Samsung Galaxy Tab review

27. i havent got this but i have been on this and i found this not the best tablet pc i have been on as i found this very lacking and had to drag my finger to the edge of the touch screen to make this move home screen and the speakers that were very low and hard to hear and im not looking foward to the galexy tab 10.1 as it seems that it is better than the ipad 2 but not many people know unless theve been on this tablet.

26. I still like apple ipad more than this! Visit <a href="http://www.lamiz.de">Lamiz</a> for details ...

25. Where do you guys shop? It costs nowhere near to price of £530 you quote, it is in fact lots cheaper than ipad. You fail to mention you are able to download video etc. to it--Apple you can`t. You can play Flash on-line games, Apple you can`t. It,of course supports Flash, again the right wingers at Apple say we don`t need it, how rich is that.

It has a front and rear camera, instead of criticising it, compare it to NO camera on first ipad. OH NO we must not call Apple must we. I have never read such biased, lilly livered, cowardly comments in all my life. You are so scared to offer any critic of Apple, are you scared Jobs might send his brown shirts along?

You have lost all credibility in reviewing products that you feel you must compare to Apple. This Samsung it faster than the ipad. Try both together, it is obvious.

Honestly, I cannot be bothered with people like you, makes Apple fan boys seem Motorola lovers.

24. Bought a Galaxy Tab recently and very happy with the purchase. The graphics and the touch screen are excellent! I wished I would have waited for the 10” model to be available though.

I was looking for a simple sleeve case that wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg and found a small company, called www.nuvo-tek.com which sells a simple sleeve for only $7.95 with shipping included.

If anyone knows where I can get a portable standalone battery charger at a good price, please let me know.

Thanks,

23. One thing I haven't read in this review in terms of entering text on this device is anything about the Swype interface. I have a phone with this "keyboard" and it is fantastic for entering text one-handed and fast. I can't imagine it's that different on the Tab, and it would enable portrait text entry pretty easily. Can anyone else comment on how well Swype works on the Tab? It's a feature I'd look for in any future Android device.

22. what a biased review i have the galaxy tab and it,s a fantastic piece of kit what,s wrong with telling the truth ! these reviwers are on crack

21. I'm doing an ongoing revciew of The Galaxy Tab on my website at

http://www.simonsdiary.co.uk/miscellaneous/simonsreviews/galaxytab/index.htm

20. Allen and Techy, you guys should send your CVs to the home shopping channel - that is if your not really the same guy called Lin from Hong Kong selling some dodgy grey brand. Like the all American thing though really inspires confidence - no it does.

I note that the spec list of the magical Gtab does not include any sort of touch interface capacitive or otherwise. Without this its a dodgy netbook without a keyboard.

Feel free to set me right if I'm wrong.

19. Viewsonic G has no 3G, no GPS, no compass or accelerometer. Same goes for the Archos tablets. You cannot compare these devices to the Samsung Tab.

18. WOW! Allen is right, I purchased one from the Nobootleg.com web site. Perfect quality and turely operates per specifications and offers Windows® 7 and Internet Explorer 9 for HTML5

* 160 GB HDD

* 1700MH (1.66 GHz)

* 3 USB Slots

* USIM Card Slot

* 1080p HD Video (Flash & HTML5)!!!

* CDMA (for mobile service)

"Download Full Programs & Applications"

So far the most powerful tablet on the market!

17. No one is aware of the first American brand the "Gtab" 10" with Windows 7 and 160HD, 3 USB, USIM and more shown on Nobootleg.com.

What do you think?

16. Sorry to say this review is basically right. I was expecting a lot from this Tab, but having tried it for some time, it leaves me disappointed.

It is supposed to rival the iPad, but just put both devices next to each other. The Tab simply doesn't give the same user experience. It doesn't 'feel' right, and that is what these machines are all about. Difficult to pinpoint the exact problem, but it has to do with the 'snappiness' of the interface. Add up to this the poor photo/video quality and consider the price, and my decision is made: wait for next year. Honeycomb is said to be released for the Samsung Tab, it might make thing better. And other tablets are predicted to hit the market in Q1/11 (LG Primus for example)

15. This review is very poor. Basically it undermines the positive things it has to say with poor logic, and then over-exaggerates the negatives.

I own this fantastic device, which is perfectly suited for my needs in a 7 inch form with phone capability.

1)

"The body is entirely made of plastic, so it feels less solid than the aluminium-backed iPad but it still feels adequately sturdy and tough. The plastic case enables it to stay pretty light at only 380g."

Rex: It feels very solid, but also incredibly light, you can hold it for hours in one hand without a problem. Why should it feel more solid than something it isn’t?

"However, the 7-inch display we have here is just a fairly standard TFT LCD. It's bright and colourful enough, and the WSVGA screen resolution (1024x600) is only slightly lower than that of the 9.7-inch iPad (so that's 260ppi versus 132ppi) which means that the display on the Galaxy Tab is a lot sharper. (Actually this is a great screen and as they say, the screen is sharper than the ipad.)

And of course, the rest of the features on the Galaxy Tab come courtesy of the inclusion of Android 2.2, or 'Froyo'. It's the most up-to-date version of Android currently available which means no software features get left on the table."

REX: And it runs very very smoothly. The best android experience I’ve had.

"The problems are most evident when browsing the web. Scrolling down your average website is quite juddery. The smoothness of the iPad is nowhere to be seen, and our fingers had often swiped and left the screen before the device responded and began to scroll.

Pinch-to-zoom is also a laggy affair, with the zoom often arriving an uncomfortable pause after the pinch – if at all. It's all just a bit too slow. Clunky, even."

REX: Just not true! I’ve never had the device fail to respond, nor has my pinch to zoom lagged. There is a slight judder on some and only some websites, but who the hell need to read at the same time as scroll quickly down a screen?- just not an issue.

"The next major issue we encountered with performance is the hyper-sensitive accelerometer."

REX: Just not an issue if you have half a brain and you use the orientation lock (quick drop menu from the top) for those times you want to keep it in place, and otherwise really not an issue when you are used to it.

"Multitasking on the Samsung Galaxy Tab is pretty good, though."

REX: True.

"We charged it to full capacity, and it was begging for more juice after about four hours of sporadic testing.

Admittedly we did have screen brightness at maximum, and we took a few photos and recorded a few videos, but you only have to hold the device after an hour of solid use to identify one obvious problem - heat."

REX: Bull again- I’m a heavy user, and this machine lasted a good 6 hours of full use and lasts a day on charge with normal usage, and I had NO heat issues. Who the hell uses screen brightness on maximum, I use it comfortably at ¼ brightness. Next you’ll tell me you leave the gps and wifi on when not using them.

"In general, Android 2.2 works well enough, although Google itself admits that the OS is not optimised for tablets yet."

REX: Actually it works great, and most of the apps work at full scale because the 7 inch size with the 3g means this is more like a big phone, which android is designed to support… I wouldn’t touch a 10 inch screen on 2.2, but nor would I go near one anyways, because 7 inches is better.

"There's the standard Android Market option, along with separate stores for Samsung's own apps and games. It's a bit of a hassle, if you ask us, but the promise of Galaxy Tab-specific Apps to download in future does appeal."

REX: Bull again- the Samsung app area has a few nice apps, which they provide for their users, what’s so complicated about that? The normal Android market works fine, and you can, gasp, even go to other marketplaces. This is only an issue for idiots who don’t understand how to count past 1.

"Inside, the Galaxy Tab's screen looks quite majestic."

REX: true

"Using the Galaxy Tab in bright conditions, however, is a massive pain. In direct sunlight it is literally impossible to see anything on it at all, and even in outdoor conditions without the sun shining directly on it, you end up seeing a grey, smeary, fingerprinty mess rather than what the device is attempting to display."

REX: Just not an issue, try changing the angle of the screen?! It’s not worse than anything out there, and in fact I found it pretty good, and I have a super amoled screen to compare it to and I'd still go with the Tab.

"The pocket-friendly dimensions of the Tab make it perfect for carrying around with you wherever you go, but the screen makes life pretty difficult."

REX: True about pocket friendly- not true about the screen.

"The Galaxy Tab keeps you waiting a split second at a time, and it all adds up. As a result, it's not a fun device to use."

REX: What a load of bull, it’s the best device I’ve ever used, and my wife has ever used.

"Having said that, the keyboard is not exactly what you'd call 'comfortable' to use. Typing quickly is not easy at all - and this leads us to the belief that 7-inches is probably a little bit too small."

REX: WHAT? I can’t believe this. First of all it has swype, which is the easiest way to type anything for anyone who has gotten used to it. Second of all, you can type with both thumbs very easy, so it’s actually a better text type system. If you want to try to use it like a keyboard, agreed, don’t, but that’s what swype is for…

"Anyone who abstains from buying an iPad on the grounds of Apple's refusal to include Flash support, will find the Galaxy Tab a heavenly joy to use."

REX: true

"If you want to use the Galaxy Tab as a phone, you can. But unless you want to look a bit silly, we absolutely recommend sticking with your current phone for telephoney purposes. It's just too big to hold up to your face - you'd look like an idiot, and an uncomfortable idiot at that."

REX: Bull again. Actually it’s a great phone with excellent reception. You just have to use speaker phone, headphones, or a blutooth device. Are you guys purposefully dense?

"But even so, 480p vids look pretty good and they stream and play flawlessly. Motion is handled competently and the screen is ideally suited to viewing web video clips."

REX: True.

"One thing that didn't work as expected was BBC iPlayer. In some browsers, we were told that our 'phone' does not support iPlayer yet and that new devices will be supported in future."

REX: No issue with the bbc iPlayer- absolutely none- it worked great on wifi, filled the screen wonderfully and played fast, doesn’t support 3g, but then just use the myplayer app.

"We like the Galaxy Tab, we really do. But the fact is that Samsung has launched a device with a massive identity problem.

This is the most bipolar gadget we've ever tested - it just doesn't know what it's supposed to be, and neither do we.

Is it a phone? No - it makes phone calls, sure, but it's too big to use as a primary mobile phone.

Is it a tablet? Again, no we don't think it is one. It's too small and fiddly and lacking in optimisations. Tablets need to distinguish themselves from smartphones by being bigger, better, more powerful, feature rich and interesting.

Essentially, they need a reason to exist. And this is where we're struggling with the Galaxy Tab."

REX: Actually, it exists as an excellent device to go in a jacket pocket, or in a handbag, to give you a rich multimedia experience, and to let you make phone calls over your blutooth device, thus not needing to carry a phone (just carry a small headset, or headphones.) It’s the perfect size for a big screen, and not too big for your hand. Thus elegantly suiting those who like to maximise their experience without needless baggage. It's got a great identity.

14. Although not a bad review as such, I do question the reviewer's logic when he mentions holding the tab to your face for making a phone call.

Surely, if you did use the phone function, you would only use speakerphone or hands-free. I cannot imagine why anyone would consider holding it like a phone without thinking about pairing up their bluetooth.

I like the Tab's form factor, but I hope that the OS gets an update. Like the Sony Ericsson X10, using the wrong OS leads to performance issues. Once Android gets optimised for tablets, the Samsung Galaxy range should really take off

13. The 7" form factor is much more useful/attractive to me than the 10" iPad setup. For my two primary requirements (video and ebooks), its simply a better option than the iPad; easier to carry, MUCH better format support (no more re-encoding AVIs) and its "book-shaped". The only fly in the ointment is the price, although 3 seem to be doing some fairly attractive deals.

12. Like others, I disagree with a lot of what has been said in this review. I'm not saying it's a perfect device, but I think that this 3 star review is doing the device and your readers a disservice.

To pick on a few examples:

1. Price - PC World/Currys/Dixons sells the device for £499. I'd expect most retailers will follow suit.

2. Web Browsing - The installed Web browser is juddery - install a different one though and you'll be fine. However, I do agree that Samsung should not have shipped the device with the browser as it is.

3. Accelerometer - no problems for me, and there's an option in the notification bar to lock the Tab to landscape orientation.

4. Battery life - the reviewed unit clearly has a problem. My device never gets hot and can easily make 7+ hours, though admittedly I use auto-brightness (and full brightness is far too bright IMO). I'm pretty certain I could get a full working days use out of it, though I've yet to be tied to the device for that long!

5. "Lack of optimisations" - this is clearly FUD. If you cannot clearly elucidate what "these" are individually, they don't exist! What I believe that Google are trying to say is that a future version of Android will be designed with tablets in mind, and that this will improve the user experience. However, the Tab provides a very good experience already.

6. Form factor - personally I cannot see why you would say that Tab is "fiddly". IMO, the 7" form factor is preferable to the larger iPad. For starters, you can type exceedingly quickly on the keyboard if you are in portrait mode - hold the Tab in both hands and use your thumbs. Even in landscape, using the keyboard on the Tab is far more pleasant than the iPad if you've got to hold the tablet in one hand. In addition, it is far more comfortable to hold the Tab and watch video than it is on the iPad and the widescreen format makes it better suited for most programming.

7. Bipolar - I massively disagree with this. It's most definitely a tablet and not a phone - I can say this because in use it feels like a very different device to my HTC Desire. Yes, I can use it as a phone, but then again I can stick Skype on an iPad and use that as a phone too. I can see myself using the phone facility on the very odd occasion, but only as a speakerphone. Actually, I did this over the weekend as I couldn't be bothered to find my phone and needed to make a quick call, and it worked very well!

11. @bigtime

What exactly do you disagree with?

10. This review seems really poorly constructed. Being one of the first reviews for the tab I was nearly put off buying one. But after seeing just about every other review praise the device I brought one the day it come out.

Most of the negative points on their must be in the reviewers head. I can type fast on the keyboard and the battery lasts me way over my 8 hour work day. That's with some angry birds and you tube too. There are a lot of other points I could mention but I would end up commenting on the whole article.

The only thing that is correct is the device does lag on some webpages with heavy media content. But then what do you expect?

9. No disrespect but you guys have lost a lot of credibility when it comes to reviews! there's a lot of sites saying you guys dont know how to do a real review of a product!

I think in the intrest of Techradar you need to do a propper review of the Samsung galaxy tab or end up losing a lot of hits to your site!