Best tablet? iPad 2, Xoom or Galaxy Tab

TipsMake.com - No perfect tablet. Below is a general overview of the top three candidates for handling common tasks.

Apple iPad 2 has launched, and the big question is how will it beat competitors? To get an answer, we tested the iPad 2 next to the Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Here are our results with the ten criteria we consider most important.

Which tablet is the easiest to hold?

In terms of easy-to-handle criteria, the 7-inch Galaxy Tab deserves a nod here. With a stout look (0.5 inch thick, box-shaped), its weight is only 0.8 pounds - significantly lighter than the iPad 2 (1.3 pounds).

But that also shows that the 9.7-inch iPad 2 will be the best choice if you want a 'tablet' with a larger screen. It is much easier to hold than its predecessor thanks to its slimmer, slimmer, and lighter weight design (the 1.5-inch iPad version). The 1.6-pound Motorola Xoom and 0.5-inch thickness will look like a lead if compared to the other two competitors.

Weight and thinness mean more than you think - not only because most people just want to keep a book or magazine in one hand to read it. The important thing you need to realize is that when you use your tablet without any other fulcrum, you'll have to keep it with one hand, because you have to use your other hand to operate it. .

Which tablet has the best screen?

On this point, the iPad 2 is the winner. Its screen image looks uniform, accurate, vivid and balanced. We expect that the iPad 2 display text can be even sharper - We like the exact text and no small jagged marks like on the iPhone 4 - but on this point. The iPad 2 is still enough to beat its competitors.

The remaining candidates have their own shortcomings. We like the sharpness of the 1024-600-pixel display screen of the Galaxy Tab, but not on the 7-inch LCD screen because it produces too bold colors. The tab also offers certain satisfaction with its visibility, and overall it is only slightly behind the iPad 2, but don't expect a high color accuracy from it.

Xoom has a 1280-800 pixel display, but its text creation is not as good, with many uneven display fonts (We especially have this impression in the Web browser, and in Google Books applications). More remarkably, its color is pretty bad. Since the Xoom was the first Android 3.0-based tablet to appear so far, we cannot know whether those shortcomings were due to the behavior of the Honeycomb operating system or the problem that came from the main. Xoom's screen.

Which tablet has the best keyboard?

We believe that the best keyboard for tablets has not yet been produced. We like some of the features that appear in the HP TouchPad, which include multiple keyboard and row sizes integrated on the main keyboard.

However, if we had to compare the keyboard of the iPad 2 and Xoom, we would type a plus sign for iOS and iPad 2. The iPad 2 keyboard keeps up with our touch typing speed, while Xoom proved slower every time we entered data at maximum speed. We like the larger size of the keys in the Xoom and how it puts the Tab key, but the fact that it receives input is too slow makes us uncomfortable. The Galaxy Tab keyboard really doesn't compare with the other two competitors: Just like an Android keyboard on large phones, it's small and cramped compared to the larger keyboards of the machines. Other tablets, and it is not able to keep up with our touch typing speed.

Which tablet is best for data transmission?

The Galaxy Tab (now) and Xoom (soon) have the advantage here. Because they are tablets based on the Android operating system, your computer will recognize them as normal storage devices when connected via USB. And so you can drag and drop files to your tablet without converting them to another format or using a special software. Of course, tablets will take a bit of time to recognize new images in the library, but this method is much more suitable than locked connections that are almost entirely Apple, but requires you to use iTunes, one of the most restrictive, least flexible tools in managing files today. Both Galaxy Tab and Xoom have MicroSD card slots, although you must activate it on Xoom through an upgrade software. The ability to open connections is what iPad 1 and iPad 2 do not have.

Which tablet provides the best notifications?

Among the models we know, the announcements are best organized on devices running Android 3.0 Honeycomb OS. Honeycomb's interface puts the notification bar in the lower right corner, and it will discreetly notify you when new notifications such as e-mail, new updates to the operating system or software updates (eg Pulse The reader notifies you when new content is available, and when the download is complete. A message about a new message will appear and then disappear automatically. You just need to click on the notification bar to expand it and you can see it all. This notification bar also shows the time, connection status and battery life, and you will receive many other details when accessing the settings or you press to expand this bar.

Apple iPad seems outdated when it comes to making comparisons in this respect. It provides notifications through a pop-up window that will interrupt or stop your other activities. If you don't access those notifications right away or you get multiple notifications at once, iOS will collect them in a single window so you can access them when you come back. But if you get an AIM message (for example), you ignore it, then get another message from AIM, it will pop up in any of your current activities after a while. Certainly, requires that you have to stop and return to the current activity. On the other hand, you do not receive new e-mail notifications: To check if you have an email, you must access your e-mail application.

The Galaxy Tab runs Android 2.2, which offers Android "classic" style notifications - a screen-based pull-down bar - but they're far less elegant and less useful than information. newspaper in Android 3.0.

Which tablet is best for multimedia?

The answer depends in part on your shopping habits and on how you use your tablet. Android 3.0 in the Xoom is a great combination of multimedia: HD movie quality is excellent with widescreen aspect ratio, Flash support for online videos and Google's redesigned music player is very attractive. However, Android 3.0 lacks a dedicated video player, so your videos will be confused in the Gallery.

Apple iPad requires iTunes sync - a limitation for users. But it has the ability to organize and track your multimedia, and if the files are provided in a supported format, you can add your own videos to the iTunes library. Currently, Google lacks many things to be comparable to Apple Store, although it is likely that in the future Google will decide to sell music (Music Google is a rumor) and video through its Google Market. .

Samsung's Galaxy Tab uses Media Hub to buy and play music and videos. But the exchanges on the Media Hub can only be used with other Samsung Media Hub devices, including mobile phones and Samsung televisions. Media Hub multimedia options are growing, but it will be difficult for it to keep up with iTunes.

Which tablet is best for file management?

No tablet now makes it easy to manage files. But perhaps in this respect, Xoom is the best today. You cannot directly access your files and folders on your device as you would in Microsoft Windows, but many third-party applications will allow you to access these files on your tablet. (and when enabled, on MicroSD card) in a standard folder. You can download content from web browsers, such as a .zip file. And in Google galleries, you can view image information, edit it, and share via Bluetooth. Meanwhile, arranging applications into the home screen is very simple, thanks to a screen split method that allows you to select an application and drag it to your home screen.

Arranging applications on the iPad may make you feel tired and it is best to forget about accessing the files stored on your iPad to rearrange it, rename, or do things. something with them. Apple has locked the file system.

The Galaxy Tab lacks the features of Android 3.0 to organize applications, but it also offers different options for file sharing. Galaxy Tab also offers information about images, and it allows you to cut and edit them. An accompanying application called My File allows you to view a file or folder on your content, but this application does not have the ability to change the name or move files.

Which tablet is the best for web browsing?

Clear advantage in web browser for Xoom. Xoom's tabbed interface makes it easy to move back and forth across countless Web sites. We also like the Bookmark feature and appreciate Xoom's support for Adobe Flash Player 10.2.

The iPad 2 and Galaxy Tab are still in the dark if talking about the Web browser. Both tablets allow you to access only one page at a time, so you must exit that page before you want to access another page. In addition, both models limit the number of windows you may have opened once.

Which tablet is best for playing games?

Apple iPad 2 enjoys clear advantages on this criterion. Currently, Apple iOS is a bigger choice and a greater commitment from content producers than Android, although Android 3.0 games are growing over time. Millions of people have used iPads, and third parties have concluded that Apple's new A5 chip has better graphical details than the Nvidia Tegra 2 available in the Xoom and in all tablets. Use the published Honeycomb operating system so far.

Xoom has considerable potential for gaming, but first, optimized applications for Honeycomb must be developed. Only then will we be able to accurately assess the graphic capabilities of iPAd compared to its rivals. For Galaxy Tab's prospects for gaming, we can only say that Android 2.2 cannot develop game applications on a 7-inch tablet.

Which tablet read best?

All major bookstores have applications on Apple's mobile OS except iBooks, which (as you'd expect) are only available on iOS. All three candidates provide you with the flexibility to choose a platform for reading and shopping online, but in our opinion, no tablet is designed exclusively for reading books. We have a choice for you if you want a perfect device to read, it's NookColor by Barnes & Noble, but technically speaking it's not a tablet. That's because NookColor runs Android 2.1, but it lacks Google services and cannot freely download or download local applications. B & N is still the only company that has managed to combine text very effectively with an LCD monitor with very low glare.

Of these three true tablets, the Galaxy Tab is dominant because of its smaller size and sharper text quality. Its large screen is a good choice for viewing digital magazines or magazine applications, and is great for viewing large print documents. In addition, you have a lot of choices for books and bookstores that include Apple iBooks and competitors like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Whichever model you choose, we recommend using some of the fonts that the reading applications in your tablet recommend, because some fonts have a higher degree of sharpness than others.

Currently, the best reading app for Xoom is Google Books, but its display options are limited (only three font sizes) and to use it requires you to commit to buying books on the Google bookstore. However, you can only select certain fonts, and some of them display better than others. And application versions optimized for Honeycoms such as Amazon's Kindle and Nook B & N's apps will appear soon.