51–60 of 91 posts
$800? And if you read the subtext of the picture carefully, it says, "To activate WiFi functionality on this device, a minimum of 1 month data subscription is required." My god, is it rude to just point and laugh?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
At the low end $20/month plan, assuming a two year contract, that's $1280 total. Yikes. The pricing psychology of the iPad starting at $500, then relatively small incremental updates that increase the size and give it 3G makes for a much easier sell. The Xoom does look like nice hardware - I just wonder if they'll sell enough of them to reach economies of scale and drive the price down.
After further reading, it appears that you only need to buy one month of Verizon service (no 2-year contract), so the total is $819. (Would have fixed the parent post but can't edit for some reason...)
I suppose now would be a bad time to mention Viewsonic's G-Tablet which has a Tegra 2 chip (just like the XOOM), a 10" display (not quite as nice as the XOOM's), and 16 gigs of RAM for a bit under $400? :-)
... and you have to purchase a data plan before you can use WiFi. The iPad is still the only tablet in the history of personal computing that makes any sense.
This seems pretty crazy, as the comparable iPad (16GB WiFi+3G) retails for $630. It will also be difficult to build up a large install base without a cheaper, wifi-only model. And while at the moment the Xoom has some features the iPad does not (cameras, for example) the inevitable release of a new iPad in a couple months will no doubt erase that advantage, at the same (or lower, per GB) price. I can't imagine what M…
Everybody is getting hung up on the price of this device, which I admit is high, but a comparison to the iPad's price is not fair. As stated below, the closest iPad is $730. Also the hardware is a generation and a half ahead of the iPad. The iPad doesn't even have a camera, very basic need for any kind of video conferencing (Xoom comes with 2). Please see the comparison chart [1] for more details. But yeah, having to…
This is the practical downside of being too cozy with carriers. A cheaper wifi-only model would be great for consumers but cuts the carriers out of the loop entirely. Probably the same reason there's no 'iPod Touch killer' out there yet. All these companies are in the business of selling equipment to carriers. What the consumer wants is a secondary consideration at best.
This is a huge frustration to me as a developer, I wish I could buy an iPod touch style android device.
i think a big question is how much is B&N losing on each nook color sale? 7 inch IPS panel with a decent processor. 10 inch tabets over $300 don't make any sense to me. archos 70 and 101 seem like the only sane products for the casual computing market that doesnt already have an ipad.
"incredibly chintzy feel [...] the 70 and 101 look and feel very cheap. Both are primarily made of black plastic [...] We just don't have much confidence in the longevity of the device [...] In hand, the materials feel far from solid, and even after wrapping it in a scarf, we worried about keeping it safe from bumps and bruises in our bag. [...] As you'd expect, the cheap make isn't limited to the surrounding parts of the tablet -- the plastic displays on the 70 and 101 suffer from the same issues. We weren't expecting Gorilla Glass quality here, but both of them are flimsy and when pressed firmly, they start to cave in quite a bit. [...] vertical viewing angles are incredibly bad. Tilting the screens slightly off axis to about 30-degrees caused a ton of color distortion, and if you happen to be standing above the displays while they are propped up on the kickstands, it's nearly impossible to see what is on screen. [...] The VGA cameras on both tablets are incredibly sluggish, and when we finally were able to snap some stills, they came out blurry and grainy. Similarly, when we shot some video, the footage was very choppy and the audio wasn't in sync with the video at all."
http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/24/archos-70-and-101-interne...
I really don't understand this at all. According to iSuppli[1], Apple pays $229.35 in parts and labor to make the low-end iPad. They develop their own operating system, buy incredible amounts of ads, and yet they still have massive profit margins selling iPads for $500. Meanwhile, Motorola and Samsung and other manufacturers get a free operating system and get cellphone carriers to give them a bunch of money to sell…
* 1 GB vs 256 MB RAM
* 1 GHz dual-core vs 1 GHz single-core processor
* 10.1" 1280×800 vs 9.7" 1024x768 display
* 2 cameras vs 0
* and a freakin' barometer?!
I suppose now would be a bad time to mention Viewsonic's G-Tablet which has a Tegra 2 chip (just like the XOOM), a 10" display (not quite as nice as the XOOM's), and 16 gigs of RAM for a bit under $400? :-)
The gTablet has a 1.3MP camera, the Xoom has a 5MP camera. The gTablet has a 1024x600 screen, the Xoom has a 1280x800 screen.
IMHO, the specs of the gTablet are more in line with the entry level iPad, not the Xoom.