Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Who is this Review for? Anyone considering the Galaxy 10.1" Tablet or not sure whether to go with iPad or this (or any other Android tablet).If you're very confused by all the entries to the Android Tablet category lately, I'm going to try and help. First things first, if you're definitely going with an Android tablet, FORGET ALL THE OTHERS, this is the ONE (see why below). That is, unless price is a big concern for you, in which case you probably really should not buy a Tablet to begin with, but if you still want one, go with the Asus Transformer. OK, on to the review of the Galaxy 10.1: The Good In time this will be better than iPad2. It's a beautiful device. Don't listen to those saying there is some discernible difference in the hardware quality or the "wow" factor between this and ipad2. There really is not. Except for one thing-- you really can feel the small weight difference. Galaxy 10.1 is slightly lighter than iPad 2, and if you pick up one right after the other, you will notice the difference. Don't get me wrong, both are absurdly light, but I love how light and portable the Galaxy is. Don't even THINK of getting another Android Tablet on the market as of this writing. This is light years ahead of them all even though there is no SD slot. It's much lighter than the Xoom (and all the others out now), almost to the point that I would put it in a different class of product. It's kind of like carrying around clipboard (of very sturdy quality). No strain. Whereas carrying around the other Android Tabs is kind of like carrying around a light textbook. If the difference doesn't matter to you...then don't pay the price difference for this Tab. Just get an Asus Transformer. The ability to have customizable widgets and apps (like weather on your home screen), to me, makes this device, and Android in general, more powerful than iPad. And, if you already have an Android phone, you really should stick with the Android Tabs, which will allow a much better integration for you. For one thing, you can tether some Android phones VERY easily to the tablet. If you have an iPhone, I'd stick to ipad and their cloud, which will really protect everything on all your devices. Hopefully this advice will help you folks who have one phone or the other and are on the fence over whether to buy iPad or this Tablet (or any other Android Tablet). The screen on this Tablet is just gorgeous. Response, over all is good but not as fluid as Ipad. For most functions (except for one VERY important one, described below) you will not notice a difference. I promise you. I saw a review on here which is, ahem, ranked higher than mine --ugh-- saying that ithe Phone's "cachet" is something to be considered. Utter nonsense. You will look great with this tablet and you'll enjoy using it and people will say WOW when they see it. This device has better specs than the iPad, is just as sleek, just as functional, has flash (something that I believe is somewhat overrated though as websites move away from flash), and will eventually --EVENTUALLY-- have a better app experience than iPad. Eventually. :-) Which leads me to "The Bad": The Bad I saw a previous review saying that the keyboard responded slowly. After using it I can confirm that there really IS a delay between typing and text appearing on screen using SOME features like the browser. WHY? Is it honeycomb? Something that will be resolved with an update? Or is the hardware faulty and just that slow? I really hope it's the former, but I have no idea and I'm not going to buy one until I find out. UPDATE (6/28/11): Awesome job by Commentor Scott Welch who seems to have found a fix for this. Scott explains,"I experienced the keyboard delay. It appears to be a problem with the Samsung Keyboard. I switched to the Android keyboard and it works GREAT!!! Setting> Language & Input> Current input Method." THANK YOU Scott. Another disappointing thing is that there isn't Swype on the tablet (note: I haven't seen Swype on ANY Android Tablet yet, though, and it's disappointing). UPDATE(6/28/11): Swype IS now available for the Honeycomb Tablets! Thanks to Commentors C.V. Tang and Brian Mason. C.V. Tang explains that "The Swype Beta are out for Honeycomb [see his comment below for the link, Amazon won't allow links in reviews]. Brian Mason added that "Swype 3.0 beta is now available for Honeycomb. Very cool how you can set it to small keyboard mode for single finger swyping on either side." Great job, C.V. and Brian! Based on their comments, bump this review from 4 to 4.5 Stars. I've always felt that Swype is one thing that really separates Android from iPhone/iPad and shows the difference between the two systems in terms of power and customization, as Android market has so many variations of Swype that are just wonderful. Having Swype on a screen of this size is just amazing and really speeds up use and usability of the device immeasurably. It's really difficult to justify sticking with iPad's tap-tap-tap which is SO 2009. The Apps Apps are what Tabs are all about, so it really should be it's own discussion in any helpful review. Yes, iPad still kicks Android's Butt in apps. Yes, this will change. Yes, I know you keep hearing this. No, I don't work for Android or any company related to any of these devices and am just as annoyed as you that Android is still not up to par! But it really is inevitable with the dramatic increase in Android use that the Tablet App market will explode in the same way the Android phone app market has exploded. My Droid X phone has become more and more enjoyable to use as the market continues to grow and provide me with apps I used to have on my iPhone. When i first bought my Droid, I didn't have Sonos or my Bank's app and many other apps that were an Iphone. Now, I can't even think of an App that I had on my iPhone that I don't have on my Droid. And, best of all, I have cool widgets on my phone home screen that I could never have on my Iphone. This will happen with the Android Tab, too. And when it does and the growing number of customizable apps arrive on the Android Tabs, I do believe these Tablets will destroy the iPad. But not yet... What should you buy? Fortunately, I really think the answer to this question is very simple. If you already have an Iphone or Android phone, don't even think about getting the other company's Tablet. It's a huge waste. There are big advantages with sticking with the same company (tethering for Android, the cloud for Apple, and, most significantly, the APPS FOR BOTH. Why pay twice for the same apps and why go through all the hassle?). The differences between the Apple and Android Tablets are not so monumental as to justify losing all these efficiencies of sticking with your phone's company. I would compare it to using three different companies for home Cable, home internet and home phone line. UPDATE (6/28/11): Thanks very much to Commentor K. Smits who further explained what I meant here: "I think [the review] is referring to the upcoming iCloud service baked into iOS 5 from Apple. Basically it will over-the-air sync your photos, music, etc. among your iOS 5 devices. Look up "iCloud" in google to see more details. Also, if you purchased apps for your iPhone you will be able to use them on your iPad as well without having to purchase an Android version. Of course this goes both ways. If you have an Android phone and have purchased an App, you would be able to use it on a Android based tablet as well." Yep, exactly! Smits also added some helpful information, saying "there are other solutions for keeping everything synced (Dropbox, Picasa for pics, Google Music Beta for music) If Flash is an important thing, I would rule out iPad. While I do think Flash is an archaic and not very well designed rich media solution for webpages, it is not going anywhere for a while, so I would make this a big consideration for a device that should give you a "PC like" browsing experience." If you have an Android Phone and are debating which Android Tablet to buy, STOP THINKING ABOUT IT NOW, and get the Galaxy which is far and away a monumentally superior product than all previous Android tablets. If price is not an issue for you (and this device isn't really any more expensive than similar Tabs except the much heavier Transformer), you will regret passing up on the sleekness, hardware superiority and overall better experience and portability of the Galaxy. If you can't afford the Galaxy and don't mind a heavier Tab, go with the Transformer. If you have an iPhone, I wouldn't consider this, and definitely not other Android Tablets. Stick with the iPad. Questions, Commentors Feel free to post messages on here and I'll try to respond best I can. I'm not an expert, just some guy who played extensively with bunch of these things! UPDATE (6/28/11): Thanks so much to all the wonderful and helpful Commentors. You guys really make this review so much more helpful for people and it's great to have so many different perspectives. Keep sending helpful comments and I'll weave them in here as I continue to update my review. You guys have helped confirm that Swype is AVAILABLE, that there IS a fix to the keyboard issue, and have helped explain some common questions from users. I'll continue to update my review as information comes in. Right now, I have upped it to 4.5 Stars.