Welcome to the top spot, Samsung.
The outstanding Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Honeycomb tablet is lighter and a hair thinner than the Apple iPad 2, and has a smaller footprint than either the Motorola Xoom or the Acer Iconia Tab A500, which are heavier and bulkier than most tablets.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a major contender.
We reviewed the short-lived Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1V
already, but that thicker and heavier device has since been
discontinued (It looked as if Vodafone might pick up the 10.1V tab but
it is now waiting to release the newer 10.1 model).The only other
important players in the tablet market, are the brilliant 10.1-inch Asus Eee Pad Transformer as well as the BlackBerry PlayBook and the HTC Flyer, which are both so-so 7-inch models.
Oh, and keep your eye on the HP TouchPad which goes on sale in the UK next month.
The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is currently slated to go on sale in the UK at the end of July/beginning of August.
And if you want to take a closer look at the slate, you can check out our Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 video review.
So
what sets the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 apart? For starters, this is one
light and thin tablet. At just 8.6mm, it is 0.2mm thinner than the iPad 2. And you know what? At 565g it's also 36g lighter.
It's as though someone at Samsung sat down and demanded that the 10.1 have world-beating raw system specs. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a marvel of engineering, given its size. Holding one in your hand,
you might mistake it for a truncated version of a Samsung LED HDTV,
which are also market leaders. There's a slight edge around the screen
that is not touch enabled, a silver edge, and an all-white back. The device just feels right. Unlike the Acer Iconia A500 and the Motorola Xoom, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 finds that ideal balance between a pick-up-and go e-book reader such as the Amazon Kindle 3 and a 10-inch tablet that's perfect for watching movies on a long car trip.
By
including Android Honeycomb (version 3.1 to be exact) Samsung has also
one-upped the competition (though 3.1 has also already landed on the
Transformer). The point release includes a few new additions. You can
resize widgets and scroll through open apps in the pop-up thumbnails for
the "recent apps" list. The
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 doesn't have a USB port, so it doesn't take
advantage of the new Android 3.1 feature to support USB-connected
peripherals which is a shame, but that's not the direction Samsung is
going with this tablet. This is all about pick-up-and-go functionality
and portability.
Samsung actually downgraded the built-in camera on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 compared to the Galaxy Tab 10.1V, which had an 8MP rear camera. Still, the new model has a 3MP rear camera, which is three times higher than the Apple iPad 2's camera. There's also a front-facing 2MP camera.
There
are quite a few interesting perks and additions on this tablet. Some
may seem underwhelming at first, but as a whole they give Apple a good
run for the prize. One
subtle change is that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has a 7000mAh battery
for all-day tablet use. In our tests, it lasted about nine hours for
everyday tasks. The Apple iPad 2 battery is 6600mAh.
The 10.1 also has a four-way accelerometer and gyro (the Apple iPad 2
uses a three-way accelerometer and gyro - starting to see a pattern
here?). That may seem like a minor upgrade, but most of the games we
tested on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 responded faster to quick turns and screen
rotations, and generally worked better for controlling games. It also
has great side speakers for playing music and movie audio, and plays
smooth 1080p video.
And of course, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
matches the features of other Android tabs: built-in GPS, support for
Adobe Flash in the browser (you still have to download it on your own),
1290 x 800 screen resolution, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, the Nvidia Tegra 2
dual-core processor and Android tablet app.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab
10.1 is a smart buy for anyone who wants a light and portable Android
tablet. Google still has a ways to go on apps for Android – there are
only a few dozen that are seriously worth downloading, compared to
thousands of worthy iOS apps.
The ecosystem for media is a bit
underdeveloped on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 as well. Sure, you can
watch movies stream on the web, but for downloads you're mostly on your
own.
Update:
August 5 2011: Samsung
has now released a software update for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (the
kernel says 2.6.36.3 but the Android OS version is still 3.1).
The
10.1 now comes with Samsung's TouchWiz software overlay which is
designed to add some more features to Android by building on the
foundations that Google laid down. There
is now a small arrow in the middle of the taskbar at the bottom of the
screen. You press that, and can open the new Task Manager (to close and
open apps), a Calendar (which uses Google Cal), a World Clock, a Pen
Memo widget (for adding notes and drawing), a Calculator, and a Music
Player. Each of these works reliably and adds to the value of the Galaxy
Tab 10.1 beyond the usual Android 3.1 release on other tabs. Widgets
stay up on the screen at all times, even when you open other apps. Samsung
also (finally) released the Music Hub, Media Hub, and Social Hub apps.
There is also a new app called eBook which lets you read books you have
downloaded from other book stores like Kobo, or that you have obtained
by other means – such as download a free ePub file. As you might guess,
the eBook app is not tied into the Kindle store, and so that means a
separate app. You can add stores which are just links that take you to
those Web sites to buy more books.
In the box Samsung includes a charger, USB cable and earbuds, but no case or docking stand. Price
The
Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been price-matched with the Apple iPad 2, which
means that devices with the same amount of memory costs the same. So the
starting price will be about £399.
0 nhận xét:
Post a Comment