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I had a hands-on with the Galaxy TAB tablet

mrspeedmaster

Android Expert
May 16, 2010
902
256
I was able to play with a Galaxy TAB extensively today. I played with a white and black one. They are *CDMA devices.*

Now for my impressions:
It is 1/2 size of the iPad. Almost same thickness. Microphone is on the left which was weird. Micorsdhc is on right and accessible.
It is running 2.2. It has about 2GB of internal storage.
It comes with a task manager.
There is a "compatibility mode" in the settings for older apps.*
*Holding the tablet as a camcorder was an interesting experience.
Web browser does not allow you to switch off mobile view. So some websites only default to the mobile versions. There needs to be a user agent switch.*
Camera does have flash.

I didn't test Flash. I will do it later.

Screen is beautiful.

Apps like facebook scaled just fine. It does make it look like an oversized phone.
The interface was tweaked from the international version. It is not that much of an iPad KIRF rip-off from the original teaser video.

The carrier did have some added bloat apps.
Overall speed is the same as the Galaxy. Orientation change was responsive.
 
Some pictures... Anyone who doubt.. I made the pictures small for a reason.
 

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Nice! Any word on what provider and how much it will cost?

I did mention CDMA... That is the extent of what I can say.
As for pricing, I wasn't given that info. I also played with some other "un-specified" devices that will be coming soon and accessories.

The top picture is next to an iPad.

This one is next to an iPhone for comparison.

I like the device. Like everyone else, it is a matter of final pricing to make me pull the trigger on this device.

I like the black text on white menus of TouchWiz. Hopefully the Galaxy Tab isn't too steeply priced.

There are some white on black screens. E.G. Android settings. Overall, it is unfinished. They're also using blue instead of the "Aqua Grey" they had on the intl version.
 

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WHen you say speed is same as galaxy, how does it compare to HTC Desire/G1 (2.2)?

I have an incredible which is a close cousin to the Desire. The Galaxy S with the lag fix is faster. The tablet feels the same as the Incredible running 2.2. I didn't notice anything earth shatteringly different. In fact, the web browsing experience is pretty much the same. The only difference was it was easier to scrub videos in flash due to the bigger screen/higher res.
 
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Any release?

You are looking at a Nov release.

How much $?

Well, some guy leaked the price on engadget in a post in a blog titled

"Samsung Galaxy Tab Heading to Verizon, AT&T, Sprint?"

Furthermore, in the same blog, one guy named OneLove blurbed the SKUs...

Thats all I am saying. I am very surprised the info is being sporadically leaked and people aren't picking up on it.

Trust me, I like to leak out more info. Like this picture below. I blocked off the carrier logo and the SKU.


And here is another leak..

I have it all this weekend to play with it and get a better feel.
 

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You are looking at a Nov release.



Well, some guy leaked the price on engadget in a post in a blog titled

"Samsung Galaxy Tab Heading to Verizon, AT&T, Sprint?"

Furthermore, in the same blog, one guy named OneLove blurbed the SKUs...

Thats all I am saying. I am very surprised the info is being sporadically leaked and people aren't picking up on it.

Trust me, I like to leak out more info. Like this picture below. I blocked off the carrier logo and the SKU.


And here is another leak..

I have it all this weekend to play with it and get a better feel.

Haha, nice job with the blur...you can only barely make out the sprint curve of their logo on the far right :p
 
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Ouch, price mentioned in that blog was $600 (for those who dont want to read it all just to find the price). Lot more than I wanna spend especially if I gotta sign a contract and pay for monthly service too!!! Gonna end up way more than the ipad....I am anti-Apple but they have really been stepping up their game recently. I just hope Android and HTC will do the same. I would LOVE to see a HTC tablet!!! I'd probably buy it regardless of price just because...
 
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Ouch, price mentioned in that blog was $600

$600 isn't a bad price seeing as I Paid $529 for my Nexus One, since I don't want to be dependent on WiFi I wouldn't mind going under contract or I could just go unlocked (if available) like I did on my Nexus One.

...but I read here:

Good news for those of you interested in picking up the Galaxy Tab announced last week. According to Samsung product executive Hankil Yoon, the Android 2.2 tablet could sell for between $200 and $300 when it debuts with wireless providers. The final pricing will depend on carrier subsidy, but this is an encouraging starting point.
Samsung Exec: Galaxy Tab Likely to Retail Between $200 and $300 | AndroidGuys
 
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just a small fyi if you get your hands on the Galaxy tab again, wouldnt just using about:debug in the browse work and let you access the desktop versions? I know I use a bookmark to About:debug as my internet shortcut so I have easy access to it and to change more settings.

It says... "Sorry, web plan is not available for purchase on this device" andf some other carrier specific warning. Very weird message. repeat, this is a prototype unit.

OK, here are more impressions. Tell me to stop if you get tired of reading these posts.

I took a black one home. I used the GPS and it does not appear to have the same problem as my Galaxy S Phone with the GPS acquisition.

I examined the fit-n-finished a bit more. The back feels like an iPhone 3G/3GS. It has that same strong, high quality glossy ABS type plastic.
It does not have AMOLED. I can clearly see the black pixels being luminated.
The ones I've played with did have SWYPE. They also played Divx.

I don't have a USB cable. I was only given an AC charger. So, I couldn't load it up and "really examine" the device via ADB (which I wanted to do).
I couldn't even side-load apps in it. And my prototype devices do "phone home." I packet sniffed the packets via wifi. I didn't want to register the device via the marketplace with my gmail account for obvious reasons.

So, I was stuck with the device "stock" which makes an unfair (or fair comparison) to the iPad (depending who you talk to). So, in comparing the web browser, it pretty much blows. Like I said, I couldn't side-load apps like Dolphin or Skyfire browser. The reason why it blows is because I could not experience the 1024x600 resolution when all the sites I went to defaulted to the mobile versions. Some sites don't even let you choose a desktop version. Furthermore, I went to sites like Craigslist and I didn't see the extra resolution in place. I have a strange feeling that the default Android web browser just scaled up. I expected to see smaller fonts (e.g. more listings on Craigslist). The menu bar and interface of the browser is definitely different but the HTML displayed inside the browser seem to be the same as my Galaxy phone.

Samsung might choose silly names for the various carriers. Hint
 
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These will be the last set of pictures. I can't reveal any more.

As you can see the camera app and facebook app makes it look like a BIG Galaxy S Phone. Unlike the phone, TouchWiz on this device works in landscape mode in any direction. Like the iPad, it works up-side down as well.

I blurred out the carrier loaded apps.
 

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