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[JimH]

It's a big phone.  Features are very similar to the Samsung Galaxy S (AKA Captiva) phone.

It has a beautiful 7 inch screen.  It comes with Android 2.2.

It's fast and easy to use.  Hitting the right key or button is a lot easier.

It's not something you'd probably carry in your pocket, but it makes a perfect remote control using Gizmo.  

I like it a lot.  So does Matt.

Engadget reviewed it here.

You can't buy it unlocked.  Sprint and Verizon sell it without a plan for $599.  AT&T sells it for $649.  Best buy sells at least two of those.  I got the Sprint version for no very good reason.

I bought it without a plan and only use it on a wireless LAN.  I added Skype from the Market so I can make calls from home or work.

[wig]

Do you see any special development time for the Android tablets? A jukebox mode would be great.

[JimH]

In terms of development, the Android tablets are no different from Android phones.

Are you familiar with the features of Gizmo?

[wig]

Sure, I use Gizmo quite a bit (still keeping fingers crossed for that scrobbling feature) on my EVO.

It's great if I want to start one of my playlists, or pore through my library to find a particular song. I could see a tablet being a great home remote.

But suppose my buddy stopped by and wanted to add some music to the playlist, and I handed him my tablet? With 2,000+ artists to scroll through in my library and no search feature, it wouldn't be a great experience. I'd love to have a party mode, where I could decide what albums or artists were available. I'd like to dictate what Play options are enabled ('Add and shuffle remaining' but not 'Play', for example) to avoid losing my current playlist. And if I'm ponying up for one of those big-screened tablets, I'd like to have a Theater Mode style view instead of just a vertical list.

Just some food for thought.

[WinoOutWest]

I bought it without a plan...

Woo Hoo!!! Jim's got an Android tablet! 
This bodes well for our Android development!
 

[JimH]

Here are some pictures:



With a Google Nexus One for size comparison.

Another picture of the Galaxy Tab and the folding stand here.

[HTPC4ME]

how bout some reviews guys?
 anyone have large libraries? hows the speed with those with large libraries?
can we use this as true remote\ keyboard\mouse for our home theaters? Meaning be able to surf the net. run other things on our HTPc with this and get rid of our keyboards and mice?
Thanks For any Info

[Daydream]

One tricky question: you pay the same price for the Galaxy Tab as for an iPad, but the Tab is 2.7" smaller (diagonally) and has shorter batter life. Does the rest of the features -> cameras, call option - with additional Bluetooth headset (read - more money spent on it), higher pixel density, removable storage, make up for that in real world usage? Or is the screen real estate (significantly bigger on iPad) still king?
Come to think of it if iPad 2 comes out with cameras and whatnot, many of the current pluses of the Tab will be wiped out and then you'll remain with a tablet that's 2.7" smaller than the competition.

One stubborn line of thinking: I would not buy anything the US cell carriers sell. They do not manufacture any hardware so they should stop this fist-in-your-mouth twisting policy for the hardware market; and get in line with the rest of the world. They should sell plans and that's all.
On the same thought you can buy an unlocked Galaxy Tab (the "international" version with no warranty). Check Amazon. White or black. $819 or $879.

One... ah, screw it: are they insane with this prices??? I can buy a (good to great) laptop with that kind of money!
I hate Apple to no end but it doesn't mean I'm gonna through money out the window just because I want to spite them. I know that working with such a device makes one feel all fuzzy and warm inside - to the point that it can become a 6 to $800 remote control, but common, exercise some common sense.

[JimH]

For some things, the smaller size is an advantage.  You can hold it comfortably with one hand.  It will fit in a jacket pocket.

The screen is beautiful!

It's Android.  MC can sync to it or get pictures from it.

Gizmo runs on it.

[HTPC4ME]

had ipad tried it for remote. due to size of my library she hickup'd, i returned the ipad. GF loves Icrap and i cant stand em.

Any reviews from anyone with large libraries using the galaxy or similiar tablet?

Thanks

[WinoOutWest]

I can't speak to the tablets directly but I can tell you that Gizmo has improved significantly with large files.  When it first came out it would always crap out and often bring down JRiver if I did anything other than hitnext or previous.  So I hadn't touched it for months but recently gave it another go on my Android phone and I can now browse without crashing Gizmo or JRiver.  Presumably the tablet experience should be the same or better which is the direction I will be going.

For reference:  Samsung Galaxy S Captivate and my music library is about 1.5TB, 250k songs.

I'm with you on the iCrap as well!

[MrHaugen]

Is Gizmo able to browse Playlists/Smartlists as well? Without this and/or search functionality it would be hard to handle large libraries, as some points out. I really hope this app is improved more. I would love to by a Android Pad once a good one with acceptable battery life comes on the market.

[JimH]

Is Gizmo able to browse Playlists/Smartlists as well? Without this and/or search functionality it would be hard to handle large libraries, as some points out. I really hope this app is improved more. I would love to by a Android Pad once a good one with acceptable battery life comes on the market.

Playlists are there.

[MrHaugen]

Sweet. Then it's not that hopeless in large libraries. A search function would be superb though. Remember to take advantage of the search button on the Android phones if you play with it I'll test out all of this when I just get my self to set up the server again. Really looking forward to using all of the new and improved server/client/remote/streaming functions.

[JimH]

Search is there.  Try updating Gizmo.

[HTPC4ME]

Thanks WinoOutWest, i might just give android a try.

[JimH]

Another review from UnwiredView.com.

[IlPadrino]

I've been using the Tab since the middle of November...  very little to dislike!  Just got the dock for Christmas and it makes a great alarm clock (Alarm Clock Plus).  But the best thing about it is Angry Birds!  (Just kidding...  but it is better than playing it on the Droid).

If only I can get Gizmo to control my Samsung LED television, I'll be happier than a pig in mud.

[skeeterfood]

I got lucky and managed to snag an 8GB Archos 101IT Android tablet just before Christmas.  The 10.1" screen is really nice for web browsing. I debated getting the Archos 70 instead,  but it wasn't all that much more for the 101.  It definitely won't fit in your pocket, but neither will the iPad. SwiftKey is a great app to make posts like this a lot easier to write.

-John

[JimH]

Engadget.com reports that Verison is dropping the price of the Samsung Galaxy Tab to $500.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/01/verizon-cutting-galaxy-tab-price-to-500-will-refund-any-purcha/

[Rob L]

If only I can get Gizmo to control my Samsung LED television, I'll be happier than a pig in mud.

You know there's a Samsung app for controlling their tellies under Android, I assume?
Sadly it doesn't yet control their bluray players (haven't yet got one of their tellies!)

I realise you probably mean control it to do DLNA playback. Unfortunately, Samsung seem to have only got as far as being able to pull content to their devices rather than push it to them at the moment. I'm hoping they might produce a software update that improves that.

[Rob L]

I got lucky and managed to snag an 8GB Archos 101IT Android tablet just before Christmas.  The 10.1" screen is really nice for web browsing. I debated getting the Archos 70 instead,  but it wasn't all that much more for the 101.  It definitely won't fit in your pocket, but neither will the iPad. SwiftKey is a great app to make posts like this a lot easier to write.

-John

I've got a Galaxy Tab and an Archos 101. The Galaxy Tab is SO much nicer. I actually discovered I CAN fit the Galaxy Tab in my pocket (ok, not all my pockets obviously - it does need to be a large pocket!!!) I'd rather have the Archos than an iPad though (obviously - you can tell I've bought into Android, I now have... five or six Android devices!) The Archos is lighter than the iPad, has widescreen (really don't get why you'd want a device that isn't these days) and has more capability. I'm not going to say it's perfect - the Galaxy Tab's closer to perfect :-)

Oh, and there's a new version of Swiftkey coming soon apparently, which will be better designed for tablets, intended to allow you to type with your thumbs (which you can do in portrait mode of course anyway)

And coming back to the point on Gizmo, it really is making the combination of android - tablet or otherwise - and MC an excellent combination. Clearly Gizmo has room for improvement - polish mostly - but I'm impressed with how far it's come in so little time.

[epsilonjon]

I don't spose anyone would be able to post a little video of J River on the Galaxy Tab with a large library, just showing the features and such? I'd really appreciate it!