Review: The Galaxy Tab Tablet

by Lori Cunningham

Thanks to T-Mobile, I have finally been able to try out Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablet.  T-Mobile loaned me the 7-inch tablet to use during my journey at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas.  Having just purchased the T-Mobile myTouch 4G smartphone before the show, I was very curious to see when I would use my phone and when I would use the Galaxy Tab.  Let me start off by saying that both the myTouch and Galaxy Tab run on Android 2.2.  So really, there was not much difference between the two devices other than the fact that the myTouch can be used as a phone (the Galaxy Tab cannot) and the Galaxy Tab has a much larger screen (about 3 inches larger). 

My comparison between the smartphone and the Tab will be discussed in a further article entitled, “When Using a Tablet is Better Over a Smartphone.”

I have written about tablets and the Galaxy Tab on a couple of occasions now: Mom Tech and Family Tech News and the  Top 10 Christmas Gadgets for Moms. I believe that the tablet will become a major player in the home with regards to communication and control (of other devices).

If you’re curious how the Galaxy Tab stacks up against the iPad, be sure to read my post on the Top 10 Christmas Gadgets for Moms.  In the section on the “iPad or Galaxy Tab”, I discuss some of the primary differences.  Here are some of the key features of the Galaxy Tab:

Key Features:

• nice 7″ multi-touch screen with 1024×600 resolution
• SWYPE virtual keyboard
• 1.3 megapixel front-facing webcam and 3 megapixel rear-facing camera
• supports Adobe Flash!
• support for Microsoft Exchange e-mail, contacts, and calendar
• Bluetooth 3.0
• battery lasts up to 8 hours of continuous use
• uses Samsung 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird application processor
• WiFi ready
• Qik Video Chat – allows you to chat with friends and family through live video over 3G network & WiFi
• has DLNA – means that the Tab can connect and share content with other DLNA devices
• includes Kindle for Android – provides access to more than 600,000 books and millions of free e-books and previews from Google
• in addition to WiFi support, data packages can be purchased from all top carriers, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, and AT
• thousands of apps available from the Samsung Apps or Android Market
• SD card slot for expandable memory

Pro’s:

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  • the screen is a nice size, making it easier to view your calendar, play games, watch videos, respond to texts and e-mail, etc.
  • Qik Video Chat is a great tool for not only live video chatting but also allows you to send video e-mail’s and send your recorded video directly to the Internet to share.  You can also use Qik Video on hundreds of phones, so video calls can be widely used, not just to those you know with a Galaxy Tab.
  • the battery life worked well for me and it lasted longer than my cellphone charge.
  • The size of the tablet and weight are really nice.  It’s a really convenient size and easily fit into my purses.  I’ve taken the tablet almost everywhere with me. 
  • I can easily hold the tablet with one hand.
  • Watching movies and playing games is more of a social event now rather than a personal experience due to it’s larger screen over a smartphone.

Con’s:

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  • does not have phone capabilities, which means you need to carry your phone too (and pay for two data packages if not using the WiFi option)
  • watching video is limited to broadband capacity.  Often when watching YouTube videos, the screen would freeze, which is not uncommon due to broadband capacity, but certainly a nuance.  Especially when you’re trying to learn how to build a PC and only have 40 minutes before you’re in a Build Your Own PC contest against 29 other contestants and you’ve never built a PC before!  (more on this fun adventure in another post!)
  • cannot sync directly with your desktop Outlook (unless you download your calendar to Google first and then sync online with your Google calendar).
  • the Tab doesn’t seem to remember commonly typed words, I often needed to type in my long e-mail address on many sites.  If it’s a login though, the Tab will offer to save your password for you.

A Mom’s Perspective

I absolutely LOVED the Samsung Galaxy Tab.  It is going to be hard to send it back.  What I loved the most about it was its social aspects.  Unlike a smartphone, the Galaxy Tab is sociable.  It has a larger screen so more people can join in on the experience.  Together, my kids and I watched movies, looked at pictures, looked at websites, played all sorts of games, and nearly wore out the screen playing Angry Birds!

My kids are still young at ages 5 and 7, however, using the Tablet has enlightened me about the importance of social play…especially within the family.  For example, what kid doesn’t want an iPod Touch?  But the iPod Touch has a personal screen, making social play less desirable.  An iPod Touch costs $200 and the Tab costs $599 ($299 if you get monthly service).  But I’d rather buy one Tab for the family to share rather than for each kid eventually to have their own personal screen.  I like that we can all watch the movie or game together and take turns.  And that the Tab can provide so much more.  I loved the Tab to keep track of my calendar, monitor and communicate on Twitter, converse with my Facebook friends,and  e-mail, which was a breeze due to the large  touchscreen keyboard!  If the Tab were a phone too, I probably wouldn’t carry my smartphone half the time.

At the Consumer Electronics Show, over 80 new tablets were introduced.  Tablets along with smartphones will change the way to communicate with devices in our home and interact online.  People are being released from the bondage to their computers.  Expect to see a lot more tablets and apps this year and in the future.