Samsung Galaxy Tab (Verizon Wireless)

This review was originally written for the 7" T-Mobile Galaxy Tab. I figured it was just as pertinent for the Verizon version. If you are thinking of buying a used Verizon 7" Galaxy Tab, please make sure to read the notes section of this review!

I've had my T-mobile Galaxy Tab for a few months now and have had enough time to gauge how it compares to other tablets available now. Although the 7" Galaxy tab (the original, not the new 10" ones that just came out) was one of the very first mainstream tablets that came out, it is still surprisingly one of the best tablets out there... definitely considering it's price range. It is not obsolete and for those who do not need the latest, cutting edge tablet on the market, it should be more than sufficient for your needs. Some things that make this tablet great (that you may not realize) is how sturdy it is built. It's screen is made of "gorilla glass" which is glass that is specially tempered to make it virtually unbreakable. The body (chasis) feels really well built and sturdy too. 

Price:$459.90

Another thing that sets it apart is the gorgeous screen. The screen is pretty high resolution for it's size, has great contrast ratio which makes the colors pop, has great color reproduction (can display a huge gamut of colors), and is vibrant and very bright. I hardly have the brightness setting at the highest setting because it is too bright! In fact, it looks bright at half the brightness setting. 

Other things that make it a great tablet is the ability to use it as a wifi only tablet (no cellphone company service needed), micro-Sd expansion slot, great capacitive touch screen, swype keyboard functions, and blue-tooth functions. The advertised battery life of up to 7-hours is actually a reality too. It can actually be much longer if you primarily use it as a web-browser too.

The 1ghz processor is actually pretty darn fast. I know there are dual-core tablets out there now, but the 1ghz processor on this thing can handle most anything. Unless you are using a very detailed 3D intensive app, the processor doesn't show any signs of slowdown. I haven't really run into an App or game that it struggles to run. It runs the 3d racing game Asphalt just fine and HD video runs very smooth too. 

I would've liked there to be a HDMI video out port on it, but I'm not really sure how much I'd use it even if it was on it. All in all, I have very little bad to say about this tablet. It would be nice if Samsung made it easy to upgrade to the latest Android OS... I'm still running 2.2 which was pre-installed.

NetFlix!!!:

One of my complaints before was that it doesn't run "Netflix" but this is no longer a problem. You can indeed run "Netflix" on your Tab... and it doesn't even have to be "Rooted". Just google for the andriod program/setup file called "com.netflix.mediaclient-1.apk", download it to your computer and move it somewhere onto your Galaxy Tab. Then using any free file explorer program (available from android market) you just select the file and install on your Galaxy Tab (from your Tab).

As you can see, the positives greatly exceed the negatives. This tablet was designed, conceived, and built well. That's why it is still a great tablet even when compared to the new tablets out on the market now which have dual-core processors and HDMI output ports. I noticed that the new 10" Galaxy Tabs no longer have an micro-SD expansion port like these 7" Tabs do. Keep all of this in mind before you buy a Tablet. In my opinion, this tablet is the best bang for the buck without sacrificing quality, reliability and sturdiness. If you are looking for a high quality and relatively affordable, Non-Apple tablet, look no further... this is it.

If you have a T-mobile Tab, you can always use it as wifi only without getting service. For those of you who have a Verizon Galaxy Tab. When you reset the Verizon Galaxy Tab, it will prompt you to "Activate" it with Verizon before you can use it. I'm sure there are those of you who want to use it as a "Wifi only" Tablet without having to spend money to "activate" it. There is a trick you can use to by-pass the activation process and not have to go through Verizon. It's very simple... here it is:

Turn the Tablet on, On the Volume rocker on the right side... hit up ONCE, down TWICE, up THREE times, and lastly down FOUR times. It will then ask if you want to bypass activation. After the process, you should be able to use it as a wifi only tablet. You can always add service with Verizon later! I didn't come up with this trick, I am merely sharing it with you here!