Thinner, Faster, Lighter, Brighter but is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 any better?

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is currently the thinnest and lightest tablet out yet.  Slightly thinner and lighter than the iPad2, boasting a brighter screen as well as high end specs that put the iPad2 to shame.

so far we’ve seen many tablets out-spec the original iPad and now the iPad2 but none have actually come close to performing in the real world.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 which has a slightly bigger and brighter screen is priced to compete with the iPad2.  it comes pre-loaded with android honeycomb 3.0 topped up with the latest offerings Touchwiz, Samsungs tablet optimized user interface.

The Tab 10.1  has a 1mp front facing camera and a 3mp camera on the rear for recording 720p HD video. compared to the iPad2 which has a 0.3mp vga front facing camera and a 1mp rear camera which also shoots 720p HD video.

The Samsung Galaxy tab 10.1 is slightly faster than the iPad 2 at web-browsing even while loading flash content. And as the web is built on flash that makes all the difference for the end user experience.  There is an external flash for the rear camera, Which the iPad2 also lacks. A small feature but hey it increases functionality. And when comparing slight differences every little helps.

The Honeycomb OS by Google Andriod has Google apps built and optimized to perform and out-perform the offerings of competitors. The updated Samsung touchwiz 4.0 I feel is a hit and miss as the iconic tron like look of the stock android honeycomb really made it attractive now the update slows down the performance and fluidity of the tablet  once engaged in heavy mutitasking.

However the quick app tray which pops out in a separate window with the few widgets that are available is definatley a step in the right direction. Ironically its also a step in having a desktop like feel on a tablet which with the failure of windows 7 the world is trying to move away from.

The multitasking that the Tab 10.1 offers is superior and much more efficient than what IOS offers in that it gives you more detail in the form of windows that show the current state of your apps. where as IOS by Apple only give you icons of apps that are running.

Altogether this tablet seems to be the real competitor for those users that prefer a more advanced computing experience. aimed at those that criticize Apple and Apple fanboys for splashing out ridiculous amounts of money when alternatives at the same price offers more. This tablet really is a genuine example of a tablet that has almost proved it self in the real world. We will just have to see if it can knock the iPad2 from the top spot in the months to come.

UPDATE: APPLE HAS BLOCKED THE SALES OF THE GALAXY TAB IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES EXCEPT THE NETHERLANDS.

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Manny Pacquio on HP TouchPad

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lol!! Russell Brand on HP Touchpad

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HP Touchpad vs IPad2 !!

Hardware

The design of the two devices are very similar in terms of the size. Although the iPad is thinner, lighter and has a sturdier feel to it this is partly due to the brushed aluminium back in comparison the touchpad’s rear which is all plastic.

Giving the impression that the ipad2 is of a higher build quality compared with the touchpad even though they are priced near enough the same.

Aesthetically the iPad2 looks much sleeker thanks to its thinner edges which also make it easier to hold and the option of either black or white colours the iPad2 trumps.

The devices both have the same size 9.7 ” screens offering the same 768:1024 resolution with a 4:3 ratio.

The layout of the physical buttons are almost identical except for the iPad2 has a mute/lock screen button.

The Touchpad has a led light that flashes, embedded into its home button which gives feedback upon pressing also acting as a notification for when messages etc are received.

The Touchpad has two speakers in comparison to the iPad2’s one which means stereo support alongside the Beats audio support with which sound quality is dramatically increased if using a Dr Dre Beats audio headphones.

However at full volume the iPad2 is just as loud as the HP Touchpad.

The Hp touchpad sports a front facing 1.3 mega pixel camera which unfortunatley is restriced to skype video chat for the meantime.

Whereas the iPad2 has a front facing VGA camera that works with 3rd party apps and a rear camera that can shoot upto 720p video.

Video appeals and as the iPad2 lasts longer than the Touchpad by about 2hrs when viewing vids well what can be said. Also the videos look much better on the iPad2 because it has a brighter screen which really flaunts bright colours vividly and is a lot easier to view outdoors when the sun shines.

The Touchpad has a micro usb port which can be used to charge or sync also means that 3rd party accessories will be easier to connect with the device( hopefully).

UPDATE: THE PRICE OF THE HP TOUCHPAD HAS BEEN REDUCED BY $100.

UPDATE: THE HP TOUCHPAD HAS BEEN Discontinued and has sold out in most parts of the world with price point at $99 an £89 for 16gb models and matching price points for the 32gb respectivley.

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HP Touchpad competitor for the iPad2?

Steve jobs said earlier this year that other tablet manufacturers were (pause) “flummoxed“. They simply could not keep up with the original iPad,  nevertheless  they announced the iPad2.

So naturally the iPad2 did not need to worry about competition, even as countless tablets  were announced with superior specs and less restrictions in terms of 3rd party accessories and software.

On paper majority of the higher end tablet specs far outweighed that of the iPad or iPad2, but in practice Apple outshone every last one of them to date, Fact!  common knowledge or water under the bridge however you want to put it.

This brings us the HP touchpad the most anticipated “ipad killer” tablet announced, hyped and finally released (well, been a while now). obviously a direct competitor the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Motorola Xoom.  The Blackberry Playbook  has not been entered into the equation as it is not big enough to compete.

Anyway does the HP touchpad live up to the hype to at least be a competitor for the “magical” iPad2? leave your comments below.

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