ivanivanovich wrote:You know you can jailbreak an iPad, right? (A 1, anyway - don't know whether they've cracked the 2 yet.) Then you can access other markets.

-- Ed

2 has been cracked and takes a total of about 8-10 seconds to jailbreak and is done entirely through safari.

otisjay wrote:do yourself a faver. Don't let any talk you out of a Iphone or a Android phone(s). They both work fine. whats better for you verys on your taste in the two (3 if you count Windows phone) mobile OS'

GL

Will do ... I'm not an Apple fan, but you've got to give them credit for the recent explosion of smart phones and tablets ... I'll make my own decision, but I like to hear about others' experiences ... I drive my wife crazy with the amount of research I do before buying something, and this will be no exception ;-)

If the Xoom is Wifi only, how does the GPS feature work if wifi is not available? Anybody know how it will see the satelites?

kamikazi02 wrote:? Does this model have the Sim Card Slot for 3G, If so where is it located?

No it does not. This is the Wi-Fi Model. The 3G model is the only XOOM with a cellular module.

wonders about cost of data plans.

If even possible, how does one run Office on the Xoom? Mainly Word, Excel, and PPT. I bought Office for XP on disk, and I have an external DVD drive.

Would it be possible to hook a monitor up to this?

dtaylor77 wrote:wonders about cost of data plans.

Data plans are free... since this is only Wi-Fi. Sheesh.

GMoney007 wrote:If the Xoom is Wifi only, how does the GPS feature work if wifi is not available? Anybody know how it will see the satelites?

same way your cars gps works even though it doesn't have wifi.

otisjay wrote:whats better for you verys on your taste in the two (3 if you count Windows phone) mobile OS'

GL

True, true, true!

Plus HP's webOS. Oh, and the probably dead-end MeeGo. And ... Linux itself on the Asus Eee Note EA800.

Plenty of choices! (Hmmm. Except that, other than Windoze, they all derive from unix...!)

-- Ed

kittykatty wrote:If even possible, how does one run Office on the Xoom? Mainly Word, Excel, and PPT. I bought Office for XP on disk, and I have an external DVD drive.

It is not possible to run MS Office on an Android device. However, there are several alternatives that allow you to open and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. A free option is Google Docs. There is also Quickoffice Pro HD for Honeycomb which is a more professional, pay ($20)alternative.

Another alternative would be to use a remote desktop solution to connect to your computer running Office. However, I would say for most users Quickoffice is a sufficient MS Office replacement.

kittykatty wrote:If even possible, how does one run Office on the Xoom? Mainly Word, Excel, and PPT. I bought Office for XP on disk, and I have an external DVD drive.

i dont know if there is a version of the microsoft office suite for android but i'm sure there is some app(probably many) that lets you create and edit office files.

GMoney007 wrote:If the Xoom is Wifi only, how does the GPS feature work if wifi is not available? Anybody know how it will see the satelites?

WiFi has nothing to do with the GPS function itself.

You may be thinking about the map apps, many of which require a connection to the internet. There was a post a few pages ago saying that there are Android GPS apps which include the maps, which would make this a stand-alone navigational GPS unit. The only downside is that those apps are gigantic (1-1.5GB).

lava9611 wrote:It is not possible to run MS Office on an Android device. However, there are several alternatives that allow you to open and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. A free option is Google Docs. There is also Quickoffice Pro HD for Honeycomb which is a more professional, pay ($20)alternative.

Another alternative would be to use a remote desktop solution to connect to your computer running Office. However, I would say for most users Quickoffice is a sufficient MS Office replacement.

Thanks much! That answers my question!

dtaylor77 wrote:wonders about cost of data plans.

There are no data plans. You get those from cell-phone providers who sell you voice + data. The xoom has no cell phone - you can't get a plan from AT&T or Verizon or Sprint or....

The only exception is if you pay a company like T-Mobile for a hotspot plan that gives you access to wi-fi only in places like airport lounges.

-- Ed

Does anyone have comments about using the touchscreen keyboard for, say, typing emails?

After yesterday's price increase announcement by Netflix, does anyone still care whether it runs on Android or not? I'm sure RedBox appreciates the customer bump.

BTW, cool tablet.

will this pick my crops?? my lovely pink IPAD2 won't...

chardonay wrote:will this pick my crops?? my lovely pink IPAD2 won't...

I think John Deere has an Android app for a few of their harvesters ... not sure about iOS ...

GMoney007 wrote:If the Xoom is Wifi only, how does the GPS feature work if wifi is not available? Anybody know how it will see the satelites?

Mmmyeah, see, GPS is a separate radio service (and circuit in the device) from cell, wi-fi, AM, FM, TV....

However ... A-GPS (Assisted GPS) uses additional resources to improve GPS performance. Wi-fi should be able to help there, and a cellular data connection could help if the device had it (but it doesn't).

-- Ed

chardonay wrote:will this pick my crops?? my lovely pink IPAD2 won't...

You mean your Farmville crops, right?

theimmc wrote:GPS is independent of wifi or cell signals. It calculates your position from tiny differences in their clocks. No subscription required. Your tax dollars at work.

But in order to use GPS for driving you have to DL the maps for the route via Wi-Fi BEFORE you start your trip. Since there's no 3G or 4G connection you won't be able to load maps on-the-fly. Google Maps recently updated to allow map storage on the mobile device, but it has limits- you're not going to replace a GPS device with maps of the entire US with this device.

kittykatty wrote:You mean your Farmville crops, right?

LOL yes! But I didn't want to sound even nerdier mentioning facebook games

Alright guys, heres the deal, Yes this device is great, yes it has some features iPad doesn't have, No I would not get it. iPad may lack some features, but what you in return is a truly remarkable item. With the new release of iOS 5, we will see many great features coming to the iPad. The iPad fits better in the hand too. Its light-weight design allows you to hold it for long periods of time. Plus the iPad has the App Store. THe iPad alone has more 100,000 apps SPECIFICLY for the iPad, plus, over 300,000 apps that can still used on iPad. How many apps does Android have???? About 70,000 TOTAL! So if you want to get stuck with this device, be my guess, or just put in a little more money and buy an Apple.

Bootes wrote:I don't believe in ad blockers either. Those ads support the websites whose content you're viewing.

Unless you actually click on the ad, the site is receiving little or nothing for their presence. I have never, ever, ever clicked on an ad on a site, at least not on purpose (and accidental clicks are mostly what these site owners are praying for).

allhighruler wrote:Alright guys, heres the deal, Yes this device is great, yes it has some features iPad doesn't have, No I would not get it. iPad may lack some features, but what you in return is a truly remarkable item. With the new release of iOS 5, we will see many great features coming to the iPad. The iPad fits better in the hand too. Its light-weight design allows you to hold it for long periods of time. Plus the iPad has the App Store. THe iPad alone has more 100,000 apps SPECIFICLY for the iPad, plus, over 300,000 apps that can still used on iPad. How many apps does Android have???? About 70,000 TOTAL! So if you want to get stuck with this device, be my guess, or just put in a little more money and buy an Apple.

I like USB ports and viewing Flash websites and being able to hook my computer up to the tv with a mere cable. The Xoom is only 1.6 lbs and costs a lot less than the current iCrap. I do love iPods though. My iPod kicks my HTC Incredible's ass any day. But then again, my iPod isn't a phone.

tdurden wrote:But in order to use GPS for driving you have to DL the maps for the route via Wi-Fi BEFORE you start your trip. Since there's no 3G or 4G connection you won't be able to load maps on-the-fly. Google Maps recently updated to allow map storage on the mobile device, but it has limits- you're not going to replace a GPS device with maps of the entire US with this device.

Not correct ... as I have learned here in the past few hours, there are Android apps that include the maps of the entire US (or Canada, or Europe, etc.).

allhighruler wrote:[snip] How many apps does Android have???? About 70,000 TOTAL! [snip]

Oh ... well ... if there are only 70,000 apps ... dang ... what the heck are we all doing here?

How could anyone get "stuck" with the xoom? It has an android-based OS right? So that means it can be upgraded or rooted.

Why mention that 300,000 apps are available on the ipad when a lot of those apps are multiple versions of some kind of useless talking animal app?

Never mention number of apps as a good reason for buying an apple product.

GMoney007 wrote:If the Xoom is Wifi only, how does the GPS feature work if wifi is not available? Anybody know how it will see the satelites?

I do not have data services but always can use it as a big screen, high-end GPS device locally.

Thank for Google app, it caches a small portions of map when you connected with WiFI. So when you take it without connection, it still works for a certain range (40 miles?)

Unfortunately, if you travel long distance, it lost the details of small roads unless you update with wifi connected frequently.

Boweevil wrote:what do you need flash for? everything runs on HTML5 now

Everything?

jimqjp wrote:I do not have data services but always can use it as a big screen, high-end GPS device locally.

Thank for Google app, it caches a small portions of map when you connected with WiFI. So when you take it without connection, it still works for a certain range (40 miles?)

Unfortunately, if you travel long distance, it lost the details of small roads unless you update with wifi connected frequently.

Tether from your cell phone. Not a big deal.. Although the LTE version would be nice.

darkinc wrote:Hows the GPS on this thing? In terms of driving down the road and using it as a GPS device.

It's great! But, you'll need to either tether it to your phone, or get a GPS app like co-pilot. I use co-pilot so I'm not dependent on a connection for directions.

My 3G Xoom loves me. I have had no problems with it.

NONE!

Also if you must have a GPS you can add a puck or like device to the Wi-Fi version.

Anyone use it to view pictures or files in a SD card, or big USB keyboard?

Someone mentioned that ZOOM hw supports both master and slave mode of USB, so it potentially can be used as universal USB port as a PC does.

MichaelSF wrote:Well I bought the Xoom last week, it had the slip of paper that said it did NOT play flash files.

I went to Conan O'Brian's site that plays episodes in Flash format. Did NOT play.

I updated OTA to Honeycomb 3.1, went to Conan's site again, would NOT play Flash files.

What I heard was that the machine would have to be sent in to get the 4G and Flash upgrade.

I did not keep up on it, so maybe Motorola came out with a software solution for Flash, but it was NOT on the 3.1 update.

Sounds like you may have not do your research. I think that you may have been destined to be dissatisfied with your purchase. Did you have to pay a restocking or return fee?

I have owned mine since April and I have been concerned with the 3G to 4G upgrade. I had been thinking that 5G would be out before I got it but Verizon announced that the FCC has approved the radio and we are just waiting on Motorola.

As it was already stated the SD slot is operational for many and will be for all soon with the update that was delivered yesterday.

dtaylor77 wrote:wonders about cost of data plans.

No data plan with the WiFi only

kittykatty wrote:Does anyone have comments about using the touchscreen keyboard for, say, typing emails?

That is one negative I found out of the box. But, it depends on how you use it. If you are not going to be laying it on a flat surface to type using your thumbs on the standard keyboard doesn't work very well (for me at least).

But, because this is Android, I found an app to replace the standard keyboard that I absolutely love called Thumb Keyboard. In addition to replacing the existing keyboard, it allows you to store frequent used words (think usernames and email addresses for instance). It is what the stock Honeycomb keyboard should be (IMHO).

BTW, great question! It is one I wish I would have asked before I bought a tablet.

The specs say that Flash will work.
So I expect that.....or should I not?

lava9611 wrote:That is one negative I found out of the box. But, it depends on how you use it. If you are not going to be laying it on a flat surface to type using your thumbs on the standard keyboard doesn't work very well (for me at least).

But, because this is Android, I found an app to replace the standard keyboard that I absolutely love called Thumb Keyboard. In addition to replacing the existing keyboard, it allows you to store frequent used words (think usernames and email addresses for instance). It is what the stock Honeycomb keyboard should be (IMHO).

BTW, great question! It is one I wish I would have asked before I bought a tablet.

So if it's tilted, it works ok? How about plugging in a standalone keyboard, will that be possible?

I type eleventy-billion times faster than I write, so this would be so useful to take to meetings where I can type detailed notes instead of writing down the bare minimum. But only if the touchscreen keyboard would be sufficient.