July 2011 smarthpone buyers guide

We just finished our last buyers guide, but prices have changed so it is time for an update.

Php25,000 and higher. Buying a top of the line smartphone is now cheaper than ever, If you want the best smartphone that money can buy right now it is the Samsung Galaxy S II.

The Galaxy S II has a 4.3 inch 480 x 800 Super AMOLED screen, is powered by a Dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 proccessor with a Mali-400MP GPU on an Exynos chipset 1GB of RAM, has 16GB of internal storage and a 8MP autofocus camera with a LED flash. It comes installed with Google's Android 2.3 operating system running under the new TouchWiz v4.0 user interface. Available from CMK Cellphones for as low as Php27,800, there is little reason to consider any of the other top end phones.

You do have HTC's Sensation at Php27,500 which has a higher resolution qHD (540 x 960) S-LCD, but the Galaxy S II overall has a better display, runs much faster, has more RAM, and more internal memory.  The only reason I can think of buying the Sensation instead of the Galaxy S II is if you simply cannot live without HTC's Sense user interface. You also have the LG Optimus 2x at a lower price of Php25,400 but the Galaxy S II specifications more than justify the higher price. 

The other option at this price range is  is the iPhone 4, but that will actually cost you more than the Samsung Galaxy S II, and is about to be replaced by a newer and better iPhone. If you want an iPhone, best advice I can give is wait for the newer one or buy the iPhone 4 after it price goes down (when the new one is released).

Php15,000 to Php24,999. At the mid-level, we recommend another Android,  the LG Optimus Black. Priced at Php17,990 it is really tough to beat. It 700-nit 4-inch IPS display screen is the best you will find at this price point and its 1 GHz  TI OMAP 3630 processor , PowerVR SGX530 GPU and 512MB of RAM will satisfy all users but the dedicated mobile phone gamer. It will run most games on the Android Market, not all.

The Optimus Black is a thin 9.2 m, but is 122 mm tall and 64 mm wide. This looking for a smaller package may want to check out HTC's Desire S at 115 x 59.8 x 11.6 mm . This comes with a smaller 3.7-inc screen but actually has 50% more RAM and a faster processor and GPU than the Optimus Black, The Desire S will cost you must more than the Optimus Black at Php21,500. 

Nokia has several offerings at this price point, the Nokia N8, E7 and X7, but Nokia is going to be moving to Windows Phone 7 by the end of the year. No point investing this much money in an operating system which is all but phased out.  But if you are looking for the best camera phone available, the Nokia N8 is still the best.

There are a couple of BlackBerry devices at this price point too, but RIM is also moving to a new OS, QNX.

Php10,000 to Php14,999. At a lower price point we recommend another Android, the Samsung Galaxy Ace. With a 3.5-inch 320 x 480 resolution screen, an 800MHz processor and a better than expected camera, it is a competent Android phone. Priced at Php13,000 it offers good specifications for the asking price.  It's only real competitor is the HTC Wildfire S with a smaller 3.2-inch screen and slower processor.

Another interesting option at this price is the BlackBerry Curve 9300 3G at Php12,400. If you want to avail of BlackBerry services this is the phone to get. The next cheaper BlackBerry loses the 3G connectivity, and the higher end models really will not give you a significantly better experience. 
 

Below Php10,000. Even at entry level prices, we still are recommending an Android. The LG Optimus One is the best phone at this price range. At Php9,800 with a 3.2-inch screen and a 320 x 480 screen resolution is the cheapest phone that will allow you to enjoy Android that way that it was designed to be used. Anything cheaper has a smaller, lower resolution screen.

Another interesting option at this price point is the Nokia E5. At Php8,800 it offers free lifetime turn by turn navigation.

July 4, 2011 update. Since we wrote this article the lowest price we have found on this phone with an official warranty went up to Php28,500. A few hundred more won't change out minds though. This is the killer Android phone to buy.

Budget laptop: eMachines eMD443-E352g50Mikk

We are fond of AMD Fusion powered laptops, more specifically those powered by the AMD E-350 processor because they combines low cost with decent processor and graphics performance. If you are looking for a laptop to do word processing, preparing spreadsheets and presentations, browse the web and viewing HD movies and videos, a AMD Fusion E-350 laptop is more than sufficient for those tasks. It can even do some 3D gaming. eMachines 14-inch eMD443-E352g50Mikk is priced at just Php17,500, without a operating system. Adding the cost of a Windows 7 Home Basic license will bring you up to just about Php22K.

For that price the laptop is configured with a 500GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM and an optical drive. It has all the usual connectivity options, but no USB 3.0 or Bluetooth. The 6-cell 4400 mAH battery should be good for 4 hours of battery life.  The eMachines eMD443-E352g50Mikk is the cheapest E-350 laptop in the market at the present time. 

If you are looking for something smaller, you may want to take a look at the 11.6-inch HP Pavilion DM1-3016AU which cost Php20,900 with Windows 7 Home Basic installed. 

If you want a 14-inch unit with a longer battery life or a DVD writer, take a look at the Asus K43U-012. It has the same specifications as the Acer eMD443-E352g50Mikk, but with a larger 5200 mAh battery and a DVDRW optical drive. The Asus K43U-012 cost more at Php21,995 without an operating system.

Around the web: Odds and ends

Apple moves. It looks like the rivalry and legal battles between Samsung and Apple, has cost Samsung a customer. Samsung manufacturers the A4 and A5 chips found in Apple's iPhone's, iPods and iPads. In 2012, Apple will be having them manufactured by someone else. Read the rest of the article at GSMArena.

Windows Phone 7 arrives. No mobile phone OS can be considered to a contedender without Angry Birds :) 

Angry Birds is finally available for Windows Phone 7. At US$2.99, it is more expensive than the US$0.99 iOS (non-HD) version, but given how Rovio keeps on rolling out new levels, US$2.99 is well worth it. There is a free version which will allow you to try the first few levels.

...and Android hits 500,000 per day. Andy Rubin, Senior Vice President of Google at Mobile tweeted that there are now 500,000 Android devices being activated per day.

Robo Defense

Robo Defense is a Tower Defense game for Google Android Devices by Lupis Labs Software. Basically, you buy and upgrade defensive towers which you place on a map to impede and destroy invading hordes. As you destroy more enemies you gain more money to buy defenses. In Robo Defense, it is robots versus robots. The trick behind the game is to create a pathway for your enemies to follow which places them in under the heaviest concentration of fire from your defensive positions. Succeeding waves of enemies and higher levels make it more and more challenging as you go along.

The concept behind a tower defense game is simple, it is like a real time strategy game where you are purely on the defensive. Robo Defense was so good, and so addicting, I had to uninstall it from my mobile phone... well I am keeping it on my Wife's tablet, that way I can play it without having it with me the whole day. This in the interest of getting work done.

You can try the free version which can be found at this link: Robo Defense Free.

There is a paid version with more maps, levels and upgrades, which is well worth the asking price at this link: Robo Defense. 

The free version will keep you entertained till the wee hours in the morning. The paid version, is something you best purchase before a weekend or when you are about to start a long vacation.

Charting Android smartphone hardware development

HTC Dream

2008. The flagship Android phone in 2008 had the following specifications:

• 3.2-inch 320 x 480 screen
• 528MHz processor
• 192MB of RAM

The first commercially available Android phone was the HTC Dream released in October 2008. It had a 3.2-inch 320 x 480 resolution screen and was powered by a 528 MHz ARM 11 processor with a Adreno 130 GPU on Qualcomm MSM7201A chipset. The Dream had 192MB of RAM.

2009. The 2008 specifications remained standard for Android phones 2009:

• 3.2-inch 320 x 480 screen
• 528MHz processor
• 128MB-256MB of RAM
  

The first Android handset to become widely available in the Philippine was the HTC Magic, released by Smart Communications. The Dream was released in May of 2009 and became available in the Philippines early in 2010. The Magic had the same specifications as the Dream, minus the slide out keyboard and with more RAM at 288MB.  

By end of 2009 the typical Android Phone like HTC's Hero and Samsungs i7500 Galaxy and i5700 Galaxy Spica had a 3.2-inch 320 x 480 screen, a 528 MHz ARM 11 processor, Adreno 130 GPU, Qualcomm MSM7200A chipset and 128MB to 288MB of RAM. 

By the end of 2009 higher resolution screens were released with Motorola Milestone ands it 3.7 inch 480 x 854 pixel resolution screen. It was powered by a 550MHz ARM Cortex A8, PowerVR SGX530 graphics and 256MB of RAM.

2010. 2010 saw the release of the first "reference" design Android and a significant jump in the specifications for a flagship Android phone. Typical specifications for a flagship Android phone in 2010 were:

• 3.7 to 4.3-inch 480 x 800 or 480 x 854 screen
• 1GHz processor
• 512MB to 768MB of RAM
  

January 2010 saw the release of the Google Nexus One with its 3.7-inch 480 x 800 screen, 1 GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 200 GPU, Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon chipset and 512MB of RAM. Other manufacturers released phones with similar specifications in the first six months of 2010 with the HTC Desire, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 and the Samsung Galaxy S. Notably, the manufacturers offered larger screens has started with the Xperia X10 and the Galaxy S with 4-inch screens. The Dell Streak and HTC Desire HD came out bringing the larger screen  5-inch and 4.3-inch screens to Android phones. The Desire HD also had a unprecedented amount of RAM for an Android at 768MB.

Before the end of 2010 Google brought out its Google Nexus S, but instead of being another leap in Android phone hardware it was essentially a Goolge banding of an existing phone, the Samsung Galaxy S. The Nexus S did make a front camera standard equipment for Android 2.3 phones.

2011. 2011 brought dual cores to technology, with the specifications for a flagship Android being:

•  4 to 4.3-inch 480 x 800 or 540 x 960 screen
• 1GHz of faster dual processor
• 512MB to 1GB of RAM

Examples of this are the LG Optimus 2x, the HTC Sensation and the Samsung Galaxy S II.

Around the web: Dead on arrival

Nokia's N9, dead on arrival. Looks like the MeeGo powered Nokia N9 will go the way of the Maemo Nokia N900. Interesting, with excellent potential, but relegated to being a interesting piece of tech history. GSMArena reports that, Nokia's "CEO Stephen Elop confirmed that even if the N9 proves to be a massive success, there is no returning to MeeGo for Nokia. Nokia instead will be betting everything on Windows Phone 7 platform and Elop is confident that it will be well received." Read the rest of the article here. 

This is bad news indeed.

The most expensive tablet in the planet. Techie.com.ph christens the HTC Flyer as the "the most expensive tablet in the plane". We have to agree with them. 

Bring on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9.

The Google Android Roadmap for 2011

Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) is the current version of the Google Android operating system designed for mobile phones. It is optimized to operate with a 3.2-inch to 4-inch screen with a screen resolution of 320 x 480 or 480 x 800.

We expect on more update this year: Android 2.4. Android 2.4 will allow single core handsets on 2.4 to use apps developed for dual core Honeycomb 3.0. Other than this we do not expect to see very many differences between 2.3 and 2.4, which is why they both have the same Gingerbread codename. There could be a Android 2.5 and later releases. This is what we expect to be designed for use single core handsets for the next two to three years.

Android 3.1 (Honeycomb) is the current version of the Google Android operating system designed for tablets. It is optimized to operate with a 10.1-inch screen with a 1280 x 800 screen resolution. Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) is a modified version of Android 3.1 optimized to work on 7-inch screens with a 1280 x 800 screen resolution. We do not expect to see very many differences between 3.1 and 3.2, which is why they both have the same Honeycomb codename.

Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) will replace Android 3.x in tablets, and Android 2.3/2.4 on dual core phones, by the end of the year. This will bring full dual core support to Android Mobile phones and will be designed to work optimally on 4-inch to 10-inch screens. We expect that it will be designed to work primarily with qHD (540 x 960) to HD screens (1280 x 720 to 1920 x 1080).

We expect that Android 4.0, will drop the need for the home, menu and back buttons, with all controls save power and volume being on the touchscreen.

 

How if Nokia mix with android 2.3 GingerBread... See it now !

Lots of people, us included, are still wondering what could have been if Nokia had gone for Android rather than WP7 as their main platform. Well thanks to a leaked prototype today we have the chance to get a glimpse of that alternative universe, where Nokia likes its smartphones full of green droids.
The prototype resembles the recently announced N9 and the Nokia WP7 prototype that we saw yesterday. It is running on a stock version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread, but judging by the size of those icons its resolution might be higher than WVGA.

АA Nokia prototype running on Android
Now there's always the chance that the images could be fake. Yet they come from the same source that brought us Nokia's first WP7 device back in May, which turned out real yesterday we feel we can trust him on this one too. In the end, we will never know what it could have been, so this leak could be as much a closure as we are going to get.
Source

How if Nokia mix with android 2.3 GingerBread... See it now !

Lots of people, us included, are still wondering what could have been if Nokia had gone for Android rather than WP7 as their main platform. Well thanks to a leaked prototype today we have the chance to get a glimpse of that alternative universe, where Nokia likes its smartphones full of green droids.
The prototype resembles the recently announced N9 and the Nokia WP7 prototype that we saw yesterday. It is running on a stock version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread, but judging by the size of those icons its resolution might be higher than WVGA.

АA Nokia prototype running on Android
Now there's always the chance that the images could be fake. Yet they come from the same source that brought us Nokia's first WP7 device back in May, which turned out real yesterday we feel we can trust him on this one too. In the end, we will never know what it could have been, so this leak could be as much a closure as we are going to get.
Source

Archos G9 Tablet Review ! with android 3.1

The new Archos 80 G9 and Archos 101 G9 tablets will sport Android 3.1, 8- and 10.1-inch screen sizes, 1.5 GHz processors - and hard drives.

Device maker Archos unveiled its the Archos 80 G9 and the Archos 101 G9 in Paris today, the company’s latest Android tablet offerings. Clearly aimed at digital media and entertainment fans, the main distinction between the G9 tablets is their screen size: the 80 sports an 8-inch 1.024 by 768-pixel display, while the 101 kicks out to 1,280 by 800 pixels and (you guessed it) 10.1 inches.
Under the hood, both G9 tablets offer a dual-core OMAP 4 (ARM Cortex A9) processors running at 1.5 GHz, which makes the devices some of the more-powerful Android devices announced to date. The G9′s will also sport the tablet-optimized Android 3.1 Honeycomb, and sport HDMI output with 1080p media playback. And users will be able to pack a lot of media onto the devices, since they rely on new 250 GB 7mm super-slim hard drives from Seagate rather than flash storage: Seagate claims the drives put 250 GB of storage in customers’ hands at the price of 32 GB of flash. The move also makes the Archos G9′s the first handheld tablet computers with hard drives.
The G9 tablets also offer 802.11 Wi-Fi, support for Adobe Flash and the Android Market, along with a full-sized USB port—Archos is also touting a new G9 3G WWAN stick that will offer pay-as-you-go 3G mobile broadband access.
Archos says the G9 tablets will be available at the end of September, with tha Archos 80 G9 going for $279 and the Archos 101 G9 carrying a $349 price tag. The optional G9 3G WWAN Stick will be on sale for another $49.

Archos G9 Tablet Review ! with android 3.1

The new Archos 80 G9 and Archos 101 G9 tablets will sport Android 3.1, 8- and 10.1-inch screen sizes, 1.5 GHz processors - and hard drives.

Device maker Archos unveiled its the Archos 80 G9 and the Archos 101 G9 in Paris today, the company’s latest Android tablet offerings. Clearly aimed at digital media and entertainment fans, the main distinction between the G9 tablets is their screen size: the 80 sports an 8-inch 1.024 by 768-pixel display, while the 101 kicks out to 1,280 by 800 pixels and (you guessed it) 10.1 inches.
Under the hood, both G9 tablets offer a dual-core OMAP 4 (ARM Cortex A9) processors running at 1.5 GHz, which makes the devices some of the more-powerful Android devices announced to date. The G9′s will also sport the tablet-optimized Android 3.1 Honeycomb, and sport HDMI output with 1080p media playback. And users will be able to pack a lot of media onto the devices, since they rely on new 250 GB 7mm super-slim hard drives from Seagate rather than flash storage: Seagate claims the drives put 250 GB of storage in customers’ hands at the price of 32 GB of flash. The move also makes the Archos G9′s the first handheld tablet computers with hard drives.
The G9 tablets also offer 802.11 Wi-Fi, support for Adobe Flash and the Android Market, along with a full-sized USB port—Archos is also touting a new G9 3G WWAN stick that will offer pay-as-you-go 3G mobile broadband access.
Archos says the G9 tablets will be available at the end of September, with tha Archos 80 G9 going for $279 and the Archos 101 G9 carrying a $349 price tag. The optional G9 3G WWAN Stick will be on sale for another $49.

Samsung Chromebook Series 5 Full Review + Photo

Cloud computing is a term we've heard with increasing frequency recently.
It's the idea that our usual computing tasks are not run by the hardware in our computers, but instead on powerful servers connected to your machine via the internet.
Operating systems on netbooks and laptops are still firmly tethered to the hardware, with Windows 7 and Linux distros being the OSes of choice. Into this fray comes Google's Chrome OS, an operating system designed to drag laptops and netbooks into the cloud.
The machines that run Chrome OS are known as Chromebooks, and Samsung is ahead of the pack by releasing the first Chromebook in the UK – the Samsung Chromebook Series 5.
For more information on what Chrome OS is all about, check out our guide: Google Chromebooks - what you need to know.

As the first of its kind with no immediate competitors - an Acer Chromebook has been announced by Google but Acer has yet to confirm if we will see it in the UK - the Samsung Chromebook faces some interesting challenges.

While it launches with no other competition from Chromebooks, it's currently solely responsible for persuading consumers to move from the more familiar Windows operating system to Chrome's browser-based interface, and to encourage early adopters to embrace the new technology.
The Samsung Chromebook Series 5 also needs to set the bar for what we can expect from this new breed of computer.

One of the biggest selling points about the Chromebook is its simplicity.
Where other laptops would boast of their specifications, cramming in powerful components wherever space allows, the Series 5 is proud of its pared-down simplicity.
Google's aim with Chrome OS is to offer as uncomplicated a computing experience as possible, ideal for people who just want to use their computers with little fuss. Google wants you to 'just use' the device, rather than have to tinker with and maintain it.
While this back-to-basics approach could seem limiting and frustrating in the wrong hands, Samsung has created a remarkably accomplished machine that offers simplicity without being patronising.
It might be inevitable that the focus is going to be on Google's new operating system, but it would be a shame to ignore what Samsung has achieved with the Series 5 Chromebook.
On the outside it appears to be a standard Samsung netbook, although the Chrome logo that's displayed underneath Samsung's name hints that this is no ordinary device.

Opening it up shows what both Google and Samsung are trying to achieve with Chromebooks. The keyboard has larger buttons and greater spaces between them than you'd find on other netbooks. The usual 'F' function keys are dispensed with in favour of Chrome OS-specific buttons for changing volume and flipping between tabs.
We found that even though this gives the Series 5 Chromebook a slight air of a Fischer Price 'My First Laptop', it feels very comfortable to use.

The mouse track pad is a lot larger than on most laptops, and you click with one finger for a left mouse click, and with two fingers for a right mouse click. It's quite an elegant solution that works well.
The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook comes in two versions, one that's Wi-Fi only and a 3G version which costs £50 more.
Because Chrome OS is web based, the Series 5 Chromebook needs to be connected to the internet for it to work properly - one of the very first things it asks you when you turn it on for the first time is to connect to a wireless network.
Whilst the Wi-Fi only version works fine around the home, the 3G version is recommended if you are going to be using it while out and about. The constant need for an active internet connection is a good example of how you need to think differently when using a Chromebook, and if you're unwilling to commit to a 3G contract just to use your computer, then you're going to find the Series 5 Chromebook very limiting.
With other laptops the biggest worry is running out of battery – with the Chromebook it's losing your internet signal.
Talking of the battery, the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook has a very decent lifespan of eight to nine hours between charges, mainly due to the fact that Chrome OS is so light to run.
It comes with just 16GB of internal memory, the idea being that you'll be saving your work in the cloud. While this is all well and good in areas where you can easily get an internet connection, if you're stuck in a 3G blackspot, you're not going to be able to access your work.
You can also plug in external storage to load media and documents using the Chromebook's file browser. A file-browser opens as a new tab as soon as you plug one in.
Ports

The right-hand side of the Chromebook is where the SIM slot is for your 3G USIM card, and that sits next to one of the two USB ports and the developer switch.

Front left sits the SD card slot for plugging in the memory card from your camera, for instance.

And on the left is the second USB port and the display output port- you can plug the chromebook into a monitor using the bundled VGA adapter - alongside the charging port and a 3.5mm headphone/microphone port.
If you buy the 3G version, in the box you'll find a Three SIM card with 3GB of free PAYG data on it - so you'll be able to get yourself online straight away before sorting yourself out with a contact. Alternatively, you can wait for your free data to run out and then simply top it up.

Cutting the bloat that can often be associated with the more complicated Windows operating systems for the simpler and lighter Chrome OS has resulted in one area where the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is leagues ahead of its Windows-based brethren – startup speed.
While computers such as the Acer Aspire One 721 and Samsung NC110 take around three minutes to fully load and allow you online, the Series 5 Chromebook takes less than 10 seconds. Open the lid after some downtime and it'll resume from sleep and get you online instantly.
Media playback on the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is more hit and miss.
Clicking on JPEG photos, a small thumbnail was displayed on the right-hand side of the screen, with options to view the photo or send it to a Picasa online album. We selected a number of images and clicked on 'View'.

This opened up a new tab and we were able to scroll through each photo using the arrow buttons. Admittedly the photos were quite large, but the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook showed noticeable signs oflag when flicking between the photos. Not something we'd expect to see in a new machine straight out of the box.
We tested a variety of video file formats and were rather disappointed with the results. Out of the box, we managed to get .mov and .MP4 videos to work just fine, but more exotic formats like .wmv, .mkv and a basic DivX .AVI were not recognised by the OS.

We looked online to try to find an extension or plug-in to allow us to play the wmv file type, but with little luck. This is hardly the pick-up and use simplicity that Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Chrome at Google, promised when we talked to him earlier this week.
The files that worked showed off what the 12.1-inch display is capable of, with colours looking bright and vivid. However, when playing in full screen the limits of the hardware again made themselves known, with choppy playback when we tried HD content on the BBC iPlayer site. However, 720p video on YouTube played without much of a hitch though the framerate again was ever so slightly lower than we've been used to with other devices.
Web browsing

For day-to-day web browsing the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is good, with Chrome feeling just as fast a browser as its always been. However, when we ran the SunSpider 0.9.1 JavaScript benchmark tool it took a surprisingly bad 1452.1ms to complete the tests, compared to 351.7ms using Chrome on a desktop PC.

As soon as Chrome OS was first demonstrated we had a feeling that its much vaunted simplicity would be a defining element that it would succeed or fail on. And so it has come to pass.
We liked:
In the areas where the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook's simplicity works well, the machine really benefits. The keyboard and the mouse work well, and the almost instant startup time is fantastic.
For people who don't want to mess around with operating systems, worrying about installing anti-virus software and having to deal with Window's crashes and quirks, then the simplicity of just opening up the Chromebook, signing into a Google account and then getting straight into browsing the internet is certainly attractive.
We disliked:
Unfortunately on many other aspects the simplicity of the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook works against it.
Its Intel Atom CPU and integrated graphics card just doesn't have enough horsepower to play back demanding videos with optimal spoothness, and while its ability to play media might not be its main selling point, when you're paying £350 to £400 you'd expect it to be a bit more competent.
Compatibility issues with some file types will no doubt be ironed out in future updates, but at the moment performance is limited, so early adopters should approach with caution.
Final verdict
It is very early days for both Chrome OS and the Chromebooks that run it. The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook gets enough of the basics right that we can see the potential of the new operating system.
However it is not the strong start we'd have hoped for. We can see the logic in keeping the hardware simple when it keeps the performance streamlined and costs down. However in this case the hardware is just a bit too weak for any tasks more strenuous than viewing a website, and for a price that rivals more powerful and more feature-rich laptops.
With a few choice upgrades and a lower price, Chromebooks could be a hit. But at the moment, on the evidence of the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook, they still have a way to go.

Samsung Chromebook Series 5 Full Review + Photo

Cloud computing is a term we've heard with increasing frequency recently.
It's the idea that our usual computing tasks are not run by the hardware in our computers, but instead on powerful servers connected to your machine via the internet.
Operating systems on netbooks and laptops are still firmly tethered to the hardware, with Windows 7 and Linux distros being the OSes of choice. Into this fray comes Google's Chrome OS, an operating system designed to drag laptops and netbooks into the cloud.
The machines that run Chrome OS are known as Chromebooks, and Samsung is ahead of the pack by releasing the first Chromebook in the UK – the Samsung Chromebook Series 5.
For more information on what Chrome OS is all about, check out our guide: Google Chromebooks - what you need to know.

As the first of its kind with no immediate competitors - an Acer Chromebook has been announced by Google but Acer has yet to confirm if we will see it in the UK - the Samsung Chromebook faces some interesting challenges.

While it launches with no other competition from Chromebooks, it's currently solely responsible for persuading consumers to move from the more familiar Windows operating system to Chrome's browser-based interface, and to encourage early adopters to embrace the new technology.
The Samsung Chromebook Series 5 also needs to set the bar for what we can expect from this new breed of computer.

One of the biggest selling points about the Chromebook is its simplicity.
Where other laptops would boast of their specifications, cramming in powerful components wherever space allows, the Series 5 is proud of its pared-down simplicity.
Google's aim with Chrome OS is to offer as uncomplicated a computing experience as possible, ideal for people who just want to use their computers with little fuss. Google wants you to 'just use' the device, rather than have to tinker with and maintain it.
While this back-to-basics approach could seem limiting and frustrating in the wrong hands, Samsung has created a remarkably accomplished machine that offers simplicity without being patronising.
It might be inevitable that the focus is going to be on Google's new operating system, but it would be a shame to ignore what Samsung has achieved with the Series 5 Chromebook.
On the outside it appears to be a standard Samsung netbook, although the Chrome logo that's displayed underneath Samsung's name hints that this is no ordinary device.

Opening it up shows what both Google and Samsung are trying to achieve with Chromebooks. The keyboard has larger buttons and greater spaces between them than you'd find on other netbooks. The usual 'F' function keys are dispensed with in favour of Chrome OS-specific buttons for changing volume and flipping between tabs.
We found that even though this gives the Series 5 Chromebook a slight air of a Fischer Price 'My First Laptop', it feels very comfortable to use.

The mouse track pad is a lot larger than on most laptops, and you click with one finger for a left mouse click, and with two fingers for a right mouse click. It's quite an elegant solution that works well.
The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook comes in two versions, one that's Wi-Fi only and a 3G version which costs £50 more.
Because Chrome OS is web based, the Series 5 Chromebook needs to be connected to the internet for it to work properly - one of the very first things it asks you when you turn it on for the first time is to connect to a wireless network.
Whilst the Wi-Fi only version works fine around the home, the 3G version is recommended if you are going to be using it while out and about. The constant need for an active internet connection is a good example of how you need to think differently when using a Chromebook, and if you're unwilling to commit to a 3G contract just to use your computer, then you're going to find the Series 5 Chromebook very limiting.
With other laptops the biggest worry is running out of battery – with the Chromebook it's losing your internet signal.
Talking of the battery, the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook has a very decent lifespan of eight to nine hours between charges, mainly due to the fact that Chrome OS is so light to run.
It comes with just 16GB of internal memory, the idea being that you'll be saving your work in the cloud. While this is all well and good in areas where you can easily get an internet connection, if you're stuck in a 3G blackspot, you're not going to be able to access your work.
You can also plug in external storage to load media and documents using the Chromebook's file browser. A file-browser opens as a new tab as soon as you plug one in.
Ports

The right-hand side of the Chromebook is where the SIM slot is for your 3G USIM card, and that sits next to one of the two USB ports and the developer switch.

Front left sits the SD card slot for plugging in the memory card from your camera, for instance.

And on the left is the second USB port and the display output port- you can plug the chromebook into a monitor using the bundled VGA adapter - alongside the charging port and a 3.5mm headphone/microphone port.
If you buy the 3G version, in the box you'll find a Three SIM card with 3GB of free PAYG data on it - so you'll be able to get yourself online straight away before sorting yourself out with a contact. Alternatively, you can wait for your free data to run out and then simply top it up.

Cutting the bloat that can often be associated with the more complicated Windows operating systems for the simpler and lighter Chrome OS has resulted in one area where the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is leagues ahead of its Windows-based brethren – startup speed.
While computers such as the Acer Aspire One 721 and Samsung NC110 take around three minutes to fully load and allow you online, the Series 5 Chromebook takes less than 10 seconds. Open the lid after some downtime and it'll resume from sleep and get you online instantly.
Media playback on the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is more hit and miss.
Clicking on JPEG photos, a small thumbnail was displayed on the right-hand side of the screen, with options to view the photo or send it to a Picasa online album. We selected a number of images and clicked on 'View'.

This opened up a new tab and we were able to scroll through each photo using the arrow buttons. Admittedly the photos were quite large, but the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook showed noticeable signs oflag when flicking between the photos. Not something we'd expect to see in a new machine straight out of the box.
We tested a variety of video file formats and were rather disappointed with the results. Out of the box, we managed to get .mov and .MP4 videos to work just fine, but more exotic formats like .wmv, .mkv and a basic DivX .AVI were not recognised by the OS.

We looked online to try to find an extension or plug-in to allow us to play the wmv file type, but with little luck. This is hardly the pick-up and use simplicity that Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Chrome at Google, promised when we talked to him earlier this week.
The files that worked showed off what the 12.1-inch display is capable of, with colours looking bright and vivid. However, when playing in full screen the limits of the hardware again made themselves known, with choppy playback when we tried HD content on the BBC iPlayer site. However, 720p video on YouTube played without much of a hitch though the framerate again was ever so slightly lower than we've been used to with other devices.
Web browsing

For day-to-day web browsing the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is good, with Chrome feeling just as fast a browser as its always been. However, when we ran the SunSpider 0.9.1 JavaScript benchmark tool it took a surprisingly bad 1452.1ms to complete the tests, compared to 351.7ms using Chrome on a desktop PC.

As soon as Chrome OS was first demonstrated we had a feeling that its much vaunted simplicity would be a defining element that it would succeed or fail on. And so it has come to pass.
We liked:
In the areas where the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook's simplicity works well, the machine really benefits. The keyboard and the mouse work well, and the almost instant startup time is fantastic.
For people who don't want to mess around with operating systems, worrying about installing anti-virus software and having to deal with Window's crashes and quirks, then the simplicity of just opening up the Chromebook, signing into a Google account and then getting straight into browsing the internet is certainly attractive.
We disliked:
Unfortunately on many other aspects the simplicity of the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook works against it.
Its Intel Atom CPU and integrated graphics card just doesn't have enough horsepower to play back demanding videos with optimal spoothness, and while its ability to play media might not be its main selling point, when you're paying £350 to £400 you'd expect it to be a bit more competent.
Compatibility issues with some file types will no doubt be ironed out in future updates, but at the moment performance is limited, so early adopters should approach with caution.
Final verdict
It is very early days for both Chrome OS and the Chromebooks that run it. The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook gets enough of the basics right that we can see the potential of the new operating system.
However it is not the strong start we'd have hoped for. We can see the logic in keeping the hardware simple when it keeps the performance streamlined and costs down. However in this case the hardware is just a bit too weak for any tasks more strenuous than viewing a website, and for a price that rivals more powerful and more feature-rich laptops.
With a few choice upgrades and a lower price, Chromebooks could be a hit. But at the moment, on the evidence of the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook, they still have a way to go.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Full Hands-on + Review + movie + photo

Welcome to the top spot, Samsung.

The outstanding Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Honeycomb tablet is lighter and a hair thinner than the Apple iPad 2, and has a smaller footprint than either the Motorola Xoom or the Acer Iconia Tab A500, which are heavier and bulkier than most tablets.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a major contender.
We reviewed the short-lived Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1V already, but that thicker and heavier device has since been discontinued (It looked as if Vodafone might pick up the 10.1V tab but it is now waiting to release the newer 10.1 model).

The only other important players in the tablet market, are the brilliant 10.1-inch Asus Eee Pad Transformer as well as the BlackBerry PlayBook and the HTC Flyer, which are both so-so 7-inch models.
Oh, and keep your eye on the HP TouchPad which goes on sale in the UK next month. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is currently slated to go on sale in the UK at the end of July/beginning of August.

So what sets the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 apart? For starters, this is one light and thin tablet. At just 8.6mm, it is 0.2mm thinner than the iPad 2. And you know what? At 565g it's also 36g lighter.
It's as though someone at Samsung sat down and demanded that the 10.1 have world-beating raw system specs.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a marvel of engineering, given its size. Holding one in your hand, you might mistake it for a truncated version of a Samsung LED HDTV, which are also market leaders. There's a slight edge around the screen that is not touch enabled, a silver edge, and an all-white back.

The device just feels right. Unlike the Acer Iconia A500 and the Motorola Xoom, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 finds that ideal balance between a pick-up-and go e-book reader such as the Amazon Kindle 3 and a 10-inch tablet that's perfect for watching movies on a long car trip.
By including Android Honeycomb (version 3.1 to be exact) Samsung has also one-upped the competition (though 3.1 has also already landed on the Transformer). The point release includes a few new additions. You can resize widgets and scroll through open apps in the pop-up thumbnails for the "recent apps" list.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 doesn't have a USB port, so it doesn't take advantage of the new Android 3.1 feature to support USB-connected peripherals which is a shame, but that's not the direction Samsung is going with this tablet. This is all about pick-up-and-go functionality and portability.
Samsung actually downgraded the built-in camera on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 compared to the Galaxy Tab 10.1V, which had an 8MP rear camera. Still, the new model has a 3MP rear camera, which is three times higher than the Apple iPad 2's camera. There's also a front-facing 2MP camera.
There are quite a few interesting perks and additions on this tablet. Some may seem underwhelming at first, but as a whole they give Apple a good run for the prize.


One subtle change is that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has a 7000mAh battery for all-day tablet use. In our tests, it lasted about nine hours for everyday tasks. The Apple iPad 2 battery is 6600mAh.
The 10.1 also has a four-way accelerometer and gyro (the Apple iPad 2 uses a three-way accelerometer and gyro - starting to see a pattern here?). That may seem like a minor upgrade, but most of the games we tested on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 responded faster to quick turns and screen rotations, and generally worked better for controlling games. It also has great side speakers for playing music and movie audio, and plays smooth 1080p video.
And of course, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 matches the features of other Android tabs: built-in GPS, support for Adobe Flash in the browser (you still have to download it on your own), 1290 x 800 screen resolution, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, the Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor and Android tablet app.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a smart buy for anyone who wants a light and portable Android tablet. Google still has a ways to go on apps for Android – there are only a few dozen that are seriously worth downloading, compared to thousands of worthy iOS apps.
The ecosystem for media is a bit underdeveloped on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 as well. Sure, you can watch movies stream on the web, but for downloads you're mostly on your own.
Samsung told us it will release a Media Hub app for buying and renting Hollywood films shortly after launch, so that app may address one of our usual Android tab gripes. A point release will also include an app called Social Hub for aggregating social network feeds, email, IM, calendar and contacts. It will also add a Samsung e-book reader and DLNA support for streaming media to and from the tab.
In the box Samsung includes a charger, USB cable and earbuds, but no case or docking stand.
Price
We still don't know how much the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is going to cost. Rest assured though, as soon as we find out we'll be updating the review.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 uses a brilliant, portable form-factor that beats every other tablet on the market. It's smaller and lighter, easy to grasp and not as bulky as a few of the other Android 3.0 tablets.
On the top, the power and volume controls are easy to find. On the top-right you'll find the 3.4mm headphone jack. There are no buttons on the side; instead, Samsung put the speakers on the side for good, clear audio. On the bottom, there's just a 30-pin connector for the USB cable.

There's no slot for adding more memory or a 3G card on the version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 we tested, which has 16GB of RAM. There's also no USB port like there is on the A500 Or Transformer for using an external keyboard.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has an incredibly bright and clear screen, too. That's where our comparison to a Samsung HDTV comes in – this is the first tablet we've tested where a movie actually looked as bright as what you might enjoy in the living room.

It's brighter and clearer than theXoom, and about the same brightness as the Apple iPad 2. At 1280 x 800 resolution, it's a hair clearer than the iPad 2, too.
The Galaxy Tab 10.1 doesn't offer the same sound fidelity of the Acer Iconia Tab, though, which benefits from Dolby technology in improving audio clarity. Instead, it uses side speakers (as opposed to putting them on the back) so the tablet is actually a better audio device if you skip the earbuds.
We're not going to say the speakers are so good you can watch a movie from across your desk; for that, you'll want to use real powered speakers. Yet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 beats other Android tabs for good, clear sound.

With the four-way motion sensors, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 responded faster and more accurately when we tested several games, including the brand new Nvidia app Pinball HD and the flying game Archipelago.
Unlike the Apple iPad 2, which tends to be a bit fussy about screen rotations, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 would stay in position when we turned it into landscape mode without trying to clip back and forth.
Eventually, Samsung will add a media streaming service called Allshare that will let you stream content to and from supported DLNA devices such as an HDTV, set-top box and digital cameras. We weren't able to test this as it hasn't launched, but the DLNA option will be a welcome addition.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 uses more or less the same interface as the other Android 3.0 tablets.
There's a Home button on the lower-left, app icons fill the centre of the screen and alerts and settings are on the lower-left.

That may be an adjustment for those used to the pull-down menu on Android smartphones, but the Android 3.0 interface provides intuitive control over the device that rivals and in some ways surpasses the Apple iPad 2.

That said, we still prefer the BlackBerry PlayBook UI over Android 3.1 in terms of swiping quickly through open apps. And, from early demos of the HP TouchPad, the card interface for Palm webOS 3.0 may be worth the wait since cards can be grouped together even when one is from an email and another is from a web page.
We like the way the TouchPad and PlayBook move well past the iPad paradigm of selecting an app icon and not really having a good way to glide easily between open apps.

Most of the interface enhancements on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 have to do with Android 3.1, although none of them are radical improvements over Android 3.0. When you drop a widget onto a home screen, you can now grab a handle and resize it.
A pop-up menu on the lower left of the screen next to the Home button shows all open apps. You can now scroll up and down to view them and pick the one you want, which is more helpful than having just a few open apps.

For now, Samsung is following the cookie-cutter approach to apps and relying mostly on the Android Market.
There is a Samsung app store on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 but the apps mostly repeat what you will find in the Android Market. Which is to say: not that many apps that are optimised for Android 3.0. Even though the Motorola Xoom was first out of the gate in early March, the app selection is still not brilliant - it is improving all the time though.
You can install many of the Android apps designed for phones, but many of them won't make the best use of that 10.1-inch screen. And one good thing here is that if your device is just plain incompatible with a certain app, it won't let you install it.

You will find a few new additions in the 'specially designed for Honeycomb- app selection, though: a Twitter client called TweetComb, a few new games including Pinball HD, the new Google Music app that adds cloud storage for your audio files and a few extra newsreader and news aggregator apps.
That makes the app selection for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 slim now, with the possibility of being slightly better in the future. However, Android tablet apps are few and far between compared to the wide selection of Apple iPad apps.

You won't find many video chat services (other than Google Talk), a Skype client, a wide selection of games beyond the dozen that are currently available or anything like a slideshow or page layout app. There's no music recording apps, few notetaking or journaling apps and only one Twitter client.

There is an HD version of Angry Birds, a good flight tracking app, an RSS aggregator called Pulse and a Dropbox client. This is apart from the standard Google apps for Gmail, calendars and some funky additions such as Google Body (search for body parts), Google Sky Map and Google Earth.

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is easier to use than any other tablet except the iPad 2. We had no trouble finding the power button on the top left. (With the Motorola Xoom, the power button is located behind the device, which is OK but not where you'd expect to find it.)
Volume buttons on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 were also easy to find. Samsung went the Apple route of "less is more" in offering only three buttons. There is no hardware switch to lock screen rotation and no other buttons.

This means all of the usability of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 rests on Android 3.1. In general, this means the tablet isn't that different from other Android models. It's easy to select icons, swipe left and right on the home screen, access the Home button and the button to access open apps and to find settings.
Android 3.1 was supposed to include an enhancement to the browser app where you can use a pop-up menu wheel to go forward and back, bookmark sites and control other options. Samsung may have hidden this feature, at least on our Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 model, because it wasn't available.

Importantly, the Android 3.1 release is also intended to address delays in swiping between home screens – it's supposed to run faster. However, other than the motion sensor working better for games, we didn't notice any major differences in swiping between the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and other Android tablets.
Screen
Cranked up to the highest brightness level, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 outshines every other tablet. It is exceptionally bright and clear, especially for movies we loaded onto the device.
The screen resolution runs at 1280 x 800 WXGA, which provides a few more pixels than the Apple iPad 2, at 1024 x 768. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1's screen runs at 149 pixels per inch and is highly viewable from a side angle. In several tests – games, checking Twitter feeds and browsing the web – the screen refreshed quickly.

Like every other tablet except the Apple iPad and iPad 2, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tends to accumulate fingerprints and grime faster than a glass door at a kindergarten classroom. The bright screen offsets this problem somewhat because you might not even notice the grime in daily use, but dark movies and photos will show the grime more than brightly coloured images.
The side bezel also collects dust and grime, but no worse or better than any other Android tablet. Give us a tablet that has the same grime-reducing agents as the iPad without any bezel (as with the rumoured iPad 3) and we'll be much happier.
One complaint with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is that the touchscreen tends to chug a bit at times. We noticed this when typing emails but even more so in the browser, especially when visiting content-rich sites.
In several cases, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 would cause delays between what we typed and what appeared on screen. Also, when we tried to position the cursor by pressing the screen to make an edit, the cursor icon would appear in the wrong part of a sentence.

In some ways, Samsung shot its own foot off by not including the Media Hub on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and stating that this app will be available in a future update.
The app was one of the differentiators on the original Galaxy Tab because you could download TV shows and movies and watch them when you were offline.
The main way to watch movies and shows is through the browser, which supports Adobe Flash. We were quite impressed with how often a website would work for both music and movies, though.

You can also plug the Tab into your computer using the bundled USB cable and transfer the usual file types and most will play - Xvid, DivX etc are all compatible with the Android 3.0 OS.
We tested one music streaming service from the SubPop record label and it worked smoothly in the browser, playing audio clips without any stuttering or errors. YouTube also worked flawlessly. As expected, Hulu didn't work, just as it hasn't worked on other Android tablets.
Using the Google Music service and playing songs from the cloud, playback was consistent without any stuttering. The side speakers are better than any other Android Tab we've tested, mostly because of where they're located on the side instead of the back.
Playback using Ultimate Ears earbuds on the 3.5mm headphone jack sounded just as good as any other Android phone or tablet. Only the Acer Iconia A500 gets a slight advantage, using Dolby technology for sound clarity

As we've said before, a tablet is not a great camera device.
The 3MP rear-facing camera on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 does provide some handy extra features, but overall the quality of the pictures looked a bit washed out and, in some cases, overly blurry.
See full-res image
That's partly due to the fact that the tablet is hard to hold steady and is not meant to be a camera replacement by any means.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has some basic effects such as black-and-white and sepia for photos.
See full-res image
See full-res image
You can adjust white balance for certain lighting conditions, and set a timer. There's a way to raise or lower exposure for lighter or darker pictures, and you can add GPS coordinates. None of these features really go beyond the basic Android offering for taking pictures. You can also shoot 720p videos with the rear camera.

The front camera is designed for video chats, and we tested both Adobe Mobile Connect (which supports video chat) and Google Talk to test the video quality.
As expected, the 2MP camera beats the Apple iPad 2 in terms of video quality, but is still more like what you'd expect in an instant messaging session than anything close to the quality of a real videoconferencing app or even Skype.
The rear camera is superior, and has an auto focus and a flash. However, the focus took a second or two to work. Like the A500, we had a hard time positioning the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 for a shot, because we had to wait for the focus.
Often we'd press the button to snap a photo, but the tab would focus and then click. That makes it hard to take good photos – you want to focus on your subject and then get the result.
There are very few effects for shooting video. You can add an effect such as sepia or black-and-white, change the resolution and adjust exposure, but that's about it. The gallery app does offer a few options for sharing photos and video including email, YouTube and Dropbox.
The slideshow for photos uses a cool zoom effect to liven up what you see. Samsung does offer an HDMI cable for connecting your Galaxy Tab 10.1 to an HDTV but we didn't receive a test cable in time to see how it works.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

How it rates against the rest - higher is better

How we test

TechRadar aims to produce the most helpful tablet reviews on the web, so that you are able to make a more informed buying decision.
Part of this testing process includes benchmarking. It's a good way of measuring the overall performance of a product's internal hardware components.
We use Antutu System Benchmark to test tablets. It's a comprehensive Android benchmarking app and produces consistent results.
Antutu measures an Android device's CPU performance, 2D and 3D graphics performance, memory speed and internal and external storage read/write speeds. It combines the results for each test and gives the device a final score.
We test each device three times and take an average.

In the final analysis, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is the best Android tablet yet.
While the brilliant Asus Eee Pad Transformer offers something equally compelling, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a tablet in it's purest sense and it's brilliant.
In just about every way, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is just as capable as the Apple iPad 2. It's smaller, thinner and lighter. It runs just as fast for games (if you can find them) and works better for motion control. The screen rotates faster and more accurately than the iPad 2. And, the screen is just as bright and a bit clearer.
We liked:
This is the lightest and thinnest tablet on the market. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is perfect for quick e-reading sessions using Amazon Kindle or Google Books apps.
You can load the device with plenty of movies using the Dropbox app, and they'll look crisp and colourful. Battery life was excellent at about nine hours, and that even includes movie-watching and playing games.
We disliked:
Android is still well behind the iPad 2 in terms of apps, the eco-system for movies and TV shows, and has only promised at some first-party apps including the upcoming Media Hub and Social Hub. Samsung has also promised a new UI enhancement that really should have been ready at launch.
A few minor issues also influenced our rating: the screen collects grime quickly, there's no syncing app available, and no way to stream to the device using DLNA... yet.
We also had a few typing problems on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 when there was a delay from pressing a key and text appearing on the screen.
Verdict:
There is still one question remaining - how much is this tablet going to cost? If Samsung is sensible and price-matches the likes of the iPad 2 and Eee Pad Transformer, then this tablet will fly off the shelves.
When that UK price emerges, we'll update the review. But until then, we've awarded the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 a high mark: it sits beside the Apple iPad 2, and beats every other Android tablet on the market.
If you're not into the locked down app store mentality of Apple, where only the saintly apps are approved, or just prefer the Android OS to anything out of Cupertino, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is your best choice in an increasingly crowded market.