When it comes down to the next big Android thing; Samsung would like to think they are involved in the making of this device, and that is where we get the Galaxy Tab. This new Android Tablet is the latest in technology from the Korean technology company and it brings together some things that are aimed at bringing Apple’s iPad to its knees. For now we shall just start out with a simple review of the tablet, but we shall also do a comparison of the Pad and the Tab, so look out for that as well.
Now for this review
Hardware
Other standard hardware features include the Wi-Fi, 3G, 16GB or 32GB with an SD card slot. All these things go together to make a great piece of hardware, and while we all know it is a bit over priced (actually a lot since reports show it cost $230 to make one), this is certainly the best tablet in terms of hardware mobility available in the current market and not even the iPad can touch this when it comes to ease of use while on the go.
Software
The note taking software is also very easy to use and allows you to take notes without going through too many problems. The keyboard being SWYPE (that makes text input with two fingers simultaneously nearly impossible) is not the best for serious student that want to use this for taking notes in class -- I tested this while in a board meeting, did not go well. Overall note taking experience is above average compared to most other tablet based devices in its class, but certainly not as easy as the iPad is.
Web browsing on this tablet is also an iffy experience. Sometimes you can be using the smoothest, fastest browser around and enjoying it. While other times you simple do not get such great experience and you are stuck waiting for a page to load or the browser freezes. Now that might be a big problem if you do not know what Android is, but for me, I simple installed a new browser and continued on with my day.
The software that comes with this device is also quite nice. The software you can install capable with this device (mostly free from the market, unlike most other tablets) is even better. I can say at the end of the day, Samsung did have a pretty nice package with their first generation tablet. The experience doesn’t differ much from normal Android device (which can be a turn off for some) but to most that is not a deal breaker.
Overall
When it comes down to the device as a whole, this topic of would I recommend it becomes a little hard. My experience with this tablet has been quite nice; I mean it even fits in my pocket. The software I have on it is just about everything I need to be connected while on the go, and the hardware is as such that you really do not need anything else but this device as your one stop shop for a technology enhanced life. But here comes the problem. Being a first generation device, it does have its bugs, one that I noticed just before typing this review up is the it can crash (mine was down for 6 hours due to Home screen Ui Freeze). First gens will always have slight problems that will be fixed in later releases, but for those that do not want to wait the usual 6 months to a 1 years times it takes for Samsung to develop the Galaxy Tab 2; they can certainly feel comfortable getting something like this tablet and upgrading later to the next version.
Would I recommend it…? I would have said Yes when mine is actually functioning correctly; it’s quite pleasant and is the best Android can offer at this time.
Hardware Score: 9/10 – The hardware is great, but not perfect… Processor could at least be 1.2 GHz or dual core; I mean it is almost 2011.
Software Score: 7/10 – While Samsung did bring in a lot of software to this device, there is still going to be some times that the software in the Android market does not scale very nicely like it should.
Overall User Experience: 7/10 – The software did sometimes become really slow and buggy. Also the crashing of my review device is not really helping the scores.
Price Score: 7/10 – Again, Samsung did a little over pricing here when it came to this device. For the same price you could get a 64 GB iPad or a new laptop. I don’t think they put too much thought on that.
I hope this short review helps you decide if you would like to go out and buy this device. Now if you are still hang up on how this stands up against the iPad, don’t worry, our comparison on that will be coming soon.
