The Xoom with Android 3.0 is the blueprint for nearly every not-iPad to come, a preview of the tablets that will crowd shelves by the end of this year from nearly every major purveyor of commodity consumer electronics, surrounding the churning hordes that bob through fluorescent-lit big box stores, blinking about how they're bigger, faster, more open than the iPad. This is what the near-term future of non-iPad tablet computers may very well look like.
You know what? It's not a bad blueprint.
The Xoom is not a tablet you would hand to your mother; it is cold and complex and industrial and vaguely foreboding, the look and feel resembling a glossed up slice of Blade Runner. Everything is black, with glowing blue accents. Conversely, it's a tablet that will make you, a nerd, feel like you're doing real things, half because you are, half because manipulating it requires a higher cognitive load than the iPad. It manages—and this is remarkable—to transplant much of the feeling of using a PC to a wholly new computing experience. Whether or not that's a good thing depends on who you are.
Specs
Motorola Xoom
Price: $600 with 2-year contract on Verizon; $800 off-contract
Screen: 10.1-inch, 1280x800
Processor and RAM: Dual-core 1GHZ Tegra 2, 1GB ram
Storage: 32GB internal
Camera: 5 mp stills, 720p video. LED flash. 2MP front cam
Extras: Mobile hotspot, HDMI out
Weight: 1.6 pounds
My neatly organized main desktop contains 12 apps and 7 live widgets. And that's just the main one—you can have up to five. Your hands will dart all over the screen, frequently, often to the bottom left corner, where you'll find the home, back and app-switching buttons. App switching is so fast it makes the iPad and iPad 2's whirly-gig animated app-switching seem leisurely. The bottom right provides quick access to settings and pop-up notifications (which take advantage of the real estate by being prettier and offering more detail).
Oddly, though there's no quick access to your apps page—you've gotta go all the way home, then hit the apps button in the top right corner, then scroll to the one you want. The top bar is contextual: Inside of apps, the left corner often functions as an "app home"/back button. The top right is where all of the app "stuff" is now packed, like the app menu, settings, and things like search (since the previous hidden action container, Android menu button is no more). You might imagine how you constantly move your hands from corner to corner to corner, with lots of thing to constantly process. It's a totally different pace than using an iPad.
You'll use the Xoom almost exclusively in landscape mode. It's awkward to hold vertically, thanks to the the good-but-not-amazing 1280x800, 10.1-inch screen's wide 16:10 aspect ratio, and its center of gravity, which makes it feel heavier in the portrait position. All other signs point to landscape too: Logos, buttons, cameras, and most importantly, the apps. In portrait, Google Talk crushes your contacts into nameless squares; Gmail feels cramped; and so on. Movies, especially ultra-wide Wes Anderson flicks, work better; though you'll have to bring your own, since there is still no video service like Netflix for Android. As much attention as the iPad got for its at-the-time weird 4:3 orientation, it seems to merit noting that the widescreen Xoom feels less flexible as a result.
The Xoom was the first tablet with video chat worth using. Everybody I know uses Google Talk all day long, so for the first time ever, I could video chat with anybody I wanted. What I discovered: Unless you've got your tablet propped up on something or in a stand, you're not going to want to video chat with any tablet! What started out as the awkward shuffling of a 1.6-pound slab every minute became a frantic, uncomfortable shimmy about 15 minutes in. It's not like reading (the other party has to see you, after all), so you can't drop it in your lap unless your legs are propped up and angled toward your face. This will be true for every video-chatting tablet that weighs more than a pound. The video quality itself was passable, but also significantly worse than a Google Talk video call from my desktop. Even the 5-megapixel, 720p-shooting rear camera was not great for video chat.
Everything is so, so fast. The UI feels mostly cohesive, for the first time, and there are some great little details, like the transition animations and the subtle shadows and glowing highlights everywhere.
Google has done some truly beautiful work with the native apps. They're by far the best part about Android 3.0. Google Talk and Gmail are crisp and clean and modern. The Gmail app is basically the perfect touch implementation of Gmail. Talk is spare, video chat painless. Google Books delivers a solid ebook experience, with whizbang page-turning physics. The bookstore is hooked into Android Market, which is completely overhauled and suddenly usable. The camera app is weirdly excellent, even if the Xoom's cameras are only moderately useful. Music is no longer the ugly stepchild of native Android applications. Every native app shows how to build a great tablet app, even if they follow, in some cases, a now well-worn path.
The live widgets, like for mail, are genuinely useful, if a little too small. The notifications system works even better here than on Android phones. You feel like you can really get stuff done, thanks to its combo of speed and more fluid multitasking (even if you can't do too much yet, thanks to the dearth of apps). Battery life really is all day.
It's hard to render a genuine verdict on a product that is so clearly not done yet. What the Xoom and Android 3.0 offer right now as a core tablet experience is really solid, especially if you use a lot of Google services. It fares better against the iPad 2 than you would think. But it's hard to fully grok what the cohesive Android experience is really going to be like right now. If you don't know you want the Xoom immediately, and are cool paying $800 for the first real Android tablet, wait. Wait for the bugfixes. Wait for Flash. Most of all, wait for the apps. I hate the idea of buying anything based on its potential because it may never fulfill it, but that's really what you're doing with the Xoom. Fortunately, it's got a lot of it. Which means so does almost every other remotely Android 3.0 tablet coming down to the pipe.
Best 5 Cell Phones
You carry your phone almost everywhere, so it's important that you find the model that's right for you and one that works with your carrier. Fortunately, CNET is here to help. We've chosen five handsets that we think are the top cell phones right now in any category. If you'd like to drill deeper, follow the links at the left for our favorite cell phones in several categories. These lists change frequently, so check back often.
Samsung Epic 4G (Sprint)
Apple iPhone 4 (AT&T)
T-Mobile MyTouch 4G
LG Optimus T (T-Mobile)
Sanyo Vero (Sprint)
Thanks to www.cnet.com
Samsung Galaxy Tab Review
Mon, 20 Dec 2010 1:26 am 
3 Comments and 7 ReactionsThe Galaxy Tab is the first actual Android tablet that tried to take a stab at Apple’s iPad. How can you review an Android tablet without first comparing it to the iPad. I believe that the Galaxy Tab was a great attempt at beating the iPad, but it’s not quite there yet.
The specifications for the Galaxy Tab include a 1GHz processor which makes it quite snappy. The tab also sports a 7-inch display at 1024×600 resolution and supports full HD video at 1080p for movies. Android Froyo 2.2 comes standard on the Tab but with Gingerbread 2.3 just released by Google it should be on the Tab soon. The tab also sports full flash support thanks to Android 2.2 and can play all those Facebook games like Farmville. Read on for the TekGoblin review of the Galaxy Tab.
Screen
The screen on the Tab may not be the Super AMOLED screen that you can find on other Samsung Galaxy S line phones but it is still quite beautiful. Taking pictures and video on the tab proved quite easy with the 7-inch screen. The screen was also very responsive to the touch even the lightest touch.
The display also offers much more control over its settings than the iPad. For example you can set Font Style, Brightness, White color density, Black color density, Color Saturation, Window Animations, Screen Timeout, and TV out settings. All of these settings allow you to customize the experience the way you like it most.
Software
EMail
Viewing and reading email is a snap on the Galaxy Tab because you can sync all of Google’s services since its the Android OS. Email can be viewed in either portrait or landscape mode and supports flash and full HTML messages.
Video Chat
It is claimed that video chat is available on the Galaxy Tab however we found it very difficult to get it to work. We tried Fring, and Qik and ran into compatibility issues. So we were unable to test the video calling features, we will just have to wait till they iron out all of the bugs with this.
Instant Messaging/SMS
Instant messaging on the Tab is great with Froyo. You can stay connected to your Gmail contacts and easily message them in the notifications slider. The tab also includes the ability to send SMS messages to other phones even though the Tab isn’t actually a phone.
Web Browsing
Web browsing on the Galaxy Tab was fast and responsive over WiFi but sometimes problematic over 3G. Different browsers can also be installed on the Tab and you can choose which one to use when viewing web-pages. However scrolling up and down on pages the Tab did stutter at times unlike the iPad. Other than that browsing was great on the Tab.
Also available on the Galaxy Tab is the Media Hub which allows you to purchase TV shows and movies to play back on your Android device. Your purchased content is available on up to 5 Android devices all linked together by your Google account. The library is still growing with around 1000 movies currently so don’t expect to find everything just yet.
Camera
Taking pictures on the Galaxy Tab with its large screen is quite fun and different. The Tab only has a 3 Megapixel camera but it still takes decent pictures check out our samples below. The Tab also features a very bright LED flash and different scene modes and image settings to take the best picture.
Conclusion
I do really like the Galaxy Tab and I do also own an iPad. Now the Tab has many features that I love including the ability to have your instant messenger and email completely integrated into the OS and always on, something the iPad doesn’t offer. The Galaxy Tab will greatly benefit from Android 2.3 Gingerbread right now it feels like Froyo just doesn’t fit. When you change the orientation on the Tab it doesn’t seem to adjust as smoothly as the iPad which seemed to really bother me. Overall the Galaxy Tab is the best alternative to the iPad and I would love to own one myself. I would rate the Galaxy Tab at 4/5 Gears with Froyo and 4.5/5 with Gingerbread.
Motherboard Mega-Roundup: 3 Top Mobos Reviewed and Compared
We've decided to round up the best and brightest motherboards available. And we're not talking Micro ATX, sub-$100 budgetrino boards here. We reached for the most feature-filled, over-the-top X58 and 890FX boards from the top three mobo vendors.
Want to know how over the top? One board lets you remotely reboot or overclock it using your cell phone. Another features power connectors usually found only on dual-processor server motherboards. Hell, one has a heat pipe so freaking big, some editors here thought it was some sort of new PCI-E add-in card. And one board is so large, you'll have to buy a case specifically for its generous dimensions.
So if you're ready to build a machine that will motor you away from those recession doldrums, keep reading because the best board here will be the one you want in your AMD or Intel machine.
The X58 ReviewsGigabyte X58A-UD7
MSI Big Bang-XPower
Asus Rampage III Extreme
X58: The Final Analysis
With performance essentially equal, it comes down to overall experience
We know, enthusiasts like to see benchmarks and measurements and numbers. But, as we've observed for a long time, performance across the same chipset rarely sees major variances. That lesson is evident here, where there's no clear performance winner. Each board scored minor victories that were most likely the result of a benchmark's margin of error and/or each board's out-of-the-box overclock. The Gigabyte board, for example, runs its bclock at 134.9, which gives it a slight clock-speed advantage. Still, all the boards are fast.In the overclocking department, we didn't try to wring each board to its fullest potential manually, as that's dependent on the individual overclocker. We did, however, test how each board handled automatic overclocking. Interestingly, all three were pretty safe automatic overclocks, taking our 2.8GHz Core i7-930 to the 3.33GHz Core i7-975 Extreme Edition range without fail. Of course, everyone knows that's a pretty wimpy feat. All three companies are simply being realistic. Folks who use the automatic tools will be happy with what they get but anyone who buys a board designed to boot with frigid liquid-nitrogen is going to overclock manually.
So, what this comes down to are features and the setup experience. Surprisingly, with the amount of engineering and qualification that goes into the top-tier boards, not everything is perfect. The Gigabyte X58A-UD7 was probably the trickiest. Out of the box, with the latest public BIOS and a retail Core i7-930, the board kept falling back to a 15x multiplier, which made our 2.8GHz chip a 2GHz chip. And no, it wasn't in SpeedStep mode. That won't trip up an enthusiast, but Joe 12-pack might not know he's underclocking a chip. Only manually setting the multiplier to 22x gave us the right clock speed.
The Gigabyte's ET6 utility also kept tripping Windows 7's UAC control on each boot. Another kvetch about the Gigabyte board: It's qualified for tri-SLI and includes a bridge, but you will need a special case to accept the last card. Both MSI's and Asus's tri-SLI configurations should fit in most standard enclosures.
Not that the MSI and Asus boards were without fault. As we noted above, MSI's default power configuration was plain wacky. Requiring a user who has just spent a ton of cash on a top-tier board to enable S3 and tweak two power settings to enable "wake on USB" seems wrong. Granted, at $300 on the street, MSI's board is the cheapest of the three here. And we do dig the Big Bang's PCI-E layout and surface-mounted controls.
As for the Rampage III, Asus needs to send its north-bridge fan design back to the drawing board. Besides it not working with large coolers, the fan is shrill and prevents you from reaching the top GPU latch with your fingers. And how 'bout another USB header? The other two boards here pack two USB headers for case front-panel ports, but Asus only gives you one.
In the end, though, those are pretty minor complaints. It was a very close competition between Asus's Rampage III Extreme and MSI's Big Bang-XPower, but the RC Bluetooth mode and out-of-the-box flawless setup give the Rampage III Extreme the edge.
Benchmarks
Alienware Area-51 video review
HP TouchSmart 600
The good: Matches Sony in capability to connect and switch between external video sources easily; Recipe Box touch program best kitchen app we've seen; smart touch app partnerships with Hulu, Twitter, and Netflix; loud enough to fill a room.
The bad: Slow performance; touch input suffers from occasional unresponsiveness.
The bottom line: If HP's TouchSmart 600 won't at least get you thinking about the idea of bringing a PC into your kitchen, the concept truly has no hope. With well-though-out touch apps, a wide, easy-to-use array of digital media features, and an attractive, flexible design, HP's new all-in-one is not the fastest new all-in-one, but it has the most comprehensive and compelling set of features of any all-in-one launching alongside Windows 7.
Review:
The HP TouchSmart 600 shows how getting an early jump on unproven technology can pay off. HP was first to market with a touch-based all-in-one PC more than two years ago. Now that Windows 7 has spurred almost every major desktop vendor toward multitouch, HP has the advantage of years of real market feedback to help refine the TouchSmart 600. The result, while still not perfect, is the best implementation of touch input we've seen so far in an all-in-one. Also to HP's credit (and likely Sony's chagrin), even if the TouchSmart 600 had no touch capability,by incorporating all of the features we've loved in Sony's Vaio LV line, HP has matched Sony in crafting a robust standalone home entertainment device. This $1,599, 23.5-inch all-in-one won't be for everyone, but those willing to find room for the TouchSmart A600, cooks especially, will be rewarded with an innovative, feature-rich all-in-one.
The HP TouchSmart 600 shows how getting an early jump on unproven technology can pay off. HP was first to market with a touch-based all-in-one PC more than two years ago. Now that Windows 7 has spurred almost every major desktop vendor toward multitouch, HP has the advantage of years of real market feedback to help refine the TouchSmart 600. The result, while still not perfect, is the best implementation of touch input we've seen so far in an all-in-one. Also to HP's credit (and likely Sony's chagrin), even if the TouchSmart 600 had no touch capability, by incorporating all of the features we've loved in Sony's Vaio LV line, HP has matched Sony in crafting a robust standalone home entertainment device. This $1,599, 23.5-inch all-in-one won't be for everyone, but those willing to find room for the TouchSmart A600, cooks especially, will be rewarded with an innovative, feature-rich all-in-one.
On the outside the TouchSmart 600 doesn't look that different from HP's previous all-in-one, the TouchSmart IQ816. It has the same glossy black plastic exterior, with graceful curves down its side. It's not quite as design-forward as the iMac, but it's as visually appealing, if not more so, than new all-in-ones from Gateway and Sony.
What HP's design lacked in its earlier version was an easy means to mount it on the wall. Sony made a big push last year to position its LV series all-in-ones as living room-ready devices, which had both the hardware and the design elements to match. Clearly taking a page from Sony's guidebook, HP has made the TouchSmart fully VESA-mount compliant. Simply unscrew a panel on the back and then unscrew the stand to reveal the wall-mount inputs.
HP has also borrowed from Sony's shrewd connectivity features, and taken them one step further. HP has added not only an HDMI input with a dedicated button for switching input signals, but also a set of composite video and audio ports as well. That means you can connect multiple external video sources to the TouchSmart, such as game consoles, a cable box, or HD cameras, and switch between them and your Windows desktop seamlessly. Sadly, but not surprisingly given the regulatory implications, you can't get Windows to talk to those devices, which means your DVR options are restricted to the built-in hybrid TV tuner. Sony's all-in-one has the same limitation.
Along with the inputs for external video sources, the TouchSmart A600 comes with a slot-loading Blu-ray drive, as well as touch-driven Hulu and Netflix interfaces into its new touch software carousel (more on that in a minute). All of these features would be meaningless without decent screen and audio quality to back them up, and for the most part the TouchSmart 600 delivers. The audio ouput is easily the strongest we've seen from an all-in-one this year, mostly because it's loud enough to fill a room. We noticed some pixel noise in the HD video from the 23.5-inch 1,920 x 1,080 display, but not enough to be distracting, especially if you're watching from a distance.
While HP has clearly borrowed from Sony in its wall-mounting and video input capabilities, the software designed for its touch interface is unique and just as compelling. We won't go over every feature in HP's custom-made application carousel, but you'll find the usual collection of painting, note taking, and other apps. But four new additions to HP's touch-screen arsenal set it apart, three from choosing partners wisely, and the fourth the product of its own development.
Best 5 Laptops
The most common question I get is simple: "What laptop should I buy?" Being a generally difficult person by nature, I usually respond with my own series of questions: "What size screen do you want? How much do you want to spend?" and so on. But sometimes people just want a simple suggestion, based on what I actually like. So, here is a jargon-free list of the current crop of laptops that I'm digging, either because they give you good bang for your buck, they excel in their specific category, or because they just plain rock. (cNet.com)
Apple MacBook Pro Spring 2010 (Core i7 2.66GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 15-inch)
Apple's 15-inch MacBook Pro keeps the same look and feel, but offers major internal changes, including an optional Intel Core i7 CPU, making it a very serious portable powerhouse.Price: $2,045.49 - $2,199.00 (check prices)
Gateway NV7915u
The Gateway NV7915u is a well-rounded, well-designed desktop replacement that delivers mainstream performance at a budget price.Read full review
Sony Vaio Z series VPC-Z116GX/S
Sony's top-of-the-line 13-inch Vaio VPCZ116GX/S has a speedy Core i5 CPU, discrete graphics, a huge 256GB SSD, and a sky-high price to match.Price: $2,264.99 (check prices)
Asus Eee PC 1005PR
A rare 10-inch system with an HD display, the Eee PC 1005PR also adds HD video playback hardware for a well-priced step-up Netbook experience.Price: $399.99 (check prices)