Like most bits of technology, a tablet is not a necessity but, rather, a cool piece of hardware that can add joy and wonderment to your life.
Luckily, for the Android faithful, there are plenty of tablets on the market and plenty more announced and on sale every week. They range from small (seven inches) to the largest currently offered (10 inchers), with price points between $199 on up to over $500. How many models, you ask, are currently out there? Seemingly almost as many as stars in the sky. With all those choices, it can get overwhelming trying to figure out which tablet is for you and at what price point.
Enter Best Buy and their unbelievable deal on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9. This Honeycomb tablet slots nicely between the seven and 10 inch tablets, with a 1200X800 resolution widescreen display, front and rear cameras, a 1 gigahertz dual-core processor and 16 gigabytes of storage for a low price of $350. Oh, and did I mention that there was an online deal to get the keyboard dock free? The dock itself is $80!
To make life a little more challenging, i’m writing this on the Tab, currently with Swype, in Google Docs. I am surprised at how quickly it’s going.
One word of advice; if you ever try this on your own, use the full Swype keyboard rather than the smaller one (I think this feature is tablet-only) because the small one actually covers the bottom of the page and obscures what you’re typing.
Switching to the keyboard dock is as easy as placing the Tab in the dock and pressing “OK” on the on-screen popup. Typing on this small keyboard is actually not bad. It’s a little smaller than my 15-inch laptop keyboard but it’s manageable. I wouldn’t want to type a dissertation on it but for a small document or medium paper, the keyboard dock should be sufficient.
Like some recent articles have pointed out, there are only a handful of quality apps for Android tablets, unlike the plethora of apps available for the iPad. Of course, the games are on target with the larger form of the tablets but there are also some good productivity apps that make use of all the wonders of the larger screen real estate of a tablee bad point to having a Samsung product is TouchWiz. This Android skin from Samsung isn’t as intrusive as HTC’s SenseUI or Motorola’s MotoBlur but it’s there and offer some quirks of it’s own. And, as I use the Tab more and more, I’m finding that I like what they’ve done.
The most interesting facet of TouchWiz is the “dock” of apps that are always present in the notification bar. There’s a task manager, calendar, clock, memo pad, calculator and music player shortcuts. All work well and add to the Tabs’ usability. This coming from someone who isn’t a huge fan of manufacturers added software, or bloatware as some call it. Samsung did a great job on the titles for the Tab, thankfully!
Using the tab is really easy. The touch screen is responsive and the transitions aren’t too laggy. Most programs open quickly and run smoothly. The overall feeling is one of quality, along with the normal Android hiccups. If you have used Android in any capacity you know what I mean.
And thank goodness for Amazon. I found a great deal on an accessory bundle, including a really nice leather case, stylus, a couple of other covers, ear buds, an led book light and different charging accessories. There are 15 pieces in total and it only cost $40!
In all, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 is a modern wonder of technology that is waiting for some kick-ass apps to really let it shine!
