Has the Apple's reality distortion field spread too far? Motorola Xoom price is reasonable

This weekend I read an Engadget post that had some leaked Best Buy pricing and availability info for the upcoming Motorola XOOM Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) tablet. I then read a ton of Tweets coming across the wire where people were all spun up about the possible $699.99 full retail, non-subsidized price. While this may sound high, it is less than 32GB and 64GB Apple iPad 3G models (most comparable ones) and even less than the non-subsidized Verizon iPhone 32GB model. Has the Apple reality distortion field swept over people that much where they cannot even make fair pricing comparisons?

To do a fair pricing comparison I think you need to look at the specs, as well as the features and UI. The Xoom has a 10.1 inch display, dual-core Tegra 2 processor, 1GB RAM, dual cameras, and much more. Check out the Droid Life comparison chart to see how many specs of the Xoom beat the iPad.

Now we all know specs and features don't define the best device, as we can see with something like the Nokia N8 that blows away most every other available smartphone today with specs and still can't appeal to North American buyers. The iPad does have an appealing UI, but Android is quite good too and the videos we have seen with Honeycomb show it can hold its own. James Kendrick posted some thoughts and a video of the Xoom.

Apple has always had a premium price on their gear and as Joel pointed out in the Verizon iPhone fine print an unsubsidized Verizon iPhone will cost you $649.99 for the 16GB model and $749.99 for the 32GB model. The subsidized price will likely be the same as AT&T at $299 and $399. The subsidized Motorola Xoom on Verizon will probably be something like $499, which then makes it cheaper than even the lowest priced WiFi-only iPad with the lowest available memory. Apple doesn't sell the iPads with subsidies, but people in the US rarely buy products from carriers without these so why are people getting spun up about the non-subsidized Xoom price?