Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 initial impressions

Four years ago, I wrote a short blog post about the Nokia N800 “Internet Tablet”. Like its 2005 predecessor, the N770, it was a small, expensive device that let you use the internet everywhere you went. I probably would have gotten one if the whole netbook hype hadn’t happened. But as cool as netbooks were (and sometimes still are), they’re still “small laptops”. And while I was playing with Eee-PCs, tablets were getting increasingly alluring.

There are many devices that paved the way for the ultra-slick devices that tablets are nowaday. They all contributed ideas like using a mobile OS (The N770 ran Maemo), going with a bigger screen (CrunchPad, MS TabletPC) and using touch input (iPod Touch?). The result is that tablets are starting to become more uniform products. Pretty much all the devices released in the last year have screens ranging from 7″ to 10″, are light and thin, run a “phone OS” and have a camera on both their front and back.

The first device to really tie all of these “optimum specs” together was Apple’s iPad. They’ve pretty much created and subsequently dominated the tablet market, but viable alternatives are starting to emerge. Like the Asus Transformer and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. I’ve been using the latter for little over a week now, and I love it.
Hardware

There are two versions of the Galaxy Tab 10.1. There’s an older, thicker model that you can with a Vodafone plan (10.1v), and there’s the newer, thinner 10.1. Mine is the 8.6mm “non-v”, and in terms of hardware, it’s excellent. It has the same Tegra2 CPU that all the other Android tablets have, and its screen is wonderful. Excellent image quality and snappy touch response.

The Tab doesn’t have a USB port or and SD card slot. There’s an Apple-style all-in-one connector on the bottom. You can get an adapter from Samsung that plugs in there if you really need to plug in your USB stick. Instead, I use an app called “AndSMB” to simply copy files onto the tablet from Samba shares. Besides, “uPnPlay” lets me watch movies without copying them at all. Right from my server.

Weight is an important factor in how you use your tablet. You can hold the Samsung with one hand. You wouldn’t want to watch an entire movie like that, but it works for things like text input. The back is glossy plastic, and it does get a little slippery sometimes. The plastic back allows the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to be one of the lightest tablets out there, notably lighter and thinner than the Acer Iconia for instance.
Honeycomb

But no matter how small, light and sexy a device is, it’s useless without good software. And after playing with my Tab for a week it’s very clear that Honeycomb (Android 3.x) is still in its infancy. It works, but it doesn’t always make good use of the large screen. The browser crashed on me a couple of times, but admittedly with very complex websites.

The real downside to getting an Android tablet right now is that there aren’t many true “tablet apps”. Besides the excellent Gmail app that comes with Android, I found a good Twitter client (TweetComb), a nifty Facebook app (Friend Me), a remarkable feed reader (Feedly) and a couple of games. Most other apps run fine, but they simply stretch to fit the screen, resulting in unnaturally long lines of text and other awkward usability issues.

This situation is almost certain to resolve itself over the coming months. Given Android’s quick rise to dominance in the mobile OS market, developers are very likely to get on board. Existing apps will be updated, or get special “HD” versions, and new developers will try to get part of the Honeycomb app market. And meanwhile, I’m pretty sure Google’s hard at work on the next version of Android too.
Conclusion

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 (non-v) is the current champion of Android tablets. It’s thinner and lighter than the iPad 2 and its screen is excellent. For the moment, it’s held back by its software platform. But that doesn’t mean that it’s a bad device. If you’re into Android, I’d recommend the Samsung over the iPad. If you’re not, I’d encourage you to tryi both before making up your mind.

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Asus G74SX gaming notebook launched

Asus intends to up the ante when it comes to the world of gaming notebooks, this time round expanding the Republic of Gamers (ROG) collection with the G74SX model. Just what can you expect from the G74SX? How about incredible visual performance as a staple for starters, thanks to the use of a 2nd generation Intel Core i7 CPU and NVIDIA GTX 560M GPU with 3GB of GDDR5 VRAM? Not only that, the G74SX is said to support the latest Microsoft DirectX11 graphics, making sure your eyes will always experience popping visuals without dropping any frame rates in the process.

Not only that, the G74SX will work in tandem with NVIDIA 3D Vision and 3DTV Play technology, making sure the 3D revolution can be carried with you wherever you go – either that, or you can always hook it up to a 3D-capable HDTV just in case you need a larger viewing real estate.

To pair up such performance with looks has been a mission statement of the Asus G74SX right from the beginning as it boasts a sleek updated stealth design coupled with a matte black exterior, ergonomic keyboard, soft touch palm rest and new dual intelligent fan technology to send all heat to the back of the notebook, letting you have a quieter and cooler gaming experience even late into the night.

With the ability to install up to 16GB RAM, you shouldn’t run into memory issues with this puppy anytime soon. Not only your eyes will enjoy the G74SX’s graphical details, this notebook will also keep your ears happy with 8-channel HD audio with THX TruStudio and Creative EAX Advanced HD 5.0 compatibility. Think that you need more processing firepower? No problem, as there is on-the-fly overclocking.

Know anyone who is going to upgrade their gaming notebook anytime soon? You might want to put in a good word for the Asus G74SX.

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Cadence 4-Bit Steel Watch

You know how the ladies love their handbags and shoes to bits and can never get enough of them? Well, guys have their interest in some form of bling as well, and more often than not they come in the guise of watches. Yes sir, those expensive timepieces that you have always peered through the showcase glass when you were a kid, wondering to yourself just how the heck does one have to do in life in order to purchase one? After all, names such as Rolex and Patek do not come cheap, numbering in the tens of thousands for a high end model.

Well, how about a substitute that shows the world you are sophisticated and yet simple enough to not base your self-worth on a timepiece? This is where the Cadence 4-Bit Steel Watch comes in, as a new addition to their line of 4-Bit Watches, otherwise known as the 4-Bit Steel. Similar to the rest of its predecessors, this new model will rely on 4-bit binary code when its comes to telling the time.

Geeks will definitely love the secretive way in which the time is displayed, and the rest of the world will have to do their part to figure it out. To know how to tell the current time, look carefully at the watch. There will be a quartet of boxes that represent the numbers 8, 4, 2, and 1. The key lies in these figures, where the least significant bit will always be on the outside of the dial. For example, 8 will always be the box closest to the hands with 4 being second, 2 third and 1 closest to the outside. Hopefully that ought to be sufficient enough an explanation to get you started, no?

Nice to know this Cadence 4-Bit Steel Watch is water resistant up to 5ATM, making it ideal for everyday use without worrying about it rusting many years from now, or stopping completely. With a sapphire coated quartz glass, the face of the watch will have a hard time getting scratched. How much for this fashionable timepiece? We are looking at $115 a pop when it arrives later this August.

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