Samsung Galaxy Tab - Galactic Adventure!

Galactic Finish

Galactic Finish

Samsung's Galaxy Tab may be one of the first big name efforts to compete with Apple's iPad, and the unit doesn't let you down. During our review period with this tablet, we found ourselves easily setting aside the much heavier and larger iPad in favor of this much smaller and compact device.

However, the Tab still has a long way to go to show that it can dethrone the iPad, mainly because of the Android OS that the tablet uses. Froyo works great for smartphones but let's be fair here, it's not meant for use with tablets. The upcoming Gingerbread (Android 2.3) and Honeycomb (possibly Android 3.0) will have support for larger resolution screens (up to 1366 x 768) and be more tablet friendly. Honeycomb is supposedly being designed for tablets, but how will this affect Chrome OS development which in our opinion seems more like a tablet friendly operating system, is not quite clear at this point of time.

In the Galaxy Tab's favor however, it's a great gadget to carry around. It's snappy, it's fast, and the screen is great for reading or watching movies. You can make phone calls too with this device, though we really, really don't suggest getting this as a replacement for your smartphone, unless you are willing to always wear a Bluetooth headset around on your head.

At the end of the day, if you don't already own a tablet device, then the Samsng Galaxy Tab is one to consider. It's definitely a different machine compared to the Apple iPad, and one that stands out on its own. Given that other manufacturers too are announcing their own versions of an Android tablet, it may be a good idea to play the "wait and see" game, but Samsung's Galaxy Tab strikes us as the one to get for now if you need a handy one. Well, till the next batch of Honeycomb-based tablets arrive.

Price and Availability: The Samsung Galaxy Tab will be S$998 without contract and S$538 with a monthly subscription of S$39 with SingTel's 3G Flexi Lite plan. S$298 with a monthly subscription of S$56 for the 3G Flexi plan and free with a monthly subscription of S$95 for the 3G Flexi Plus. The Samsung Galaxy Tab will be available from SingTel from 13th November 2010.