Motorola's Xoom Family Edition Review: Not Just For The Kids

What Makes This A "Family Edition" Tablet?

The family-friendly aspect of the Xoom Fanil Edition actually comes from Zoodles, which is available for free on any Android tablet.

Zoodles: Click to View Entire Image Gallery

The program provides access to games, artwork, books, and email in a restrictive interface that parents can control. You can add content in a widget-like manner and track usage, which parents should appreciate.

Artwork is even saved to the cloud. Simply log in to Zoodles.com to see everything.

Preventing access to Android outside of this sandbox requires enabling the child lock. When it's enabled, pressing the operating system's home and back buttons does nothing. We don't believe the child is very secure, though. Overriding it is a simple matter of double-tapping the back button and drawing a "Z" on the screen. Older children, the ones you're probably most worried about, will get around that in a heartbeat. The lock should probably be pin- or password-based instead.

There are many features of Zoodles that are only available with a Premium subscription. However, buying a Xoom Family Edition doesn't get you any sort of discount on that. So, in the end, "Kid Mode" on Motorola's newest tablet doesn't really amount to anything special. You can get the same functionality on any Android-based tablet.

  • tanjo
    Nice value. Too bad there's no card reader... Do I hear iPad killer?
    Reply
  • tranfire
    @tanjo it has micro SD
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  • tanjo
    @transfire: Ooops sorry misssed that :p
    No Bluetooth? :(
    Reply
  • onanonanon
    tranfire@tanjo it has micro SDYeah, but for me, one of the best uses of a tablet would be to view photos from a digital camera and yet very few models support an SD or SDHC card.
    Reply
  • cknobman
    Sorry but regardless of price after seeing just how piss poor the screen is (most notably extreme light bleed) and how long the charge times are I dont think the low price justifies its shortcomings.

    Heck its not uncommon to get a Transformer or A500 for $299-$349 these days which blow this tablet out of the water.
    Reply
  • acku
    9523631 said:
    Sorry but regardless of price after seeing just how piss poor the screen is (most notably extreme light bleed) and how long the charge times are I dont think the low price justifies its shortcomings.

    Heck its not uncommon to get a Transformer or A500 for $299-$349 these days which blow this tablet out of the water.
    1. The Transformer also has light bleed.
    2. The 299 price is because of black Friday, cyber Monday, and holiday sales. It's definitely not "normal"
    Reply
  • pyrrocc
    FYI, on the front-face cam, 1.3MP 640x480... Heck 1200x900 (4:3) = ~1MP
    Reply
  • pyrrocc
    Grrr... can't do standard inequality of angled brackets....

    FYI, on the front-face cam, 1.3MP does not equal 640x480... Heck 1200x900 (4:3) = ~1MP
    Reply
  • slabbo
    A500 can be found in practically every Costco I've been in, and for $319 including a leather case.
    Reply
  • The size specs on the Xoom and Xoom Family are not correct. Xoom Family is longer AND wider, not the other way around.
    Reply