Portability:
Many have voiced their opinion on the Xoom, calling it too heavy and big. In my experience with the Xoom, it was just right. Carrying it in my laptop backpack next to my HP Dv4, the Xoom did not take too much room away from my books. It slid right in and while it’s not the thinnest Android tablet on the block, (I think the Galaxy Tab 10.1 takes the cake for that), it certainly isn’t too thick. Pulling out the Xoom for security check was not too hard, and did not require me to put much force into getting it from my already cramped backpack.
When I was walking, the device felt good. Although, it did in fact get heavy at the end of the trip, it mostly felt just right and the size of it was certainly not a problem for me considering I have pretty big hands.
While it’s slightly bigger than most, it is not to a point where it’s unusable, so the size is just right. But, this device will not and should not win the portability championship award.
Features:
This is really where the Xoom puts everything else in the dust, including the iPad. The Xoom has more features than I have room to list. Thanks to the new Honeycomb OS, Android is certainly not the weak point of this tablet as it was the case with the Galaxy Tab. Honeycomb has a host of new features over previously used Froyo. It even comes with support for the new Tegra II dual core processor on a tablet optimized UI.
Traveling with the Xoom made me love technology even more. Things I would have needed my laptop for could be done on the Xoom. I was browsing the web, creating a Wi-Fi hotspot for some iPad owners, taking pictures, playing games, listening to music and everything else that I could do while sitting there for 3 hours. The time there was noticeably shorter because I was distracted, and unlike the experience I had with the Galaxy Tab, the Xoom didn’t break a sweat going back and forth through all these running applications. That alone makes this a great buy.
Overall:
If you’ve been considering getting the Xoom for whatever reason, I’d say go for it. This tablet is nothing short of pure awesomeness, and while the price is a bit much, you’re not getting anything less than what you’d get if you paid for a phone in the same price range --which I do all the time. If you’re looking at getting a 3G model, Verizon is the best company for that. I say this because I was in Pensacola where T-mobile has almost no bars. Luckily for me, my phone can us Wi-Fi for reception and Verizon had great 3G coverage down there, which meant during the whole trip, my phone was tethered to the Xoom just to make calls and get SMS messages. For those of you that like standing out, this is what you want. I received countless views and question asking what this was and if it was better than the iPad, which of course my response was, yes.
With all that said, if the Xoom is just not for you, Verizon and others will most likely be getting the new Galaxy Tab 10.1 soon. So, if you have time to hold out, I’d wait for that, but this goes to show you that even with its size, the Motorola Xoom is always going to be a pleasure to travel with.
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