Gadget Review: Galaxy Tab 10.1 Upgrade From Rooted Nook Color

A few months ago, I shared with you all how excited I was with my Barnes and Noble Nook Color.  (see separate entry)  I was able to root that Nook Color and transformed into a useful tablet.  With it, I was able to read my law cases, tweet, check-in with four square, surf the net, chat in Facebook, play angry birds and cut the rope, blog practically anywhere.   So you might wonder why am I upgrading?

Well, its actually just for personal reasons.  My mom wants a Nook Color so she could read magazines and online recipes.  Unlike all of us, my mom is not that techie so I fully support her step towards innovation.  And, I can't by pass our schools proxy using that Nook Color so I can't use the FREE WiFi.   The Galaxy Tab is easier to configure as I've seen from my classmates.

Believe it or not.  In 24 years, I have never spent anything on myself as expensive as this.  Second to this is the Nook Color of course.  Well, the third is embarrassing to admit since its a multi-level marketing item I bought through a relative lol.

Upon opening the box, I had the impression that it looked like an iPad.  Even the cable and adapter looked like an Apple accessory except that its color black.  I've been with my Galaxy Tab 10.1 for two days non-stop and I could say it has exceeded my expectations. Here are the specs:

• Processor: 1GHz Dual-Core
• RAM: unspecified
• Display: 10.1 inches, 1280 x 800, capacitive touchscreen w/ multi-touch
• Internal: 16 and 32GB
• Expansion: n/a
• OS: Android 3.0 Honeycomb
• Connectivity:
• Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n
• Bluetooth: yes
• 3G: yes
• Camera:
• Rear: 8-megapixel w/ LED and autofocus
• Front: 2-megapixel
• Ports:
• HDMI: n/a
• USB: n/a
• Audio: 3.5mm jack
• Dimensions: 246.2 x 170.4 x 10.9 mm
• Weight: 599 g

I'm quite surprised that it was very thin and very light.  My nook color at 7- inch had a weight of 442 grams.  This powerful tablet at 10-inch is at 599 grams.  Not bad eh?

The battery is long lasting.  I haven't charged it in two days after the initial charging.  It's very fast despite the many windows I keep open.  It comes in HD and stereo sound so I can enjoy watching movies.  Too bad I have no time to play games anymore.  

But, there is a downside.  It doesn't have expandable memory.  So powerful and yet no expandable memory?  Even the Nook Color has a micro SD card.  What a let down! =(  Plus, you have to reboot every time you change SIM cards.

Good news is they just released an SD Card Adapter which you can plug on the cable port.  It's sold for almost $20 in Amazon.  Would you want to spend more when you've already invested so much?  I guess the answer is yes! Because you've already spent so much that you can't  replace it just yet.  However, I don't think I'll be buying one of those SD Card Adapters yet since I don't think that I can maximize the 16 gb internal memory with my school files.  I'm currently eyeing on the leather casing with Bluetooth Keyboard Case.  That would enable me to have a more handy companion than my 15-inch laptop.  Hope, I get to buy that right?  =)