BlackBerry PlayBook vs Motorola Xoom

Motorola and RIM recently announced their new tablet devices - the Motorola Xoom and BlackBerry PlayBook. Although, both these devices have not been officially launched in India, but very soon these devices will be joining the tablet bandwagon here to compete with Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Apple iPad.

We compare BlackBerry PlayBook against the Motorola Xoom to see which is the best and, more importantly, which device is worth your time, money and attention?

We find out.

Form factor
PlayBook: 194 x 130 x 10mm (425g)
Xoom: 249 x 167.8 x 12.9 mm (730 g)

This one is slightly difficult to call as both tablets are designed with different users in mind. The PlayBook, which is of the 7-inch ilk, is more portable, significantly lighter and thinner than the Motorola Xoom. Something that will no doubt be very attractive to a lot of users.

Having said that, the Xoom offers superior media-viewing capabilities with its 10.1-inch display – currently the largest size there is. Obviously, this additional size brings with additional weight, but that’s to be expected.

Like most form-factor contents, this comes down to personal preference. In this instance, we much prefer the size of the Xoom ahead of the 7-inch PlayBook. Our logic? Simple: we like bigger tablets, the smaller ones seem like phones.

Winner – Motorola Xoom

Display
PlayBook: 7-inch (1024 x 600 pixels) display
Xoom: 10.1-inch (1280 x 800 pixels) display

Considering the devices in question have extremely different sized displays, there’s not much in it in terms of quality. The PlayBook is up there with the best of them, but it just can’t quite beat the Xoom in the pixel department. Couple this with the additional screen real estate you get with the Xoom and you’re onto a winner every time.

Winner – Motorola Xoom

Storage
BlackBerry PlayBook – TBC
Xoom: 32GB plus additional 32GB via microSD slot

Again, this one is pretty simple. The Motorola Xoom can store 32GB internally and has support for an additional 32GB via its microSD card slot.

RIM, on the other hand, has yet to disclose how much, or little, the PlayBook will store onboard it or whether it will have microSD card support or not. Our money’s on 16GB and 32GB with no microSD card support. Unfortunately though, without anything official the PlayBook forfeits and loses the storage stakes.

Winner – Motorola Xoom

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