leonbev wrote:In an era where you can get a Kindle Fire (another fine Amazon product!) for $200, $300 for a refurbished tablet doesn't seem like a good deal.

For $200 The Fire and Nook only have a 1024 X 600 screen wheras you get 1280 x 800 on the Xoom allowing for full 720p streaming video from sources like Netflix. The smaller 7" screen is much harder to read. Also you only get 8gb for the $200 price tag and half as much RAM as the Xoom. If you spend an extra $50 you still only get half as much memory (16gb) and same amount of RAM. You have to consider what you are sacrificing for a lower price point.

leonbev wrote:In an era where you can get a Kindle Fire (another fine Amazon product!) for $200, $300 for a refurbished tablet doesn't seem like a good deal.

The kindle is a color ebook reader. It is made for basic browsing and reading. It doesn't even use the real app store. In order to install a lot of apps you have to go through a back door to get them on it. Also, haven't you read how sales have plummeted in the past quarter? That's because most of the sales were during Christmas right when it came out and everyone was thinking just like you and bought it. And now are regretting it and buying different tablets. You get what you pay for. Hence why I'm typing this on a 64gb iPad 3.

pwambs wrote:Nice setup. can't find any info on GPS? I saw one line about google maps, but nothing about having full function GPS chip.

It has full GPS, but like most tablets the accuracy is only about 5-10 meters. It works well enough. Google maps makes use of the GPS chip to find your location. If you want full driving info, you can preload the planned route for when you don't have wifi.

I should add that 5-10 meters was an indoor reading. The accuracy improves if you take it outside. It will pinpoint your location well enough that you could use it for geocaching.

miniskunk wrote:For $200 The Fire and Nook only have a 1024 X 600 screen wheras you get 1280 x 800 on the Xoom allowing for full 720p streaming video from sources like Netflix. The smaller 7" screen is much harder to read. Also you only get 8gb for the $200 price tag and half as much RAM as the Xoom. If you spend an extra $50 you still only get half as much memory (16gb) and same amount of RAM. You have to consider what you are sacrificing for a lower price point.

Well said. We both attacked at the same time.

Been looking for a good deal on tablet.

In for one.

Thanks Woot!

emag wrote:OK, a bit of a technical question, that I hope the Woot Geeks can answer... My Gingerbread phone allows me to access it via USB Mass Storage. My Vizio tablet, upgraded to Honeycomb, only supports USB access over MTP. Does the Xoom ICS upgrade restore the USB MS option, or will I still be stuck with MTP?

It doesn't really make a difference in the grand scheme of things, but UMS is *so* much easier to deal with than MTP in the real world, especially in not-MS OSes...

No, ICS does not support the USB issues. That can be easily done by rooting it and enabling the USB Host. It is easy to do. I'm rooted, overclocked to 1.5 ghz. It does drain the battery quicker being overclocked, but this is fine with me. I mainly use mine at work, so it is on my docking station.

I have an IPAD 1 and 3. They are a different experience than my Xoom.

1. Droids present files alphabetically - Apple last one in goes to the end. Makes finding apps hard.

2. This droid has many file management programs that work like MS OS and you can move them easily between multiple computers Example Astro file. You can create your own folders inside the Xoom. Apple has Itunes and you have problems loosing apps and movies because they only have one home computer. IPADs have no internal file managers.

3. IPADS have some really great graphic games like Infinity Blade. IPADS have many more great music applications. Xoom has the free app of the day at Amazon. Some are crap, some are great. IPAD apps cost more for the same thing. Example, Angry Birds Space is free for the droid with commercials.

4. They both support slingboxes and Volkanos. However, these apps are pricy at $25+. Be careful buying the Slingbox app, they have several versions and be sure to get the right one. Great for travel to watch your dish at home. You have to tweek the settings on Volcanos with the tivo like function and save them in the correct format to download recorded movies for the long plane rides.

5. In Rome Italy on vacation the Slingbox was great in the apartment we rented. Because the apartment had wifi and the TV only got one station. In Venice, there was no Wifi. After getting bored of watching Italian Star Trek original reruns and Desperate Housewives in Italian I turned to my Xoom. I plugged the HDMI cable into the TV and watched movies. They did not fill the whole screen, but it was enough. You have to buy a clunky HDMI for the IPAD.

6. I did a security audit between IPAD vs Xoom. The Xoom with encryption set supports complex passwords and is Fips compliant. Apple is not Fips compliant. You can also usually guess the 4 digit pin in less than 10 times on an IPAD by looking at the smudge marks.

7. IPADS boot up fast. Encrypted Xooms require to sign in twice for the 1st of the day boot. It takes much longer to boot. However, once it is on, logging in after timeout is instant and you can stay on all day. However, you will have to recharge every night. An IPAD can go days. However the IPAD 3 takes forever to Charge.

8. The graphics are dimmer than an IPAD with less contrast for the same movies esp IPAD 3. Not enough difference for a decision point.

9. IPADs have no flash for the camera and no flashlight apps beyond bright screen.

10. I had a project with a Plastic Surgeon to evaluate the two. The Xoom won.

a. There is an Application for plastic surgeons that costs like $15 that you can take the persons picture and sit down with the patient and show what the surgery will look like ahead of time. Real time morphing. You can store the patients photos in their own encrypted folder and on the corporate share drive. Then you can do before, proposed, and after sessions with the patient.

b. The IPAD until version 3 had no usable camera for this. The ITunes issue was a nightmare because ITunes does not support share drives/USB drives on the PC. Therefore we had to encrypt the PC. Also Itunes has the one master ITune account. No multi clinic roaming. There is no folder functions in IPAD photos so you have to load the photos between patients. There is a sharepoint MS application that supports photos but only big business run sharepoint servers.

c. The wireless works well on wireless networks. IPADs 1,2 were not designed for work. Their wireless is like a g+ or n- and do not have the range of the Xoom. Also IPADs 1,2 to increase the speed use the "stun" protocol to get preferences over other users and some medical devices. We have yet to determine how many IPAD's to one access point create problems for other devices.

d. There is a lack of FDA approved dicom (think XRay) image software that can be used for Diagnosis for the Xoom. There are two for the IPAD 2,3 (needs camera to adjust lighting). Xoom still can be used to show images after diagnosis.

miniskunk wrote:It has full GPS, but like most tablets the accuracy is only about 5-10 meters. It works well enough. Google maps makes use of the GPS chip to find your location. If you want full driving info, you can preload the planned route for when you don't have wifi.

I should add that 5-10 meters was an indoor reading. The accuracy improves if you take it outside. It will pinpoint your location well enough that you could use it for geocaching.

I do not believe the WiFi only version has gps.

Cheaper, only $279.99, direct from Motorola.

http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/Consumer-Product-and-Services/Tablets/ci.MOTOROLA-XOOM-FAMILY-EDITION-US-EN.alt#anchor

lepercolony wrote:Cheaper, only $279.99, direct from Motorola.

http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/Consumer-Product-and-Services/Tablets/ci.MOTOROLA-XOOM-FAMILY-EDITION-US-EN.alt#anchor

This is only 16gb. I was on the fence till I noticed this. I pulled the trigger WOOT!

pupyluvr wrote:For another 50 Smackers you can have a Refurbed iPad Deuce. Does anyone have both and have an opinion as far as which one is the One Tablet to Rule Them All?

Yes: neither. The iPad is lighter, and a little bigger. The XOOM has expandable memory and the Android Market. Both are nice, but remember the XOOM's price point was actually HIGHER than an iPad when it hit the market. Either of these tablets are better than the rest, IMHO

cfrahm wrote:I do not believe the WiFi only version has gps.

It does.

chrisfrost wrote:It does.

Ditto...it sure does, and as i sit next to a window at home, I find it picks up well. In fact I can get a fix when I am not near a window! That's a pretty good GPS! But of course wifi only, I'd have to get a portable hotspot to take it on the road! Ah well..Tom Tom to the rescue. But Xoom with a Moto keyboard and leather case sure beats carrying a heavy laptop.

Bought one for the wife from here when it popped up months prior- great deal then and now. Battery life is good, Ice Cream Sandwich update was painless. Great woot to woot! Woot!

jonnycando wrote:Ditto...it sure does, and as i sit next to a window at home, I find it picks up well. In fact I can get a fix when I am not near a window! That's a pretty good GPS! But of course wifi only, I'd have to get a portable hotspot to take it on the road! Ah well..Tom Tom to the rescue. But Xoom with a Moto keyboard and leather case sure beats carrying a heavy laptop.

Look into an called Sygic on Google market. Offline maps of the US are only $19.99. works well on my android phone and no cell or wifi needed (other than for the initial download of the offline maps).
They have a two week trial to let u see how it works. I have been impressed so far!

Went off half cocked and bought a Samsung Tab 2 a few days ago. Not a bad little tablet, but for $60 more I get 4x more memory, a 10.1" screen vs a 7" screen, and hdmi capability. I purchased the Bluetooth keyboard along with the Samsung Tab 2, but I'm afraid the Samsung will be making the trip back to the store. Hook line and sunk by WOOT!

"Factories never replace batteries as part of the refurb process. "

Apple puts a new battery in when it sells a refurb product.

rkarasek wrote:Just ordered one. I leave for Europe next weekend....... I sure would love to have this for the long flight....PLEASE HELP ME WOOT!!!!!

Start loading your video goodness onto a 32gig microSD now, so it's ready for the trip!

Does the SD card finally work on this? Or is it still only for European released Xooms?

ictshocker wrote:Look into an called Sygic on Google market. Offline maps of the US are only $19.99. works well on my android phone and no cell or wifi needed (other than for the initial download of the offline maps).
They have a two week trial to let u see how it works. I have been impressed so far!

Wow...give that member a Quality Post rank!

REFURBS: I have never had an issue with Woot refurbs-I have bought many.
I cannot say the same for other e-sellers.
Many Woot "refurbs" appear to be brand new.

Works great on Ice Cream Sandwich

Got one on a previous woot. They had some problem with the data not completely erased in a number of them. I could see who the previous owner was and his contact list, and if he hadn't changed his passwords (smart of him), I would even have been able to log-in to his gmail. Not that I would have done anything... when I saw that it still had some information, I simply reset everything.

And my wife was pissed when I bought it, because she had been planning to give me an iPad...

I have one, love it... it is the first Android device I have owned that convinces me that it can challenge Ipads and Apple. I use it every day, it has almost completely replaced my other computers in the house.

I even considered getting this one today so I would have a backup.

Here is a link with side by side comparisons of popular tablets. It compares such things as battery life, display, processor speed, video/audio, GPS, video chat, HD video recording,etc.

compare them side-by-side. This one comes in at 3.5/4 stars.

http://tablets-review.toptenreviews.com/

Nobody mentioned the availability of great cases and bluetooth keyboards...
I have had a Xoom for about 5 months now and about a month ago bought a Bluetooth keyboard folio from the Verizon site. They are always "out of stock" now but the same folio can be bought at amazon (I paid $49.99 US free shipping)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055WFNBY/ref=pe_175190_21431760_C1_cs_sce_3p_dp_1

This case fits great and the keyboard lasts a really long time on a charge.

For those of you that do a lot of emailing typing etc.. I reccomend this folio case.

I just bought 2 more Xooms at the 1saleaday site and immediately bought 2 of these to go with it.

Just my 2 cents..... enjoy

I got this tab from Woot a while back. Great machine, ICS is awesome (not as drastic a change for tablets as for phones) and as mentioned earlier, its over the air so no need to root or manually install anything for it.

Pros:
-Great battery life
-Very sturdy
-Sound quality is great
-With Android OS, great app selection

Some cons:
-Video chatting, my mic cuts in and out. Video is fine though.
-Screen gets washed out in the sun or bright rooms
-Pretty bulky/heavy, especially if you go with any kind of case.

Is this something where I could use a stylus? Also, could this actually handle games? Like sims, age of empires or civilization?

I love my Xoom, but it has volume buttons that are very difficult to use. Also, know that the HBO GO app will not work on this unit. Someday, perhaps, but not right now. It's also difficult to access HBO GO via a browser. It can be done, so I've heard, but I have not been able to do it successfully.

I put mine in the ZooGue case, and have not taken it out since. Brilliant case. http://www.zoogue.com/products/XOOM-Case-Genius-Black-Leather-.html

Additionally, I can also place free phone calls via Google Voice and Groove IP Lite.

Oh, and ICS came as an OTA update a few months back.

I have a verizon wireless card for mobile internet. Will the wireless card work on a tablet?

Has anyone used this to read and add comments to pdf's? I teach and would be interested in this, or any other recommended tablet, if I could get my teacher's editions and assessments in one spot. Laptop is a bit too bulky to have in front of the class at times. Not sure how practical a tablet will be though. Thanks!

cfrahm wrote:I do not believe the WiFi only version has gps.

Considering I own the wifi only Xoom, do not tell me I don't have GPS. It has it and it works. It does not use ISP data to determine location. Where I live that fails to work. I owned a 2nd Gen Touch that used ISP data and it could not locate me.

I bought the vizio when it was on woot, and am fairly happy with it, but was thinking about upgrading. The vizio does have trouble running some apps. (Anomaly warzone earth crashes after the intro movie, and Avadon, the black fortress freezes for a moment ever 30 seconds.) Would the zoom be able to run these programs without issues?

tiefelpm wrote:Has anyone used this to read and add comments to pdf's? I teach and would be interested in this, or any other recommended tablet, if I could get my teacher's editions and assessments in one spot. Laptop is a bit too bulky to have in front of the class at times. Not sure how practical a tablet will be though. Thanks!

There are PDF readers on Google market. I do not know if they can be edited on the Xoom directly or not. Maybe someone here has experience using one of the apps?

Edit: Just checked the market, Adobe has a free official reader that supports markup and editing.

waacodemon wrote:Is this something where I could use a stylus? Also, could this actually handle games? Like sims, age of empires or civilization?

A stylus? Sure, you can use one. Can it handle games?

Well, yes, but not those games as a rule, since they're not designed for this interface, and it'd take some reworking. There may be some Sim-style product for the Android, I don't know, I've never played it, so I have no interest in it. I do know there's some strategy type games that could be considered close to Age of Empires or Civilization though.

Anyway, I love my Xoom, it's convenient for reading books on the couch, checking the web or my mail, and it works pretty good with the HDMI cable to my TV.

The only problem I've had with it is that I jammed the volume down button in somehow, and fixing that seems to have made that contact require prodding to work. Which isn't a huge deal, as I can hit the volume up, and use the slider instead, so the only time I'd explicitly need volume down is if I wanted to use one of the reset modes. (Which was the problem I had to unjam the volume down anyway!).

It was probably my fault in some way, so I can't blame Motorola for it.

FenStar wrote:I bought the vizio when it was on woot, and am fairly happy with it, but was thinking about upgrading. The vizio does have trouble running some apps. (Anomaly warzone earth crashes after the intro movie, and Avadon, the black fortress freezes for a moment ever 30 seconds.) Would the zoom be able to run these programs without issues?

Never played Warzone Earth, but I've not had a problem with Avadon locking up for me.

Still too expensive IMO. Tablet prices are quickly falling and this is an old spec model. This screen is terrible. Viewing angles quickly invert if you tilt it (no IPS).

I'd suggest either getting a Galaxy Tab 2 for $239 (Costco) or waiting on Google to release their tablets. If 7" isn't your thing than go for this deal but I still think its overpriced. The market is plunging in price.

I've had both and I have to say, the Xoom is way better than the iPad and that is why I gave the iPad away. If you want the name of just one thing with Android that makes it better, think Swype. I also have a Samsung Galaxy 10.1, and although it is lighter, I pick the Xoom every time.

zofer11 wrote:I also never froze or crashed pre icc either. Have you noticed a battery drain since it went to 4.0.3?

I haven't, but I do mostly keep it plugged in.

ictshocker wrote:Look into an called Sygic on Google market. Offline maps of the US are only $19.99. works well on my android phone and no cell or wifi needed (other than for the initial download of the offline maps).
They have a two week trial to let u see how it works. I have been impressed so far!

You can use Google Maps offline for free. Just load up the area you're interested in, tap, and choose to cache the map. If this doesn't work by default, you can turn it on in Settings/Labs.

I've never owned a tablet before.. does it only work with 'apps' or can I download things as well like from a cd.. or usb..