Review Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

I’ve been wanting to get my hands on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 since first reading about it last winter. At that time, I wanted to get a tablet and the iPad was clearly the best option. Since the camera aspects of the iPad 2 weren’t all that important to me and the delivery of the new model wasn’t all that predictable before it was official, I went with a 16GB iPad.
The iPad, like any device, has its good and bad points. Would the Galaxy Tab 10.1 be an improvement? How would Android compare with iOS? And what about app support?
For a start, the Tab and iPad are more alike than different: both have similar touch-oriented interfaces, both are cool, versatile, highly capable devices.

BUILD and DESIGN

The Tab is a sleek device. Samsung has set the new standard, for the moment, with the same thinness but slightly lighter weight than the Apple iPad 2. Like its rival, it is generally fast and feels responsive. Controls are unobtrusive. A small on/off button protrudes from the upper left bezel, with a larger loud/soft button next to it. Just right of center on the top bezel is a headphone jack. Speaker openings are on the left and right sides, near the top, and the USB connector is bottom center. Like the iPad, you can charge the Tab from your computer as well as with the included wall charger (iPad uses an adapter for wall charging).

The Galaxy Tab is set up for landscape use with optional docks to hold it upright in the landscape position, thanks to the position of the proprietary pin connector. The on/off button similarly orients you toward landscape use. Of course, the display rotates as you rotate the device (or can be locked in any position), but landscape is the default. The tablet is slightly wider and less high than the iPad 2 in landscape mode (10.1 x 6.9-inch vs. 9.5 x 7.3-inch).

It's also flatter, so you can incline the tablet on a book or similar object when typing on the softkeys to give a decent typing angle. The curvier back of the iPad can rock side to side. My add-on rigid cover for the iPad solves that, but adds more weight and bulk.

One of the bigger challenges you’re likely to face with the Tab is what to do after you press the “on” button and the screen saver comes up. The default view includes what Samsung calls a pattern to unlock the screen saver. Let’s just say it’s not exactly intuitive and is not covered until page 9 of the manual. You can switch to a password or pin for unlocking the screen. Small potatoes, but annoying.

Once you’ve unlocked it, the Tab gives you a very attractive, readable screen. When it comes to horizontal scrolling, the Tab goes for the wraparound look that’s even extended to some of it's app interfaces, notably YouTube, that have large numbers of tiles to choose from. I don’t see any big advantage either way.

The Tab requires an external HDMI adapter to connect via the loan proprietary input to a TV or monitor. And it also lacks an SD card. For any device that you might want to occasionally do something storage-intensive with (like watch a full-HD rented movie), removable storage would be better than having to buy extra RAM for an occasional need. Also, with no standard USB input, it’s impossible to take advantage of Honeycomb 3.1’s USB hosting feature that enables external keyboard, mice, and gamepads. Of course, Samsung is happy to sell you a pin-connector-to-USB adapter (similar to the iPad Camera Connection Kit) for an extra $20.

On the networking front, I was not impressed with the Wi-Fi performance of the Tab. It was acceptable, but even under good but not great signal strength, I got more interruptions than I would have expected. It's always tricky to assess network performance, but I got that consistent impression. And, as this is a Wi-Fi only device, there’s no alternative to use 4G when Wi-Fi is weak.

Bluetooth, however, worked well in my limited test of using my Apple wireless keyboard. The Tab had no trouble recognizing and connecting, and performance was fine.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 specs:

* Android Honeycomb (3.1)
* 10.1-inch diagonal widescreen HD WXGA (1280 x 800) TFT capactive touchscreen
* NVIDIA Dual Core Tegra 2, 1GHz
* 1GB RAM
* 16GB or 32GB internal memory
* Front-facing 2-megapixel, rear-facing 3-megapixel webcams
* Wi-Fi 2.4GHz - 5GHz, Bluetooth 2.1
* 3.5mm audio jack, proprietary pin connector
* 7,000mAh battery
* 10.1 x 6.9 x .34 inches
* 1.2 lbs
* Ships with pin connector to USB adapter, charge adapter, headphones
* Price at Launch: $499.99 (16GB), $599.99 (32GB)