Daniella

Which one is best for people traveling? Best battery lifetime and best on application. I am a fan of the Apple store, iTunes but it seems like you can use the Samsung to call with?! And it has Flash so I can use my foreign online banking system.

Can the battery on the samsung be replaces or is that the same type as the one iPad uses?

All in all, what to choose?

Thanks for any input and happy holidays.

jongar

Actually there is one thing you missed. Size. I went for the Tab - in landscape propped up with a piece of bluetack (Ipad to heavy for that trick) its a laptop replacement. The battery is good for 8 hours hard use in flight mode (the reason I bought it). The other great feature is the 2nd camera - I use Tango for vid calls with girlfriend - she has a galaxy S phone - works great. All the apps are there - I know I made the right choice. Weight and size count for a lot, but the sacrifice was minimal. I dont suffer iPad envy

robroy90

I have both devices, and I don't think you can make direct comparisons as easily as you might like to.

The iPad is fantastic for almost everything you could imagine to use it for, *IF* you do not mind being locked into Apple's ecosystem.

The Tab, with Android, is just so much more flexible. The restrictions are few, and the platform just continues to thrive. I honestly can't wait for larger screens with the Android devices.

If you go Tab, I STRONGLY advise you get the T-Mobile version of the Tab, even if you are never going to use it on their network for data because the T-Mo version has 16GB of INTERNAL storage, whereas the Tabs from the other carriers only have 2GB of internal storage. Yes, you can use a microSD card, on all of them, but why not get more internal storage?

Also, the T-Mo version is the only version (to my knowledge) that supports the Bluetooth HID profile so you can use a mouse or keyboard with it. The other carriers locked that out, for some stupid reason...

Hope that helps!

-Rob

jongar

Just to add, Daniella, not sure where your from, but in Europe and the UK we have the option to buy simfree - Bestbuy (uk) selling for £399. You can get a PAYG sim card for data access.

Jon

Piplzchoice

You may want to check results of our ongoing analysis of Samsung Galaxy Tablet customer' reviews. We also compared their ratings to those of iPad http://blog.amplifiedanalytics.com/2010/11/851/.

KD5MDK

I don't think there's any way to compare with the iOS app catalog for variety of applications available. There are thousands of companies that have iOS only apps, but very very few that only have an Android app. Of course, many offer both, and there are lots of things you can do on both platforms. Perhaps even most things.
You can use Skype, Truphone, Whistle, Google Voice and many other VOIP apps with the iPad. It has a built in microphone and also supports wired and bluetooth headsets.

dtsm

Thought I'd give this a bump as TMO now has special $299 offer
http://mobile-broadband.t-mobile.com...MKM_MID=333869

ross123

I've got the tmobile model of the tab and like it very much. I use it mainly as an entertainment device on planes, or for some basic communications and it works fine. i went with the tmobile service because of the pricing -- $40/5GB. I know that is pricey but they were the only ones who had no overage, if you go over 5GB they throttle the service rather than charge overage. What I didn't know and am pretty happy about is the Tmobile hotpot service app on the device. If I am in a tmobile hotpot area (many airports / coffee shops) it will auto-connect with the service. so I dont need to use the 3G data as often. The tmobile provides unlimited SMS as well.

BTW - the US version of the Galaxy tab removes the phone capability. You can use Skype in WIFI or 3G but not as a native phone.

broadwayblue

Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) unveiled today.

PC Mag hands on

ChaseTheMiles

I'm not totally sure if I made the right decision, but I know I wanted more than an eBook reader and I wanted to be free from Apple's clutch, so I finally went for the Samsung Galaxy tablet. It's a perfect size for me: not to small for my eyes, and not too big to hold. The main reason I went for the Samsung over other brands of similar 7-in. tablets is that this one has the 1024 x 600 resolution which makes a big difference.

Thanks to the advice here that I went for the T-Mobile version. It's true that there are TMobile hotspots everywhere. I signed up for the 3g for a month just to see what it's like and used the 3g for Access Point and instant GPS navigation. Very cool indeed to watch the live navigation. But I don't want to get locked in for the 2-year contract.

As for regular activities, I've read a novel using the Nook app, read documents of other file types, accessed my multiple email accounts, listened to music on Pandora, kept running chat conversations on Skype, checked market and news, watched youtube, taken photos, checked AA flight updates, and FB. Have not figured out how to print or I would have checked in with it. I find that I can use my left hand better with the SWYPE typing. I hope there are other things to do to justify the price tag. Yeah, the $499 price tag is my main uneasiness, but otherwise, I do like the tablet.

Surely there will be newer and cheaper tablets coming out, but for now the Samsung Galaxy tablet has worked really well for me for the last 3 weeks. One good news for T-Mobile is that probably when our whole family gets through the current phone contract, we will all sign up for Android smartphones.

btw, I have found the best cover for the Galaxy tablet by using a Barnes and Noble Nook (not NookColor) leather cover (black and chocolate brown are available). It even has an opening at the bottom where I can plug in the charger too.

And, yes, for a woman, the size of a 7-in tablet is so easy to tuck into a handbag like a book. I don't know why Steve Jobs doesn't think we would need and want the 7-in.

As for the Apple iPAD, I am still interested but can wait for the iPAD2 or even 3. I can see now someday I will totally ditch the desktop and even the laptop. I can see myself carrying this tablet with its book cover all the time inside my bag.

additional comments:

Poor customer service: few can answer questions well.
Poor documentation: one little booklet.
No - I can't easily type a long post like this one because it's too easy to make typos.
It seems to take a while to fully charge. But once charged, it lasts me the whole day even with the 3g on. Using the GPS will use up more battery.