No more
stunt prices, no more premature web appearances, this (we hope) is finally Best Buy's fully official listing for the Motorola Xoom. It brings no great surprises to those who've been tracking the tablet's progress to retail shelves, offering first dibs to buyers willing to make the effort and pre-order one in store today, with full availability coming on Thursday, February 24th. The
$800 3G-equipped model is accompanied on Best Buy's site by a $40 portfolio case, a $50 basic charging dock, a $130 stereo speaker dock, and a $70 Bluetooth keyboard, but there's no sighting of the
cheaper WiFi-only Xoom. There was some suspicion that the $600 SKU would launch a little later on and that is indeed what appears to be happening. One final note of caution: even if you're intending to use the Xoom as a pure WiFi-only device, remember that you'll be
required to activate data with Verizon for at least a month first -- don't ask us why.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
You know it hit me today what Tablet users need. What we need is a kindle kind of situation. All of the Xooms need to come activated with Verizon data and the consume needs to be able to buy certain amounts of data at a set price. $20 for a gig, $40 for 3gigs, $60 for 6 gigs etc. Make the amount go up but look appealing with the increase. Make it so that this data just rolls over... who loses in this situation?
ReplyDeleteThe consumer has a truly mobile device while not feeling tied to a carrier. The carrier gets the money for a services they are trying to push and will attract more sales (lots of people go Wifi only because of the price people) and the consume will feel better about buying the data. They feel in control, not a contract. It is what makes Boost so attractive, freedom.
I really think a system like that would work.... anybody agree?
Slash those prices by a factor of three then I'm in.
ReplyDeleteI don't think many people realize how much of a scam current data and cell phone plans are. You are literally paying more than 10x what it costs the carrier to give you your data. At least with unlimited plans you could try to make it worthwhile, but those are slowly becoming extinct. Honestly, unlimited data per month should be $15 a month at most. This carrier BS is getting old, annoying, and my wallet freaking hates it. Someone needs to undercut these greedy carriers and force them to offer competitive prices. Right now it's an atrocious oligopoly, that refuses to standardize upon GSM and same radio bands, just to lock the consumer into their damned systems. Just ridiculous. Don't even get me started with "4G".
Im not super excited about having to activate 3G if I wanted the device earlier but at $20 a month I think Ill check it out for a couple months and see if it comes in handy. I might like it and then Ill be glad I got the xoom with the 3G capability instead of waiting. If I dont, oh well, Ive paid early adopter fees many times before and this likely wont be the last. : )
ReplyDeletethats $20 for only 1gb of data. You're gonna blaze through that lol.
ReplyDeleteIm around wifi 98% of the time, but it would be nice to check a map or something every once in a while. not planning on youtube or torrents lol
ReplyDeleteWhy do nerds use percentages 62.3% of the time they try to prove a point? Most of the time the percent number is just bullshit anyways.
ReplyDeleteyou are commenting on Engadget, you too sir are a nerd.
ReplyDeleteI bet the iPad2 will look the same as the iPad. I like how it looks, but it's been basically the same thing since the first iPod touch!
ReplyDeleteAt that price I say keep it. I like android but to be tied to Verizon I don't think so. Also why can't we have one plan for multiple devices, just as we have one voice plan for multiple people? I'll wait to see what LG can offer in price, ipad2, or the wifi version.
ReplyDeleteJunst in time for Steve Jobs' birthday.
ReplyDeleteAnother competitor to crush in the market.