Samsung packs in the fun

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (GT-P7500) is a sleek and powerful tablet computer for having fun and working on the go.
It really looks sleek with a profile of only 8.6mm, and its white back cover contrasts nicely with the front black frame and metallic edges.
The tablet weighs just 595 grams so it’s comfortably held with one held while your browsing e-books, e-mail and the Web and social networks.
The Tab comes preloaded with the Polaris Office application for Microsoft Office 1997 to 2007. The 10.1-inch screen is bright and clear, making it easy to read mail, check your schedule and add to your to-do list.
Best of all for business executives and stock watchers, the Galaxy Tab has been certified as a mobile device for trading stocks online in real time.
In cooperation with Samsung Thailand, SetTrade.com has launched a version of the Streaming Pro application for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 so it can be used in trading, either with a Wi-Fi or 3G connection.
The screen perfectly fits the Streaming Pro trading screen, which comes with all the trading functions found on a desktop or a notebook computer.
I don’t dip into stocks, so Boonsueb Chanchamsri, who’s in charge of Integrated Marketing Communication at Samsung Thailand, showed me how it works on the Galaxy Tab using the Wi-Fi connection at a Starbucks.
He pulled up his portfolio just as the SET was being hit again by the US economic crisis, so we got to watch some of his stocks’ values plummet in real time.
That large screen is also nice for reading Web pages. The Chrome Lite browser supports Adobe Flash 10.3 as well. The text on The Nation’s website came up big and quite legible and the photos were vivid.
The high-definition display delivers excellent screen sharpness at a resolution of 1,280x800 pixels and a density of 149 pixels per inch. That makes watching HD videos really fun.
The Galaxy Tab’s YouTube application is really nice. It displays all the clips in the form of 3D-style video wall. The application automatically downloads and plays the HD versions, if available, when you’re on Wi-Fi.
Another great feature of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is the Live Panel Homescreen, where you can customise up to five home screens, with e-mail, image galleries, news updates, favourite Web pages and social feeds all constantly accessible.
You can, for example, have a slideshow running and still adjust the size of the slideshow panel. It offers Samsung’s Social Hub widget too, which displays the feeds from your Facebook and Twitter accounts.
The Galaxy Tab 10.1 performs well thanks to its 1GHz dual-core processor. During my test, it played dense-graphic games like car racing very fast and the screen responded to the tapping well. The menus and pages scrolled smoothly.
The tablet comes with three-megapixel rear camera and a two-megapixel front camera. I found it takes good-quality photos, and checked out the 720p HD video recording, which produced decent quality, playable on a large LCD TV with an HDMI adapter.
You have the Google Android 3.1 Honeycomb optimised for a tablet computer with a screen this size. The Android 3.1 user interface is already intuitive and easy to use, but Samsung has modified it slightly to make it a total breeze.
The Galaxy Tab 10.1 has a “soft” button besides the usual back, return and history buttons. This one’s for screen captures, and I found it very convenient to use – no more complicated combinations of buttons.
Another nice modification is that the full panel of six applications is always ready, no matter which application is being used at any given time. Samsung’s research identified the six most popular applications – Task Manager, Calendar, World Clock, Pen Memo, Calculator and Music Player.
The Task Manager is useful for checking which applications are running. Although the Tab 10.1 can multitask, opening several applications at the same time can slow it down. So you use the Task Manager to close the ones that aren’t essential.
Pen Memo is great for scribbling quick notes, which it records and stores as graphics. Calendar keeps track of events and reminds you what’s coming up.
I love the Music Player, which turns the tablet into a high-quality MP3 player. There are several equaliser settings and you can add sound effects and bass. It can also simulate 5.1-channel sound from the stereo sound.
For those who love reading, there’s an epubBooks reader for that format, and the e-books can be downloaded from www.epubbBooks.com.
It is easy to connect the Tab 10.1 to a PC to transfer photos, videos and other files. You simply connect with the provided data cable and then you can drag and drop files like on any portable drive.
And this is great: You can use the wireless Kies feature to connect to your PC wirelessly. Just hook up to your home Wi-Fi router and turn on the “Kies via Wi-Fi” function. It provides a list of available computers on your home network.
There are two versions of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 –one with a Wi-Fi connection and one with both Wi-Fi and 3G.
Although it says on the box that it supports the 850MHz 3G connection, Samsung Thailand’s model has a modified antenna for connecting with 900/2100MHz.
The going price in the shops is Bt18,900.

            Key specs
Network: HSDPA 900/1900/2100; EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900
Operating System: Android 3.1 Honeycomb
Display: 10.1-inch 1280x800 (WXGA) TFT
Camera: Three-megapixel main (rear), two-mega-pixel front
Video playback: WMV9, WMV7, WMV8, H.264, MPEG4, H.263, VP8
Audio: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, RA
Connectivity: BT 2.1, Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n), A-GPS
Memory: 16GB and read microSD via microSD connector
Battery: Li-ion 7,000mAh
Dimension: 256x173x8.6mm
Weight: 595 gram

Options

Desktop dock: Bt1,090
Keyboard dock
(Thai typing supported): Bt2,100
Book cover: Bt1,950
Leather pouch: Bt850
HDMI adapter: Bt850
USB connector kit: Bt590