7 Ways the iPad 2 is Better Than Motorola Xoom

First came the iPad, which revolutionized the tablet computing market. Late last month, Motorola came out with an Android-based alternative that beats the iPad in a number of areas. Not to be denied, however, Apple just delivered iPad 2, which negates some of the advantages that Xoom claimed over the original iPad. Here are seven ways the iPad 2 is better than the Xoom.

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Hands-on review: Xoom battles iPad 2 to a draw

7 ways the Xoom is better than the iPad 2

If you go by list price, the Xoom weighs in at $799.99, while the iPad 2 lists for $729.99.

We found that when you rotate the Xoom from landscape to portrait mode, there's a significant delay, which we measured at 2.3 seconds. The delay with the iPad 2 was well under half a second, so that's a significant performance difference.

While Xoom's widescreen format is a little better for viewing movies, the iPad 2's more square shape is better for reading documents, books, etc.

It's only natural that the second iteration of a product will be less buggy and smoother than an initial rollout. With the Xoom, for example, the product shipped without some of the advertised features, such as Flash and the SD card slot, enabled. Motorola is updating on the fly. With the iPad 2, it's all there and functioning on Day 1.

With a significant head start, Apple has built a giant treasure chest of applications, which are available at the Apple store. Under the Apple model, Apple vets and OKs apps that are available at its store and that's the only place you can get iPad 2 apps.

Neither device offers the ability to shoot video, but ...

Apple integrated FaceTime with the iPad 2 to allow people to use the front-facing camera for video chat over Wi-Fi. You can also switch to the rear facing camera, so the person you're chatting with can see live images as you're seeing them.

Not by much, but the iPad 2 is lighter than the Xoom. The Xoom weighs 1.5 pounds; the iPad 2 weighs 1.3 pounds.

7 Ways the Xoom is Better Than iPad 2