UK Version : Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 ( WiFi, 64GB, Black)
Samsung Galaxy Tab 101 WiFi 64GB Black GTP7510FKEXEU SAMSUNG TABLET
List Price: £559.99
(I purchased my Galaxy 10.1 several months ago, and finally got round to write this review).
The Galaxy looks nice in white, and it feels lighter compared to the Ipad 2.
There are not many leather cases available, the ipad had a huge selection.
As part of the Galaxy purchase, make sure you also purchase some charging cables,
they are low cost, and I now keep one in the car and one at home.
Please excuse the frequent ipad comparisons, I did this because I figured some
people would want to know.
In terms of build, it feels strong. Some people may prefer Aluminium ipad,
but I prefer a modern plastic than aluminium, and the Galaxy plastic does not
'feel' cheap, in fact the overall impression is great. I believe the Galaxy chassis
internally is metal, although I'm not sure. Anyway, in several months of owning it, I'm
very satisfied with the build quality.
The Galaxy is truly PC-independant, and does not rely on iTunes to be running.
If you want a software update, it can download and install itself with
no PC connection at all, and no need to perform any backups. It was quick and painless
to perform the upgrade. With Apple, I had to have 400MByte downloads to
the PC (it may have changed now) to perform updates.
If you want to connect to a PC for file transfers, then it is possible to transfer files
(PDFs, music) from the PC simply by normal drag-and-drop, just like a USB memory stick.
This is not possible with the iPad, which needs iTunes. If you are using a Mac,
then I believe some software is needed to perform the drag and drop, but with Windows,
I needed to install absolutely nothing on my PC. This is great, because I have
many PDF books and many MP3s and I can easily transfer them.
The built-in reader software allows me to categorise the books, and annotate and
highlight pages, and instantly be able to see all pages with annotations/highlights.
I have very large PDF files, and it handles them no problem.
With the recent software upgrade, it is possible to do nice things like transfer
my MP3s from the Galaxy to others, e.g. via e-mail, directly from the music player
software. Apple would never allow you to do that, since they tie you into the iTunes
store for music purchases. I can download MP3s directly from the web for free, no need
for Apple's music store any longer. Also, as part of the Samsung software update, there
is an 'Amazon MP3' application, and using this, it is possible to purchase MP3s from Amazon
(I managed this in the UK).
I too saw the 'newton's rings' problem (I purchased it as soon as it was released), but if you
raise a case with Samsung via the Samsung website, they will offer to replace or repair it.
I did raise a case, but I have not sent it in so far, because the problem does not bother me much
(it is cosmetic) and to be honest I would miss the usage of the tablet meanwhile. I think it may
bother some people, even though it is cosmetic. By the way, as soon as the tablet it turned on,
then the rings are not visible(they are visible when the tablet is off).
I suspect if you purchase now, you will probably not experience the problem anyway.
The built-in software has some nice features. The map software is excellent, it has voice search
(which seems very reliable so far), and I can search for (say) restaurants near me, built-in
GPS, and I think the map and direction experience is way better than the ipad, and it is for free!
The e-mail client is nice, I use it with my hotmail, but gmail worked fine for me too. It can work
with corporate Microsoft accounts too, but I have not done this so far.
Best of all, if I one day want to write my own apps, then I can using Java, instead of proprietary
Apple Objective-C (which needs a Mac to do the programming).
In conclusion, I'm very happy with the Galaxy.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 101 WiFi 64GB Black GTP7510FKEXEU SAMSUNG TABLET
List Price: £559.99
(I purchased my Galaxy 10.1 several months ago, and finally got round to write this review).
The Galaxy looks nice in white, and it feels lighter compared to the Ipad 2.
There are not many leather cases available, the ipad had a huge selection.
As part of the Galaxy purchase, make sure you also purchase some charging cables,
they are low cost, and I now keep one in the car and one at home.
Please excuse the frequent ipad comparisons, I did this because I figured some
people would want to know.
In terms of build, it feels strong. Some people may prefer Aluminium ipad,
but I prefer a modern plastic than aluminium, and the Galaxy plastic does not
'feel' cheap, in fact the overall impression is great. I believe the Galaxy chassis
internally is metal, although I'm not sure. Anyway, in several months of owning it, I'm
very satisfied with the build quality.
The Galaxy is truly PC-independant, and does not rely on iTunes to be running.
If you want a software update, it can download and install itself with
no PC connection at all, and no need to perform any backups. It was quick and painless
to perform the upgrade. With Apple, I had to have 400MByte downloads to
the PC (it may have changed now) to perform updates.
If you want to connect to a PC for file transfers, then it is possible to transfer files
(PDFs, music) from the PC simply by normal drag-and-drop, just like a USB memory stick.
This is not possible with the iPad, which needs iTunes. If you are using a Mac,
then I believe some software is needed to perform the drag and drop, but with Windows,
I needed to install absolutely nothing on my PC. This is great, because I have
many PDF books and many MP3s and I can easily transfer them.
The built-in reader software allows me to categorise the books, and annotate and
highlight pages, and instantly be able to see all pages with annotations/highlights.
I have very large PDF files, and it handles them no problem.
With the recent software upgrade, it is possible to do nice things like transfer
my MP3s from the Galaxy to others, e.g. via e-mail, directly from the music player
software. Apple would never allow you to do that, since they tie you into the iTunes
store for music purchases. I can download MP3s directly from the web for free, no need
for Apple's music store any longer. Also, as part of the Samsung software update, there
is an 'Amazon MP3' application, and using this, it is possible to purchase MP3s from Amazon
(I managed this in the UK).
I too saw the 'newton's rings' problem (I purchased it as soon as it was released), but if you
raise a case with Samsung via the Samsung website, they will offer to replace or repair it.
I did raise a case, but I have not sent it in so far, because the problem does not bother me much
(it is cosmetic) and to be honest I would miss the usage of the tablet meanwhile. I think it may
bother some people, even though it is cosmetic. By the way, as soon as the tablet it turned on,
then the rings are not visible(they are visible when the tablet is off).
I suspect if you purchase now, you will probably not experience the problem anyway.
The built-in software has some nice features. The map software is excellent, it has voice search
(which seems very reliable so far), and I can search for (say) restaurants near me, built-in
GPS, and I think the map and direction experience is way better than the ipad, and it is for free!
The e-mail client is nice, I use it with my hotmail, but gmail worked fine for me too. It can work
with corporate Microsoft accounts too, but I have not done this so far.
Best of all, if I one day want to write my own apps, then I can using Java, instead of proprietary
Apple Objective-C (which needs a Mac to do the programming).
In conclusion, I'm very happy with the Galaxy.
