Motorola Xoom Tablet Research, Shopping Experience And Review #CBias #MotoCalyp

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After my trip to New York for the SheStreams conference at the end of September I knew that I wanted to look into getting a netbook or tablet. I have a perfectly good laptop but I discovered it can get really heavy to carry around from meeting to meeting. And, I got sick of stalking available power outlets in ever room. I knew that ideally I wanted to find a solution that was very light, as well as versatile and capable of fulfilling my needs.

As luck would have it, I was offered, as a part of a Collective Bias campaign, the opportunity to research and try out the Motorola Xoom Tablet.

I began by doing research on the tablet online, on the Motorola website. The Motorola Xoom (pronounced zoom) Tablet is loaded with lots of features. The 1GHz Dual Core processor tablet operates on the Android 3.1 Honeycomb os. The tablet’s got a bright and clear 10.1 inch display with a resolution of 1280x 800 pixels, HD 720p. The tablet comes with up to 32 GB of onboard memory AND has a SD card slot for further expansion. It contains several ports including headphone, USB, and HDMI out, as well as the charging port and an SD expansion slot. The Xoom accommodates 4G service, 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, and Bluetooth. The description on the Motorola site said that the tablet was capable of surfing the web, handling email, behaving as a book reader, and running all sorts of apps. The Motorola Xoom has a 5MP front facing camera and a rear facing camera, as well as a built in microphone. So far the tablet sounded good. I double-checked the Verizon Wireless website, to see if they had any additional product info or product views. Satisfied that I’d seen enough to investigate further, I then headed to the Verizon Wireless store to try the tablet out.

The tablets were all displayed near the door, with pricing and main specifications clearly posted next to each.

The Motorola Xoom Tablet looked just a sleek in person as it had online. The tablet, a little over 1 pounds and just under a half inch thick,  felt quite smooth and sturdy, and was comfortable to hold with my left hand.

The hands on test went well. I found the tablet easy to use, and at a quick glance it appeared to do what I’d read it would do. I did have one concern however. The battery life on my Droid phone stinks so I did have concern about the battery life of this tablet. The sales rep Mark told me that the battery in this tablet should last about 10 hours if using wifi to surf the web or play videos. If using for MP3 playback by itself it could last up to 3 days! This made me feel better, since my Droid phone sometimes only gets 5 hours just making phone calls and texting. Satisfied with what I’d learned, I made my purchase.

I couldn’t wait to get home and play with my new toy! First I had to pry it out of Mark’s hands.

Just kidding. He unboxed it in the store and within five minutes had it set up and ready to get my email and everything. He reminded me that Verizon Wireless offers free classes on how to use different devices, and that there is a place online with tutorials on how to do things as well. Time to head home!

The features that struck me immediately after spending some time using the tablet were how beautiful, bright and colorful the display is – as shown in the day to day critical app Fruited.

I also was pleased with how clear the sound is. The internet looks great. Bookmarks are actually thumbnails, making it easy to find what you’re looking for quickly.

I think the voice navigation capability is very cool. The 5MP front-facing camera shoots very clear photos and video, and has a built-in flash. The rear-facing camera doesn’t have a flash, and I found its photos to be a bit darker and grainier. YOu can use the camera to video chat using Skype or Google Talk. Pictures can be viewed in the gallery, but what’s really neat is when you’re looking at them as thumbnails you can see the picture’s information.

I think two of the best features this tablet offers is a usb connection, for direct connection to your computer, as well as an SD card slot for additional expansion. The browser has out of the box flash support, something that not all tablets can do. The notification bar alerts you of messages, calendar dates, updates to your apps and more. Oh yes. Apps. Did I mention that the Motorola Xoom tablet has full access to the Android market, being that it runs on the Android OS. The tablet is capable of 4G, if 4G service is available in your area. It isn’t in mine, but Mark said it’ll be here next year. The size is also great, it fits quite nicely right inside my favorite large purse.

Here’s a two minute tour of the Motorola Xoom tablet showcasing my favorite features.

There aren’t many things I don’t care for about this tablet, only three so far. First, I wish there was an option to buy this tablet without having to purchase a 2 year contract for the $30 monthly data plan. I don’t travel all that often so I’d love to see a pay as you go type of option available. Second, I wish the ac adapter was the slim style that plugs in sideways. I can’t plus in the big brick shaped adapter because it covers both plugs in the outlet. Third, I also wish that the volume buttons were raised a little more to make the volume a little easier to adjust.

So far, my ten favorite free apps are:

• Words With Friends
• Fruited
• Super Sudoku
• Facebook
• Dictionary.com
• Cork & Orc
• Hootsuite
• Google Docs
• Bebbled
• FourSquare

I’ve already found my favorite must-have accessory – a speaker dock.

Be sure to check out the little slideshow below to learn why the speaker dock makes me smile.

The next accessory that I’d like to get is a folio with built in keyboard.

CLICK HERE for a slideshow that compiles more photos, along with some of my research and my hands on experience after purchase.

The Motorola Xoom Tablet starts at $499.99. There’s currently a “Buy Now & Get Free 2-day Shipping” offer available to my readers, just CLICK HERE to check it out.

This tablet would be great for any individual or family, there are just so many uses for it. The ones that come to mind quickly are children and apps, high school and college students, and frequent travelers.

MORE INFO

Motorola on Facebook

Motorola on Twitter

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.