Samsung Galaxy Tab. Thoughts?

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Ah... Now that's a point I'll willingly concede. Stuff like that drives me nuts, too.

But that's also the beauty of what Apple brings to the table. We need the non-geeks in order to inflate the market to a size large enough to necessitate change. Look at data plans before and after the iPhone. Look at the application landscape. Look at the hardware and the services that are now available.

Without the sheer numbers that Apple has brought to the table, and their willingness to demand the kind of changes they did, we'd all still be paying $25/MB and surfing the net on a WAP browser while talking about how awesome our new SD card slots are.

Apple took what was once a geeky, business-focus market and converted it into a massive, retail force almost overnight. And those "uneducated users," while annoying, are the very reason that we're even able to have conversations about exciting new devices in the first place.

This is the most insightful thing I’ve read here in a long time. When the train pulls in, we all ride.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Ah... Now that's a point I'll willingly concede. Stuff like that drives me nuts, too.

But that's also the beauty of what Apple brings to the table. We need the non-geeks in order to inflate the market to a size large enough to necessitate change. Look at data plans before and after the iPhone. Look at the application landscape. Look at the hardware and the services that are now available.

Without the sheer numbers that Apple has brought to the table, and their willingness to demand the kind of changes they did, we'd all still be paying $25/MB and surfing the net on a WAP browser while talking about how awesome our new SD card slots are.

Apple took what was once a geeky, business-focus market and converted it into a massive, retail force almost overnight. And those "uneducated users," while annoying, are the very reason that we're even able to have conversations about exciting new devices in the first place.

Although I dislike most Mac products (as I type this from my Imac in the kicthen) the one thing that they do very very well is make their hardware look sexy. This makes it very easy for a non-geek to adopt because it doesn't make you look like a geek. The Imac is in my kitchen because every PC incarnation of an all in one computer looks like crap whereas the mac looks like it is part of the decor.

[QuadCityImages]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Will be fixed this week. The CEO of the company admitted these bugs to the world in his keynote. Nice try though.

Nice try that the CEO agrees with me that its a bug? Oh, because it might be fixed in a couple days it never happened? We've always been at war with Eastaisa, I hear...

What's the last Android phone that was updated into uselessness? This is why statements like the original Android is buggy crap are just ridiculous. Just because Big Brother Steve says things are so, doesn't make it true.

[Devils'Advocate]

Off contract, in Europe, the bottom-of-the-line Galaxy Tab costs the same as the top-of-the-line iPad. But there is hopes that AT&T in the US and Rogers and Bell here will give a subsidy based on people getting 3G contracts for it.

If we were talking $250 I'd pick one up IN ADDITION TO MY iPAD. I absolutely love my iPad... on the bus to and from work, I'm either watching "The Outer Limits", playing "Angry Birds" or writing e-mail. At home, I'll play Scrabble in between plays of CFL games, googling stuff while on the upstairs phone, or laying back on a rainy day and reading an iBook. It has definitely been worth the money I paid for it.

I'm not exactly sure what I would want a camera on the iPad for. If I am talking to someone I have no need to see their face, nor should anyone be subjected to mine. But I would like to be able to watch CFL games from TSN's On-Demand library *AND* watch "The Daily Show" from comedynetwork.ca.

[Art Vandelay]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

But I would like to be able to watch CFL games from TSN's On-Demand library *AND* watch "The Daily Show" from comedynetwork.ca.

Yeah, I think we Canadians got the shaft in this Flash fight. I'm hoping CTV Globemedia will come out with a Video app, but knowing Canadian media, it'll probably take years. Sigh.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

Off contract, in Europe, the bottom-of-the-line Galaxy Tab costs the same as the top-of-the-line iPad. But there is hopes that AT&T in the US and Rogers and Bell here will give a subsidy based on people getting 3G contracts for it.

Where have you found pricing for the Tab? If it is more expensive than the iPad, going to be a hard sell for them.

[Devils'Advocate]

http://www.electronista.com/articles...t.900.or.more/

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by QuadCityImages

What's the last Android phone that was updated into uselessness? This is why statements like the original Android is buggy crap are just ridiculous. Just because Big Brother Steve says things are so, doesn't make it true.

Mostly handset manufacturers drop support for their Android handsets and force the user community to rely on third party jailbreaks to keep any semblance of currency on their devices. So I guess its simply not a problem for them. If the software isn’t supported you don’t have to worry about bugs.

In fact, its already been noted that Samsung in particular is very prone to doing this, and thus its a big concern that this tablet might not see the next Android release.

Let’s put it this way - I know more Android users with phones that their manufacturers are not keeping up to date than I know who have a 2.2 phone. None of them, except for 1 or 2, are excited or even even really technically inclined or capable of getting a community hacked up distribution to keep their phone current.

[jharp]

Has anyone gone down the road of considering this as a cell phone replacement? I have been trying to find a new phone for months and have been hoping for a phone to be released in Canada with a 4.3" screen which seems like it will never happen.

I read through the specs of the Galaxy Tab and the only one that really suprises me is the rear facing camera with a only 3.2 mega pixels. Other than that it seems to have all the top end specs you would find in current phones, along with the thing that I want the most, a big screen.

A big screen leads me to the problem though, that is a REALLY big screen for a cell phone and I don't know if I could stand a phone that didn't fit in my pocket.

Has anyone else considered this as a cell phone replacement and if so have you had any ideas about how to increase the portability of it?

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by jharp

A big screen leads me to the problem though, that is a REALLY big screen for a cell phone and I don't know if I could stand a phone that didn't fit in my pocket.

Has anyone else considered this as a cell phone replacement and if so have you had any ideas about how to increase the portability of it?

Bluetooth headset? That would obviate a lot of the problems with the larger size.

[QuadCityImages]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Let’s put it this way - I know more Android users with phones that their manufacturers are not keeping up to date than I know who have a 2.2 phone. None of them, except for 1 or 2, are excited or even even really technically inclined or capable of getting a community hacked up distribution to keep their phone current.

Now this is something I agree with, to an extent. I hate that all of the phone manufacturers insist on making their own special versions of the UI, which then requires them to tweak every Android update that comes out before they can release it. My phone, the Droid, seems like the last phone with vanilla Android on it, and "coincidentally" its always been one of the first phones updated. I don't have a problem with companies stopping updating phones that are close to 2 years old, but new phones coming out should have the newest OS. At some point I hope the manufacturers hear everyone who's already complaining about this and just start releasing vanilla Android devices.

All that said, I often wonder how many non-nerds even know what version of Android their phone is running...

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by QuadCityImages

All that said, I often wonder how many non-nerds even know what version of Android their phone is running...

Unfortunately, my experience here is that the ones that know, are generally the ones that are stuck down a level with no upgrade path easily available to them. Ultimately it will probably become less of a problem once Android matures a bit and the release cycles slow down.

[blankall]

A big point here is price:

650 for the 32 GB IPhone
750 for the 64 GB IPhone

The HTC Desire is 450 and you can expand the memory as much as you want cheaply.

This will always be the tipping point for me. I'm not paying 50%+ more for what is essentially the same technology. When you buy an IPhone you are paying $200-300 for the ability to tell your friends that you own an IPhone. This in my opinion sums up the mentality of an IPhone user.

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by blankall

This in my opinion sums up the mentality of an IPhone user.

Then your opinion is wrong.

There are dozens of iPhone users here on CP including myself. I find your characterization extremely insulting. We all have our own various reasons for liking the iPhone. I can tell you right now, the "show off" effect was the least of mine.

When the iPhone first came out, I bought one from the U.S. and jailbroke it to use on Rogers. I'm still using many of the same apps that I bought then and am happy with those apps and don't want to change. Plus there are far more apps available to me on the iPhone than on other phones. For me, it's a "if you like what you have, why try something else". But if you want to believe that I have an iPhone because I like to brag about my phone, I can't stop that....

And besides that, I don't know what you are bringing up the iPhone vs HTC Desire when this thread is more about iPad vs Galaxy Tab.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

Then your opinion is wrong.

There are dozens of iPhone users here on CP including myself. I find your characterization extremely insulting. We all have our own various reasons for liking the iPhone. I can tell you right now, the "show off" effect was the least of mine.

When the iPhone first came out, I bought one from the U.S. and jailbroke it to use on Rogers. I'm still using many of the same apps that I bought then and am happy with those apps and don't want to change. Plus there are far more apps available to me on the iPhone than on other phones. For me, it's a "if you like what you have, why try something else". But if you want to believe that I have an iPhone because I like to brag about my phone, I can't stop that....

And besides that, I don't know what you are bringing up the iPhone vs HTC Desire when this thread is more about iPad vs Galaxy Tab.

It was the random trolls who came in and insisted on going off about how much better Iwhatevers were better than devices they had never used.

The obvious defensive stance you take and reasoning you have to do to justify your purchase doesn't exactly prove your point.

Overall, Apple has fallen behind. Their was a point when the devices were ahead of the game, but now the MP3 players, computers, and now the phones have simply fallen behind. They are underpowered for their price point.

Like you said, it's difficult for people who have become so commited to particular branding to switch, and this is a large part of what's driving Apple's sales currently.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by blankall

It was the random trolls who came in and insisted on going off about how much better Iwhatevers were better than devices they had never used.

The obvious defensive stance you take and reasoning you have to do to justify your purchase doesn't exactly prove your point.

Overall, Apple has fallen behind. Their was a point when the devices were ahead of the game, but now the MP3 players, computers, and now the phones have simply fallen behind. They are underpowered for their price point.

Like you said, it's difficult for people who have become so commited to particular branding to switch, and this is a large part of what's driving Apple's sales currently.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Originally Posted by blankall

It was the random trolls who came in and insisted on going off about how much better Iwhatevers were better than devices they had never used.

The obvious defensive stance you take and reasoning you have to do to justify your purchase doesn't exactly prove your point.

Overall, Apple has fallen behind. Their was a point when the devices were ahead of the game, but now the MP3 players, computers, and now the phones have simply fallen behind. They are underpowered for their price point.

Like you said, it's difficult for people who have become so commited to particular branding to switch, and this is a large part of what's driving Apple's sales currently.

You're as much of a troll as any of the iWhatever fanboi's.

The iPhone 4 is not behind the game. You cannot find an Android phone with a superior display, processor or photo abilities. You cannot find a phone with a marketplace that offers as more apps than the App Store.

For my usage, the iPhone 4 display is superior to any of the Android phones. When I bought my iPhone 4 there wasn't an Android phone available from my wireless provider that came close to it so unless I wanted to pay 3 or 4 times the price of my iPhone, I wasn't going to get an Android phone.

[Devils'Advocate]

Your first post:

This in my opinion sums up the mentality of an IPhone user.

Your second post:

Originally Posted by blankall

The obvious defensive stance you take and reasoning you have to do to justify your purchase doesn't exactly prove your point.

Like you said, it's difficult for people who have become so commited to particular branding to switch, and this is a large part of what's driving Apple's sales currently.

Your first post says that iPhone users ONLY buy an iPhone because they can show it off to friends. Your second post says that it is "difficult" to switch. So you are contradicting yourself. Do people buy new iPhones because they like the apps that they are using, have gotten used to a device and are happy with the device? Or is it because they want to show off to their friends?

Currently I'm on 3GS with no plans to upgrade. My phone does everything that I want it to do. That's the reason I have an iPhone; not to "show off". I think your assessment of my character is incredibly wrong.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by blankall

Overall, Apple has fallen behind. Their was a point when the devices were ahead of the game, but now the MP3 players, computers, and now the phones have simply fallen behind. They are underpowered for their price point.

Fallen behind what? 1 or 2 phones?

I don't own an iPhone and don't plan on buying one, ever. What follows isn't me being defensive of a product I have or plan on purchasing. This is plain logic.

iPhones do some things better than almost all phones out there right now. Many of those phones do some things better than the iPhone. This is how products work, they are designed with different user bases, price points, and technologies in mind. You can't just compare them on a linear scale and state one is better than the rest because there are so many different factors.

Saying it is behind the game right now, is a really naive statement because you are only taking a few of the nearly countless different factors into consideration when making that definitive statement.

[QuadCityImages]

The idea that more apps means better, at some point becomes silly. If Android only had 5,000, that could be an issue, but when each system has 10s of thousands of apps, you can pretty much find what you need either way. Would you suggest that PCs are better than Macs because more software is available for them, or would you say that each has plenty for what people need?

As far as the iPhone playing catch up, there is quite a bit of evidence for this. Prior to the iPhone 4, the display was falling a long way behind practically every Android phone. They've now "caught up", and slightly passed the competition, but before the iPhone 5 comes out I'd suggest they'll be behind again. They just "caught up" when it comes to folders, customizable backgrounds, front-facing cameras and multitasking. Someday maybe they will "catch up" in offering access to apps outside the store, or more than one form factor, such as a larger screen or hardware keyboard.

If you look at the pace of innovation, I would agree that the iPhone is no longer the leading edge of mobile technology.