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Alternatives to Xoom!!

Which?

  • Asus Eee Pad Slider

    Votes: 2 25.0%
  • Motorola Xoom

    Votes: 6 75.0%

  • Total voters
    8
  • Poll closed .
I am semi on the fence. At the very least I am waiting for the WiFi only model. I decided I do not need the 3G model as I can tether it to my phone anywhere.

But I am also partially waiting for the Toshiba - which is releasing their wifi model this spring. Interestingly they are going wifi only first before 3G.

Why do I prefer the Toshiba?
- On paper specs - it sounds a little better.
- Full size USB and HDMI.
- I believe USB host and its not clear if the Xoom will ever have USB Host.
- Toshiba has enhanced the graphics further still
- I like the rubber back
- Replaceable battery - just in case

Other than the above I think the Toshiba is about the same as the Xoom. However, i have not crossed the Xoom off my list. It looks very sweet and it stays on my short list. Depending on how the Toshiba plays out or the timing of releases will play into which I buy.
 
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But I am also partially waiting for the Toshiba - which is releasing their wifi model this spring. Interestingly they are going wifi only first before 3G.

Why do I prefer the Toshiba?
- On paper specs - it sounds a little better.
- Full size USB and HDMI.
- I believe USB host and its not clear if the Xoom will ever have USB Host.
- Toshiba has enhanced the graphics further still
- I like the rubber back
- Replaceable battery - just in case

Other than the above I think the Toshiba is about the same as the Xoom.
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I'm with ya man! You should have started a new post for the Xoom or Toshiba. Alot of talk about how wonderful it is to be and early adopter. While Toshiba sits back and fine tunes some of the faults of the Xoom. It's the little things that bug me on the Xoom. The Toshiba may be the sleep Ipad Killer now the Apple has shown their hand.

Not bad spec on should drop any time now.
 
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I'm with ya man! You should have started a new post for the Xoom or Toshiba. Alot of talk about how wonderful it is to be and early adopter. While Toshiba sits back and fine tunes some of the faults of the Xoom. It's the little things that bug me on the Xoom. The Toshiba may be the sleep Ipad Killer now the Apple has shown their hand.

Not bad spec on should drop any time now.

But than you have nothing for who knows how long. As they say "if you're waiting for the latest and greatest, you'll be in perpepual waiting because the latest and greatest is always around the corner."

And I'm curious what faults you refer too?
 
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We get the latest toys at my job. I'll try to get a XOOM if I can demonstrate and justify that it can work for us.

Right now,I have an iPad and will be getting the iPad 2(from work). I also had the Galaxy Tab for a month.
We will be waiting for the wifi XOOM or the Galaxy 10.1

The thing I am concerned about right now are:
Cisco VPN access and decent SSH/RDP/X11 apps.

I need something that has a good terminal emulator and RDP client.


All the ones I've tried on the 7" Galaxy TAB and rooted NOOKCOLOR (running Honeycomb) pretty much blows.
I like how iSSH is customized for the IPad's full screen. ConnectBOT just scales on the TAB/NOOK.

Anyone know an RDP client that works with Red Hat, Ubuntu or CentOS's implementation of XRDP?

I've tried all the ones on the market and they seem to only work with Window's implementation of RDP.

If there is no RDP client,how about an X Client on Android. It has been a good 3 years since the first HTC G1 and there is still no decent X client.

Lastly, considering Android is LINUX and open-source based. How about a TABLET mySQL client? I still can't believe iOS is leaps and bounds better in this regards considering iOS' closed eco-system.

I really like to get a XOOM from work but if I can't justify it, we'll just order more iPads because they are known to work.
 
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We get the latest toys at my job. I'll try to get a XOOM if I can demonstrate and justify that it can work for us.

Right now,I have an iPad and will be getting the iPad 2(from work). I also had the Galaxy Tab for a month.
We will be waiting for the wifi XOOM or the Galaxy 10.1

The thing I am concerned about right now are:
Cisco VPN access and decent SSH/RDP/X11 apps.

Cisco VPN clients are notoriously incompatible with newer OSes, unless you're using AnyConnect or a simple SSL VPN. Wouldn't expect much there...

I need something that has a good terminal emulator and RDP client.


All the ones I've tried on the 7" Galaxy TAB and rooted NOOKCOLOR (running Honeycomb) pretty much blows.
I like how iSSH is customized for the IPad's full screen. ConnectBOT just scales on the TAB/NOOK.

I haven't used any terminal emus on iOS; what's the trouble with ConnectBot?

Anyone know an RDP client that works with Red Hat, Ubuntu or CentOS's implementation of XRDP?

I've tried all the ones on the market and they seem to only work with Window's implementation of RDP.

That's strange; even Windows' RDP client works with XRDP servers just fine. What kind of problem do you have with the connection?

If there is no RDP client,how about an X Client on Android. It has been a good 3 years since the first HTC G1 and there is still no decent X client.

Wouldn't X be terribly slow over a mobile network (I don't even want to use it on a large LAN or land-based broadband VPN connection)? Maybe you could just use VNC tunneled through SSH for security, or something like Citrix, for which there appears to be a client.

Lastly, considering Android is LINUX and open-source based. How about a TABLET mySQL client? I still can't believe iOS is leaps and bounds better in this regards considering iOS' closed eco-system.

A tablet MySQL client? Think I would just use phpMyAdmin or ssh for something like that, that's not really the kind of thing I would use a tablet for unless it had a web front-end such as phpMyAdmin. I think that's expecting a liiiiiittle bit much...
 
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Cisco VPN clients are notoriously incompatible with newer OSes, unless you're using AnyConnect or a simple SSL VPN. Wouldn't expect much there...
They work for us using iOS.
I haven't used any terminal emus on iOS; what's the trouble with ConnectBot?
As for ConnectBOT, it blows. See screenshot attachments. Not tablet optimized. Screenshot from Galaxy TAB.
No ability to tab, no function keys, no cursor up,left,down. Say you want to re-run a previous command, you do it with 'arrow-up' on the iPad.
There is a limitation w/ the Android virtual keyboard.
See iPad version. you can have a transparent keyboard and toggle soft keys for CTRL, TAB, arrows, etc.. You can clearly see the iPad app is tablet optimized.
That's strange; even Windows' RDP client works with XRDP servers just fine. What kind of problem do you have with the connection?
Wouldn't X be terribly slow over a mobile network (I don't even want to use it on a large LAN or land-based broadband VPN connection)? Maybe you could just use VNC tunneled through SSH for security, or something like Citrix, for which there appears to be a client.
I've tried 2x, PocketCloud, Remote RDP Lite, Remote Desktop (by Kolawski Damion), and many others.
None of them work with Linux XRDP. Windows RDP yes, Linux xRDP no. Redhat 5.2, Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, 10.10.
If you know any that works, I'm all ears.
We use tablets as a laptop/ X-terminal replacement on-site at clients. With a bluetooth keyboard, they replace laptops for us.
The X-client bandwith is not an issue. We have Solaris apps that only run in X. Forwarding a 320x240 GUI app doesn't take much bandwitdh versus loading up an entire VNC/RDP session.
A tablet MySQL client? Think I would just use phpMyAdmin or ssh for something like that, that's not really the kind of thing I would use a tablet for unless it had a web front-end such as phpMyAdmin. I think that's expecting a liiiiiittle bit much...
As for mySQL, that is a preference. I'd use the command line client (see my screenshot) but without the softkeys, they do me no good.
Our mySQL servers don't run PHP so phpmyadmin.
 

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Tried to buy new ipad2 last night at Best Buy but the line was out the door and around the block, amazing, while I was in the store playing with one they announced that they had sold out. As much as I like my android phone, the ipad2 just seems so much smoother & user friendly than either the xoom and tab, the ligher feel, rounded corners, just a beautiful machine, ipad2 right now really has no competition in the tablet market. I asked a few in line if they thought about the xoom and they just laughed and said you aren't serious are you....got to give props to Apple, their market and industrial design are both 2nd to none....I guess I will have to wait a few weeks till the hysteria blows over but they are now estimating that ipad2 will sell double what original ipad sold, also heard ipad3 will be shipping in sept with new processor...

I get so annoyed when ppl say how smooth the ipad is over android.. if android was just icons and wasent so customizable it would prolly be the same...so I guess do you want your screen how you want it or how mr skinny wants it..I choose how I want it.
 
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I dunno though, the smoothness is kind of a factor for me. The iPad 2 feels extremely solid and fast, whereas with the Xoom I could "feel" that burden of multitasking and the live wallpaper running. The display also appears a little duller. I almost bit on one last night when I went for an iPad 2 and they were out, but the iPad 2 really made an impression on me.
 
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I backed up against the fence when I found out that 720p movies play like more like a slideshow than a movie. Then when I saw the benchmarks vs. the iPad-2, I hopped the fence and ran away. The iPad-2 just destroyed it.

Apple iPad 2 GPU Performance Explored: PowerVR SGX543MP2 Benchmarked - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News



Then today I find out the iPad-2 has terrible LCD backlight bleeding problems, which is just as bad in my opinion.

Is your iPad 2 backlight bleeding? (video) -- Engadget

Both products were rushed and I'm not going anywhere near v1.0 of either of them.
 
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I was surprised to see the ipad2 outperform the xoom several times over in some tests. It was at least twice as fast in all of the test. That's sick.

I was shocked by that test initially, but then I noticed it was comparing 1024x768 performace to 1280x800.

Its still an interesting comparison, but not nearly as bad as I had originally assumed.
 
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I saw the Toshiba tablet, not bad but I'm not in the market for a 10" tablet. I've had Toshiba laptops in the past and just got a new one, they're pretty decent quality compared to other brands that I've owned (IBM, Acer, Dell, Sony, etc) but the support is almost non-existent so keep that in mind when you get a Toshiba tablet.

I saw the Asus tablet pictures a couple months ago, the one with the detachable keyboard is a great idea, much like the Palm Pilot with detachable keybard 10 years ago, that one would sell pretty well.
 
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Okay. I don't know what to do now.

I've been saving my tax return money to get a tablet. I want something to read PDF's, web browsing, and stat-keeping for Role playing. Vendetta is also something I enjoy on my PC and would like to play on a tablet I purchase.

iPad is out- I need Flash and don't have iTunes.

Xoom WiFi looks like the logical choice. Especially if the Sam's Club $540 price is legit.

However, with the announcement of the new Samsung 10.1 (and 8.9) tablets, I don't know what to do.



Pros of Xoom -
  • Already Out
  • Vanilla Honeycomb

Pros of Samsung
  • Slimmer
  • Lighter

However, I want apps too, so I have questions for you Xoom'ers.

Have any new tablet apps come out since the initial few? I'd like to see a rate of growth of apps... if the growth is so slow that there won't really be any good ones until June anyway (the date the Samsung ones are coming out... right?), then the Samsung is a no brainer. But if there are new tablet apps daily, then the Xoom looks like the better choice.

I don't know what to do.
 
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Apologies for my ignorance... but how many were there when the tablet was released a few weeks ago?

There were 16 apps at release and 36 now. Byy June there will be hundreds if not thousands. A few things to consider. The Xoom is made out of cast aluminum and the Galaxy Tab is made from slippery plastic. The Xoom will have updates LONG before the Samsung tablets will because of that damn touchwiz. Samsung support is the worst in the industry. Pray you don't ever have to call Samsung for a warranty issue. Why wait months when you can have a great tablet now that will be honed into the perfect tablet by the time the other Tablets come out. Also correct me if I am wrong but I believe that the Galaxy 8.9 and 10.1 DO NOT have a USB port.
 
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There were 16 apps at release and 36 now. Byy June there will be hundreds if not thousands. A few things to consider. The Xoom is made out of cast aluminum and the Galaxy Tab is made from slippery plastic. The Xoom will have updates LONG before the Samsung tablets will because of that damn touchwiz. Samsung support is the worst in the industry. Pray you don't ever have to call Samsung for a warranty issue. Why wait months when you can have a great tablet now that will be honed into the perfect tablet by the time the other Tablets come out. Also correct me if I am wrong but I believe that the Galaxy 8.9 and 10.1 DO NOT have a USB port.
All very true. I had a G1, then Nexus One, so I love me some vanilla Android. I don't know if I'd like this "touchwiz" nonsense.

I'll probably get the Wifi Xoom... but damn, Flash needs to get out of Beta state on it and the USB host/microSD need to start working, stat.
 
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All very true. I had a G1, then Nexus One, so I love me some vanilla Android. I don't know if I'd like this "touchwiz" nonsense.

I'll probably get the Wifi Xoom... but damn, Flash needs to get out of Beta state on it and the USB host/microSD need to start working, stat.

I agree 100% but I am glad I didn't wait. This really is an amazing device. I haven't touched my M11X laptop since I got the Xoom.
 
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So Phandroid puts up a rumor that LG may be making a Nexus tablet. If this rumor is true, why did I buy the Xoom? I assumed that the Xoom was the "nexus" of Honeycomb. The only reason why I even bought the Xoom was because of this assumption.

If this rumor is true, I believe there will be a lot of upset Xoom owners. What do you guys think?
 
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