Saturday, October 08, 2011

Life: Me and My Samsung Galaxy Tab

I've been using my Samsung Galaxy Tab for almost 2 months now and I would like to share my experience of using it.

But, before that, let me share the reason why I bought Samsung Galaxy Tab, instead of iPad 2 which is more popular in Singapore.
There are 3 main reasons:
First, I already have a BlackBerry 9700 as my phone and I like its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) feature the most, an iPhone 3GS with its fantastic iOS operating system which is very user friendly and smooth interface, so a desire to have an Android-based gadget is a natural feeling that I can't resist. Need to experience the 3 main operating systems in smartphone and tablet world (... sorry for Microsoft, your Windows Phone 7 OS is out of my radar).
Second, the price is just right for me. Under my existing SingTel contract, with no additional subscription cost, I can get Samsung Galaxy Tab at S$198 + S$100 penalty (due to recontract after 1 year). At S$298, for a 3G + WiFi model, it is value for money.
Third, I simply like the design (see picture below), its white back color is nice, and the 7" size and 380 g weight is just right to hold in one hand (especially during travelling using public transport) or put it into my trouser's front pocket (just make sure your trouser is not the stretch or tight model... he he he).

OK. Not let's talk about my experience of using it.

My Samsung Galaxy Tab comes with Android 2.3.3. The touch interface is quite nice and smooth, eventhough it is not at iOS level yet. Different from iOS, the icons on the screen actually a shortcut of items in Applications list and not the application itself, so basically you can place more that one shortcut of an application in the same of any page of the screen. But, so far, I can't move a shortcut from one page to another... I need to delete it and then scroll to another page and create another shortcut. But, it's OK, not big deal.

I am not a serious game player, so I mainly use my Samsung Galaxy Tab for browsing internet, read news (Twitter, by following some news providers), email, watch videos, and social network (Facebook, WhatsApp). With its support of Adobe Flash, it has no problem displaying the websites, but I would prefer to use option to activate the Adobe Flash player only when I need it by touching the part of the website which need Adobe Flash to be played, since it will make website loading faster, and also save battery. With that activities, usually the battery will last about 8 hours before it needs to be charged. If you use it for playing games, the battery will drained faster. And, with its single core 1 GHz processor and 512MB RAM, it is not really meant for serious game players.

Since I only use my mobile internet 3G SIM Card, I haven't use my Samsung Galaxy Tab as a phone yet, so I have no review on its phone feature. But for sure you either need to use hands free kit (which is part of the package) or bluetooth headset, can't use your Samsung Galaxy Tab the way you use your normal phone to make a call... he he he...

Samsung Galaxy Tab's RAM size of 512MB might be considered too little. You will have problem if you install many application with has some background process, services, and tasks. In my case, the free memory is between 150MB at max to only 30-40MB at peak usage. Simply not enough, since it will compromise the performance and also cause the Samsung Galaxy Tab unresponsive, freeze, or even hang completely... I did need to force restart my Samsung Galaxy Tab quite numbers of times already, at least couple of times in a week. Android memory management, in this case, is not that good compares to iOS.

The last is Samsung Galaxy Tab's camera. Since Samsung Omnia smartphone, the quality of image captured using Samsung camera is considered quite good, at least in my eyes. It is quite sharp and acceptable. What you can expect more from a smartphone's camera :).

Here are some sample of pictures taken using my Samsung Galaxy Tab.
The very first picture:

Under the bright day:

Close up, the food:

A Cloudy Morning Sky:

An Afternoon Sky:

An Evening Scene:

An Exhibition:

Indoor Colorful Objects:

Another Indoor Objects:

Using Camera Fun Apps: