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Topic: Mobility

Why I'm not paying $700 for the Motorola XOOM

Summary: Word is leaking that the Motorola XOOM will be available in Best Buy for $699, and at that price I'm not going to get one. Here's why.

James Kendrick

By for Mobile News |

The Motorola XOOM was a darling of attendees at this month's CES, even rating the best of show by some following things closely. But as is usually the case with hot new gadgets, the devil is in the details, not the least of which is how much will it cost? Word is leaking that the XOOM will be available in Best Buy for $699, and at that price I'm not going to get one.

I have the rare advantage of having real hands-on time with the Motorola XOOM, as evidenced in a brief video. The video is much too short, having been shut down by the Verizon ninjas who realized the Galaxy Tab in my hands was a 7-inch viewfinder for the video I was recording (admittedly illicitly). My time with the XOOM left me notably impressed, but not enough to pay that hefty a price for one of my own.

The build quality of the XOOM felt good, and the non-slippery coating of the device felt nice in the hand. The Honeycomb user interface is not only well-designed for the larger display of the tablet, it is actually fun to use. Everything about the XOOM speaks quality and innovation.

So why am I unwilling to pay $700 for one? Two reasons: size and value. While the 10.1-inch display of the XOOM is good for many things, I prefer a smaller (7-inch) display to make the device more portable. I carry the Galaxy Tab around most everywhere, but wouldn't do that with the larger XOOM. That leads me to the value situation, if I can't carry the device around most of the time, I'm not going to get enough use out of it to justify paying the price. I justified the $400 I paid for the Tab, but at almost double that the XOOM doesn't present enough of a value proposition to get my money.

I realize this is a purely personal reaction to the XOOM, and that many folks will get plenty of value out of it at that price. I also freely admit that due to my addiction to gadgets of all types, I am subject to change my mind about the XOOM at a future time.

Topic: Mobility

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  • RE: Why I'm not paying $700 for the Motorola XOOM

    where did you get the tab for $400???
    tatiGmail
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Why I'm not paying $700 for the Motorola XOOM

      @tatiGmail Subsidized at Sprint.
      JamesKendrick
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Why I'm not paying $700 for the Motorola XOOM

        @JamesKendrick Yeah, but the $700 Xoom price is unsubsidized. If Xoom is subsidized the price would come down as well. Or Am I mistaken?

        But yeah, the biggest feature of my Galaxy Tab is the size. I can put it in my jacket and off I go.
        tatiGmail
        Reply Vote

      • tatiGmail: the basic iPad sells for $499. You need a basic model under $400

        if you are to gain any traction against iPad.
        DonnieBoy
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Why I'm not paying $700 for the Motorola XOOM

        @JamesKendrick And what makes you think that the XOOM will not be subsidized?
        cbstryker
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Why I'm not paying $700 for the Motorola XOOM

        @JamesKendrick I didn't say the XOOM will not be subsidized.
        JamesKendrick
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Why I'm not paying $700 for the Motorola XOOM

        @JamesKendrick XOOM will probably be between $300 and $400 subsidized at Verizon. $699 is the unsubsidized price without a contract.

        That said, they will release a cheaper Wi-Fi only later in April (probably close to the iPad 2 launch just to steal some more spotlight).
        BioNerd
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Why I'm not paying $700 for the Motorola XOOM

        @JamesKendrick

        So basically what you're saying, you rather pay more in the long-run for a Galaxy Tab (Sprint subsidy), than buying the unsubsidized Xoom? I think the Xoom is too expensive also but there's something very wrong with that argument.
        dave95.
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Why I'm not paying $700 for the Motorola XOOM

      @tatiGmail

      Tab is already old-tech. I sold mine brand new in the box for 440 and I never even cracked the seal after hearing that Honeycomb will *not* run on anything but dual-core devices. I didn't make any money on the sale, but I didn't lose any either and I didn't get mine on contract. I believe Sprint actually dropped the contract price to 299 recently.

      That said, I agree completely with James on the size quotient. I find the Tab's 7 inch size to be just right and I look forward to the first dual core Tablets at the 7 inch form factor. If iPad gets there first, I'll just buy that instead.
      Playdrv4me
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Why I'm not paying $700 for the Motorola XOOM

        @Playdrv4me Not true about Honeycomb requiring dual core chip. I also agree about the 7" form factor being more portable. Dell demoed the 7" Streak running a dual core chip at CES that will be out in February.

        BTW, Apple will not come out with a 7" iPad. Jobs is adamantly against that size. He has said that publicly more than once. He might have a point when it comes to the iPad because it comes in a 4:3 form factor which at 7" would not be good for a number of reasons. Apple's future iPad should come in a 16:9 form factor but I don't think it will. Again, because of Jobs stubbornness.
        mrxxxman
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Why I'm not paying $700 for the Motorola XOOM

      @tatiGmail
      Better question yet why would you pay $400 let alone $700 for any tablet lol? Anything over $199.99 and you should wear "I'm a Sucker" sticker on your head. No tablet shown or released is worth that money for as little as it does as smartphones do more and cost less. if you want more you buy a laptop for third the cost with 10 times the ability
      Fletchguy
      Reply Vote

      • any kind of tablet must not cost more than 200.

        250 for a top of the line.

        If you pay anything beyond this, you are loosing money.

        I shall not pay 700 for something that will cost 300 or less a year from now. Thats juts throwing money away.

        Apple has gotten its fan base to get used to wasting their dollars.. making Apple richer.

        Guess the rest want a piece of the action. Not worth my money.

        Now an Atrix phone./ laptop. 400 tops.. but you get a full fledge laptop in a phone, now thats something else.

        Good thing Android manufacturers have filed patents for Tablet with a phone dock. They sell these for 100 dollars (Screen, battery, cameras nothing else, the phone does the rest (second cam) ). Now thats a deal.
        Uralbas
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Why I'm not paying $700 for the Motorola XOOM

        @Fletchguy

        I mostly agree, I didn't even pay $700 for my PC, phenom II x4 955, 8GB DDR3, 2TB Sata 4GB/s, an ATI 4890, 700watt 90+ platinum PS, and a thermaltake V9 case. spent $590 for all of it, and I bought the 955 a week after launch, it costs almost $150 less now. and all of it will be 2 years old in 3 more months.

        I am looking into a 10.1" tablet though to replace my laptop, I have VMWare Workstation (free license for passing the certification exam), and use the Android RDP client to connect to a VM desktop to do anything the tablet cannot. 3G/4G would be nice so I can do that from the road, but wifi is good enough for me. If I have to I'll tether my cellphone to the tablet if I am in a car or somewhere without wifi (or I'll just wardrive till I find a friendly business or hotel).
        aiellenon
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Why I'm not paying $700 for the Motorola XOOM

        @Fletchguy Your statement is correct when it is applied to your opinion but that is all it is. In your view no tablet should cost more than $199.99 but obviously there is a large consumer base that does not feel the same as you. They are not intended to be laptop or desktop replacements and for most they are not looking at them in this fashion. If you need or want more functionality in a portable device then you would obviously buy a laptop or even a netbook but they are not the same market. I would also like to know where you are going to get a laptop for a third the price ($166.33) of a base iPad that isn't going to be a frustrating POS?
        non-biased
        Reply Vote

  • You are right. It is OK, to have a fully tricked out model for $699, but,

    they need a basic WiFi only model for less than 400 to get any traction against iPad. If iPad is only a small premium, people will go with iPad.
    DonnieBoy
    Reply Vote

    • The 700 may be the basic WiFi

      @DonnieBoy

      The Verizon price seems to be 800. BestBuy is showing 700. WiFi VS 4G?
      Bruizer
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Why I'm not paying $700 for the Motorola XOOM

        @Bruizer It's not.
        mrxxxman
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Why I'm not paying $700 for the Motorola XOOM

      @DonnieBoy

      It's a tricky game to play. If you're too far under the iPad, the consumerist logic is that the device is of proportional quality. If you're not low enough under the iPad, consumerist logic is that it's worthwhile to spend a little extra and get the tablet they "really want".

      IMO, I think $399 is the proper price point.

      Joey
      voyager529
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Why I'm not paying $700 for the Motorola XOOM

      @DonnieBoy

      But, the iPad is missing a primary feature - Google spyware. These people all want to be integrated into the spynet so their identities can be stolen.
      jorjitop
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Why I'm not paying $700 for the Motorola XOOM

        @jorjitop LOL! Now that's feature rich. 1984 is in a tablet.
        jeff.fostermedia@...
        Reply Vote
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