So does anybody have a Xoom yet?

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

I'm thinking about getting a tablet and wondering whether the xoom would be better than the Ipad.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Do you have any idea when the 4G upgrade is due? I will probably wait until it comes installed instead of having to send it off.

[KKing]

I replaced an iTouch with my Streak. You can get the unlocked Streak 5 for less than $500 and I really like being able to plug into any USB port to transfer files.

iTunes is the debbil!

[AFreeBird]

Just released the iPad 2. Damn near cut it’s thickness in half, added forward and rear cameras, Verizon and At&T, dropped almost half a pound of weight, 1.2 GHz dual core A5 and 9x the graphics, (HDMI mirrored video out at 1080p - with an adapter) and kept the same 10 battery life for continuous use.

Same pricing as iPad 1.

Musicians are gonna love the new software available 8 track recording and editing for $4.99. As will video geeks.

[AFreeBird]

iOS 4.3 will have wireless sync.

[tnlibertarian]

with a static, nonmoving screen!

If the screen's staticky, you need to adjust the rabbit ears to get a better signal.

[KKing]

Not sure if Vinnie feels the same way... here are my thoughts. Keep in mind I’m on the road 4 months out of the year and those travels include Iraq and Afghanistan.

Usability - For quick email and WiFi I get 8-10 hours on a tablet (slap a second spare battery in and that doubles) compared to 4-8 hours of a laptop.

Weight - less than a pound vs 4 pounds (more with a 2nd laptop battery and charger)

Apps - On the road, I like the tablet when I’m more likely to be in review mode. Later on in a hotel or tent, the laptop wins when it comes to preparing a presentation.

It really is about what you as a user do. I bring both a laptop and tablet on trips and find I use both pretty much equally.

[KKing]

So what?

I’m not going to get into a MP3/RIAA debate here but after paying for the cassette, album (and another Japanese remastered version), and DvD of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon... I’m sure as hell not going to pay Apple anything to put any of those tracks on a device I own.

I don’t like proprietary systems.

[AFreeBird]

Gee, I’ve ripped all my old CD’s into, and with, iTunes, and they reside on my iDevices. If I ever get around to setting up a turntable again, i’ll do the same for my albums. But w/out the CDDB, it’s gonna be a pain in the @$$.

As for DVD’s, I have seen a software app, that will rip your DVD’s into an iDevice format. Newer Blue-Ray DVD’s come with a data disk of the movie so no ripping is required. Plug it into your Mac and iTunes imports it.

[B-Cause]

Had the iTouch as well, but screen was way too small for my old eyes and fat fingers.

The Tab lets you access it via a USB port as well.

Watched a video of the iPad2 intro today by Steve Jobs. Poor man really looks so skeletal. Don’t think he’ll pull out of his cancer. Poor man.

[Echo4C]

From what I understand it’s supposed to be a few months. I live in an area with 4G coverage, so I’d like it, but 3G is fine for now. My biggest beef is the as-yet unfunctioning MicroSD port.

[Ted Grant]

Not a Xoom, but I love Android so I was eager to get on the early Android tablets. I liked the Galaxy Tab, especially the 7” screen, perfect for reading ebooks and web pages. But it was just too expensive for my taste.

I did some looking around and found the Archos 70, which admittedly isn’t that impressive out of the box, but if you’re comfy configuring it and customizing it (so that it has access to Android Market, etc), it’s excellent and priced at a very fair $300 or so.

I just use mine at home so I don’t need or want the added expense of data contracts, so it was just right for me.

The thing is, right now it is running Android 2.2, which isn’t optimized for tablets, and it probably won’t get an Android 3.0 upgrade, though the next generation of Archos machines will probably come with 3.0.

So it depends on what you want to use it for. I use mine for quick web browsing, checking emails, reading ebooks and pdfs, listening to radio stations via the internet, listening to audio books checked out at my library, and listening to podcasts. It does the trick at a fair price.

All of that stuff isn’t worth $600 or more, or a data contract.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

So how’s the Xoom doing now that you got a little time on it?

[Echo4C]

Honestly, I’m quite pleased with it. It really doesn’t feel like a larger-screen phone (I have a Droid X also), it feels more like a small computer. Most of the stuff I find in the Android Market for phones works well, some of it doesn’t.

Don’t listen to the fools that say it only has XXX apps so far, much of the stuff written for phones works perfectly. For instance, two of the things I was most concerned about, Sling Player and my remote desktop client, both run great. And the fact that it supports my VPN allows me to RDP into the servers at work.

Typing is taking a little getting used to, especially since I type 90+ WAM on a keyboard, but it’s not that bad. Bought a keyboard made for thumb typing in the market and I’m getting the hang of it.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Thanks, I think I’m going to go ahead and get one. I didn’t see anything with the Ipad 2 to make me think it was way better and I think the Xoom has a lot of potential. The 3g to 4g upgrade would be nice to not have to send it back but I’m not expecting 4g here for a couple of years.