So in my last week at Currys I managed to get some hands on time with a Motorola Xoom from the extremely pretty Moto rep. Not only was she very beautiful but she also had a good working knowledge of Android... Almost a dream come true for me. But I thought seeing as I'd had an early preview I would share my thoughts with you guys prior to it's launch in DSG stores hopefully on April 9th. My initial impression is that nearly every aspect of this device competes very strongly with the iPad, and in many cases betters it.
For example, browsing uses a proper Chrome based browser with proper tabbed browsing. It also syncs perfectly if you (like many) use Chrome to browse on your home PC. The tabbed browsing is reminiscent to the desktop counterpart and is nice to see full integration of such a browser which makes a seamless transition from different sites a breeze. There are no compatibility issues to support multitasking because Android was built from the ground up with multitasking in mind and you’ll notice multitasking is handled much better on Honeycomb than any other tablet platform at the moment with a seamless transition between open apps with an aesthetically pleasing manner.
The “desktop” UI is absolutely fantastic with a great bunch of widgets to suck in all the social integration you’d ever need, much more appealing than a few pages of what is becoming a stale and a oversimplistic app icon interface....Apple.
There are a really good quality bunch of games coming out specifically built for the Tegra 2 processing platform such as Monster Madness, Dungeon Defenders and many more. At the moment the market is still adapting to its tablet front and whilst the market itself is taking advantage of the extra screen estate app compatibility is still minimal at this point. I suspect as more Honeycomb tablets hit (such as those from LG and Samsung) the amount of 'HD' apps will boom. Android Market has been specifically reworked to look and feel great on a tablet. It is much more like the web-based version of Market which makes browsing for games or specific apps much easier.
The screen resolution is great, and has a much better aspect ratio than the iPad at 1280 x 800, making it far superior for watching films, but also giving a crisper image than the archaic 4:3 iPad ratio.
Everything was silky smooth and even the rear camera impressed, with the front being more than decent enough for Skype or similar for video calling and surprisingly good considering it isn’t a device designed for taking photography – its resolution isn’t restricted to that of the iPad 2 where ‘HD’ masks its 0.7MP rear camera which are far less usable in terms of overall quality
Sound was also pretty good from the well positioned stereo speakers. The overall build quality felt great, Not as weighty as the original iPad, but more solid feeling than the iPad 2 with a nice rubberised back. The stereo speakers makes this a great audio companion with options for equaliser settings, though the aluminium premium quality of the iPad looks and feels more premium, the matter rubberised material on the Xoom keeps it practical
I will be seriously interested in buying one of these myself, but may wait for the Samsung and LG 8.9″ variants of Honeycomb tablets to make it to market before I make my decision on which form factor is more suitable in size.
Ben
p.s. When will this forum be renamed "Mobile Devices" to put it in line with the new area of Hexus and to cover a broader spectrum of smartphones and tablets!?


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