Xoom or Tab?

[idic]

Someone has offered to buy my original Xoom tablet, and I'm considering taking them up on the offer. But is it worth it? The Xoom has 3.2 with ICS around the corner, 32GB memory and a memory card slot. But it's also much heavier and not so slim.

What might you do in my position? Is it worth the switch? I'm in the UK, so still no ICS on my 3G Xoom (and I'd be looking at the 3G Tab too). What version of Android is the currently running, and is there a release date for ICS yet? Is there a good HDMI out solution, and can you use an external USB flash drive to expand the storage, eg for movies etc?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Deleted User]

What might you do in my position? Is it worth the switch? I'm in the UK, so still no ICS on my 3G Xoom (and I'd be looking at the 3G Tab too).

Is it worth it to switch? Only you can ultimately decide that.

I switched to the 3G Tab from the ASUS TF101 because the TF lacked 3G and it was bulky (I rarely used the docking keyboard too). I wanted the 3G functionality so it was well worth it for me. But your Xoom has 3G so that negates my biggest reason for a switch. Something else I noticed though, is the battery life on the Tab is about 3x better than the TF101. I guess the 3G radio uses a LOT less power than WiFi.

What version of Android is the currently running, and is there a release date for ICS yet?

Current version is Android 3.2 which works great. ICS is planned for end of March release, but no official date yet.

Is there a good HDMI out solution,

You'll need to buy the HDMI adaptor.

can you use an external USB flash drive to expand the storage, eg for movies etc?

Yes, the USB adaptor kit includes an SD card reader so you can copy to/from the card directly from the Tab. Or you can use a flash drive plugged into the USB adaptor.

 

[idic]

Thanks, really helpful. Are you in the UK with 3.2? Wouldn't want to go back to 3.1 and when I search there seems to be some confusion about it being released twice, and still not out in the UK yet...

I do want ICS in the near future as I have a Galaxy Nexus phone and it's great - although Motorola screwed its international market by not making them GEDs and therefore slower to get updates so I honestly don't know which will get ICS first anyway!

 

[Deleted User]

Thanks, really helpful. Are you in the UK with 3.2?

Nope, I'm in Canaduh with model PT7500 3G. I don't think v3.2 will be released in the UK now as ICS is coming down the pipe next month. They'll probably just skip it and go straight to v4.x as there isn't much sense developing or fixing v3.2 when v4.x is around the corner.

Can you manually update to v3.2 instead of using OTA firmware updates?

 

[RobDickson]

I'm in the UK and updated OTA to 3.2 last year. I'm using the wi-fi model.

I've never found any device that uses less power when using 3G than when using wi-fi.

 

[shadragon]

I got the gf a XOOM 32 GB WiFi last summer. She got me a 32GB 10.1 tab for my birthday and was able to play with it for a week or so beforehand. When she gave it to me she said the tab was much better and she was looking to sell her XOOM.

I would not mind using either, but the bright display on the tab is certainly a bonus point. Very nice.