Samsung Galaxy Tab 7"
377 of 391 people found the following review helpful.
By Traveler
After reading a few theoretical reviews, I thought I would post a very early review based on one whole day of using my Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus (which I've updated a couple of times). I've rated it overall 4*, which is 5* for the Tab and 3* for a premium price. There are certainly less expensive tablets, but I think this one really does have class-leading features. It's up to you whether you think the features justify the price or whether you want to wait for the next better-faster-cheaper version.
Not much to say about the design, it's a slab but the build quality is excellent and it feels very solid. I bought this specifically because it's a 7" form factor, and I wanted portable and pocketable which this delivers. I've posted a picture of what's in the box, it's just the tablet, charger and cable [see photo on the product page]. Don't plan on learning much from the "manual", which is a tiny little booklet. One thing I can't say is whether it has Gorilla Glass like the original Tab. I hope so, but Samsung doesn't say much as Amazon shipped before the release date -- heck, Samsung won't even let me register it yet. The screen quality, brightness and resolution is excellent although I did wind up disabling auto brightness as I thought it kept things a little dark. Easily fixed by manually setting the brightness to about 60%. The auto setting was probably to save battery life, which seems excellent. Charged to 100% this morning, and after a day of light usage (web browsing, wifi on all day, an hour of music listening, dozen or so apps loaded, 15 minutes of navigation) I still have 51% remaining after a day of usage. [11/6] I'm still happy with battery life, but I will say watching Netflix looks like it would only last about 4-5 hours.
Honeycomb with this tablet is extremely responsive, and I didn't find Touch Wiz intrusive. Actually everything pretty much just works the way you'd hope. GPS and Google Maps worked great, got sat lock in only a few minutes sitting on the passenger seat of the car. Local driving, but Google Maps cached enough that nav worked great. [11/6] In answer to several comments, the GPS works without wifi. Google Maps caches some local coverage, and there are standalone nav apps that have broader coverage. If traffic updates are important, you won't get them with no wifi.
Tried the camera, it's point-and-shoot cellphone quality but nothing approaching even my Lumix camera let alone a DSLR. [11/12] But apps like Barcode Scanner and Skype make good use of the cameras. The touchscreen is very responsive, and Netflix and Youtube looked great on my home wifi. No problems at all with any of the apps I downloaded, they all ran and looked great. [11/12] The 1.5.14 Pandora update fixes my previous UI complaint, so Pandora now looks as good as it sounds. If you want to pretend to buy this for work with a clear conscience, I also setup the built-in VPN client and was able to load a free RDP application (Pocketcloud) from the Android market to access our Windows servers just fine. [11/12] The Peel Smart Remote folks never answered their email support form (why bother to have it if you don't respond?), but their 1.2.6 update did deliver basic support for my Time Warner/Motorola DVR so I've now had a chance to use the built-in remote. The personalized program guide is nice and I might actually use it. But the remote functions supported are pretty basic so I'll still be using my Logitech Harmony - maybe they'll create an app!
If you're looking for a smaller tablet with all the bells and whistles, I think you'd be happy with this one.
234 of 244 people found the following review helpful.
By David Dean
EDIT: Now the product has been tested more in more depth. My initial review still stands. I have edited the review to include more content concerning features. Thanks
First off I would like to state that this product has now been tested for two days. If anything changes my opinion of it I will be glad to update this review.
When getting this package I must admit I was filled with anticipation and some level of worry. This tablet is going to be used for both recreational and business purposes so it had to be capable of doing a large number of things. At first glance I have to say it is a real beauty. It features a slick and stylish design capable of impressing nearly anyone. Mine was charged to approximately 68% when I received it so I was able to turn it on and start right away. It took me approximately 10 minutes to get it started and linked to my google account. Here came my first surprise. Already having an android phone it then proceeded to download my saved contacts and apps that were own my phone. This saved me lots of time and was a big plus.
Briefly I would like to list features of the Tablet and give a quick run down:
SCREEN -
Very bright and clear. This screen is impressive to say the least. It comes auto set to change the lighting itself but you can turn that off and set the brightness to whatever level you choose.
TOUCHSCREEN -
Aside from being bright it is also very responsive to touch. For this part of the test I went to my father. My father has larger fingers and usually has problems with small buttons or touch screens. He was impressed at how easy he could type and not make mistakes on the device.
CAMERA -
This is a noteworthy camera. I was able to take a few decent shots with it and saw no real problems.
Edit: Tested out the video chat feature and had no problems it is a reasonably clear image.
BLUETOOTH -
No problems at all. It linked to my phone and I was even able to tether internet to the tablet.
GPS -
Now first I was concerned GPS applications for download. However after a few times using it I have decided I rather like it. Here are three reasons why!
1) I bought a tablet not a GPS!
2) There are various different apps available on the market that seem to enable offline gps support.
3) You can start the Navigation while connected to WiFi and it will load all the information for a route and then it works perfectly. I even managed to get it to reprogram the route by turning the wrong way once. All in all it is just an added feature that is fun to use and can be useful if you pre program it at home.
SAMSUNG TOUCHWIZ-
Samsung has made a nice skin that overlays the natural Android design. I found it both user friendly and rather fun to play with. It took nothing away from the tablet, but added a few features that made it worthwhile!
GAMES -
Naturally I tried out a few games such as Angry Birds and others. This tablet played them with no problem and they looked even better than ever with a clear crisp image.
MEDIA CENTER -
I took the time to watch tv (Netflix) and listen to music (Pandora). Both were clear and crisp in sound quality making the tablet good to use standalone. However Samsung also provides Ear buds if you do not want the entire room to hear what you are watching!
PEEL -
Edit: Having first tested the remote on an old model tv I was unable to provide a clear picture of the features. Now I have fully tested this features and I am impressed. The Peel remote control offers an easy to use interface to change the channel, volume, or access menu. Simply WONDERFUL.
BATTERY LIFE -
Honestly I cannot say much about the battery life of the product. I charged it once and have used it off and on all day with little battery drainage.
Edit: Test and can now state that it held a charge for over a day with constant off and on usage. It only showed a serious drop in life after watching roughly 45 minutes of netflix on full brightness.
All in all the Samsung Galaxy Tablet 7.0 plus is an ideal tablet for anyone wanting to jump into the tablet market. I would gladly make this purchase all over again.
103 of 111 people found the following review helpful.
By M. Gymnopoulos
First of all I have to say that I am in general really satisfied with this product. Size and weight are perfect. The 1.2 Ghz dual core Exynos processor is great and in general the tab is fast. It is sometimes a bit choppy when exiting applications and if you return to the homescreens: Widgets are sometimes empty and refresh for a second but nothing to bother. I guess Honeycomb 3.2 is not optimized for the Tab 7 plus yet and Samsung has to polish the drivers a bit.
The biggest problem I ran into so far are occasionally random reboots or random shut downs (Screen of death). I haven't manipulated the OS or installed problematic applications. At XDA forum I saw that several people had problems with random shutdowns so I guess it is a software problem and I hope that Samsung is aware of it and will fix it soon. I had two Tab 7 Plus and both had these problems. I had to return the first one because of some screen defects. The second is fine except for the mentioned problem. I can't wait to see ICS on this beast.
Update regarding the random shut downs: I find my second tablet once per day shut off. I have to do a reboot (pressing on/off button and the volume rocker) to turn it on again and it doesn't shut off because of an empty battery; I checked that already. I will send this Tab back again. I just haven't decided yet if I will return it for a refund or if I try another exchange. 400 Dollars are too much for a buggy device.
Update 11/27/11
I decided to return my second Tab too. The random shut downs are bugging me and so far no fix. No statement from Samsung regarding this problem yet. If Samsung will fix this problem I will buy this tablet again, except there will be better ones out.
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