Samsung Galaxy Tab

Samsung Galaxy Tab

Is it a computer?… Is it a phone?… Is it a eBook reader? No, it is Galaxy Tab. I have now been playing with Galaxy Tab for several months and living some kind of Star Trek future today. And I can say that at least for me, it has proven to be a necessary companion at work, at home and on the go.

Good things
7″ screen is big enough to make it comfortable to read web pages, documents and books. But it is still small enough to fit into a side pocket in jacket or suit. If it were any bigger, you would need a carrying case.

It has quite long battery life. I usually recharge it every other day or so. Rarely I have to recharge it more frequently. This happens usually if I have listened music whole day using Bluetooth headset.

Removable microSD card slot. Unlike iPad, which does not have SD card slot, Galaxy Tab has one. This means that you can easily expand your memory from 16 Gb to 32 Gb, and even carry along spare cards with extra digital content and swap them one the go.

It is also a phone. Galaxy Tab can be used as phone with headset (cable and Bluetooth) or as a speaker phone. It also has frontal camera making video calls possible.

eBooks. Due to its size it makes book reading comfortable. You have a wide selection of different eBook readers to choose from. Galaxy Tab comes preinstalled with KoBo and electronic magazine and newspaper readers. Recently updated KoBo can also handle epub-format.

Bluetooth keyboard. It was interesting to find out that Galaxy Tab supported Bluetooth keyboards. I have had Logitech DiNovo Mini keyboard for a long time and was curious to see if it works with Tab. After pairing the devices, it just worked. Touchpad moved pointer around the screen and you could type text where appropriate. This expands the possibilities of Galaxy Tab as a presentation device, since you can connect it to projectors and monitors.

Bad things
Due to its screen size, some Android applications look weird. Either they won’t use whole screen or they are distorted. For me this has not been any problem, since all aplications I use look just fine and use whole screen.

Considering its price, the pre-installed applications were bit disappointing. Galaxy S had much more stuff pre-installed (although all of them were not that useful). Well, later you could download Need for Speed Shift for free. This made me feel that this gadget was rushed to the market, and there just was not time to bundle anything with it.

Connections to external monitors. Galaxy S uses audio and hands-free connector also for video. Galaxy Tab does not. You need cables that connect to Tab’s power/data connector. And if you want HD video out from Tab, then you need a special cradle.