As Telstra and Optus are both selling the Motorola XOOM, we thought we’d do a quick little comparison to see which Carrier was offering the best value for money with their plans. Plans aren’t everything though, you’ll have to also put into consideration which network has been speed and coverage where you live; usually this is Telstra, however Optus provide a decent service in many areas. The three plans we’ve compared are all over 24 months, so we hope you like your XOOM a lot. With that information in mind, let’s get into it.
Low-tier
| Optus | Telstra | |
|---|---|---|
| Plan Cost (Per Month) | $29.95 | $29 |
| Monthly Repayments | $20 | $25 |
| Total Cost (24mths) | $1,168.85 | $1,296 |
| Data | 4GB on-peak / 8GB off-peak** ($0.08/MB thereafter) | 1GB ($0.25/MB thereafter) |
Mid-tier
| Optus | Telstra | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost Per Month | $39.95 | $49 |
| Monthly Repayments | $15 | $25 |
| Total Cost (24mths) | $1,278.85 | $1,776 |
| Data | 8GB | 7GB ($0.25/MB thereafter) |
Top-tier
| Optus | Telstra | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost Per Month | $59.95 | $79 |
| Monthly Repayments | $0 | $10 |
| Total Cost (24mths) | $1,378.85 | $2,256 |
| Data | 10GB | 12GB ($0.25/MB thereafter) |
**: From what we understand ‘off-peak’ refers to time between midnight and 7AM
So there you have it, comparison based on the three plans each Carrier has to offer. We’ve highlighted in green what’s the better offer/cheapest price, however your needs dictate what’s best for you. Let us know who you would go with, or who you are with if you already purchased a XOOM.
I’ve had my Xoom from Telstra for about a month now, I’ve found it to be quite handy. As I frequently travel via Train and Bus from my home in rural Upper Hunter Valley to the city. The Xoom has better NextG coverage than my iPhone. Only downside I’ve found is that I have to run my downloaded videos though a format converter. My .MKV files with subtitles need to be converted to have the subs removed to a sub file then the video is encoded into MPEG4 with the subs either hard-encoded or kept with the video and manually loaded… Read more »
$1,168.85 for minimum spend for this thing you would really want to be using it a TON to justify the money. WIFI tether to ur phone anyone?
The only reason anyone want to buy this from a mobile operator is for mobile data. On the cheapest Optus plan, you are only paying 480 for the
tablet (~170 cheaper than buying outright) and get 8GB of additional off peak data , which IMO is not bad.
Hate to be picky but optus does not have excess data charges. Once you hit your data limit additional data block can be purchased for a fee otherwise you can only access specific “walled garden” sites.
Oh sweet, cheers for that!
No worries. The optus website explains it incorrectly in the details listing the excess charge the 0.08 is used fpr the data block which work out as pay $10 and get $40 credit to use. $40 @ $0.08 per mb gives 500mb peak use. The same is used for the main data cap but not advertised anymore.
both overpriced
As much as I want a xoom (for the builtin 3g), I do think both are over priced….