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Just talked with Viewsonic about the G Tab

I just called Viewsonic to ask if they were going to be releasing updates in the near future to fix the G-tab problems. The girl I talked to was very nice (and I'm not just saying that because she said they keep tabs on xda-developers.com!)...but she couldn't provide a timeline or details about upcoming fixes or software. Bummer.
She did, however, mention that they're aware of the problems with Tap'NTap and that they're looking at ways to improve performance. I hope that means they'll be updating the drivers to use the 2nd core of the Tegra 2. I'm happy with that answer because I just want to know that the company is supporting its products. I'm pretty satisfied with my G-tab currently, but I really want it to run at it's optimal performance.
Just thought I'd share what I heard.

LOL!! Bye bye tapntap!

lostpilot28 said:
I just called Viewsonic to ask if they were going to be releasing updates in the near future to fix the G-tab problems. The girl I talked to was very nice (and I'm not just saying that because she said they keep tabs on xda-developers.com!)...but she couldn't provide a timeline or details about upcoming fixes or software. Bummer.
She did, however, mention that they're aware of the problems with Tap'NTap and that they're looking at ways to improve performance. I hope that means they'll be updating the drivers to use the 2nd core of the Tegra 2. I'm happy with that answer because I just want to know that the company is supporting its products. I'm pretty satisfied with my G-tab currently, but I really want it to run at it's optimal performance.
Just thought I'd share what I heard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I spoke to Viewsonic Tech Support last night and, as usual, the guy was very eager to help, but didn't have a lot of answers. He did confirm that the 20 Dec release will update several things, like provide VTC software, keyboard update, TnT update, and a long list of other issues that appear to be repeat gripes from users...

Irish G said:
I spoke to Viewsonic Tech Support last night and, as usual, the guy was very eager to help, but didn't have a lot of answers. He did confirm that the 20 Dec release will update several things, like provide VTC software, keyboard update, TnT update, and a long list of other issues that appear to be repeat gripes from users...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Too late to stem the tide of returns though. On a positive note, plenty of time for Roeby & Company to rest before the next source for a big update
Unless something comes by their paths earlier.....

Irish G said:
He did confirm that the 20 Dec release will update several things, like provide VTC software, keyboard update, TnT update, and a long list of other issues that appear to be repeat gripes from users...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is VTC software?

I think they just completely misjudged their market. They thought they could get away with a toy-like interface (clearly targeted toward Moms, with the "Grocery List" and "To-Do List" and photos front and center), but in this era when so many people have smartphones, the TNT stuff isn't going to cut it. Once you've seen an iPhone or Android 2.x in action, you're not going to want some sort of fake overlay. Especially when you KNOW that Android is running beneath it!
Lack of full Market and Angry Birds was also a killer error.
Now that I've got TNTLite, full Market, and Google apps syncing, this is exactly what I expected a tab to be--a big version of my phone. I knew that by getting one now I wouldn't get a fabulous *tab* experience (awaiting Honeycomb for that), but I did at least want the equivalent of my phone, on a bigger screen. Which I imagine is common.
XDA types and other folks in the know who see the specs on this thing and know that it has the potential to keep up with the first generation of Honeycomb tablets (and are willing to mod to make it useable) are the only thing coming close to preventing this from being a complete debacle for Viewsonic.
I wonder whether they'll truly get rid of TnT, though.

lostpilot28 said:
What is VTC software?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
video teleconference - video chat software like Skype...

jacindc said:
I think they just completely misjudged their market. They thought they could get away with a toy-like interface (clearly targeted toward Moms, with the "Grocery List" and "To-Do List" and photos front and center), but in this era when so many people have smartphones, the TNT stuff isn't going to cut it. Once you've seen an iPhone or Android 2.x in action, you're not going to want some sort of fake overlay. Especially when you KNOW that Android is running beneath it!
Lack of full Market and Angry Birds was also a killer error.
Now that I've got TNTLite, full Market, and Google apps syncing, this is exactly what I expected a tab to be--a big version of my phone. I knew that by getting one now I wouldn't get a fabulous *tab* experience (awaiting Honeycomb for that), but I did at least want the equivalent of my phone, on a bigger screen. Which I imagine is common.
XDA types and other folks in the know who see the specs on this thing and know that it has the potential to keep up with the first generation of Honeycomb tablets (and are willing to mod to make it useable) are the only thing coming close to preventing this from being a complete debacle for Viewsonic.
I wonder whether they'll truly get rid of TnT, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could not have said it better myself.
I actually have a few people at work looking to buy these things as long as I can "fix" them.
Hilarious and sad at the same time that Viewsonic would release a product like they have.

I spoke to a sales rep at sears to see if they had any refurbs. She mentioned they still haven't sold one piece yet, and they've had stock a week prior to BF.

jacindc said:
I think they just completely misjudged their market. They thought they could get away with a toy-like interface (clearly targeted toward Moms, with the "Grocery List" and "To-Do List" and photos front and center), but in this era when so many people have smartphones, the TNT stuff isn't going to cut it. Once you've seen an iPhone or Android 2.x in action, you're not going to want some sort of fake overlay. Especially when you KNOW that Android is running beneath it!
Lack of full Market and Angry Birds was also a killer error.
Now that I've got TNTLite, full Market, and Google apps syncing, this is exactly what I expected a tab to be--a big version of my phone. I knew that by getting one now I wouldn't get a fabulous *tab* experience (awaiting Honeycomb for that), but I did at least want the equivalent of my phone, on a bigger screen. Which I imagine is common.
XDA types and other folks in the know who see the specs on this thing and know that it has the potential to keep up with the first generation of Honeycomb tablets (and are willing to mod to make it useable) are the only thing coming close to preventing this from being a complete debacle for Viewsonic.
I wonder whether they'll truly get rid of TnT, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to be a downer, but at the current return rates and no decent chance for a fix for the majority of people (non modders) until 12/20- The Gtablet may not be around very long. This product may be one of those firesale devices and then Viewsonic will flip the bill for that sale.
Not seeing how anymore than the current 60,000-ish will be produced. Not good business sense and would not be surprised to see the device rebranded, once a stable rom is made and shipped with the device (or a version of it).
No way anybody selling will be net positive for dollars with this device and Viewsonic had better have some cash accrued in their P&L for February. That will be the month of being accountable for this product. This will be in the seven figure zone for compensation. How can it not be?
This device shipped about two months too early. Still wild that the Advent Vega apparently does not have the problems out of box and also a Tegra 2. One month later release though.
added:
The mod community is the only reason return rates are probably not near parity with sales. My guess is the reason we have not seen more refurbs is a combination or presents wrapped up and shipments held from sale (either by not pushing sales or not releasing from warehouses).
It will take a firmware package miracle and good web page communication by Viewsonic to turn the sunami of returns away after Christmas.
Regardless, the Gtablet will be a legend for modders, but the net loss of margin for selling at discounts or refurbs will be rough for sellers. All 60,000 WILL sell, just not in the retail format as expected.

rushless said:
Not to be a downer, but at the current return rates and no decent chance for a fix for the majority of people (non modders) until 12/20- The Gtablet may not be around very long. This product may be one of those firesale devices and then Viewsonic will flip the bill for that sale.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally agree, but as long as we can keep Roebeet and Rothnic and a few others chained to their Gtabs, maybe we can get to Honeycomb. ;-)
If I have to buy a new tab next spring, it won't be the end of the world. I always looked at this as a toy to tide me over. But it might have the possibility of lasting a lot longer, at least in the XDA world. If not, I'll give it to Mom and Dad. In its TNTLite config, it'll work just fine for them.

rushless said:
This device shipped about two months too early. Still wild that the Advent Vega apparently does not have the problems out of box and also a Tegra 2. One month later release though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't necessarily agree with this. I don't think it's the timing of release compared to Android 3.0 that's the problem, or that it's the hardware. It just seems that Viewsonic COULD have offered better drivers and a lightly modified Froyo build right from the beginning. The G-Tab would work so much better if they had.
Hopefully, Viewsonic is listening and they release better drivers soon. I think the hardware is fantastic...it would be a shame to have to return this thing because they're too slow to fix the software issues.
I'm seriously crossing my fingers that the XDA rockstars get the Advent Vega MOD running. That would be fantastic.

I called around to my two local sears and asked if they had return units for sale. Both said no.
I, for one, want these to be succesful and to sell. Nothing worse than this whole thing being a flop and then Viewsonic dropping the product support for them. That means our chances of getting updated roms gets slimmer, especially stuff like honeycomb.

I don't think there's any doubt that some of the issues related to the tablet are due to its lack of hardware support from the actual mfrs, and Android. Some examples.. when this was launched, there wasn't even flash available (they had to wait on adobe for this). This can't be blamed on viewsonic, and it's unfortunate but ultimately they get the blame that it doesn't have flash. Why have they not included the "beta" plugin from Adobe? Perhaps because it's a beta version, and they're not allowed to package it in and release it.
We also have issues with the Tegra 2. Did Nvidia's QA dept or who knows what reason cause delays for the drivers to get to Viewsonic? Again, we don't know. I'm sure Viewsonic would've loved to package up the latest/best drivers, but the reality is that perhaps they weren't available.
Regarding Android, well, we all know some of the problems. Hardware acceleration for videos via Android and the Tegra 2 simply isn't there. The Tegra 2 does HW decoding of various formats, and it looks like it's not working. Again, is this android or perhaps Nvidia? Who knows really. We also have the issue with lack of dual core support in Android 2.2.
Anyway, point is, Viewsonic is certainly not the sole person to blame for a poor launch of this product and it being "incomplete." I'm sure the parties and circumstances caused a problem. I'm a dev myself, so I understand all the problems that could arise from a "new" device. I just figured I'd mention these things to highlight the possible problems that arise from such a device, for the non-techy folks. Perhaps they shouldn't have launched the devices until they were more functional, and yes that rests on Viewsonic.
Just my 2 cents.. I certainly understand people's frustration..

This is why everything else with Tegra is preorder. Waiting on flash, market, etc to become available first. Still I think Viewsonic would have cut their returns in half if they would have just left the overlay off.

My big worry is that roebeet and others are going to move (totally within their rights) on and we are going to be left with a device that Viewsonic is not going to improve through future updates due to poor sales.
Honestly, what roebeet and others have done is simply amazing and I am very appreciative for their work. However, Honeycomb is some time off and it is unknown whether DEVs will be around to keep the Gtab up to date.
Dan

Nvidia releasing a honeycomb build for developers is 90% of what we need. Like they did for Froyo. As long is Tegra2 is produced I'm not worrying.

lostpilot28 said:
I don't necessarily agree with this. I don't think it's the timing of release compared to Android 3.0 that's the problem, or that it's the hardware. It just seems that Viewsonic COULD have offered better drivers and a lightly modified Froyo build right from the beginning. The G-Tab would work so much better if they had.
Hopefully, Viewsonic is listening and they release better drivers soon. I think the hardware is fantastic...it would be a shame to have to return this thing because they're too slow to fix the software issues.
I'm seriously crossing my fingers that the XDA rockstars get the Advent Vega MOD running. That would be fantastic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree with you- point is Viewsonic is nowhere near ready with an out of box firmware package and non-mod consumers will treat the device as defective. Considering it shipped late October and assuming the 12/20 FW release is solid, it would be two months- hence my two months too early assertion.
Even if 60,000 is all that is made (I hope it is not the case), that still means plenty of devices floating around
Who knows, maybe VS will release a near-miracle update and communicate on their support page the status and a roadmap to more improvements. Communication like that via a published format on their web page for the product would be HUGE for customer trust
Not dogging the device proper (I still own one at $402 total)- but am dogging the out of box state for most consumers.

rushless said:
Not to be a downer, but at the current return rates and no decent chance for a fix for the majority of people (non modders) until 12/20- The Gtablet may not be around very long. This product may be one of those firesale devices and then Viewsonic will flip the bill for that sale.
Not seeing how anymore than the current 60,000-ish will be produced. Not good business sense and would not be surprised to see the device rebranded, once a stable rom is made and shipped with the device (or a version of it).
No way anybody selling will be net positive for dollars with this device and Viewsonic had better have some cash accrued in their P&L for February. That will be the month of being accountable for this product. This will be in the seven figure zone for compensation. How can it not be?
This device shipped about two months too early. Still wild that the Advent Vega apparently does not have the problems out of box and also a Tegra 2. One month later release though.
added:
The mod community is the only reason return rates are probably not near parity with sales. My guess is the reason we have not seen more refurbs is a combination or presents wrapped up and shipments held from sale (either by not pushing sales or not releasing from warehouses).
It will take a firmware package miracle and good web page communication by Viewsonic to turn the sunami of returns away after Christmas.
Regardless, the Gtablet will be a legend for modders, but the net loss of margin for selling at discounts or refurbs will be rough for sellers. All 60,000 WILL sell, just not in the retail format as expected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm afraid of that possibility as well. What's really sad is that Viewsonic had the chance to become the "iPod" of Android Tablets, but they're seriously blowing it. A product that works as bad as this out of the box will seriously discourage repeat buyers. Repeat buyers drives iPod sales, this won't happen for Viewsonic if these issues aren't addressed.
The enhancements that have been made in just a few weeks by the efforts of Roebeet, Rothnic, Bekit and others show the great potential with the existing hardware they're selling. Any of these releases is more like what Viewsonic should have released in the first place. I just hope that the Malata does better in Asia, it sounds like they're being pretty progressive about getting patches out there. If Malata succeeds at least there's hope for future upgrades/enhancements.
Reading the NVidia Tegra Development Forums it sounds like they've got 1080P running on their Tegra 250 Dev Kit, on linux at least. Can anyone shed some light on why the development for the Android doesn't seem to be keeping up? Is the 2.2 Platform incapable of that level of performance or are they instead concentrating their efforts on Gingerbread or Honeycomb for that performance boost? It seems some of this failure of delivering a better performing product lies in NVidia's lap, Viewsonic's software is another story. Looking over the latest "Advent Performance Pack" that was recently released, these are the files from the image that was released in the Tegra Developer Forums on 11/11/10. The Tegra 2 was shown to developers in January(or earlier) and only now have they released code to provide better performance for the Tegra 2? It's like they're sabotaging themselves by not utilizing their hardware to the best of it's abilities.
I'm confused by all of this, wouldn't
make a good product = sell more = make more money = make more on repeat buyers(upgrading)
make sense versus
release an immature product = loss on returns = customers will never buy from again?

dkhilo said:
The Tegra 2 was shown to developers in January(or earlier) and only now have they released code to provide better performance for the Tegra 2? It's like they're sabotaging themselves by not utilizing their hardware to the best of it's abilities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess the short answer is "things take time." The reality is that drivers do go through different iterations, and perhaps Tegra 2 (and possibly the drivers) would fare better in Android 2.3. Sometimes you just have to be patient, and rushing things can result in the Viewsonic tablet. I was trying to say that in my rather long winded post.

Google Nexus Tab is coming this fall?

It is being developed together with LG?
Oh well ... I was thinking Xoom is the Google Tablet ... might be not.
http://www.gizmocrunch.com/android/6127-google-nexus-tablet-nexus-one-s
If you thought the Motorola Xoom was supposedly Google's own device like the HTC Nexus One and Samsung Nexus S, you may be gladly mistaken.
Google Nexus Tablet to join Nexus One & S
Reports are now coming in suggesting that Google is working with LG to release a Google Nexus tablet with a newer version of Android Honeycomb (Android 3.1?).
With questionable sales and a somewhat "rough around the edge" OS, the Motorola Xoom while being the first Honeycomb tablet, may not be the flagship Android tablet after all.
The details come courtesy of Eldar Murtazin, dubbed the "James Bond of Smartphones" by Engadget. Murtazin states that the so-called Google Nexus tablet scheduled for release sometime in mid-summer or early fall.
Just like the Google Nexus One and Nexus S, this tablet will no doubt be packing new features that will remain exclusive to the tablet for sometime before rolling out to other manufacturers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

gogol said:
It is being developed together with LG?
Oh well ... I was thinking Xoom is the Google Tablet ... might be not.
http://www.gizmocrunch.com/android/6127-google-nexus-tablet-nexus-one-s
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that's the case I'm sure the xoom would get a port of this rom when/if it comes out

gogol said:
It is being developed together with LG?
Oh well ... I was thinking Xoom is the Google Tablet ... might be not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Makes sense... just like the phone side had the HTC Dream / G1 before the nexus one, the tablet side has the xoom to take the hit for all of honeycomb's bugs before releasing their own-branded hardware. It's the price moto pays for being first.

Everyone said, that the problem of Xoom is Honeycomb (3.0). If google brings a tablet with 3.1... i think the update from 3.0 to 3.1 of the xoom will be the same. The hardware of Xoom are not bad.

That's true ... the Xoom hardware is more than enough.
The only problem is the Android 3.0 Honeycomb. Once Google gave proper updates to make it more stable, less force close, it will all set.
OFNeo said:
Everyone said, that the problem of Xoom is Honeycomb (3.0). If google brings a tablet with 3.1... i think the update from 3.0 to 3.1 of the xoom will be the same. The hardware of Xoom are not bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Wow this is such BS. Andy Rubin has already said in interviews that the Xoom is Google's reference device like the Nexus devices. Wouldn't make any sense having another one. Either way I'm not worried about getting software updates. They're giving the a Xoom to developers to make apps for Honeycomb too.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

oh noo.. what should i do now?
XOOM is not yet release in the UK, hence i can still cancel my pre-order.
should i wait for the Nexus Tablet (not sure what to call it), or just go with XOOM?

i'm really confused with this announces...
I'll go this weekend to Miami, and i've planed to buy motorola xoom... but now...
First, the motorola xoom are heavier than samsung galaxy tab 10.1 and ipad2. but samsung have a lot of issues... My samsung galaxy S have the GPS broken... the touch wiz interface.. "i hate it" and RFS file system..
what can i do? buy motorola xoom? and die without upgrades? like milestone? buy ipad2 and die with itunes and IOS? glbenchmark said that his gpu is 10 times faster than tecra2...
i'm really confused with this.
-1 google...

Never believe Murtazin, he has no idea what he's talking about, all rumors he started was comlete BS, he's also likes to lick Steve's balls very much. I'm dead serious, Eldar Murtazin is just very bad, unprofessional "journalist".

I think we need to view the XOOM as the original DROID.
"stock" android 2.0 on DROID, followed rather quickly by the Nexus One.
Looks quite similar to me. With Honeycomb not being open sourced for the time being, I know I will be waiting now...

Yeah this kind of annoys me, having just bought the Xoom yesterday. I am glad it's stock honeycomb, I can't see the Xoom not getting future updates, and the hardware is darn good. Even after the tablets expo'd at CTIA I decided on the Xoom. We shall see I guess.

Google did put their name on the Xoom... They don't just put that on anything.
At any rate, no matter what you buy or when you get it, there's something newer, better, shinier, and faster right around the corner.
Sent from my Xoom

I am curious if Google is trying to take a larger hand in the hardware side of things, possibly encouraging news if they start to push updates them selves for many devices instead of 2.
Then again, they did hand out EVOs at IO...and it is far from Googles primary device.

Maybe Google/LG putting together a Tablet that will have the new processor Kal-El. Nvidia said that we are going to see tablets this fall whit Kal-El
http://blog.laptopmag.com/nvidia-de...power-of-tegra-2-but-with-longer-battery-life

April Fools comes early this year?
I think people should stop getting their panties all twisted at every tabloid rumor, or at least nudge their brains out of park. If you bothered to look, the rumor has a single source, and the same site (mobile-review) also stated that Android 2.x devices wouldn't get the license to upgrade to 3.0. Last I checked, you don't need a license to use Android.

e.mote said:
April Fools comes early this year?
I think people should stop getting their panties all twisted at every tabloid rumor, or at least nudge their brains out of park. If you bothered to look, the rumor has a single source, and the same site (mobile-review) also stated that Android 2.x devices wouldn't get the license to upgrade to 3.0. Last I checked, you don't need a license to use Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to mention this is a rumor for a tablet coming in "late summer or fall". Its March 28th right now so were a far way off from this...

e.mote said:
April Fools comes early this year?
I think people should stop getting their panties all twisted at every tabloid rumor, or at least nudge their brains out of park. If you bothered to look, the rumor has a single source, and the same site (mobile-review) also stated that Android 2.x devices wouldn't get the license to upgrade to 3.0. Last I checked, you don't need a license to use Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google may restrict what type of devices run Honeycomb so that a good user experience is maintained. I am sure there is something they can do if they really want to.

Actually, the licensing part comes wit hthe "Google" apps such as the market, they can deny access to that if they feel hardware and manufacturers don't meet their requirements.
That is how the platform works.

There is a vast difference between "may" and "will." Bill Gates may be the next Google CEO...or Charlie Sheen. The Earth may explode tomorrow from, you know, bad stuff in its core, and we won't have to worry much about anything else.
On licensing GApps -- It's not part of Android. While some may think this is a requirement to have for an Android device, it isn't. Lower-tier vendors have gotten around the issue with "unofficial" hacks. The one draw of GApps is market access, and with Amazon's store emerging as a credible alternative, what little leverage Goog has before is now even less.

The tablet exist and has Chrome OS.

Is Xoom DOA?

I have a wifi xoom and although it has some great features but the force closes and the non functioning sd card (from the factory) is very annoying. I thought Moto and google would have a fix by now. The force closes make me mad. I have 15 days left to return and will do so if there is not a major update before then. I should have know better than to expect Moto to do anything right.
Here is an quote from an article in the Wall Street Journal about xoom sales.
"Global Equities analyst Trip Chowdry estimates that Motorola Mobility has manufactured between 500,000 and 800,000 Xooms, but has sold only 5 to 15 percent of them.
Best case scenario then, according to Chowdry, is that Motorola has sold 120,000 Xooms; worse case scenario, it’s sold just 25,000. Now, admittedly, that’s a very large range, and one could argue that it makes Chowdry’s estimate largely meaningless. But remember that original forecasts suggested Motorola would sell between 3 and 5 million Xooms this year and earlier this month some analysts were calling for first quarter sales of 300,000.
In other words, even Chowdry’s best case scenario is a worst case scenario. It’s just a bit less ugly."

Personally, I could care less how many have been sold. I love my Xoom and maybe I'm lucky but I haven't faced many of the problems I read about here.
As for SD card support, I'm not bothered by that either. I have no need for a SD card at this time. 32GB is plenty of storage for me.
I'm treating Honeycomb the same way I did with android 1.0. Its basically a new platform and the apps and fixes will come as more tablets hit the market.
I heard all the same jargon in the media after I pre-ordered my G1. Well look at android now.

El Daddy said:
Personally, I could care less how many have been sold. I love my Xoom and maybe I'm lucky but I haven't faced many of the problems I read about here.
As for SD card support, I'm not bothered by that either. I have no need for a SD card at this time. 32GB is plenty of storage for me.
I'm treating Honeycomb the same way I did with android 1.0. Its basically a new platform and the apps and fixes will come as more tablets hit the market.
I heard all the same jargon in the media after I pre-ordered my G1. Well look at android now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel the same way. No announcement was made as to when an update would come. I'm sure everyone knew the SD slot wasn't functioning way before they purchased the device.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

It will be DOA if we keep starting threads like "Is the XOOM DOA" and prospective customers see all these threads in search engines.
Then prospective customers start having unfounded doubts and the XOOM's demise becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.

First of all, many of us knew that Xoom won't sell that well. This is because it's new, OS is new, hardware is new, everything about it is new and many people don't want to be lab rats. But with Moto rolling out Xoom on other networks in many countries will help sales. And we will have to wait till Thursday for Motorola to announce their earnings and see how many they sold.
Secondly, I understand the frustration of lacking SD support but I personally don't really care since I never really used my microSD on my N900.
And about force closes, like I said everything about Xoom is new and it was first to the punch. Other honeycomb tabs will have everything working, but Xoom was still first and that what counts.
I would never return mine, I would never even sell mine after Xoom2 arrives. Why? Because it is the first and maybe even one of the only "Pure Google Experience" devices that will be available.

Simple answer. No.
Sent from my Xoom the way it should be, rooted and with SD card.

Google needs to release a big Honeycomb update including one that enables the mircoSD card slot, Motorola needs to lower the price and release 16GB models and more manufactures need to release more tablets which will bring in more tablet apps. If you had your Xoom since day one like I have, you will already see the improvement in the selection of tablet apps. I hope that the microSD card slot is fixed soon though. Watching the new tablets come out with working slots is starting to make the Xoom look abandoned.
Despite this, I love my Xoom and it will get better with time. Who else has a working Barometer by the way? lol

i don't care about the sd card function cause i still have 32GB for my media. however, i have a terrible experience with my xoom's web browser ( even i tried another web browser apps like dophin...)Yes, surfing web is the main point for me to buy this tablet. Web browser is FC a lot (besides, it made my xoom rebooted once), stuck at loading pages (i have to go to app manager=> force close web browser..), Flash doesn't work properly. I never had this terrible experience with my android devices before. I understand that Honeycomb is a new OS, and it will be improved over by next updates but how can't google/motorola/ adobe make sure some basic functions work well before selling their products ?

What would have all the customers who went to buy an ipad2 have done when they got to the store and were told they would have to take a number and wait a month or more? BUY A XOOM!!! This was great timing for Moto to deliver the product but kinda sucks for the consumer at first. However, this is not the first time a company has done this. And as someone laready pointed out, if you have had the Xoom from day one you will have already seen the improvement in the app market. Also remember that the honeycomb source has not been released yet. When that happens you will see things explode here on XDA. So if you have filled up your 32g internal storage, and their just are not enough apps for you at this time and so on........return your Xoom and take a number for the ipad! (it has Netflix out of the box). If you are one of those people who just like to complain, well then I got nothing for you. Otherwise be patient and enjoy what you have. Good things WILL come to our Xoom's!!!
For the record: I have NEVER considered an ipad. And I am very happy with my Xoom!

I just don't get these type of posts. So because you hated the xoom or the wsj says it hasn't sold enough everyone else should go and return their xooms. What should I get an I pad 2? What if I want my websites to work with flash? What if I want actual multitasking? So get an I pad 2 that doesn't even have an SD slot forget when it will be activated.
Anyway, I have been happy with the xoom.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App

tumbes20000 said:
I just don't get these type of posts. So because you hated the xoom or the wsj says it hasn't sold enough everyone else should go and return their xooms. What should I get an I pad 2? What if I want my websites to work with flash? What if I want actual multitasking? So get an I pad 2 that doesn't even have an SD slot forget when it will be activated.
Anyway, I have been happy with the xoom.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i don't want to get a lot of FC on my web browser. this is the only thing i complain.

I want the Xoom to work. I do not own a single Apple product. I am not patient enough to wait months for the Xoom and Honeycomb to work. I want to be able to root and load new themes and Myn's Warm Honeycomb but Google has already said they would not release the sources code anytime soon.
If no one is buying the Xoom, the developers will not develop apps and it may never reach the point where it is a commercial success. I will stick with the Xoom if a significant upgrade comes very soon.

Everywhere I go the xoom seems to be sold out and people are constantly asking for it. It may not have that "Apple" demand but people are interested, I love mine, cant wait for some more apps and updates to come out so it will be a beast!

this post is DOA
This is the beauty of Android, It doesn't matter about the Xoom Google will keep developing 3.0 and onward.
with Apple if interest in a new product dips it dies!
Thats why clean OS's like the xoom will always win the day and thats why extra software just slows down development!
there is more sense in nonsense
remember that!

We do need a way to release frustration and these blogs are it. This is a first honeycomb version, effectively a beta. On the other hand, I feel for Motorola, as when that update comes long, they will have to spend millions double handling the already sold Xoom.
Don't get me wrong, I love my Xoom, and I can see its potential.
I am sure one of the reasons people are not buying Xooms is that thay'd rather wait until it is finished, and some more of bugs are squashed (See googles bug tracket) the SD card is one of the lesser problems.
When that happens we will be riding a steeper adoption curve that will scare apple a little.

I found that every store in the st. Louis area that carries the xoom was sold out so I had to order mine from amazon (not a big fan). So its a bit shocking to hear that sales are bad. Maybe they just didn't make enough. Maybe its been selling fine for motorola and its the market that had unrealistic expectations.
In any case, I think as more manufactures produce more honeycomb tablets the momentum will pick up just like what happened with android phones. The g1 did not exactly fly off the self when it was introduced. Hell I didn't which from blackberry until recently.
Some of this is part of being an early adopter. I mine the ipad2 is simiply a scaled up iphone so no surprise that it works well the os has been out for some time. Honeycomb is a much bigger jump for android and therefore the problems
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

The crazy amount of FUD surrounding the xoom makes me wonder if there's some propaganda machine in operation.

I don't even think that the problem is the software or bugs. I think the main thing that hurt the Xoom is price. After announcing the price Motorola did not listen to consumers and they stuck with their pricing, which ultimately hurt the success of the xoom. Prime example is the Asus Transformer, they are flying of shelves, not because of the dock as much as the price.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

tumbes20000 said:
I found that every store in the st. Louis area that carries the xoom was sold out so I had to order mine from amazon (not a big fan). So its a bit shocking to hear that sales are bad. Maybe they just didn't make enough. Maybe its been selling fine for motorola and its the market that had unrealistic expectations.
In any case, I think as more manufactures produce more honeycomb tablets the momentum will pick up just like what happened with android phones. The g1 did not exactly fly off the self when it was introduced. Hell I didn't which from blackberry until recently.
Some of this is part of being an early adopter. I mine the ipad2 is simiply a scaled up iphone so no surprise that it works well the os has been out for some time. Honeycomb is a much bigger jump for android and therefore the problems
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HC is new, but overall it is still based on android. Why does it have a lot of bugs?
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA Premium App

From what I have seen so far ... stores are sold out, dont have accesories, (which means it is obviously selling out) and in best buy the tablets are with the computers (not with the tablets!), how are people/consumers supposed to know about it and that it is a tablet that is better than the pad when there is a big ipad2 display while the xoom is over by all the laptops and when you ask for it they take you to the zune stuff?
Oh well, and from what i have seen lately, displays are popping up, I have seen more commercials on tv, and now I hope store start stocking it to show it off.. that is the only way to sell it. I think the xoom will do just fine and as it was mentioned earlier in this thread, xoom will not die because android will not die, just wait and see
XOOM FTW!

Responce from Viewsonic on GB and HC

Hey All Check this out..
This is what i asked Viewsonic on Facebook.
Hello,
can you please let us know when we will start to see the release of Gingerbread 2.3 more stable version with the correct nvidia drivers. Nvidia is willing to work with viewsonic to get a stable and decent working rom for the gtablet. I know this seems odd but there has been about 4 tablets released after viewsonic gtablet that are currently runing Android honeycomb 3.0 and the Gtab is still running froyo 2.2. It is time for a upgrade guys. Please.
Also can you please release the source code for 1.2 to the devs this way we can get better roms built in the 1.2 boot-loader.
This is the answer that i got back.
1. When will we start to see the release of Gingerbread 2.3 more stable version with the correct nvidia drivers?
Answer: The gTablet is based upon nVidia's Harmony platform. Unfortunately, nVidia has chosen not to provide driver support on Harmony for either Gingerbread or Honeycomb.
2. Approximate release date of the source code for 1.2 to the devs this way we can get better roms built in the 1.2 boot-loader.
Answer: A release date is not yet scheduled.
This is what i replied back to them.
Hello
Thanks you for you response. There are a couple things.. Nvidia is not dropping support as per this Link and Nvidia directly. Please see this link. http://briefmobile.c...ms-drop-support
This is up to Viewsonic to push google to support Gingerbread and Honeycomb. Nvidia is willing to provide any kind of support for their recent and their upcoming products.
Also we are all patiently waiting for the release of a stable version of gingerbread. I know that google is holding off on releasing honeycomb but they are not holding off on gingerbread. It has been out and available to all. I would like to know from you as to an approx date as to when we will see this.
thanks
It Looks like viewsonic is Dancing around and playing games again..
What do u guys think...??

I'm going today to get a Xoom or Iconia A500 which unless they're the best thing ever, will be returned in the next 45 days for an Asus Transformer. Viewsonic's tablet is fine for browsing and reading docs/ebooks, but I find their lack of wanting to take excellent hardware and make it even better with excellent software disturbing.

muqali said:
I'm going today to get a Xoom or Iconia A500 which unless they're the best thing ever, will be returned in the next 45 days for an Asus Transformer. Viewsonic's tablet is fine for browsing and reading docs/ebooks, but I find their lack of wanting to take excellent hardware and make it even better with excellent software disturbing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would you buy a new tablet to return it less than 2 months later?

muqali said:
I'm going today to get a Xoom or Iconia A500 which unless they're the best thing ever, will be returned in the next 45 days for an Asus Transformer. Viewsonic's tablet is fine for browsing and reading docs/ebooks, but I find their lack of wanting to take excellent hardware and make it even better with excellent software disturbing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah Why return? I love the A500.. why get the transformer? It doesn't have a rear camera flash or a USB port directly on it.. ips screen a plus yes, but not that big of a deal.. and the A500 will also have a keyboard dock too

m914b said:
.. and the A500 will also have a keyboard dock too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First time hearing this. Interesting...

To bad we cant get Nvidia to work with our devs. They are obviously more productive then Viewsonics.

US Merchants is (and always has) been the support mechanism for G-Tablet.
Apparently, Viewsonic has just thrown us to the wolves by passing the buck on that.

kxs783kms said:
First time hearing this. Interesting...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure he's confusing the A500 with the W500. The W500, as a Windows tablet, has a dock. The A500 doesn't have the latch slots on the bottom like the Transformer and W500 (which has two holes, one on either side of the docking port, like the slots on the Transformer). There's no way for the A500 to stay secure in a keyboard dock.

jrm5035 said:
Why would you buy a new tablet to return it less than 2 months later?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A selfish person is prone to selfish, self serving acts
Would you ask a wasp why it stung you, it's in the DNA.
I can't stand this mentallity of I'm not hurting anyone, it's a big corporation.
Back to the subject:
I only use my GTab for surfing and catching up with broadcast shows, via XFinity. I've got full blown laptops and desktops for more challenging endeavors.
At some point I'll get something like the specs on the Transformer, but I can wait.

LGCubana said:
A selfish person is prone to selfish, self serving acts
Would you ask a wasp why it stung you, it's in the DNA.
I can't stand this mentallity of I'm not hurting anyone, it's a big corporation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually agree with this statement. The rest of us have to pay a higher price for everything because there are always people wanting to take advantage of the system. A long time ago when I worked as an LEO, one night I forgot I had a mic attached to my uniform and made a politically incorrect statement. I had just arrested an illegal immigrant for DUI. While I was checking his vehicle for towing, I said to the tow truck guy "it's people like this guy that's making the rest of us pay more for our insurance." Well, that comment came back and bit me in the ass later.
I still stand by that comment, and I don't care how politically incorrect it was. People who use loopholes in the system make the rest of us pay a higher price for everything. Retail store theft each year cost us consumers hundreds of millions of dollars. And people who buy something to just try it out and then return it in a couple of months cause us all to pay a higher price for the said product. They also cause those who genuinely did not intend to use it for free but for one reason or other had to return the product can't return it for full refund.
I love my current profession a lot more. I don't have to be politically correct all the time like before. If I see someone taking advantage of the system at the cost of the rest of us paying for it, I say it.
Anyway, back to the subject. The gtab works wonderfully for my purposes. I currently use froyo, and I can't imagine myself moving on to ginger anytime soon. I like stability and speed a lot more than the latest and greatest.
That said, VS really is alienating us by being so resistant to supporting their own product. Until they get better with their support, I will not buy another VS product.

Gtablet could be good/Viewsonic Bad.......
Tried the a500, bad quality on the hardware so returned (qc dep failed on my unit, screen not seated correctly. Viewsonic had a hit, but have really dropped the ball on follow thru! Locking the bootloader was a strong message of intent. Here comes the heresy, bought a win7 tablet (CTL PC2go). As android will not yet do what I wanted a tablet for (everything from surfing to running programs storing transfering files,remote admin, watching netflix on the go, excel word powerpoint, corporate grade security). The build is excellent hardware quality wise, good horesepower for the buck too. Viewsonic goes in my never again bin (some companies have lost thousands of my dollars by getting into this bin). I am old school(cause I am older), every dollar I spend is an economic vote, and viewsonic is going to learn one day, gain a customer, treat them right, and you will soar as they sell your product for you, and buy from you again and again. Disregard a good customer, and they will tell twice as many to avoid you! Nice gadget, but without support that is all it will ever be!

which tablet to choose?

just to let everyone know up front I am not considering any apple tablets, so please do not suggest them
I've been looking at the HTC Flyer, the Samsung Galaxy tab, but am not sure if there are any other decent tablets out there between 7'' - 12''
budgets is about 200-400 quid
I'm just having a hard time making a decision, I'm not bothered about 1080p playback 720p is fine with me, must have a decent processor/gpu as I like to play alot of games as well, must be android only
at least 5mp camera, preferable with the option of being able to root and ICS
do i get a 3g sim or non 3g? what the heck do i do?
hdmi out is a selling point, dual core is a selling point
I won't be making calls on it but I might want to use 3g+ on it if im out and about
rooting and customisation very important
any one got any decent suggestions,
EDIT:
GOT THE XOOM IN THE END, WHAT A TABLET!! its freaking amazing

I hear the Tab is quite good.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA

mox123 said:
just to let everyone know up front I am not considering any apple tablets, so please do not suggest them
I've been looking at the HTC Flyer, the Samsung Galaxy tab, but am not sure if there are any other decent tablets out there between 7'' - 12''
budgets is about 200-400 quid
I'm just having a hard time making a decision, I'm not bothered about 1080p playback 720p is fine with me, must have a decent processor/gpu as I like to play alot of games as well, must be android only
at least 5mp camera, preferable with the option of being able to root and ICS
do i get a 3g sim or non 3g? what the heck do i do?
hdmi out is a selling point, dual core is a selling point
I won't be making calls on it but I might want to use 3g+ on it if im out and about
rooting and customisation very important
any one got any decent suggestions,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This should help you choose lol
droidfather.com/VideoCategory/Android-Tablets

The Asus transformer series are really nice, I'm looking around to get a Samsung Galaxy Tab myself soon, it looks quiet promising.

I would recommend the Motorola Xoom. The development for the device has been stellar, the devs are awesome and has an unlockable bootloader. Cm9 and other wonderful custom roms like Team EOS nightly builds are solid, fast and will make others envious. The Xoom feels solid and is well built. The screen is not as nice as the ones found on the Asus transformer or Samsung Tab but it isn't bad either. Those other screens also have their cons due to the nature of their technology. There have also been a decent amount of complaints about Asus build quality and Samsung lack of timely updates. The Xoom was the first to get ICS, the first to get a cornerstone build, the first to be officially supported tab for Cm9 and continues to have the latest android enhancements via Team EOS roms. Also the proprietary charger charges the xoom pretty fast and the accessories are cheap now due to it being out for a while. Because it was the first to market, it doesn't mean the it is obsolete. I got a bit of a bad rep in the beginning due to screw ups on Motorola part but all is well now.
I have a 4g Xoom and use it every day. I run the Team EOS nightlys, with the device overlooked to 1.4 (i can get 1.6, but not needed) and undervolted to save juice. Feel free to check out the development thread to verify my claims. Cheers!

what about the xoom 2?
i actually like the look of the xoom 1 but the xoom 2 doesnt look great, whats your thoughts

mox123 said:
what about the xoom 2?
i actually like the look of the xoom 1 but the xoom 2 doesnt look great, whats your thoughts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't get the xoom 2. The bootloader is locked, there isn't nearly as much dev support, no custom roms, no micro sd card slot (deal breaker), more expensive and not all the much of an improvement. It also isn't a Google experience device.
Yea, this I will admit the the screen is better and the writing tech is nice. But you will kick yourself for not going with a better supported device. Before I purchase anything, I checked to see how the community support of the device is and recommend that others do the same. I don't want to solely rely on manufacturers for support.

To be honest I would wait for the Windows 8 tablets if you truly cannot buy an Apple device, as all of the Android tablets still suck(to put it mildly). The iPad is just in a whole another league right now, and ICS didn't make the situation any better. They all lag like crazy, even the 7.7 inch Exynos-equipped Tablet from Samsung. The tablet experience just isn't there yet for android.

What ever you do never get an LG V900 or V909, cant be rooted, or just shortly until you reboot.
Unless you like stock and no root.

Have a look to the Acer Iconia 501.

Toss3 said:
To be honest I would wait for the Windows 8 tablets if you truly cannot buy an Apple device, as all of the Android tablets still suck(to put it mildly). The iPad is just in a whole another league right now, and ICS didn't make the situation any better. They all lag like crazy, even the 7.7 inch Exynos-equipped Tablet from Samsung. The tablet experience just isn't there yet for android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow really? What tablets running ICS have you owned? My Xoom running Team EOS ICS 4.0.3 is smooth an rarely lags.
The ipad hardware is in another league but the software is still Crap. What good is having all of that power and design but only being able to do 1/4 of what an android tablet can do? Also you are limited to whatever apps Apple deems fit in their one appstore. The other other alternative is to jailbreak and uses cydia. Don't even get me started on having to rely on a pc or mac to back up apps and settings usin itunes. On android I just use titanium backup and clockwork recovery to make a full back up to my micro sd card. I have been through that Crap an will never go back. Have you?
I also like how people are assuming windows 8 is going to be the answer for everyone. It can't run your normal desktop apps, I will be more expensive, it will be locked down, possibly more vulnerable due to it being based of windows and missing so awesome features due to limited api access or something similar. Keep in mind the Android was never intended to take on desktop OSs and the ios doesn't come any closer to accomplishing that. ios is worst. I don't care if here are 200,000+ apps, how many fart emulators and angry birds clones do you need? I how many apps do people on average even bother downloading from the appstore? I can tell you it is not 200,000 or even 50.
I will admit that the stock rom may have its issues, the custom roms usually fixes and enhances the user experience. I have only used the Motorola Xoom and Asus Transformer. Both have Cm9 and Team EOS ICS 4.0.3 nightlys available for them that run like butter. I never use stock rom.
ICS is there in tablet experience and will be getting better with release of 4.0.5 and 4.0.4. I wish people wih limited hands on experience would stop making blanket general statements. Not having the opportunity to tinker wih various hardware and software is one thing, but being unsatisfied wih the out of he box experience is another. This is XDA, experiment, create and discover.

ASUS Transformer Series are good and popular

@runhopskipjump: Way to go turning this into an Apple vs Android thread. Read any reputable review site that actually have an objective viewpoint on the matter and you'll come to realize exactly what everyone else has(except for some die-hard android fans): the android experience does not translate well onto tablets yet.
I love android, and have been waiting on an android tablet that would match the iPad, like the SGS did with the iPhone, but alas no tablet has done so yet and with the new iPad, apple leapfrogged the android manufacturers by a year, again.
The only tablet I would even remotely consider is the updated Transformer Prime TF700, but that won't be out until June.
Windows 8 is going to bridge the gap between the PC and Tablet space, allowing tablets to run desktop apps and vice versa. I hate having to have two devices, when one should be enough. The battery life of the current crop of Windows 7 tablets just isn't quite there yet and is the only obstacle keeping me from buying one, and I am hoping that the arm version of Windows 8 is going to remedy that.

thats the problem alot of the hardware does suck, however with the tegra 3 having only 1 gpu core compared to a5x's 4 gpus,
i think apple did the right thing here but I can't support a company like apple
the transformer prime sucks and they have made a new model of the same prime tablet due to issues with the back aluminum and some slight enhancements,
so in a way there is a flaw with those tablets right there and to overcome those you need to purchase the even new model of the prime,
I don't want to be running around, I just want something that will work hardware wise, and the software I can work around with custom roms,

tab
i would chose the samsung galaxy tab

I really recommend you TAB from Samsung Galaxy family

.
Thread moved to Q&A due to it being a question. Would advise you to read forum rules and post in correct section.
Failure to comply with forum rules will result in an infraction and/or ban depending on severity of rule break.

I'm very satisfied with my galaxy tab 10.1
Covers all my needs, has great ROMs - I've only tried overcome, but there are others - and is overclockable.
Now that I've found the switchme app - me, my wife and child all have our separate accounts on it.
Whatever you get, make sure you have enough internal space for such an app.
It's very convenient for more than one user to be able to have their own google account on a tablet, since they often are shared my more than one user.
Sent from my GT-P7500 using xda premium

its such a hard choice as they are all good but only one is going to be bought,
I wish I could make up my damn mind

mox123 said:
its such a hard choice as they are all good but only one is going to be bought,
I wish I could make up my damn mind
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If money is no object, you have two choices. Either you want a tablet can double down as a netbook and you go for the upcoming ASUS Transformer tablet (skip the Prime, I've heard from several people that it has connectivity issues), or you're more into consuming media, in which case Samsung Galaxy Tab is really good.
At this point it slowly starts to become a matter of taste. The top competitors are pretty close to each other. I'm curious about the upcoming Google-branded tablet too - I kicked the HTC Sense to the curb after a mere 2 weeks and replaced it with AOSP, so I don't put great trust in third party shells.