Samsung Galaxy Tab: talk me out of it
Apr. 9th, 2011 04:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
abortrephraseSo, Telstra just cut the price on the original Galaxy Tab. It's now down to AU$408 to buy outright, no contracts, no faffing about. This is pretty close to my "impulse buy" threshold.
My interest in a tablet is not quite the same as the typical geek toy-hunter. I want something light, pocketable, and significantly bigger than a mobile phone. My primary use for the first-gen WiFi-only iPad I have right now is as an e-reader and occasional email device, and it's too heavy to be comfortable as a reader unless it's propped up. It's also too big to carry unless I'm also carrying a bag.
As best I can tell (looking at GSM Arena) the original Galaxy Tab (380g, Froyo) is the lightest 7" tablet either available or announced. The other 7" devices are the HTC Flyer (420g, running Gingerbread), the Dell Streak 7 (453g, Froyo), and the Blackberry Playbook (425g, running their own OS).
Most of the devices available or announced so far are 9-10", between 600 and 750g. All of the devices officially running Honeycomb are in that range, as are the various iPad models.
The Tab has been rooted and there are a variety of third-party ROMs available. This is not an immediate concern -- Froyo is quite good enough for an e-reader -- but means there's a fair prospect of a stable Honeycomb port down the track. There are already efforts in this direction, with an alpha-quality release barely running now.
The alternatives in this space one can buy Right Now(TM) are the Archos 70 and the Nook Color. Both require hacking to get Market apps, and both lack the standard buttons. The Nook Color is surprisingly heavy for a device its size. I'd been considering both, but with the Tab's price cut in half...
So, is there anything I'm missing here? Any light, pocketable devices announced GSM Arena hasn't noticed?
My interest in a tablet is not quite the same as the typical geek toy-hunter. I want something light, pocketable, and significantly bigger than a mobile phone. My primary use for the first-gen WiFi-only iPad I have right now is as an e-reader and occasional email device, and it's too heavy to be comfortable as a reader unless it's propped up. It's also too big to carry unless I'm also carrying a bag.
As best I can tell (looking at GSM Arena) the original Galaxy Tab (380g, Froyo) is the lightest 7" tablet either available or announced. The other 7" devices are the HTC Flyer (420g, running Gingerbread), the Dell Streak 7 (453g, Froyo), and the Blackberry Playbook (425g, running their own OS).
Most of the devices available or announced so far are 9-10", between 600 and 750g. All of the devices officially running Honeycomb are in that range, as are the various iPad models.
The Tab has been rooted and there are a variety of third-party ROMs available. This is not an immediate concern -- Froyo is quite good enough for an e-reader -- but means there's a fair prospect of a stable Honeycomb port down the track. There are already efforts in this direction, with an alpha-quality release barely running now.
The alternatives in this space one can buy Right Now(TM) are the Archos 70 and the Nook Color. Both require hacking to get Market apps, and both lack the standard buttons. The Nook Color is surprisingly heavy for a device its size. I'd been considering both, but with the Tab's price cut in half...
So, is there anything I'm missing here? Any light, pocketable devices announced GSM Arena hasn't noticed?
(no subject)
Date: 2011-04-09 11:42 am (UTC)I'm thinking about a larger device then your desires and I certainly want something running Gingerbread, it makes a lot of tablet things easier, but what you really need a path to Ice Cream Sandwich but that's all rather unclear at the moment.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-04-09 11:57 am (UTC)Samsung have committed to a Gingerbread release for the Tab (or so I'm told). Given it's been rooted and that there are third-party ROMs for it, if the hardware is capable then I'd expect a third-party port of any future releases.
Both the Tab 10.1 and the Xoom have been getting okay reviews. The Xoom's US reviews focus a bit on the dodgy state of the wireless support, but as we're both in GSM/HSPA countries I don't suppose that's really a problem. The question for you I guess would be "who's more likely to produce a hackable device or enough upgrades?".
(no subject)
Date: 2011-04-09 12:00 pm (UTC)I'd prefer a wifi only device, I don't see the real point in paying for another cell contract when I can wifi share from my phone when I need to.
The Tab 10.1, when there's a wifi version, was my current thought. Good to hear they've committed to a Gingerbread release for them... the 7" sounds like a good plan for you, then.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-04-09 12:05 pm (UTC)The 7" Tab, though, is small enough to fit into a coat pocket. I can see carrying it a lot of places.
I'm in a slightly odd position service-wise. I use Telstra pre-paid for my mobile, and that has a pretty crazy balance on it now as I rarely go over the "bonus credit" on any recharge. Telstra let you move prepay credit between prepay accounts, so I figure I'll get another prepaid SIM for the Tab and slip credit over as needed to pay for data subscriptions.
Ultimately it shouldn't add to my telecomms costs at all.
At least, that's the theory.