subject: An Overview Of The Brilliant Samsung Galaxy Tab [print this page] Samsungs first foray into the growing tablet market is the Galaxy Tab, the UK's first such device utilising the hugely popular Android operating system. This modern looking device seems perfectly poised to challenge the Apple iPad for its crown of most desirable device of its kind.
The Galaxy weighs in at just 380 grammes which is roughly half the weight of the iPad. The unit is perfectly sized for use with one hand thanks to its 7 inch screen, neither the largest or the smallest available. The sizing seems perfect for such a device, the screen is significantly larger than those found on mobile phones, yet is compact enough to retain the portability factor. Much of the use of this unit is via the excellent touchscreen, which can display a high quality 600 x 1024 resolution. There are a few physical buttons on the unit which include the familiar four Android keys as well as the volume and on/off button. The overall measurements of the device are 190.1 x 120.5 x 12mm, making the Galaxy small enough to fit in a large pocket. The Galaxy incorporates a high powered 1Ghz processor that should prove man enough for the most demanding of users, ensuring any task being performed on the device is done so at lightning speed. 512MB of RAM accompanies this and the tablet also comes with a choice of either 16GB or 32GB internal storage, perfect for storing a multitude of media files. A quick and efficient web browser makes surfing the web a pleasure, and the support of Flash files further enhances the experience.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a superb portable audio player. Samsungs Music Hub incorporates a store very similar to iTunes as well as a great player. A large range of audio formats are supported by the unit including MP3, WAV and eAAC+. A nice element of the music player is that the Galaxy can also handle files that are not downloaded via the store. This means your own CD collection can be easily transferred. Two cameras are incorporated into the unit. The front facing camera snaps at a resolution of 1.3 million pixels and is perfect for video calling, which looks great on the big screen. The second primary camera offers a higher 3.15 mega pixel resolution, and the resulting image quality is high. In poorer lighting conditions this does suffer, but the inclusion of a LED flash helps minimise the impact.
Of the hand full of tablet devices currently available, the Samsung Galaxy Tab certainly seems the most appealing. With regards to size it is perfect, performance is super fast and looks wise it is hard to imagine a better looking unit.