Don't worry. Wait a couple of weeks after release. There will be a buy 1, get 1 free promo. Just lke any other motorolla droid products. 
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Motorola Xoom up for pre-order at Best Buy this Thursday... for $1,199!
- Thread starter JayDH
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Thats just you and doesn't mean its the same for others. For me 16GB is sufficient.
Let's assume that the $1,199 price is indeed a "placeholder" - and that the Xoom is actually going to sell for $799.
That still bodes pretty badly for the first, and much anticipated, Honeycomb tablet. Eight hundred dollars at Best Buy is going to have a tough time competing against an iPad which starts at $500 at the Apple Store.
I know its hard for many tech-heads to understand this, but most consumers really couldn't care less about Flash. They care even less about "open-source" software. And while 3G is nice in theory, the fact of the matter is that most tablets rarely leave the house, or confines of a convenient wifi zone. And the LAST thing most consumers are interested in doing is signing up for another $30 a month recurring expense.
If you are going to spend $800 for a device, and you really want something with wide-open capabilities - most people would be better off spending a little more money and buying a laptop.
Two things are becoming very clear:
1) Apple has established a lock on component supplies and manufacturing capability that virtually every competitor in the Tablet marketspace is simply NOT GOING to be able to undercut. That's the advantage they get for being the market leader - and for being (aside from HP) the only "integrated" (ie. making both the hardware AND software) tablet manufacturer.
2) The $500-$700 price point is the sweet spot. Anything less than that, and you end up with a device whose capabilities (7" screen anyone?) and/or build quality are so poor that consumers will turn their nose up at it. And at $800 and up - the Tablet's advantages over a laptop become increasingly hard to justify.
At this point, I'd say Apple was far more likely to face competition in the Tablet marketspace from HP's TouchPad, than from any Android-powered device.
That still bodes pretty badly for the first, and much anticipated, Honeycomb tablet. Eight hundred dollars at Best Buy is going to have a tough time competing against an iPad which starts at $500 at the Apple Store.
I know its hard for many tech-heads to understand this, but most consumers really couldn't care less about Flash. They care even less about "open-source" software. And while 3G is nice in theory, the fact of the matter is that most tablets rarely leave the house, or confines of a convenient wifi zone. And the LAST thing most consumers are interested in doing is signing up for another $30 a month recurring expense.
If you are going to spend $800 for a device, and you really want something with wide-open capabilities - most people would be better off spending a little more money and buying a laptop.
Two things are becoming very clear:
1) Apple has established a lock on component supplies and manufacturing capability that virtually every competitor in the Tablet marketspace is simply NOT GOING to be able to undercut. That's the advantage they get for being the market leader - and for being (aside from HP) the only "integrated" (ie. making both the hardware AND software) tablet manufacturer.
2) The $500-$700 price point is the sweet spot. Anything less than that, and you end up with a device whose capabilities (7" screen anyone?) and/or build quality are so poor that consumers will turn their nose up at it. And at $800 and up - the Tablet's advantages over a laptop become increasingly hard to justify.
At this point, I'd say Apple was far more likely to face competition in the Tablet marketspace from HP's TouchPad, than from any Android-powered device.
And it has many more things than the iPad. Just sayin. We'll know more when the iPad 2 is released and see where there prices are at. And what they offer.
Well, that is a bit stupid, isn't it? If it is just a placeholder, then they should have picked a price like $9,999, not $1,199 which is just too close to a realistic price to start damaging rumors.
Exactly what I came here to say. That price is too close to "retail" to not be correct. Odds are it's the unsubsidized price.
Wow, I was curious what else you could get for $800. Look at this http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-15/pd.aspx. Tablet or gaming laptop... hmmmmm.
Good luck Moto. If anything this will be like the Galaxy tab pricing. I just saw a commercial for the Tab for $250, I have a feeling thats with some sort of commitment but still like half of what they started at...
FYI I do own an iPad. Wouldn't leave home without it =)
Good luck Moto. If anything this will be like the Galaxy tab pricing. I just saw a commercial for the Tab for $250, I have a feeling thats with some sort of commitment but still like half of what they started at...
FYI I do own an iPad. Wouldn't leave home without it =)
I think people are missing the point. Motorola isn't going after the entry level consumers. At $800, it's the high end for a tablet. To me it seems like a "test" product to see the demand for it or maybe with the components they have, this is the only segment they can go after that will be profitable. Either way, I lost interest after after watching the demo for the HP tablet. Motorola should be going after a wider demographic like Apple.
I know what you mean.
However, perhaps it helps if you look at this another way.
Apple is one company that tries to cover as many bases as it can in one go.
Android based tablets don't have this problem as there are many different manufacturers who can add or take away the "Extra's" to the basic spec to position themselves in the tablet price world.
Some makes will go all out to cut prices, very low end camera's very cheap thin plastic case, touch screen not that great, poor speaker, poor battery, but it will work, and be at a price point that some can only afford.
Other makes may go mid range, whilst other brands go high end, with extra memory, higher megapixel camera's, better batteries etc etc.
But if they are all running Honeycomb and can access the same apps.
This does give the format an advantage.
Of course, we are still guessing and it's going to take some time before we see how it's looks like panning out in reality.
As I've said before, I think it's going to be a couple of years (mid 2013) till we have a pretty good picture of the tablet world and how different formats are doing in reality.
That's my biggest issue with Android Tablets. All those inferior tablets being released dilute the brand. They don't have low end to high end. It goes below that for many of these Android tablets. Apple has a low end tablet to high end, if you purchase the 3G/GPS for the $129 premium and varies depending on capacity. The quality is the same aside from that.
I do know & understand what you mean.
But like PC Laptops that are at the bottom end of the market, there are many millions of people who just don't have the spare money to spend on the best quality devices out there.
Otherwise we'd all buy top end TV's, HiFi's, and 27" iMacs, not forgetting Mercedes, Porsche, Ferarri etc cars.
Many people / Most people would like to buy these things but have to settle for something they can afford. We don't all work in high end IT jobs.
Asus are generally good at producing reasonable devices for the budget consumer, of course they do also cater for the upper ends also.
At the end of the day, you buy what you can afford, and no matter what anyone here thinks, it's always good if you have products that can "do the job" at a price point that almost everyone can afford.
Sure they may not be a nice as the models you want or are interested in, but there needs to be such devices for sale.
Current Apple 3G 32GB iPad $729
Proposed price for the 3G 32GB Motorola Xoom - $799
Two high megapixel cameras and a Flash on the rear.
1GB of Ram
Larger, higher resolution screen
Dual core CPU and faster GPU
HDMI Out and Micro SD slot
Gyro and I think Barometer
Plays Adobe Flash
Supports more video formats as standard
A more advanced brand new user interface
etc etc.......
Is all of the above not worth $70 more?
Seems like a superb bargain to me to get all that extra for only 70 dollars more than the current iPad.
They better get their pricing right, and fast before iPad2 is announced.
Who cares about specs.. iOS and iOS Apps are what makes the iPad the best device in this category.
Who cares about specs.. iOS and iOS Apps are what makes the iPad the best device in this category.
There was no mention of storage space at the 800 dollar price point for Motorola Xoom.
You re comparing two products that are nearly a year apart in terms of release date. That's like saying my 1 year old child is soo much smarter than your new-born.... yea of course he is- he's had a year to develop. Wait till iPad 2 comes out and try again.
I suspect that most consumers will come to a different conclusion.
To start with, you are comparing the Xoom, price wise, with the top of the line iPad. Apple's own data suggests that most buyers aren't going for the max capacity 3G model. Xoom may come out with a wifi only version, but I suspect that, absent the carrier subsidy, the price differential will be greater still.
Secondly, the uses of a camera on a tablet are greatly overrated. I think most consumers are smart enough to know it's not very likely they are going to be holding up a ten inch tablet to take pictures.
Ditto for Flash. With YouTube, TED, and most TV channels providing iPad-compatible video, the number of "gee I can't see this on my iPad" moments is small, and getting smaller. And that's ignoring the well-known downsides to Flash.
You are also overlooking the App universe Apple commands. There is NO Android app for Netflix, and it may be a long time before Android deals with the CRM issues that keep that sort of content off limits. There are literally thousands of Apps that run great on the iPad. There are a handful that run on Honeycomb.
Then there is the iTunes factor. Hundreds of millions of people have a library of iTunes song, movies, etc. Getting this material on and off an Android device is, while technically possible, more complicated than most consumers want to deal with. An iPad can stream iTunes material from a PC, and between an AppleTV or other iOS devices in a way no Android device can.
Lastly there is the retail situation. Apple's retail stores are the class of the industry. People can try out, and get education and support for their iPad in a way that Best Buy is just not going to provide. If you are going to plunk down several hundred dollars for a new class of device, I think most consumers are going to want to know what they are getting.
Just a note that Netflix says they're working with manufacturers to get DRM support, and expect an Android player for those early this year.
You mean only a handful yet that use Honeycomb's new features, same as with the iPad at first.
Almost all current Android apps run fine as-is, without having to be small or use pixel-doubling.
This really isn't going to be decided here. This is a geek forum, by geeks, for geeks.
As my mom said at the Xoom superbowl ad, "is that the new iPad?"
Nobody cares about flash. Nobody will care about the camera. Nobody knows what a xoom is. Nobody but us geeks.
In a few weeks a new iPad will be announced, and the talk won't be about the cpu, or flash, or the megapixels of a camera. It will be about how much they like [fill in the blank] on the new iPad. The name is portable computing. Apple has already crushed the competition, before the fight started.
Showing up with flash in an overpriced model using an OS that (while nice i admit) is only 90% of the way there is not enough. You can't show up to the race track ready to run on friday for a race that was over tuesday, in the papers wednesday, and already old news thursday.
Good luck moto.
As my mom said at the Xoom superbowl ad, "is that the new iPad?"
Nobody cares about flash. Nobody will care about the camera. Nobody knows what a xoom is. Nobody but us geeks.
In a few weeks a new iPad will be announced, and the talk won't be about the cpu, or flash, or the megapixels of a camera. It will be about how much they like [fill in the blank] on the new iPad. The name is portable computing. Apple has already crushed the competition, before the fight started.
Showing up with flash in an overpriced model using an OS that (while nice i admit) is only 90% of the way there is not enough. You can't show up to the race track ready to run on friday for a race that was over tuesday, in the papers wednesday, and already old news thursday.
Good luck moto.
Microsoft beat the Playstation and that was unthinkable.
A games console WAS a Playstation. All kids wanted was Playstation. It was THE brand for years and years, THE cool brand that everyone wanted.
In the same was a mp3 player, is an iPod a games console was a Playstation.
Yet, amazingly, the unthinkable happened, and with only 2 models, Microsoft beat the Playstation as the console to have.
The seemingly unthinkable can happen, esp if a leading company gets to arrogant and over confident and competitors offer the customer more.
Not saying it wall happen, but it can happen.
Only in the future will be able to look back to now and see the mistakes either side will make.