Samsung Tablet?

Any thoughts on the Samsung tablet? A non-techie friend asked me to compare it to the iPad for her.

Here’s my initial thoughts:

[ul]
[li]Screen size is different enough that in some sense they are in different device categories. Samsung is much more portable, but the screen size probably makes it harder for traditional web surfing.[/li]
[li]Samsung is based on a more open standard. iPad locks user into the Apple eco-system.[/li]
[li]Samsung battery life is shorter, possibly short enough that battery may become an issue depending on usage patterns. iPad battery life is good enough for most purposes.[/li]
[li]Samsung includes built in camera, which iPad does not. It seems likely a camera will be included with iPad’s next version.[/li][/ul]
Do these sound right? Is there anything else I should pass along to her? Has anyone tried a Samsung tablet out?

I’ve played with the Samsung for a short time, and it’s a cool device, but the price point isn’t far enough away from the iPad to make up for the lack of screen size. Some might find the size an advantage, but it’s really like a cumbersome phone. The iPad was much easier for me to use and seemed much for useful. I’d go iPad if I were in that market right now.

Well, I haven’t touched the Galaxy tab, but I can attest to the awesomeness of tablet computing with the iPad.

-Apple eco-system should be a plus for non-techies. Put your shit on iTunes, then sync it up. But from what I gather the Samsung media hub is similar. So it may come down to what she would rather incest in, thinking of the future.

-So far Android phones have been all over the place with firmware updates, but for iOS it is across the board. The last release (4.2) actually made me love the iPad even more, because of the performance bump and optimization. The Galaxy tab will get the next update, but who knows if it will get the one after that.

-For the cameras, I don’t know how much it is really implemented in the Tab. The Skype app does not have videoconferencing, which blows. And she probably has a cell phone with better cameras.

-Plastic vs Glass/aluminum. Smaller and lighter, or bigger and heftier? I would like a slightly smaller iPad so I can take it around with me, but for video the screen is just right. Aluminum and glass make it feel like it is actually worth the 500$. It seems dumb, but we are talking about expensive toys here.

-iPad has Netflix streaming.

VERDICT FROM AN IPAD USER WITH NO EXPERIENCE WITH A GALAXY TAB: lol i dunno.

All she needs to keep in mind is that this thing will be used indoors 95% of the time. A quick and dirty look at the net, or lying down on the couch to watch an episode of Mad Men. You can bite the bullet and take the 10" behemoth with you outside your living realm (seriously, it still is tiny compared to a regular-ass computer), but you can never get a bigger screen with a 7 incher.

Hope this biased semi-informed post will help you!

This is like suggesting that people should all wear velcro shoes and eat only microwaveable TV dinners.

I realize that’s a trendy viewpoint in some circles, but that’s really not what it means. It does mean, though, if your jammies came with their own propellor cap then it’s probably not the thing for you.

I realize that’s a trendy viewpoint in some circles, but that’s really not an equivalent suggestion. It does mean, though, that if your jammies came with their own propellor cap then it’s probably not the thing for you.

This.
I’ve played around with it but only for a short while. It’s smaller, but not terribly so, and it doesn’t really feel that much lighter. It’s a nice screen and feels like a solid well designed device, but the price is way too high considering the smaller screen.

And? People actually want simple means to get what they want. I took “non-techie” as a way to say the person in question is not tech savvy, and wanted ease of use over hardcore customizability. In such a scenario, a walled garden is the perfect place. Like an old folks home. All they need, but they are far from the highway.

If the person in question was an android user that did coke from the CD tray of her Linux powered computer, I would have gone balls to the walls Galaxy tab.

The Tab is a neat device, I did enjoy using it, but it’s like a “tween” device. It’s too big to carry around casually (like they tried to show us in the demos). The iPad is a bigger better toy, it’s a larger iPhone/iTouch to be honest, and it just works. I appreciate all of the love people have for the android/open source system, but for lazy people like me that just want stuff to work, I give the nod to Apple.

I have spent much more time with an iPad than the Tab, and I agree they are both toys, but the iPad seems like a much more useful toy.

Thanks everyone!

No, it is not the perfect place. The perfect place in such a scenario is something reasonably easy to use but also reasonably open. Why else is AOL dead?

Because it was shit and is in no way comparable?

‘Reasonable’ is such a bendable term in this discussion… what’s reasonable easy to use by the tech savvy geek is still full of hard choices for a lot of people.

Conversely, just because something isn’t made by Apple doesn’t mean it’s hard to use.

Good thing nobody is claiming that then.

This.

The Android OS is not, by any stretch of the imagination, hard to use. Most of the general interactions are the same as iOS.

It offers more user customizability, but there is no significant increase of the learning curve. The idea that Android OS trades usability for its benefits is a myth.

No one here is actually saying that though. I was talking in terms of content management. The convenience of having all your shit in one place is nice. No messing around in files to drop music, just click and sync.

I don’t want to come off as an Android hater either. But to defend it today as a tablet OS is premature IMO. Do we know for a fact that Android will be the de-facto Google tablet OS, or it will only be for oversized call phones? Where does Chrome OS fit in all this?

Chrome OS is intended for devices with keyboards, Android for touchscreen devices. You will probably never see a Chrome OS tablet.

No one here is actually saying that though. I was talking in terms of content management. The convenience of having all your shit in one place is nice. No messing around in files to drop music, just click and sync.

Android has several apps that will allow you to sync your music with iTunes. Or Winamp. Or Windows Media. Whatever you use.

I admit I’m a fanboi, but everyone I know who’s used an Android device has loved it.

Never played with the tablet yet though, so I can’t offer much there.

But iTunes is, hands down, the worst aspect of the whole Apple experience. It’s probably the worst, most counterintuitive piece of software that Apple has ever created.

When it comes to content management, modern Android phones come with similar syncing software, although it tends to be much more simple than iTunes because it’s not bloated with all the other junk… and the real nice thing is that you don’t need to use it at all.

For instance, on an android phone, you don’t actually need a PC at all… And the phone backs itself up to Google’s servers (if you don’t disable the feature), so the phone itself becomes the place where you keep the content. I never bother syncing my phone with my PC, because it’s an unnecessary step. If I want to move files back and forth, I can easily do so… but it’s not something that’s usually necessary.

Honestly, I’ve always thought that the idea that you NEED a PC just to turn on your new iPhone/iPod for the first time was a horrific thing.

Amen to that, brother.

We got a Tab at work. Best Kindle device I’ve used, and I own an iPad, just because of the smaller size. Nice page size, easy to hold with one hand. It’s way more portable. The Tab fits in my jacket pockets with room to spare. Media playback is a wash, I don’t miss the iPad’s larger screen at all. I do miss it web browsing, but only a little bit.

I haven’t used the cameras much. Until/unless Skype video conf shows up, it’s not of much value.