# Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1 tablets - even thinner than the iPad 2!



## editor (Mar 22, 2011)

Look at these beauties!






Details still filtering through, but the US pricing looks competitive.:
16GB Wi-Fi-only Galaxy Tab 10.1 set for a June 8th release at $499, while the larger 32GB model will retail for $599.

The Galaxy Tab 8.9 comes in slightly cheaper at $469 and $569 for 16GB and 32GB, respectively.



> Samsung GALAXY Tab 8.9 full specs:
> Network HSPA+ 21Mbps 850/900/1900/2100, EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900
> OS Android™ 3.0 (Honeycomb)
> Display 8.9” WXGA 1280×800
> ...



http://www.wirefresh.com/samsung-galaxy-tab-8-9-and-10-1-dual-core-beauties-thinner-than-the-ipad-2/


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## elbows (Mar 23, 2011)

Im happy to see that they are getting the price right, or at least as right as is possible at the moment.


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## Sunray (Mar 23, 2011)

Still too heavy and expensive. Heading in the right direction though.  Look nice. 6000mAh battery!


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## Crispy (Mar 23, 2011)

Still bloody widescreen! Nice hardware and nice price though. Honeycomb still to prove itself...


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## editor (Mar 23, 2011)

Sunray said:


> Still too heavy and expensive. Heading in the right direction though.  Look nice. 6000mAh battery!


There's no pleasing some people!


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## editor (Mar 23, 2011)

Crispy said:


> Still bloody widescreen!


Isn't that what you'd want if you intend to watch a load of videos on the thing?


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## Sunray (Mar 23, 2011)

editor said:


> There's no pleasing some people!


 
The weight is my biggest grip of the iPad and iPad 2 and all of these devices. I have an iPad sitting just here at work.  Its weight its comedy for how its supposed to be used.  Way to heavy.

I refer you to a Kindle for the sort of weight that they need to start approaching before I'm even slightly interested.


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## Crispy (Mar 23, 2011)

editor said:


> Isn't that what you'd want if you intend to watch a load of videos on the thing?


 
I suppose so. But i wouldnt expect that to be the main use for a tablet. I watch some video on mine, but not a lot. I mostly go on the web, read books and news (all of which are better suited to a 4:3 screen) , play games, do some light music making (which are aspect ratio agnostic for the most part). The main problem with a 16:9 screen is that the keyboard ends up filling 2/3rds of it!


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## editor (Mar 23, 2011)

Crispy said:


> I suppose so. But i wouldnt expect that to be the main use for a tablet.


Err, I could be wrong but I suspect people will have all sorts of different uses for tablets, and if you're into films, a 4:3 ratio serves up a ton of wasted space!

I don't see browsing the web on a 1280×800 screen as much as a hindrance either, to be honest. I much prefer the smaller size of the Samsung,  but then I'm one of those odd people who finds the iPad's size quite unwieldy.


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## Sunray (Mar 23, 2011)

And being wide screen its totally impossible to use two handed the other ergonomic irritation I have with tablets, partly due to the weight.  They are more comfortable to hold with two hands but then you cant use the keyboard, your thumbs don't reach,  apart from the Galaxy Tab, maybe, I've not tried that.


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## FridgeMagnet (Mar 23, 2011)

16:9 web browsing is *so* much more of a pain than watching films letterboxed on a 4:3 screen that you'd basically have to spend the great majority of your time watching films to make that form factor worthwhile. And note that that's _watching widescreen films_, too - not TV shows or other, shorter, video which doesn't tend to be 16:9.


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## Epona (Mar 24, 2011)

Christ, I'd be worried that if I sat on that it would snap!

Sorry to sound so ignorant, this is a genuine question (ie. I'm not being snippy or anything, I genuinely want to know) - what do people use these for?  Is it for people who are on the go a lot or travelling and want something lighter than a traditional laptop for streaming media and browsing and that?  What sort of capabilities do they have?

As I have limited mobility myself these days, I'm afraid to say that all these mobile devices have passed me by - as I'm mostly stuck at home a desktop PC is sufficiently mobile (or not!) for my needs - I browse these threads out of interest but don't really 'get' this particular branch of technology!


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## Kid_Eternity (Mar 24, 2011)

FridgeMagnet said:


> 16:9 web browsing is *so* much more of a pain than watching films letterboxed on a 4:3 screen that you'd basically have to spend the great majority of your time watching films to make that form factor worthwhile. And note that that's _watching widescreen films_, too - not TV shows or other, shorter, video which doesn't tend to be 16:9.


 
Yep. It's thinner than the iPad 2? By what 2 mm??


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## editor (Mar 24, 2011)

FridgeMagnet said:


> 16:9 web browsing is *so* much more of a pain than watching films letterboxed on a 4:3 screen that you'd basically have to spend the great majority of your time watching films to make that form factor worthwhile. And note that that's _watching widescreen films_, too - not TV shows or other, shorter, video which doesn't tend to be 16:9.


You're missing the point. Not everyone wants to hold something as big and as heavy as the iPad. 

The Samsung 8.9 weighs a fair bit less and is a lot easier to hold in the hand because it's smaller. I'm not saying it's a better tablet mind, but I certainly prefer the form factor.


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## Crispy (Mar 24, 2011)

Epona said:


> Christ, I'd be worried that if I sat on that it would snap!
> 
> Sorry to sound so ignorant, this is a genuine question (ie. I'm not being snippy or anything, I genuinely want to know) - what do people use these for?  Is it for people who are on the go a lot or travelling and want something lighter than a traditional laptop for streaming media and browsing and that?  What sort of capabilities do they have?
> 
> As I have limited mobility myself these days, I'm afraid to say that all these mobile devices have passed me by - as I'm mostly stuck at home a desktop PC is sufficiently mobile (or not!) for my needs - I browse these threads out of interest but don't really 'get' this particular branch of technology!


 
I wanted a portable computer, for chucking about the lounge, taking on trains, using in bed, that wasn't as chunky and cumbersome as a laptop and not as compromised as a netbook. I do nearly all my Internet browsing on it, watch some video (iplayer, tvcatchup,  or streaming from my desktop), play games, and other stuff. To me, the best things are the very long battery life, the complete ease of use and the unobtrusive form factor.


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## Sunray (Mar 24, 2011)

editor said:


> You're missing the point. Not everyone wants to hold something as big and as heavy as the iPad.
> 
> The Samsung 8.9 weighs a fair bit less and is a lot easier to hold in the hand because it's smaller. I'm not saying it's a better tablet mind, but I certainly prefer the form factor.



It weighs 150g less than the iPad 2. Given an iPad 2 is far too heavy, I am going to take a lot of convincing that anything above 300g is good for a tablet.


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## elbows (Mar 24, 2011)

I think part of the reason the weight doesnt bother me is because I had a tablet pc many years ago, what a mistake that was. So compared to that experience everything seems wonderful.

Its certainly true that the ideal tablets would weigh considerably less than the current ones, but I dont know how or when that could happen. So I think for now if anyone has decent reasons to want a tablet then go for it, you will find ways to adapt to the less than ideal weight and its not an issue at all in quite a number of situations. Its often resting on my leg in one way or another.


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## pinkmonkey (Mar 24, 2011)

Sunray said:


> The weight is my biggest grip of the iPad and iPad 2 and all of these devices. I have an iPad sitting just here at work.  Its weight its comedy for how its supposed to be used.  Way to heavy.
> 
> I refer you to a Kindle for the sort of weight that they need to start approaching before I'm even slightly interested.



I agree.  Ipad is too big and too heavy for me.  I've seen people using them as ebook readers, they look like they're trying to balance a tea tray. If there was an ipad nano, then we'd be talking.  I wonder how many generations we'll have to wait for one, though.


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## pinkmonkey (Mar 24, 2011)

Epona said:


> Christ, I'd be worried that if I sat on that it would snap!
> 
> Sorry to sound so ignorant, this is a genuine question (ie. I'm not being snippy or anything, I genuinely want to know) - what do people use these for?  Is it for people who are on the go a lot or travelling and want something lighter than a traditional laptop for streaming media and browsing and that?  What sort of capabilities do they have?
> 
> As I have limited mobility myself these days, I'm afraid to say that all these mobile devices have passed me by - as I'm mostly stuck at home a desktop PC is sufficiently mobile (or not!) for my needs - I browse these threads out of interest but don't really 'get' this particular branch of technology!



I saw no one using one (apart from my brother) until I did some business trips abroad last week and the week before.  In the airport and on planes, there were ipads everywhere you looked.  They're great entertainment if you travel - good battery life, you can read, watch a film, listen to music.  But I carry too much junk around with me already, I can't spare the baggage space for a gadget that big, unless I leave the laptop at home (which is seldom - I need access to Adobe Creative Suite).


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## Sunray (Mar 25, 2011)

Even on a flight,  I think I want a small laptop because don't want to have to hold it, esp on a long haul flight, I put it on my lap or on the seat next to me  and watch.


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## Kanda (Mar 25, 2011)

Sunray said:


> Even on a flight,  I think I want a small laptop because don't want to have to hold it, esp on a long haul flight, I put it on my lap or on the seat next to me  and watch.


 
I've just done 2 long haul and 2 short haul flights.. no issue, you just put it on the tray in front of you or rest it on your arm. Do you struggle to get out of bed in the mornings you weakling!


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## Crispy (Mar 25, 2011)

I read heavier books


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## editor (Mar 25, 2011)

Crispy said:


> I read heavier books


I'm sure you do, but it's not particularly comfortable reading ten-ton books though, is it? If I had a load of stuff to read, I'd get a Kindle anyway, which is a zillion times better for serious reading than a heavy, bulky, low battery life tablet (by any maker).


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## Crispy (Mar 25, 2011)

Indeed it is - sparrow's got one and it's fantastic for reading. A tablet is general-purpose, though. You can't expect the same weight.as the kindle.


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## Sunray (Mar 25, 2011)

Kanda said:


> I've just done 2 long haul and 2 short haul flights.. no issue, you just put it on the tray in front of you or *rest it on your arm*. Do you struggle to get out of bed in the mornings you weakling!


*Kanda unlocked Urban Achievement 10G for holding an iPad on a long haul flight*

I don't want to hold it, looking down at an angle of over 30 degrees for extended periods is uncomfortable, gives you neck ache. A small laptop solves these issues and have a keyboard with numbers on and they are quite a bit cheaper.  Lenovo netbook is 190 quid.


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## Kid_Eternity (Mar 25, 2011)

Sunray said:


> It weighs 150g less than the iPad 2.


 
Wow that's a big selling point.


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## pinkmonkey (Mar 25, 2011)

Kanda said:


> I've just done 2 long haul and 2 short haul flights.. no issue, you just put it on the tray in front of you or rest it on your arm. Do you struggle to get out of bed in the mornings you weakling!



I suppose you could take a great big blob of bluetack and put it on the tray tabel, to stop the ipad from slipping onto your lap.


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## cliche guevara (Mar 25, 2011)

pinkmonkey said:


> If there was an ipad nano, then we'd be talking.


 There is, it's called the iPod Touch.

After playing with an Advent Vega this evening and deciding a 10" is simply too big for me (guffaw), I can't wait to get my hands on the 8.9 Tab, and if it comes in at <£350 then I'll be laughing.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Mar 25, 2011)

editor said:


> I'm sure you do, but it's not particularly comfortable reading ten-ton books though, is it? If I had a load of stuff to read, I'd get a Kindle anyway, which is a zillion times better for serious reading than a heavy, bulky, low battery life tablet (by any maker).


 
Funnily enough it's exactly they kind of books I thought would be best on Kindle are the ones I'm still buying in paper - big heavy reference books. There's no substitute to being able to flick back and forth between pages.


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## Sunray (Mar 25, 2011)

I have that thing, I tried it and paper is way better for reference, even though its got no search option.


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## Kid_Eternity (Mar 25, 2011)

Sunray said:


> I have that thing, I tried it and paper is way better for reference, even though its got no search option.


 
I think this makes sense and in fact I foresee books pretty much all becoming ebooks but for this type (basically all academic and medical books etc will become the book market). Much like how vinyl is now only really a market for DJs, ie a specialist in the medium I imagine your average book will be electronic over time.


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## editor (May 17, 2011)

Engadget are feeling an awful lot of love for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and reckon it;'s better than the iPad for some tasks. 

As last. A real competitor!


> Wrap-up
> We know, we know -- it's starting to sound like a broken record around here, but would we really be making progress if it didn't? Without qualification, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is the best Honeycomb tablet to date, and this time, it's by a country mile. There's simply not another Android 3.0 tablet on the market today that matches the Tab 10.1's style, placing it a lap ahead of the other, more cumbersome Tegra 2-powered alternatives.
> 
> It's quick, nimble, and easy to hold, and it's both thinner and lighter than the heralded iPad 2. There's no question that we prefer the handling of the Tab 10.1 over Apple's alternative, and with the improvements coming with Android 3.1 (and in time, Ice Cream Sandwich), it's going to be mighty hard to overlook this device come June 8th. The 16GB WiFi model will hit for $499 -- exactly in line with the iPad -- while the 32GB variant will demand $100 more (we're still awaiting word on 3G prices).
> ...


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## elbows (May 17, 2011)

Sounds good, just gotta hope they dont mess up the UK pricing.


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## Kid_Eternity (May 17, 2011)

editor said:


> Engadget are feeling an awful lot of love for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and reckon it;'s better than the iPad for some tasks.
> 
> As last. A real competitor!


 
It is? How do you know if you've not used one for 6 months?


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## Kid_Eternity (Jun 11, 2011)

Looks like the Tab may soon be being thicker than the iPad 2 due to shortage problems. Either that or there'll have to do a Galaxy Tab phat and lite editions!


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## editor (Jun 11, 2011)

I don't think anyone really cares about a few mm either way. Besides, that fanboy site is full of speculative  shit anyway.


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## Kid_Eternity (Jul 26, 2011)

*Why Samsung's Galaxy Tab is 'meh'*

Someone didn't rate the GT:



> I have phone charger cables in my office, my travel bag, my backpack and beside the bed. The very last thing in the entire world that I need right now is to have to add another kind of USB cable to all those places. The decision to use a proprietary connector in a device whose major selling point is that it is non-proprietary is the stupidest thing about the Galaxy Tab 10.1 – even stupider than calling it the "Galaxy Tab 10.1."
> 
> Likewise disappointing was the decision to omit the microSD card slot on the Wi-Fi-only version of the tablet. The 3G-equipped models come with a built-in microSD reader (handy to have, especially if you need to load some data onto the device and you've mislaid the stupid proprietary cable). This is integrated into the Sim assembly used by the 3G devices, and rather than leaving the empty Sim assembly in place and leaving the card-reader intact, Samsung removed the whole thing.
> 
> ...


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## editor (Jul 26, 2011)

Kid_Eternity said:


> Someone didn't rate the GT:


Using proprietary connector is a colossal fail, and not having a SD card slot seems utterly daft. I can't say I'm getting excited by the Samsung tablet at all.

Incidentally, someone from the very same publication went seriously off message yesterday and decided to lay into the sacred iPad2 too:



> So there you have it. Well done for buying an iPad 2, an executive toy that is an unfortunate hybrid of an oversized iPod and a rubbish laptop. But don't let that worry you, because as long as you continue to suffer cognitive dissonance by insisting it's the best piece of technology ever invented, everyone will keep on buying them. And no one need know that you basically stopped using yours after a week.


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## Crispy (Jul 26, 2011)

Kid_Eternity said:


> Someone didn't rate the GT:


 
The someone is Cory Doctrow, famous blogger, author and open source/copyleft advocate.


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## editor (Jul 26, 2011)

Crispy said:


> The someone is Cory Doctrow, famous blogger, author and open source/copyleft advocate.


He doesn't seem to like _any tablets at all._ I just found his rant about the iPad and he doesn't seem too excited by the Kindle.


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## Kid_Eternity (Jul 26, 2011)

Crispy said:


> The someone is Cory Doctrow, famous blogger, author and open source/copyleft advocate.


 
Yep thoughtful writer, obviously the fandroids won't like it but we all know just how pathetic fanbois can be...


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## editor (Jul 26, 2011)

Kid_Eternity said:


> Yep thoughtful writer, obviously the fandroids won't like it but we all know just how pathetic fanbois can be...


What are you on about?


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## Crispy (Jul 26, 2011)

Oh ffs


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## elbows (Jul 26, 2011)

Crispy said:


> Oh ffs


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## magneze (Jul 27, 2011)

^ LOL


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## Kid_Eternity (Jul 27, 2011)

innit, don't know Ed gets so bent out of shape over nothing...


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## magneze (Jul 27, 2011)

Kid_Eternity said:


> innit, don't know Ed gets so bent out of shape over nothing...


It's both of you. But you knew that right?


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## Crispy (Jul 28, 2011)

Kid_Eternity said:


> innit, don't know Ed gets so bent out of shape over nothing...


 
It's not nothing. You deliberately wind him up. I wish you wouldn't


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## FridgeMagnet (Jul 28, 2011)

I did laugh at the comments on the Guardian piece saying "oh this article is just rubbish and the author is clearly an Apple fanboy and the iPad can't do X Y and Z either". Cory Doctorow is the ultimate non Apple fanboy (at least nowadays). It's a clear sign of a fandroid: "you know I hate the connector on this Android tablet" "THE IPAD HAS A WORSE CONNECTOR".


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## lobster (Jul 28, 2011)

He is loving linux 


> I switched to ThinkPads full time in 2006, after owning practically every model of Apple PowerBook released to that date, starting with a PowerBook 145 in 1992 or so. They were generally good machines, design-y, and they ran the Mac OS, which was the only operating system I used on my desktop. I'd administered various flavours of Unix before then – some Silicon Graphics Irix machines, a couple Apple A/UX machines, and then a series of GNU/Linux servers – but by the time I bought my first ThinkPad, I hadn't done anything Unix-y in years and couldn't do much of anything without intense search-engine assistance.
> 
> My ThinkPad switch was inspired by a desire to try out the Ubuntu flavour of GNU/Linux, which I'd heard great things about. So I downloaded the latest version of Ubuntu – Canonical, the company that oversees Ubuntu, does two releases per year – burned it to a CD and stuck it in the computer, and, a few minutes later, I was up and running. At the time, I promised to document my joys and frustrations with GNU/Linux, but a few months later, once I'd been soaking in the OS for a while, I went back over my notes and discovered that there was practically nothing to report on that score.
> 
> ...



His personal use of Ubuntu goes back further than this year to 2006



> Mac guru and software developer Mark Pilgrim recently switched to Ubuntu Linux after becoming fed up with proprietary Mac file-formats and the increasing use of DRM technologies in the MacOS. I’ve been a Mac user since 1984, and have a Mac tattooed on my right bicep. I’ve probably personally owned 50 Macs, and I’ve purchased several hundred while working as an IT manager over the years. I’m about to make the same switch, for much the same reasons.
> 
> I thought about buying a MacBook Pro anyway, since they’re nice computers, and they run Ubuntu, but after pricing them out, I realized that I could get a lot more bang for my buck with a Lenovo ThinkPad T60p. If I’m not going to run the MacOS, why spend extra money for Apple hardware? I ordered the machine last weekend, loading it to the max with two 120GB hard drives, 2GB of RAM, and the fastest video card and best screen Lenovo sells: it was still cheaper than a Mac, even though Lenovo makes me pay for a copy of Windows XP that I plan on pitching out along with the styrofoam cutouts and other worthless packaging.
> 
> ...


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## editor (Jul 28, 2011)

If he likes ThinkPads he's alright in my book.


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