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Motorola XOOM priced at $800

engadget.com

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Re: Motorola XOOM priced at $800

#81

Post by cleverjake »

jad wrote: post #40
cleverjake wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, it has 32 gigs of internal storage, so comparing it against the ipad with half the storage isn't quite apples to apples (no pun intended.) It would be more fair to compare it with the $730 32gb w/ 3g ipad. When you could that with a higher resolution screen, dual cameras, /and/ a built in barometer, Id say its a near even deal ( http://goo.gl/OYVrd for a full comparison chart). That being said - its still…

"When you could that with a higher resolution screen, dual cameras, /and/ a built in barometer, Id say its a near even deal" Remember though that the Xoom will spend most of its life competing against the second generation iPad, so most of these feature advantages are likely to vanish. Throw onto that the fact that judging from Apple's pricing history the next iPad will either have the same or a lower price, _and_ th…

very true. But I also guarantee that there will be price cuts almost right after release, much like the galaxy tab, let alone a few months after its release when the 2nd ipad is available.

Re: Motorola XOOM priced at $800

#82

Post by alnayyir »

cpeterso wrote: post #59
natnat wrote: post #13

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…

However, the Xoom has beefier (i.e. costlier) hardware than the iPad: * 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?! But how much will these hardware improvements affect Joe Consumer's purchasing decision when he wants read Facebook and play Angry Birds?

I bet the beefier processor and RAM are just to make android run better.

I have a T-Mobile G2, a rather recent and beefy phone and I mostly don't like using it. My iPad and older iPod Touch are much more pleasant to use.

Re: Motorola XOOM priced at $800

#83

Post by eftpotrm »

forgottenpaswrd wrote: post #80
eftpotrm wrote: post #72

Would someone care to explain why these things still cost double what an equivalent netbook with additional parts does?

Netbooks use way cheaper hard disks, instead of ssd. Netbooks don't have touchscreens. Netbooks don't have GPS, accelerometers, and gyros. Netbook don't have a battery that last 9 hours. If there is a netbook with this specs,witch they are, it is going to be as expensive as tablets. So, there is no "equivalent netbook" with half the price. Putting a pixel qi screen to my netbook cost me $275, a touchscreen $100 plus…

You certainly can get netbooks with 9h battery life. http://www.compuplus.com/ASUS-Eee-PC-1015PED-MU17-1166505.ht... for example.

GPS - when I can get a standalone satnav unit for $70 with its own processor, screen battery et al, that's hardly adding up to a huge extra cost. The accelerometer and gyro can be handled by a single relatively cheap chip from what I remember.

Netbooks also have keyboards, touchpads and extra interface parts such as USB and SVGA that tablets don't tend to have - not expensive components in themselves but extra parts to integrate into the design that aren't supplied with tablets. And, in a large number of cases, they come with a Windows license.

So, we're left with an SSD rather than HDD (retail, marginal cost about $70 for bigger drives than tablets use) and a touchscreen rather than a non-touchscreen (don't know the component suppliers for them to research it).

I still don't see why they're so much more expensive, beyond 'because we can' novelty value. The numbers simply don't stack up for me.

Re: Motorola XOOM priced at $800

#84

Post by ZeroGravitas »

philwelch wrote: post #67
mitchellhislop wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know that this wasn't your exact point, but apple does their own CPU's, IIRC. The A4 chips are the ARM arch. and are done in-house.

They're designed in-house, but Samsung manufactures them.

Though "designed" might give you the impression that they're materially different from the hummingbird based hardware that Samsung make for themselves and others when in reality the differences are slight and probably more like making a choice from a menu (e.g. selecting a different GPU) than stepping into the kitchen yourself.

Re: Motorola XOOM priced at $800

#85

Post by ZeroGravitas »

netcan wrote: post #45
dkarl wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think what we're seeing is that Apple always did compete on price. We just didn't know it until we saw competitors trying and failing to match their prices.

I'm not a hardware expert, but I don't think so. There are two ways to think about this: a- What would it cost to build a more or less exact hardware replica? b- What would it cost to build a decent substitute? I don't even think they were competing on price in the 'a' sense. But either way, 'b,' is, I think, the important one and Apple certainly weren't competing on price in that sense pre-iphone. You could always g…

You can get Tegra2 tablets running Android for half the price of the cheapest iPad for roughly the same techie mucking around effort as putting Linux on a netbook right now.

I personally wouldn't buy one till it was confirmed you'd be able to get Honeycomb on it, but they've been out there for a few months now, mostly held back by Google's lack of approval for shipping with the Android Market unless you're selling a phone. I believe that policy's about to change though.

Re: Motorola XOOM priced at $800

#86

Post by YooLi »

cpeterso wrote: post #59
natnat wrote: post #13

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…

However, the Xoom has beefier (i.e. costlier) hardware than the iPad: * 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?! But how much will these hardware improvements affect Joe Consumer's purchasing decision when he wants read Facebook and play Angry Birds?

You really don't think the iPad 2, which is right around the corner, will have comparable hardware and still cost about what it does today?

Re: Motorola XOOM priced at $800

#87

Post by flyosity »

forgottenpaswrd wrote: post #77
cpeterso wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

However, the Xoom has beefier (i.e. costlier) hardware than the iPad: * 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?! But how much will these hardware improvements affect Joe Consumer's purchasing decision when he wants read Facebook and play Angry Birds?

"*and a freakin' barometer?!" Wow, that makes it really interesting. The huge problem with GPS is height information. My GPS devices have commonly 10-15 m practical error in height on cities (urban canyon effect). This could be very interesting for tunnel inertial navigation as makes the inertial problem a 2d issue from 3d.

"Warning, there's a storm coming. You should probably put your $800 tablet in a bag so it doesn't get wet."

Re: Motorola XOOM priced at $800

#88

Post by YooLi »

kvdr wrote: post #24
necubi wrote: post #2

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…

Why a generation and a half ahead? Is it so that when the iPad 2 is released (in a couple months), one generation ahead of the first iPad, you'll say the Xoom is still 1/2 generation ahead of the iPad2?

Re: Motorola XOOM priced at $800

#89

Post by michaelbuckbee »

jrockway wrote: post #69
michaelbuckbee wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a huge frustration to me as a developer, I wish I could buy an iPod touch style android device.

Archos has an entire line, from 2" screens to 10" screens.

Thanks for the suggestion. The Archos 32 http://www.archos.com/products/ta/archos_32it/index.html?cou... seems like the closest to an android phone in terms of size.

Re: Motorola XOOM priced at $800

#90

Post by DennisP »

natnat wrote: post #13

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…

The iPad with comparable specs (3G, 32 gigs) is $729, has a smaller screen, and lacks cameras, not to mention barometer. Comparing to the 16gig iPad with only wifi isn't exactly fair. Apple happens to make a lower-end version, that's all, it's not inherently cheaper.
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