http://gizmodo.com/5686161/samsung-galaxy-tab-review-a-pocketable-train-wreck
"There is no way to not feel like a total dorkface while typing on this thing. In portrait, it's like tapping on a massive, nerdy phone. In landscape, it's just dumb. You still have to thumb type, only you're stretching out further, and text entry swallows up the entire screen. Swype might be dandy on a phone, but on a seven-inch screen it doesn't work so well—you have to travel a lot further to sketch out words. In other words, you get the worst of a phone's input problems—amplified."
"The Tab feels like a grab bag of neglect, good intentions and poor execution. Example: Samsung's built-in task manager, with one-touch kill switches to free up gobs of RAM, is plenty effective at dealing with apps running in the background. But why does it have to be there in the first place. Should you really be actively managing background apps?"
"Reading Kindle books feels better than on the iPad… The viewing angles are vast like the BP oil spill."
"Battery life is thoroughly phenomenal: Four hours of constant, heavy usage over 3G—Google Talk, browsing, YouTube—only knocked it down to 40 percent. "
"The browser is miserable, at least when Flash is enabled. It goes catatonic, scrolling is laggy, and it can get laughably bad. When better browsing is half the reason to go for a larger screen, that's insanity."
"The Tab is like a compromise's evil twin, merging the worst of a tablet and the worst of a phone. It has all of the input problems of a tablet, with almost none of the consumption benefits."
From the comments:
"My biggest complain it that the screen is a bit too small for general web browsing. I had to do a lot of pinching and zooming. Though the pixel density is obviously not as good as the iPhone, it is much better than the iPad. That does make it possible to read smaller text without always having to zoom."
"I will say that I like the haptic feedback while typing"
http://www.wired.com/reviews/2010/11/galaxy_tab/
"…performs well, but is not exemplary. It feels snappy enough, but longish load times can sometimes be tiresome, and webpages invariably loaded more slowly than the iPad — sometimes taking twice as long. We also ran into a few issues with apps hanging and the Wi-Fi connection suddenly vanishing without explanation. Reboots solved both issues."
"the light, 13.4-ounces unit just fits in a single hand, but the slick surface tends to be slippery and prone to dropping."
"the problematic location of the power and volume buttons. Holding the device in your left hand often causes you to hit these by accident. They're temperamental and touchy, until you eventually adapt to a grip further down the chassis."
"The Tab ultimately reveals itself not as a competitor to the iPad but as a new class of mobile device"
http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/01/samsung-galaxy-tab-review/
By the way, the Tab's smooth back causes it to slide off things every so often -- so we'd suggest keeping this little guy in a case or nabbing a stand for it. We do wish the Tab had a built-in kickstand like the Evo 4G and Archos 7. Think about it, Samsung.
While the Tab's resolution isn't as high as the iPad's 1024 x 768-resolution IPS panel, the screen does have better pixel density, which translate to a crisper e-book and webpage reading experience than the iPad. [iPad 132ppi, GTab 169ppi]
The core of the email app looks like those on the Galaxy S phones, but when you flip the display into landscape mode you get a Microsoft Outlook-like pane that displays your Inbox on the left and the messages on the right. We preferred managing and responding to mail in this app over the Gmail app, which is just the smartphone version.
For instance, Angry Birds looked beautiful on the larger screen. Seriously, it looks so incredibly awesome on the larger display that we spent the last four days replaying the game.
Not to sound like Steve Jobs or anything, but scaled-up smartphone apps and Flash compatibility alone don't create a well-rounded tablet platform -- it's going to take native apps for the Tab to be truly competitive.
We warn you: people will look at you oddly when you pull it out and take shots with its giant viewfinder!
We were able to get a video call going using Qik over WiFi, although there was quite a lot of delay and in some cases a serious amount of pixelation. We did attempt to use Fring, but the app hasn't been optimized for the tablet yet, and we couldn't get two-way video calling working. Fring's audio was much better, however. [Videochat seems to be the one type of app that won't necessarily just run when dropped on any mobile device]
The entire experience is snappy, and it kept up with us even when we had four or five applications open.
Update: Well, this is a bit crazy. It was brought to our attention that the Tab cannot be charged via a laptop or desktop.
And that is in fact the case -- when plugged into a USB socket the Tab will maintain its charge, but won't be recharged. [Tablet charging is a new paradigm that most users don't understand – the 500mA max that a PC USB port can provide is less than what tablets need to run, much less charge.]
After spending the last couple of days with the Galaxy Tab, we can confidently say it's the best Android tablet on the market. Now, that's not saying much given the state of the Android competition, but we can also assuredly say that the Tab is the first true competitor to Apple's iPad. Its crisp display, compact form factor, touch-friendly software and dual cameras undoubtedly have what it takes to win over the average tablet seeker. However, we still have some reservations right now. Google hasn't yet provided any direction on Android as a tablet platform, which means that the Tab is held back by lagging application support and software that doesn't fully take advantage of the extra screen real estate. Remember, that when the iPad launched many developers were already working on tablet specific apps and Apple had an iPad app store in place. Put simply, without that ecosystem and support from Google, Samsung is left to its own devices -- literally. Just today Samsung rolled out an emulator for the Tab that uses the Android SDK and the company says it's working with Google and plans to use future iterations of Android, so we'll have to see what happens -- but for now it looks like the saga of the Samsung Galaxy Tab still has several chapters to go.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703805004575606580224319038.html(Mossberg)
I've been testing the Tab for a couple of weeks and I like it. It's a serious alternative to the iPad and one that will be preferred by some folks. It includes the three most-requested features missing in the iPad: a camera (two in fact); the ability to run Web videos and applications written in Adobe's Flash software; and multitasking, though, to be fair, the latter feature is coming to the iPad imminently via a software update. Another strong point is that like Apple, Samsung has rewritten some of the standard apps, such as the email and calendar programs, to make them look more like PC programs and less like smartphone apps.
On balance, however, I still prefer the iPad. For one thing, I like getting twice the screen size for a little more money up front—as little as $29 for the no-contract model with cellular capability. For another, the iPad has vastly more apps specifically designed for a tablet versus a smartphone—about 40,000 according to Apple, compared with just a handful for the Tab. And it can run about triple the apps overall, if you count smartphone apps that aren't optimized for tablets. [For Android tablets, this should be just a matter of time…]
Also, in my tests, the iPad's battery life was about five hours better than the Tab's, its maximum storage capacity is higher, and its aluminum body is more rugged than the Tab's plastic casing.
Still, the Tab is a very attractive product and I enjoyed using it. For buyers who want to spend less up front, don't mind the smaller screen, prefer the more compact dimensions and one-handed usability, and place high value on the cameras and on Flash, it may well be a better choice.
I was especially impressed with Samsung's attractive and usable rewrites of the calendar, email and contacts apps, which, like their iPad cousins, use multiple panels to make them more computer-like, while still remaining touch-friendly.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/11/technology/personaltech/11pogue.html (Pogue)
Samsung sweated the details on this thing. The screen is gorgeous. The touch response is immediate and reliable. The whole thing is superfast and a pleasure to use.
Google doesn't monitor what goes into its app store, so the Android ecosystem is unlimited, chaotic and more confusing.
You can customize its nine home screens by placing icons or mini info windows anywhere you like (they don't have to sit in an organized grid). You can dictate text instead of typing it, or search Google or Google Maps by voice.
When you visit sites like nytimes.com, CNBC.com and Amazon.com, the Galaxy's browser shows the stripped-down, mobile versions of those sites. According to Samsung, there's no way to turn that feature off and no way to visit the full-size sites. You can delete the little "m." in the Web address until you're blue in the browser, but the Galaxy always puts it right back.
It's a little odd that you can't recharge the Galaxy from your laptop's U.S.B. port. It must be plugged into a power socket.
Another problem: most of the 100,000 apps on the Android store are designed for a phone-size screen, not a tablet. The Galaxy either blows them up, at the expense of clarity, or lets them float in the center of the larger screen with a Texas-size black border.
http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/10/crunchgear-reviews-the-samsung-galaxy-tab-this-is-the-android-tablet-youre-looking-for/
Pros:
- Nice, bright screen
- Responsive touchscreen
- Android marketplace
Cons:
- A bit small
- Thick and heavy
- Browser is slow
"Android isn't for moms."
So: you're reading this because you're an anything but iPad kind of person. If you weren't you'd be busy playing Cut The Rope HD on iOS right now instead of shopping around. So let's be frank: this is what you're going to have to buy if you want any modicum of satisfaction when it comes to tablet computing. The HP Slate is a lump and the Dell Streak is even smaller than this. The Nook Color is just weird. The CherryPad is garbage. You're stuck…
Bottom Line: Our esteemed friends at Giz found this to be a train wreck but I don't agree. This device is what it is: a small, fairly powerful tablet for Android lovers. I'd love to play to my own bias and state that the iPad is unequivocally better but I can't. This is for a different consumer and based on a different architecture. It is a good product, a little big, and an able device for media playback, e-book reading, and general email productivity.
http://www.slashgear.com/samsung-galaxy-tab-review-31111323/
Samsung offers far more control over the panel than you'd get on an Android phone
A power saving mode which claims to automatically adjust the LCD backlighting according to what's on-screen at any one time.
Brightness sensor for automatically adjusting the backlighting.
There are few omissions, to be fair, but we would've liked to have seen at least one notification LED – for new message, battery and other status indications – and a regular USB port rather than Samsung's PDMI-based dock connector. There's also no USB On-The-Go support for plugging in peripherals, though we were able to pair and successfully use a Bluetooth keyboard for text entry.
Swype works well, but Samsung's keyboard … also supports auto-completion, spelling correction, next word prediction and double-tapping the space bar to automatically append a period. In general it all works very well, though we turned the default haptic feedback off as the Galaxy Tab's vibration motor makes a noticeable buzzing sound.
It's possible to view each account inbox separately, or combined into one universal inbox, with each message color-coded to indicate where it comes from. All in all, it's a great email experience, surpassing the regular Android mail app and proving you don't need an iPad-sized display to neatly triage your inbox.
Image quality is unsurprisingly less impressive than, say, the output from Samsung's recent line of Android smartphones, which generally get 5-megapixel sensors. …Video, meanwhile, lacks the detail of 720p content, but the reasonable 30fps rate means there's not too much blur in fast moving subjects. Still, the Tab isn't going to replace a point-and-shoot camcorder.
Unfortunately, it's not currently possible to make full use of the front-facing camera for app-based video calls. Qik apparently intend to have an updated version of their app with support for video calls ready for the debut of the T-Mobile USA Galaxy Tab; the current version only offers real-time video streaming. Meanwhile we were able to initiate a Fring video call between the Galaxy Tab and a Galaxy S, but the in-call UI was mangled on the Tab and it wouldn't send video.
Skype, meanwhile, worked for VoIP calls but there's still no Android video support. In short, until Qik release their app (and Fring update theirs) video calls on the Galaxy Tab lack the simplicity of FaceTime, support for which is expected to be added to the second-gen iPad predicted for 2011.
…you don't get much in the box with the slate itself: a power adapter, USB sync cable, stereo headset and some printed documentation. We'd like to have seen a case or pouch of some sort, at the least.
Wrap-Up: Listen to Steve Jobs and you'd automatically discount the Galaxy Tab as simply too small for a tablet; the Apple CEO is convinced 9.7-inches is the optimal size for a usable slate. Our time with the Tab suggests otherwise. Its 7-inch display may offer only half the usable area of the iPad, but the high resolution and responsive, accurate capacitive touchscreen add up to a user experience that's significantly better than a regular smartphone for browsing, multimedia and – thanks in no small part to Samsung's custom apps – messaging.
…The value of Samsung's own apps can't be understated, however; they're what lift Android 2.2 on the Galaxy Tab from being an oversized phone to a proper tablet.
…Samsung has confirmed that multiple Tab variants are in the pipeline…Their investment in software customization will act as a significant differentiator when it comes to usability, just like having official Android Market access adds to the Galaxy Tab's appeal.
There'll be plenty of people left unconvinced by the first Galaxy Tab, but Samsung seems willing to pick off different user groups with different models along the way. If the iPad's iTunes dependence, the controlled nature of the iOS ecosystem and the Apple slate's sheer size have put you off, Android's relative openness and the Tab's relative scale are highly appealing. Perhaps most telling, with both the iPad and the Galaxy Tab on the table, we found ourselves reaching for the Samsung for quickly checking email and browsing. That might change once iOS 4.2 is released for the iPad – early reports are certainly glowing – but for now the Apple behemoth has some serious competition.
