OT: Samsung's Galaxy Tab to challenge the IPad

[JackB1]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/204779/s ... rself.html

Looks pretty nice. I like that its a little smaller. The iPad is a little bulky sometimes.

Either way, competition is good and may bring prices down for the ipad. Apple reports ipad sales
are way lower than they anticipated so far. I think it's the $500 price point. Kind of high IMO for
a larger screen iPhone without the phone.

Great thing about the Galaxy is that it has expandable storage, unlike the iPad, which you are locked
into. Also.......it has a 2 CAMERAS AND A PHONE! Oh yeah..and Flash support! If the price is right, the
Galaxy Tab looks to really challenge the iPad. Rumours are that it will go to Verizon, but I hope it isn't
tied to one cell phone company.

[Naples39]

Expandable storage, open file system and flash support are big pluses to the Samsung's device, but I would be very concerned that the screen is only half the size of an iPad.

That's a serious size disparity that could have a real effect on web browsing quality. I always browse the web holding my iPad in landscape because otherwise the text becomes too small, but the longest dimensions of the Galaxy are only equal to the short dimensions of the iPad. I could see that being a serious issue as either you will be looking at tiny text or constantly scrolling back and forth to read normal webpages.

Battery life is also pretty key to the iPad, but it sounds like the Galaxy's battery life should be 'good enough.'

[JackB1]

Sp much for hoping it will be cheaper. I just found it it will go for $599

http://www.product-reviews.net/2010/10/ ... ate-price/

[JackB1]

Expandable storage, open file system and flash support are big pluses to the Samsung's device, but I would be very concerned that the screen is only half the size of an iPad.

That's a serious size disparity that could have a real effect on web browsing quality. I always browse the web holding my iPad in landscape because otherwise the text becomes too small, but the longest dimensions of the Galaxy are only equal to the short dimensions of the iPad. I could see that being a serious issue as either you will be looking at tiny text or constantly scrolling back and forth to read normal webpages.

Battery life is also pretty key to the iPad, but it sounds like the Galaxy's battery life should be 'good enough.'

The screen is not half the size. It's 9.7" for the ipad and 7" for the Galaxy.

[Rodster]

My biggest question was software and it has been answered now that I know it's running on the Android OS. I'm definitely interested but the price really needs to be between $299 and $349 for it to put a dent into Ipad sales. If it's anywhere close to Ipad pricing it won't stand a chance because Apple products are still to trendy.

[Rodster]

Sp much for hoping it will be cheaper. I just found it it will go for $599

http://www.product-reviews.net/2010/10/ ... ate-price/

Game Over !

[sportdan30]

Definitely competition is good. However, I personally am not a fan of the smaller screen on the Tab. I wouldn't want anything smaller than what I have on the Ipad. Does the Tab have a stand-a-lone Wifi version? I never did see confirmation on this.

I used to think that a camera and video chat was essential for me. I've spoken with a dozen people who own the Iphone 4 and they all very rarely if ever use the Facetime chat feature. Sure, it's a nice added feature and no doubt the next version of the Ipad will have it, but to me it's not a determing factor of whether to buy or not buy. I'd much rather see multi-tasking features (which will be added this month!), more RAM added to Ipad, and perhaps it be lighter in weight. As it stands right now, it's just about perfect. I spend way too much time on it at home. I'm now brining it to work and using it as my news and information browser for when I'm at lunch. It's absolutely ideal.

I do think the Tab will be better for e-reading. I just can't read books on the Ipad like many can. As I have read, the Flash on the Tab is rather slow and unstable at this time. Hopefully that will improve. I really have yet to miss Flash on the Ipad though. I'm curious how seamless and smooth the browsing interface will be. Apple seemingly has it down to a science.

[Naples39]

Expandable storage, open file system and flash support are big pluses to the Samsung's device, but I would be very concerned that the screen is only half the size of an iPad.

That's a serious size disparity that could have a real effect on web browsing quality. I always browse the web holding my iPad in landscape because otherwise the text becomes too small, but the longest dimensions of the Galaxy are only equal to the short dimensions of the iPad. I could see that being a serious issue as either you will be looking at tiny text or constantly scrolling back and forth to read normal webpages.

Battery life is also pretty key to the iPad, but it sounds like the Galaxy's battery life should be 'good enough.'

The screen is not half the size. It's 9.7" for the ipad and 7" for the Galaxy.

Umm, 9.7" diagonal versus 7" diagonal is almost exactly half the size.

iPad = 9.56x7.47
Galaxy = 7.48x4.74

"One naturally thinks that a 7-inch screen would offer 70 percent of the benefits of a 10-inch screen...this is far from the truth. Seven-inch screens are 45 percent as large as an iPad."

The iPad's screen is as wide as the Galaxy's screen is tall.

iPad on the far right, Galaxy in the middle:

[Naples39]

Another pic. You can see it would take almost exactly 2 Galaxy screens to get the same screen real estate as the iPad. The size different is not trivial.

[JackB1]

Another pic. You can see it would take almost exactly 2 Galaxy screens to get the same screen real estate as the iPad. The size different is not trivial.

You are right. That is quite a difference. I guess they are hoping most people think the Ipad is too large to be portable.
I would imagine the Galaxy could fit easily in a women's purse or maybe in a guys suit pocket? The Ipad must be carried
around almost like a laptop. I can see the appeal of the Galaxy, but not at that price!

[matthewk]

I see that Amazon has a Kindle app for Android. Does this mean that it will work on any tablet with Android, or is just for smartphones? I've been looking for something to use as an e-reader, but I want color and the ability to read graphics novels (comics) on it. The iPad looks nice, but too expensive.

As for the Galaxy, it will go nowhere at $599. It needs to cost half that in order to make any difference in the market.

[dbdynsty25]

Galaxy Tab = waste of forum bandwidth. I'm so dissapointed in Samsung, even though I love my Galaxy S phone. 7" is normally plenty, but not in this case and they are high with that price point. Until an Android tablet comes out that supports the Android Market...I'm not interested. Unfortunately none of them do yet.

And Matt...yes, if you have a Kindle app on any phone/tablet/computer, it will sync with your Kindle account and you can read your books on whatever device you're on (and it'll keep your place/bookmarks/etc.).

[matthewk]

I'm a little slow on the everything Android (I don't even have a cell phone yet). What do you mean by none of them support the droid market? Does this mean they have the Droid OS, but you can't get additional apps for it?

[pk500]

I'm a little slow on the everything Android (I don't even have a cell phone yet).

Holy sh*t -- I thought I stood alone.

[dbdynsty25]

I'm a little slow on the everything Android (I don't even have a cell phone yet). What do you mean by none of them support the droid market? Does this mean they have the Droid OS, but you can't get additional apps for it?

Correct...or they are severely limited in what applications CAN be accessed in the market. I'm not quite sure why they are doing that except for the fact that apps are being developed for small screen devices (i.e. 480x800 resolution) so when you get bigger screens, everything distorts. That's my best guess as to why they aren't supported fully. It'll get there eventually, but just like the Apple Store, the developers really are the ones lagging. It's just the main reason why I'll probably wait another year until getting some sort of Android Tablet. They just aren't mature enough yet.

[wco81]

I can kind of see the idea behind these 7-inch tablets. It's closer to the size of the Kindle so it would be more portable than the iPad. But if you use it a lot at home, then the tradeoff between smaller screen and greater portability isn't that attractive. What doesn't make sense is to price it higher than the iPad with that smaller screen.

It could be that Apple has locked up supplies of the 9.7-inch IPS panels. Or that they have cost advantages from using the same SOC as the iPhone.

On the OS, some manufacturers are said to be waiting for Android 2.3 or even 3.0 for using with tablets. There may be an issue of performance optimization as some prototype tablets with Tegra2 didn't run as smoothly as they should have.

As for Flash, the most of the popular sites are either making apps. or supporting HTML5. Even Adobe has announced their tools will convert Flash to HTML5.

[matthewk]

I'm a little slow on the everything Android (I don't even have a cell phone yet).

Holy sh*t -- I thought I stood alone.

So did I. I think you're the only person I know of (other than myself of course) under 60 without a cell phone.

[matthewk]

That's dissappointing that there aren't really any attractive options for me yet. I was hoping that somewhere out there would be a tablet that had a bit more functionality (ie built-in SD card reader) and a lower price than the iPad with more than a 7" screen.

Guess I'll have to hold off until I see one that meets all my requirements. I'm not big on buying something that only does part of what I really want and then eat that cost in 9 months when something significantly better comes along.

[greggsand]

gizmodo rips it pretty hard:

http://gizmodo.com/5686161/samsung-gala ... rain-wreck

[TheGamer2]

$399 with Sprint.

http://www.product-reviews.net/2010/10/ ... and-price/

[wco81]

$399 with a 2-year data contract.


$599 without a contract.

[Cloud]

I have been considering the HP Slate...it isn't all "App" infested but could be an interesting device. I like my iPAD since I travel a ton for work. All my music, movies and books on one device. fits perfectly in my comuputer bag