Last fall I dumped my iPhone 4 for a Droid X on Verizon. When a Motorola XOOM tablet showed up on my door step yesterday, I wondered if I’d be dumping yet another iOS device in favor one running Android. It’s a very sexy device and Honeycomb (Android 3.0) really appeals to my sweet tooth. I’ll have a full review by Monday, but until then, I thought I’d give you a little teaser. 
I only get to keep the XOOM till Monday, when I have to ship it back to Verizon. That doesn’t give me a whole lot of time to put it through its paces, but I’m going to try my best.
You all know I’ll be comparing the Motorola XOOM to the iPad… that’s a no brainer for sure.
Here we can see the iPad and XOOM to compare their size. The angle of this image doesn’t show that the XOOM is a little narrower than the iPad. The iPad is 9.56 x 7.47 x0.5 inches, while the XOOM is 9.80 x 6.61 x 0.51 inches. According to the specs there isn’t a huge difference in size. I think the XOOM’s thinner bezel tricks your eyes into thinking it is a lot smaller than it really is. As far as weight, the iPad weighs 25.6 ounces and the XOOM weighs 25.7 ounces. But to me, the XOOM feels noticeably heavier in hand. That said, I got those weight specs from the web, so maybe they are wrong. I’ll definitely compare the weight on my own digital scale for the full review.
Besides the physical attributes, the XOOM has a lot of things going for it if you’re trying to decide between it and an iPad. The XOOM’s 10.1-inch widescreen HD (1280×800) display is larger and has more resolution than the iPad’s 9.7-inch (1024×768) display. The XOOM also has a built in 5MP camera on the back in addition to 2MP camera on the front for video chat. You can also expand the XOOM with a microSD card. The iPad has none of those features at this time.
Do I sound like I’m already in love with the XOOM? I won’t deny it, but right now I think it’s just a crush because I’ve not really had enough quality time with it yet.
Since I won’t have a lot of time with this device, please let me know if you have any specific questions that you would like me to answer or any thing you would like me to test for the review.
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This question has been asked, with no answers, maybe because it is a no brainer. No picture has been shown with the xoom in portrait mode. Does it have that?
Will the Xoom run Java based programs. I understand the iPad will not. Thanks
crazy!
why compare xoom to the first gen iPad?
pathetic lol.
I thought I read somewhere that the iPad’s screen is brighter and higher contrast. Has that been your observation in casual use? Or is it a trivial difference you’d never notice unless you put them side by side?
I’d hate to get a Xoom only to think, “dang, this screen could look better”.
Jake, unless you have a 2nd gen iPad to offer Julie to review side by side…
It does look nice. But I think my next tablet that I’m getting would be Windows 7 or 8. I just can’t get used to spending so much money on apps that can’t give me the full 100% functionality of it compared to the Windows version of the programs. Honeycomb does look nice compared to the year old iPad iOS.
Please compare the user friendliness of both tabs.
Android phoneI’ve seen thus far (not many) don’t give the same ease of use as my iPhone.
How do these two pads compare ?
That’s my question.
Since getting a TMobile G2 (Android 2.2) phone my use of the iPad has dwindled and our Blackberries are in the closet. Android is a far more powerful and configurable OS than iOS. Every app I was using on the iPad and iPod Touch is available on Android (with the exception of Netflix which I watch through PlayOn) and, best of all, the browser supports Flash…web pages are no longer broken!
I’m waiting on the Xoom and some of the competitors to make a choice, but it won’t be long before the iPad is relegated to kiddie video viewing duty.
I am really interested in replacing my netbook with an ipad like device for my business. I want to know if you are able to plug a card reader into a usb port on the device and import pictures from the card into a specified folder. I can import pictures into an ipad, but i have to plug directly into the camera (I use compact flash) and it forces all pictures to go into a single folder. I need to be able to put pictures into folders by performance group. Thanks a lot for any info you can give me.
Julie–would you say the Xoom is Droid X like, or just Android. (IMHO one would have to know the Droid X to understand the question.)
Julie,
With my android phone when I’m typing with it in horizontal mode the application vanishes and I just get an input box. That’s a bit of a pain with IRC as you want to keep up with the conversation while you’re typing. With a large android tablet can you see the action on the application while you’re typing your own response?
Probably a daft question but how much is it?
Julie, Please test the Xoom outside and comment on any glare coming off the screen and the range of viewing angles. Thanks!
@Martin, many third party keyboards allow you to not “fill the screen” when in either landscape or portrait. Two that I know are like this are “Smart Keyboard Pro” and “Thumb Keyboard”.
Does the Xoom have”swype keyboard”? Or is there an app for that? Thanks, Rick
I picked up my Xoom last Thursday after returning my Samsung Galaxy Tab and I LOVE it.
Yeah, a few applications not optimized for the Xoom that I’ve downloaded have had a few hiccups, but for the most part this thing is awesome – fast and beautiful 🙂
Scooter,
The Xoom doesn’t have Flash yet…correct?
tablets are awkward — try a macbook air — changed everything
@jkk My iPad doesn’t see nearly as much use now that I have a Macbook Air, so I do agree with you to an extent.