Motorola’s new Xoom tablet doesn’t appear to have impressed reviewers as much as Google or Motorola had hoped. It’s worth noting that the Xoom is just the first in a line of new Android Honeycomb tablets, so the largely negative reviews are hurting the entire platform rather than a single product.

Engadget was not thrilled by the pricing, as the Xoom costs about 10 percent more than a comparable iPad. Although the Xoom has better hardware, it’s let down by the OS and the lack of tablet oriented apps. Engadget described it as a “work in progress” and its telling potential consumers they should “wait and see” how Google and Motorola react to the criticism.

Anand was a bit more positive. He praised the new UI and Android’s flexibility which allows for a degree of customization, noting that Honeycomb’s biggest advantage over iOS is the multitasking UI and notification system. However, Anand also complained about choppy animations and noted that some elements of Google’s new OS feel “rushed”, citing random OS issues and lack of SD card support in the test version. The screen and price were also a source of complaints.

CNET also praised the fast hardware and impressive spec sheet, but it moaned about the price and Android 3.0’s lack of intuitiveness. CNET believes Apple won't be unseated anytime soon thanks to the sheer volume of iOS tablet apps available to iPad users.

Although every reviewer found quite a few positive aspects to write home about, it appears that none of them are sold on Google’s latest OS. Mind you, we are not talking about a cheap piece of kit here, consumers expect a top notch OS for $800, so any bugs, lag or choppy visuals really aren’t acceptable, especially considering Xoom packs a dual-core processor rather than Apple’s single core A4.

However, the biggest concern appears to be the price and this is where we have to agree with every Xoom review out there - $800 is just too much for just about any tablet out there.