Love my Xoom, but Verizon won't get 1 cent from me.

Question

I have had a Xoom since launch, and love it... but Verizon's activation fee scam and lack of a proper pay-as-you-go ala the ipad has put me off ever activating the data plan. If there was a proper way for me to activate it and deactivate, I would sign up, but knowing that I get to pay an activation fee for the privilege ...and knowing that I may pay said fee many times during the course of my ownership has totally put me off Verizon. If samsung makes a strong showing with a new honeycomb tablet on Sprint, I may just have jump ship.
Verizon, please reconsider your fees or risk alienating the burgeoning tablet community.

Answer 1

Cut and pasted my comments from another similar thread...
I ordered my Xoom from Verizon and was expecting to see it added as another phone on my current Droid X unlimited plan, but found out that was not the case before I hit the confirm button. I also fully understand why the Xoom and other similar devices, including USB modems, have different data pricing. The data use of my Xoom would be huge compared to that of my Droid if it were not for my WiFi. Although I got the unlimited data plan for my Droid, I would have opted for a lower plan but wanted to use Pandora radio all the time away from my WiFi and I don't load music onto the SD card. I bought the Xoom to replace an aging Inspiron 9200 laptop, and that laptop will replace an aging Dimension 4100 desktop. Although I wanted a new comparable laptop, the cost was above my comfort zone so I took some time to think about how I actually used my laptop and what I really needed. I surprised myself when the Xoom could do, after the Flash 10.2 release, pretty much everything I was using my laptop for except for the 17" screen. Also, the laptop was bought as a "desktop replacement" but I never got rid of the desktop, LOL I also purchased the keyboard and Verizon bundle with the basic dock, portfolio case, and screen protectors and still spent less than the low end laptop I was originally looking to buy (and it's more portable). I opted for the $35 ($28 with my employee discount) 3GB plan ($10 each additional 1GB) fully knowing that only occasional 3G use a month would quickly use that $20 1GB plan ($20 each additional 1GB) allowance up. I figure I can do my major downloads at home on the WiFi and still use the 3G on the 3GB plan away from home and not go over in that allowance in 30 days. I thought about using my Droid X as a WiFi hot-spot for the Xoom, but thats $20 a month addition for 2GB ($20 more for the next 2GB) which is almost the same cost as the 3GB plan on the Xoom at $10/GB.
Ok back to the "Pay as you Go Plan" subject, the 1GB plan is pretty much pay as you go. You will easily use up that 1GB a month when away from a WiFi source and will be charged another $20 for the next 1GB if you go over (that's $20/GB). What I'm saying is, why not get the 3GB or 5GB plan if you plan to use it that much on the 3G network, and monitor your use knowing the overages will only cost $10 for the next 1GB each (approx. $10/GB). If you think you can use less than 1GB a month and want a pay as you go price you might as well go with a WiFi only model and find a hot-spot when your away from home every time you want to use it. I have used 0.1GB since I got my Xoom, but that has been less than a week and I have had the 3G pretty much turned off before yesterday when my FiOS router died and I have no WiFi. I even used the hot-spot on the Xoom for a while yesterday to get my laptop online, which has no additional cost vs. the Droid plan since the Xoom uses the data from your regular plan pricing when using the hot-spot option.