was rejected. but my bank notify me that the purchase was approved. so ?? what happed. you discount me the money but i have't information about my purchase of my motorola xoom.

What Happend ???

For the average user the Fire probably will be a big hit, it's from a company they know and it's priced right. A user that demands more from ta device will probably stick with a more Android like environment.
They say the Fire is technically Android but it's sort of hamstrung without having the true Android Market pre-loaded. It's a cheaper than iPad form of Proprietary.

nikescar wrote:8GB of built in storage but "unlimited" cloud storage for free. Also, it has speakers, and access to the Amazon Appstore for Android. It's an Android tablet with a shiny skin.

Keep in mind that's "Free cloud storage for all Amazon content" and not for anything you might want to put there...

mattlscc wrote:Android seems like the hip thing to do these days. Anyone own a XOOM and recommend it?

Think of it as a DOS-like device (if you're old enough). Android gives you many options to poke under the hood.

That said, there are constant rumors floating about the next model with a 2048x1536 screen, quad-core CPU, and Ice Cream Sandwich (Android OS 4.0) I was close to buying a second unit today, but there are a few things I'd like to see, notably multiple microSD slots (or an SSD slot) and a firewire for faster data transfers.

They never tell you when a new model is near, but you can assume the Xmas selling season is a logical time for full-priced electronica (with 10-20% discounts starting in January).

If you don't have a tablet yet ... get this one, explore all the capabilities, then Ebay it in early November. That's ASSuming Woot doesn't take 3 weeks to get it to you.

zelgadis123 wrote:When Apple has 80 percent of the market, developers find it worthwhile to develop niche apps b/c their is customer base to make it worthwhile. Android tablets...not so much

Actually Android has 42% of the market, so apple only has 58%.

http://www.tabletsmania.com/report/android-captures-42-market-share-in-the-u-s/

zelgadis123 wrote:
The only real business tablet is the Ipad b/c business people actually use it and there are niche apps that cater to them for real artist, engineers, architects.

You're hilarious.

Business people are usually forward-thinking and think of purchases as investments. Any forward-thinking business person would see the writing on the wall. iPhones and iPads (and anything iOS related) are great for consumers, because it's all about being "hip". However, the writing on the wall was there for the iPhone that Android was going to dominate. It has. The writing is also on the wall that Android tablets will dominate over iPads as well.

So, being forward-thinking, you'd want to invest in something that will be in the long-term dominant position. The great benefits of iOS devices are integration with iTunes and its vast library. That's great for consumers, but unless your plan is to have your employees listen to and buy music all day long, it's not really a benefit.

For any business, Android tablets are the only way to go. The only reason why some businesses can prosper with, say, Macs... is because those businesses may be involved with heavy graphics or video work, which pretty much requires the Apple market. However, tablets aren't designed for heavy lifting and high productivity. Can you be productive on a tablet? Sure. Can you be even more productive on a computer? Absolutely. So, for a business to use tablets for "productivity", they're just shooting themselves in the foot for the "hip" factor.

In the end, when it comes to phones and tablets, businesses really know to go into the direction of Android. There are many more options, varying price points, and a much stronger long-term position for non-hip business productivity.

I'd really consider this, even given the fact that the XOOM2 will be forthcoming soon, except for one thing. I got completely burned by Woot on the TouchPad, and am really afraid that I'll get burned on this.
Refurbished product, short warranty, and upcoming update. Humm. Probably going to let this one get away.

I have had one of the Xooms for a few months. It is fantastic. I use it to trouble shoot our Wireless network and also use it as a phone with Groove IP and Google Voice. I watch movies while flying, at hotels or anywhere I want. I also can control my Windows7 PC and connect to most UNPN devices. I can remote control my DTV DVR. With Vulkano I can watch any movies from my DVR from anywhere. I can also watch Netflix and with Playon I can watch Hulu. It plays games, you can use it for business. When you are loking at any tablet you always want the most memory you can get and right now 32gb is it. BUY it.

nikescar wrote:
As far as the Fire, it has a dual core processor, better screen and for some, a more comfortable size. The only real spec that it is lacking is the cameras.

ummm ... the Fire has GPS? Really ?

willnott wrote:"...with Wi-Fi so I can keep reading my email on the go..." Sorry, wrong again. Without 3G or 4G you will be tethered to a Wi-Fi, and so "on the go" can only mean while you're sitting in the john.

If you have an android smart phone, just tether it. Problem solved.

graygamer wrote:I've heard of that being done with a rooted Xoom but short of that, I don't know if it will work.

I'll let you know how it goes. I have a 7" android tablet that I have managed to connect with an Ethernet adapter through the USB port so it is worth a shot. That one (brand not to be named) is sooo slow it almost runs in reverse...

should I be concerned about the warranty and/ or lack of warranty??

Sorry if I rehash something that has already been mentioned but a comparison between the Xoom and Amazon Kindle Fire are apples to oranges considering that from what I have read the Amazon device is essentially a fork of an Android operating system and has its own App store 'a la I-tunes' making it a highly proprietary-feeling device. I could be wrong but I would rather have some that is fully functional out of the box than bet that with some intense hacking I might get something that will only do some of the things this would do... just my 2-cents but if you want a fully functional tablet than I would by this.. otherwise I would not hold out on news of the Amazon Kindle Fire because it will essentially be an Amazon Tablet (not an Android Tablet) and will have lots of limitations.

nettebell wrote:WHAT! Amazon owns woot! I feel VIOLATED. I love woot I read all the posts even if I have no intention on buy the item just for the laughs. Now I find out it's owned by a big conglomerate company only looking out to make themselves richer! And that it’s not just a bunch of awesome people sitting around the small cozy office writing slap stick funny descriptions to set themselves apart from the rest of the world. What about the little guy, hu! Now it just feels fake and cheap. I am deeply disturbed by this news

I believe Amazon has a piece of Woot, I don't think they outright own them so relax. I'll check with my financier friend with Amazon and let you know for sure. I doubt the original Woot owners would allow the entire company to go unless they made them an offer they couldn't refuse.

cellobarney wrote:Nope. Not on the day that the Kindle Fire came out for $199. Bad timing, Woot.

Seriously? The Xoom and the Fire are not even the same animal! Not sure I would want the Fire even if you gave me one I have a 7" Galaxy Tab why would I want a watered down version of a 7" tab? Now the Xoom interests me, I wonder if my significant other would notice my tablet grew?

njack26 wrote:How much does 3g access cost for an iPad? You can get a personal wifi device from any provider and use it for up to 5 devices. So for the same price as you pay for iPad 3G, you get 3G access to any
wifi device you already own (Ipod touch, Fire, Kindle,laptop, netbook, whatever).
What am I missing?

Yeah wow really handy there, carrying around 2 devices.

And still no bluetooth, and 8 GB internal storage, and no camera.

BIGELLOW wrote:
For any business, Android tablets are the only way to go. .

Unless they want to be able to use their Cisco/IPSec VPN. Then they use iPads. If Android wants to be a serious business platform they need to be able to connect securely to the most popular VPN servers.

I love my android phones but the lack of viable VPN has kept me from buying a big tablet.

groundz wrote:Doesn't the Xoom need to be docked in order to use the HDMI out functionality? It says so on the CNET review...

Well, then........

MichXelle wrote:I believe Amazon has a piece of Woot, I don't think they outright own them so relax. I'll check with my financier friend with Amazon and let you know for sure. I doubt the original Woot owners would allow the entire company to go unless they made them an offer they couldn't refuse.

Amazon bought woot and then woot went down the toilet.

paigeg wrote:Bought one of these months ago for the hub - who is, shall we say, technically challenged. Once he got the hang of it, it seems to work great for him. His only issue is that the capacitive touchscreen isn't terribly sensitive to calloused man-fingers. He tries to scroll, sweep, touch things, and gets nowhere. He gets frustrated, hands it to me, and I swipe along merrily. Which of course, adds to the frustration. I don't think it's a true deficiency in the tablet, just his man-hands!
This is a good price, and the Xoom is a good tablet. If I could justify getting another, I'd Woot this.

Had similar problem until I started using the back of my knuckles

Seeing as how I just got a BRAND NEW NOT REFURB HP touchpad for $130, I cant imagine paying this much. Only difference is the rear camera, which isn't worth the big price difference. Android is coming to the touchpad soon, so you can't really count that as a difference.

I jumped on the hype and pre-ordered a Kindle Fire yesterday. I don't currently own a tablet and I have wanted one for a while. However I don't have a practical use to get one, I just want to have another toy. I clearly see the differences between the Xoom and the Fire and I agree, the Xoom is a better tablet. However this is just a toy for me and I don't want to spend a bunch of money on a tablet. I can drop $200 on one and certainly get my monies worth out of it. For $350, I will be concerned I spent too much. One thing that many are forgetting about is Amazon's Silk browser. Most of the processing is done on the back end which is sitting on Amazon's massive pipe to the internet. Silk is supposed to be REALLY fast. That can also be a game changer.

tone007 wrote:Google Market and a camera!

Seriously, better a Nook Color than that nonsense Kindle Fire. I've gotten better tablets at CVS for $99.

Do you have a link and specs for these alleged better $99 tablets at CVS? Since you used the plural form for "tablet," I assume you have many such tablets.

Wife said ok, so I in for one....

firefox91 wrote:One thing that many are forgetting about is Amazon's Silk browser. Most of the processing is done on the back end which is sitting on Amazon's massive pipe to the internet. Silk is supposed to be REALLY fast. That can also be a game changer.

That's how the Sidekick worked in 2002. Don't get me wrong; I loved it then. Very few phones had any more Web access than godawful WAP services even two or three years after that. But it's still 2002 technology. No one today is doing that because they want to.