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  • nomagic - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Because it is so damned affordable...
  • medi01 - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Nah. Street price for WiFi Samsung Galaxy Tab is about 260$.

    Basically this article sounds like hidden advertisment / Samsung bashing.

    Galaxy Tab is vastly superior. Screen is NOT better than that of Nook (I know, I've used both). With contrast of 700+ you care more about max brightness, than max contrast.

    Samsung's device is solid.

    And "hacker undriendlines" of Galaxy Tab is sush a piece of bull**it, it's rootable for ages, and there are custom roms. Not that it's built in ROM really needs rooting, as Nook does.
  • VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Where are you seeing that street price? For a new one, the lowest I can see is $340 on Amazon, $345 on Google Shopping results, and $349 from most standard retailers. There's less out there for the Galaxy Tab as far as ROMs and the like, but just to root it, yeah just run SuperOneClick and you're all good. The point being that unlike the Galaxy Tab, you need to hack the Nook to make it useful, and once you do, you have more options than with the Samsung.

    Look, I like the Galaxy Tab, I've got two here and they're both great devices. I also like the Galaxy Tab more than the Nook Color, it says pretty clearly there that the Galaxy Tab is definitely the better device. If you can find it for $260 (the refurb deal on Woot, maybe), yes, no brainer right there. At $350, only $50 less than the ASUS Transformer, hell no. If you're looking for a cheap and cheerful barebones tablet, the Nook works better simply because it's a lot cheaper.

    And just for the record, the reason the screen is better has more to do with the viewing angles that come with the IPS display in the Nook, but as far as regular TN LCD panels go, the Galaxy Tab is one of the best. I can't wait to see the AMOLED panel in the next-gen Galaxy Tab 7".
  • DJMiggy - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    The 3G/WiFi galaxy tab refurbished was 259.99 on woot today but that is sold out. Must be where you are getting that price from unless you mean with a two year contract which you can get it on Sprint's Network for $199.99 with a 2 year contract.
  • zvadim - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Overstock had a refurb Nook Color for $183 shipped a few days back & B&N sold brand new ones on e-bay a few times for $200.
  • kkwst2 - Friday, May 27, 2011 - link

    Yeah, I recall some refurb prices for a little over $100. If you can put up with its speed, it is a great deal given the screen quality.
  • redechelon - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    First off, great article! (in typical Anandtech fashion)

    But... the Asus Eee Pad Transformer seems like too much of a solid competitor to leave out of this budget category. I realize it's slightly more expensive ($399/$400) than these, but it seems th $50 difference from the Galaxy is well worth it, just a thought.
  • redechelon - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    I also realize you talked about it, i just couldn't get over it =P. Out of the 2 though, I'd take the nook as well... would be fun to monkey with.
  • VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Yeaaaap, the Transformer's pricepoint just blew the 7" Galaxy Tab off the market. I mentioned it at the beginning and only really discussed it at the end, but I figured that it made more sense to compare these two, since they're pretty similar, instead of comparing to any of the Honeycomb tablets.
  • medi01 - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    No it didn't. No GPS, no 3G, crappy software, unpolished hardware.

    I don't get where do you get your conslusions from, guys. From articles filled with lies/semi-lies like this one?
  • VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    It's got some issues, granted, particularly with the camera, but on a hardware/software/usefulness level, anything running Honeycomb at this point is a better bet than the Galaxy Tab, HTC Flyer, or the like, bugs and minor instability included.

    Heck, that $50 is worth it just for the jump to Tegra 2 and the better screen, if you despise Honeycomb that much you can see if you can get someone to release a Gingerbread ROM for it.
  • iphadke - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link

    Hey Vivek...

    How about adding the Adam in the mix? I think with that, we're getting something at a USD350 price point which will outperform both the Nook and Galaxy Tab by a hugh margin. No IPS panel, though plenty of usability...

    Cheers
    Neel
  • VivekGowri - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link

    I've been trying to get Rohan to send me an Adam review unit for literally 6 months now, nothing yet. They're still pretty hammered on filling pre-orders, so we'll see when/if I get one.
  • softdrinkviking - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    "no it didn't" what? what didn't it do? i don't understand! who are you replying to??!?

    "filled with lies?" that's a bit harsh. i see your point with the tab roms, but that's hardly "filled" with anything. i think the editorial nature of this article was pretty well laid out from the beginning. he likes the nook for cheap, thinks the tab is better and doesn't need custom roms to be good but the nook does. what's a lie about that?
  • medi01 - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    He comes to the conclusion nook is better because, you know "40% higher price" and, you know, custom roms, that you don't need but could have with Samsung.

    And not that I would call Samsung Galaxy "a budget tablet" and not that I see a point in calling it "budget" besides somehow separating it from Apple's products that, you know, have very similar screen, less features, terrible restirctions in software, no rooting at all and a much higher price
  • Stuka87 - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Your comparison to the iPad is a bit off.

    1: The 9.6" display is really nothing like the 7" display on the Tab. Their quality is kind of similar, but the 16:9 aspect ratio makes the Tab unusable in landscape mode (And I have one sitting right here).

    2: What features are you referencing?

    3: I wouldn't say terrible. They are somewhat similar to Google's store regulations, only Apple does its best to keep out Malware, which Google doesn't seem to care much about.

    4: Who cares if you can root the device? You can jail break it if you really want to.

    5: Sure, it cost 150 dollars more. But the hardware is so much faster than the Tabs its not even funny. Not to mention its much more comfortable to hold with it being much thinner. And the battery life is top notch as well.
  • VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Did you not read the part where it said "In all honesty, the Galaxy Tab is the better device"?

    The Nook is a lot cheaper for something pretty close as far as usage model, simple as that. And if you look at the core hardware, the GT and NC are pretty similar, much more similar than the GT7 versus any one of the Honeycomb tablets. It's a better, more polished device as far as hardware and software, but that doesn't make it better value for money or a better buy, especially in light of some devices that don't cost a whole lot more and offer so much more power and functionality. Heck, just look at the 8.9" Galaxy Tab, if you dislike the Asus and Acer that much.
  • Lukemcd - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link

    Everyone just wants their favorite device to win. There's nothing wrong with this article. It made points for both sides.

    They're angry because they cannot make blanket "Your writing sucks" comments because it didn't. So they have to "rationalize."
  • Samus - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link

    I've had my nook color since january. Ever since CM7 went official with 2.3 last month its been super solid. Tethered to my phone for internet access when out and about, it's like having a 3G tablet and it cost me $200 bucks.

    I haven't held or seen the Galaxy Tablet, but it looks like its built like crap compared to the nook. It's thicker, the plastic looks korean and overall the finish isn't attractive. It looks like one of Samsung's cheap-ass phones that break the moment you drop them.
  • MonkeyPaw - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    I have the NC, and it is fun to mess with. I read this article with mine (using CM7. Beta 3.1), and I'm posting this with it. Been using it for over a month and love it. Sure, a more expensive tab has better specs, but lets be realistic, a tab is for casual use in an easier form-factor. I can do email, web, gReader, games on the NC, and I will go to my PC if I really need to get something done.

    Nice to see thewrote this. There's quite a community around the NC. There may be a real HC build if Google ever releases the source.
  • MonkeyPaw - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Sorry for the typo, it is early for me. :o
  • Lukemcd - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link

    It's off in size. That's the primary reason they did not make a direct comparison. It really is an apples-oranges thing, too, since two-handed typing is perfect with a vertical Nook but really isn't once you get much beyond that.
  • jconan - Saturday, May 28, 2011 - link

    Dido, got the Transformer from Fry's even though amazon sells it for 443. It is quite worth it with splashtop pc access and portability even though it is a bit more for the portability. It does pale to iPad in terms of quality apps but for the freedom from iTunes it's liveable.
  • ViperV990 - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Is it feasible for a regular joe to put Honeycomb on either tablets?

    Also, is either of them capable of acting as a Google Voice/Talk client?
  • zvadim - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Nook doesn't have a microphone, so unless you try for some kind of Bluetooth headset solution....
  • ForeverStudent - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    I realize this is kind of irrelevant to the article, and I apologize, but are the dimensions of the devices on the first page switched? They seem to show that the nook is significantly smaller than the Tab, about 30% shorter and narrower. But then throughout the article you talk about how much more compact the Tab is. I could be confused, I'm just checking.
  • VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Ah crap, I think those are the dimensions for the EVO 4G...Fixing that now :) Thanks for catching that.
  • cosmotic - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Just as this was published Woot.com has the Refurbished Samsung Galaxy Tab 7" 16GB Android Tablet - Wi-Fi + 3G for $259.
  • VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    That, my friend, is a good buy. Not sure if I like the idea of a refurb, but if you're dead set on a Galaxy Tab, that'd be tough to pass up.
  • phendric - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Ditto to that. This isn't the wi-fi only version of the Galaxy Tab, but the full 3G version (with the Hummingbird SoC, and other better hardware). I'll only add that it runs on Sprint's network.

    I wonder if activation of a data plan is required? Anyone know?

    I signed up to two different websites just now - Woot, to order the Tab, and Anandtech, to leave this comment. I've been a silent reader of the site for several years now, but just as I was wondering why there wasn't a good review comparison between the two tablets on a high-traffic site, this showed up.

    Great site, good writing, active community.
  • seamonkey79 - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    I've got a Nook Color, and it took all of about 10 minutes to get all of the tools needed to flash a new ROM to it... now I've got a 1.1 Ghz (1.2 Ghz is available and stable on mine, but a little warmer than I like) tablet that in many ways performs better than my Droid Incredible does, especially when I pair the 3g from the DInc to the NC. Given the price I paid for it and the fact that it is a smashing book reader as well as all around good guy tablet, money well spent in my opinion :-)

    I've also read posts about people selling or trading their Galaxy Tabs for Nook Color after they bought one for a spouse or child and played with it a little bit.
  • KaarlisK - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    What about the Creative Ziio 7? It also has a Cortex A8 and 512MB of RAM, though I have no idea about the capabilities and drivers of its GPU. Costs around $350 in Europe.
  • mcnabney - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    I wouldn't buy another Creative product on principle alone.
  • Stanil - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    The hardware on the Galaxy Tab Wi-Fi is different to the 3G model (at least in some markets). Gone are Bluetooth 3.0, HDMI out. The SOC is not Hummingburd, but a more cheap A8(OMAP 3630?) and the GPU is PowerVR530 not 540 as in the 3G model.
    http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-tab-wifi-o...
    http://androidcommunity.com/wifi-only-galaxy-tab-7...
  • medi01 - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Recently bought Archos 7 Home Tablet for 129 Euro, actually as a video player in a car.
    You know, dear Anand, it has quite a good screen.

    Remembering how (among ebook reader fans) Nook is mostly regarded as "cheap plastic junk" I wonder if it is worth is to read your article.
  • VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Doesn't the Archos 7 Home Tablet have a 800x480 resistive touchscreen? That says it all.

    I didn't mention Archos at all in this article, as far as I recall, but really, put the Nook Color next to the Archos or any one of the random tablets I mentioned in the beginning and you will see the difference. I have verifiable, tested numbers to support my claim.

    As for the "cheap plastic junk" rep, I can understand the plastic part, but it's definitely not cheap feeling or junk - it's either the best designed and best built $250 tablet, or very close to it. I haven't seen anyone make that claim yet, and based on my experience (I tend to be more picky about design and build quality than some of my colleagues), it's a solid, attractive little tablet.
  • velis - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    That wasn't the point of what madi was saying.
    For the purpose, the Archos provides 720p movie playback which nook doesn't.

    But as you probably saw from the other replies, we'd very much like to see two things in the next budget tab comparison:
    1. Get EVERYTHING out of a particular tablet: overclock the nook if it can be overclocked to see if then it can offer the feature (HD playback) it couldn't provide stock
    2. Compare more tablets. Out of the three, the Archos is by far the cheapest and has its uses, even if it is only 800x480 resistive... No need to play a snob here, we're looking at *budget* tablet coparison. Also ASUS eee pad should also be in this comparison even if it is ridiculously overpowered compared to the others. As you yourself said: if's only $50 more...

    On a side note: I think for anything android based one of the most important things to consider is custom ROMs. Because manufacturers tend to "forget" to update pretty soon after release. Presence of custom ROMs ensures the tablet / phone will be upgradable in the future and that allows for longer useful life of the device. You really should include this information in the review and most definitely you shouldn't post false information - as in Galaxy having no custom ROMs.
  • VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    The video decode chip in the OMAP 3621 SoC doesn't support HD video decode, so the Nook Color won't be able to playback HD videos regardless of how high you overclock it. It's a hardware issue on the SoC level, that won't change.

    I didn't say that the Galaxy Tab had no custom ROMs or it wasn't rootable or anything - I think my wording was poor, so it came across like that. I updated it to be clearer, but what I was trying to get across was this: the Nook depends on that to survive, while custom ROMs aren't nearly as relevant to the Galaxy Tab, which comes with a usable image from the factory.

    I could have looked at more tablets, theres a few out there (eLocity A7, Creative Ziio, and Archos 70) which would potentially be worth looking at, but I kind of drew the line at WSVGA screen resolution. I've used WVGA 7" tablets, and they're just not very good. I'm more interested in some of the upcoming stuff - HTC Flyer (if they drop the price to reasonable levels), the Acer Iconia A100, etc, which have the design and UX polish to compete with these two.
  • velis - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Don't get me wrong: I think this was a great article and I'd very much like to see more of such in the future since I'm seriously contemplating going tablet. I assume I'm not the only one :D

    As for the reply:
    OK, this I can dig, but in this case you should clearly state at the beginning of the article that you filtered by resolution. That doesn't excuse you from not including the Asus though :)
    Also the info posted for contenders should be well balanced - reference to custom ROMs, overclocking and similar stuff here - if you delve into it for one, you should do as much for the other(s) too.

    And thanks for replying :)
  • Ragin69er - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    I appreciated this article, as an owner of a 3g Galaxy Tab I have rooted it and am running a custom gingerbread rom called Overcome which allows for up to 1.4ghz overclock. I also have a fix from a guy named chainfire which allows me to play almost every game made for tegra 2 (there are one or two games that won't play yet). Proving that the tegra 2 chipset at least to me isn't considerably more powerful than the powervr 540.
    Also another member at XDA forums called spacemoose is ensuring that the galaxy tab will be running Honeycomb 3.1 this very week :)
    I appreciate the 7" form factor much more than the 10" form factor, I seem to be able to put my galaxy tab in a pocket no matter the weather conditions. Can't say that about nearly any other tablet.
  • MossySF - Monday, May 30, 2011 - link

    The specs for Archos 70 say:

    • High resolution screen, WVGA 800 x 480 pixels, 7'' TFT LCD, 16 million colors
    • Capacitive multitouch screen

    Yes on the resolution. No on resistive.
  • medi01 - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    " Overclocked kernels, custom skins and launchers, updating the ROM to the latest nightly build, anything you could possibly dream of. That's something you just won't get with the Samsung..."

    Samsung Galaxy Tab was rootable even back in 2010.
  • ironmb - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    I will never understand this new fad of tablets.. to each is own i guess.
  • mi1stormilst - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Bought one for my wife, rooted in about 15 minutes she uses it for reading and gaming and surfing. Not everything works perfectly, but the battery life is more than decent and it is very much a usable product. We read from both the Kindle App and the B&N App with no trouble. I got it during the Ebay B&N sale for $199 enough said :-)
  • IdBuRnS - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    My wife uses my rooted CN all the time for playing Angry Birds. lol
  • dukepeter - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    It seems like the WiFi-only Galaxy Tab packs OMAP3* as well, not Hummingbird.
    this was reported here: http://www.thegalaxytabforum.com/index.php?/topic/...

    can anybody confirm?
  • DanNeely - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Did you read the article before posting this? It does so.
  • Stanil - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    In the original it said Hummingburd and PowerVR 540, they changed it post factum :) Thx for the specs, I wasn't sure if the castrated version was only for Europe.
  • dukepeter - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    yes, i read the article, and i remember clearly it said Hummingbird and PowerVR SGX540.
    But yes, they have changed it now. i wish i had been wrong =|
  • VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Yeah sorry, I had changed it on my document file but apparently not the actual article engine before posting - sorry guys, that was a big time proof-reading error by me.

    It felt very bait-and-switch to me, I never noticed it was SGX 530/OMAP3 until I ran the gaming tests and went o_O. I don't mind too much about downgrading the Bluetooth, but the SoC downgrade is pretty terrible.
  • Johnmcl7 - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    I'd assumed the two Tabs were identical bar the 3G, I found out about the downgraded Wifi version recently thankfully after I'd bought the 3G version as I'd been annoyed to have bought the wifi version and then found out about the inferior spec.

    I think you're quite right to say here the SoC downgrade is pretty terrible but I'd say the article doesn't make that very clear on the first page and the Tab intro.

    John
  • VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    To be completely fair, it's not the biggest deal in the world - unless you're gaming a lot, you won't notice. And when I say gaming, I mean serious 3D games; Angry Birds and other casual games run just fine on OMAP 3.

    It just bugs me that Samsung was really, really not forthcoming about the SoC change at all.
  • Oscarcharliezulu - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    As a consultant, the cameras are extremely useful to take pictures of (non electronic) whiteboards, a presenter's ppt at a conference (where you might not be able to get a copy easily or quickly) and then add your notes to it. Lots of my colleagues do this also.

    I also use it to take pictures for eBay listings.

    Im always surprised when a journalist states they can't imagine what the camera is for just because they don't use it. Hope this helps your research.
  • VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Okay, this is exactly what I want - I don't use it, so I want to know what people do use it for. Thanks for your response!

    See, I do take a lot of pictures of documents, notes, homework sheets, etc, but even though I usually have a tablet with me (usually either my iPad or whichever one I'm testing), I mostly end up taking those pictures with whatever smartphone I'm carrying. It just feels much more natural to take pictures with a smartphone, either because the similar size of the phone and a point and shoot, or because we're just conditioned to cameraphones.

    Like, I guess my question is more - when everyone has a smartphone/cameraphone, do tablets (which generally have the same or sometimes worse sensors than their smartphone cousins, and are more awkward to take pictures with) really get used as cameras that often?
  • mushu - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Thanks for the writeup Vivek. Good to see a comparison here on anandtech. A few of points:

    - the OC kernel for the nook supports speeds up to 1.2 GHz and the previous kernel went up to 1.3.

    - Many people feel there're significant differences wrt performance and usability between the latest linux (2.6.32-based) kernel and the one preceding it (.29).

    - If you use the 2.6.32 kernel make sure you also use the latest B&N bootloader, otherwise you'll encounter several performance related problems, notably with video.

    - Make sure you have good battery data and that you don't only look at one kind of task. When mucking about with custom ROMs and kernels and bootloaders you run the risk of suffering from errors related to battery calibration. I regularly get 8-10 hours of surfing and reading on my NC, ie. with screen and wifi on and never at peace.

    - I hope you looked at the cyanogenmod settings dialog where there is a set of tablet tweaks! Most important of these is the ability to have the softkeys and the status bar at the bottom of the screen. About as limited as honeycomb tablets may get without standard hardware keys :P Ie. not very limited at all. Move the keys down Vivek :o

    - Never mind the stock browser on any non-honeycomb android device. Check out opera mobile.

    The nook is a great device for those who enjoy tinkering and who do not want to pay extra for things like cameras.
  • VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Haha, right now I wish I had talked to you before I started this article. You know a lot more about this than I do, all of which I picked up in a brief amount of surfing on the XDA forums. I went for a quick root - just the latest rev of CM7 (about three weeks ago?), Google Apps, and that's it. I'm not a huge proponent of overclocking mobile devices, since the long-term wear and tear it results in tends to shorten the life of the system.

    I like the bar being at the top, and I didn't mind the softkeys being up there, it just required a little bit of mental recalibration. I'll check that out though!

    Battery-wise, that's about what I was expecting - B&N quotes 8 hours of life with the wifi off, so 6.5 hours with a stressful wifi test sounded fine to me. I understand that people can do a ton of tinkering and tweaking to the OS for performance, battery, usability, whatever floats their boat, and I really love that about the Nook Color. I just wanted to get a feel for what it was at the base level.
  • MonkeyPaw - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Yeah CM7 is constantly improving with nightly builds, so 3 weeks ago is actually a long time. There are other options that update, too. I ran rooted 1.2 until the beta 3.1 with sleep fix. I've been running the beta for a week and had great luck. Took maybe 15 minutes to get it running. The NC really is a great piece of hardware for the price. If you like playing with new ROMs as much as you like using it as a tablet, its a fun purchase. There's even an Ubuntu build under development.
  • VivekGowri - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link

    I had the Nook for exactly 2 weeks, I didn't want to spend a whole bunch of time experimenting with various ROMs and nightly builds. I just grabbed the latest nightly and went from there. But that's basically what I was referring to - if you want to get really into that, there's a great community behind development for the Nook.
  • Shadowmaster625 - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Can we get battery life and surface temperature readings of an 800 MHz Nook vs a 1000 MHz Nook?
  • RomanMtz - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    How does the Viewsonic G-Tablet compare to these at $289?
  • Pessimism - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    I'd LOVE to see a roundup review of all the offshore generic pad clones you listed off at the start of the article.
  • VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Yeah, so would I, but I'm not going to hold my breath for review units - I'm still waiting on eLocity, Archos, and NotionInk.
  • peldor - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    My wife uses the rear-camera on her 3G Galaxy Tab all the time for facebook posts (and as you note, it's good enough for that).

    The $200 Tab at Verizon with a $20 data plan (1GB/mo I think) was the cheapest way to get her an Android device with mobile service. She loves it.

    Also note, Kindle slipcases are a very good fit for the Tab.
  • cgalyon - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    I've always been a fan of the Nook Color, it's just a great little device (largely thanks to the hacking of it). One little thing that I think makes a large difference (and isn't mentioned in the review) is the distance from the screen to the glass. The Nook Color's screen is very close to the glass (like on the Palm Pre). This just has a nicer feel to it, but it's a subtle difference.

    That said, I ended up getting a Galaxy Tab 3G (refurb at $260). Seems like an unbeatable deal.
  • smolten - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    http://www.woot.com/

    The price difference is GONE! You can get a refurbed Galaxy Tab off of WOOT today only for 259.99!

    Samsung Galaxy Tab 7" 16GB Android Tablet - Wi-Fi + 3G
    $259.99

    * + $5 shipping

    Condition:
    Refurbished
    Product:
    1 Samsung Galaxy Tab 7" 16GB Android 2.2, Wi-Fi + 3G (Sprint), microSD, BT, GPS, 3.0 & 1.3MP Cams
  • micksh - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    in order to install CM7 to eMMC. So the process of installing a custom ROM a bit more complicated but still doable.
  • vld - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Why wouldn't you include the Archos 101 Internet Tablet in the <$300 collection?
  • smolten - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Archos 101 is completely garbage! My screen was damaged in one week after I got it. The resolution is horrible as well. The replacement device I got was brand new and when you clicked on the screen it would register someplace else. Avoid the Archos
    its cheap and horrible.

    ,
  • skyhawk21 - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Curious why the author of this article did not include an audio section to compare whichever version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab to the Barnes & Noble Nook Color?
    Nook Color:
    * Mono speaker installed into back of Nook Color tablet faces backward
    * Volume at loudest is mediocre at best
    * For some reason audio channels are reversed through the stock firmware when using headphones
    * Headphone port has noticeable static in background even with audio muted
    * Headphone port not solid and has trouble inserting a 3.5mm cable

    Galaxy Tab:
    * Stereo speakers installed into bottom of tablet face downward
    * Volume at loudest is noticeable
    * Audio channels are correct
    * Headphone port has no static present in background when audio is muted
    * Headphone port is solid and handles 3.5mm cables firmly

    - Also I do believe the original galaxy tab natively will play 720p videos smoothly and has a full complete working android market. You can play 1080p videos with third party android software

    - Even with a rooted nook color the market has issues, applications have issues due to not finding a hardware GPS built in so those apps will not load. Also battery drain and sleep issues are present with the different third party firmwares available. Nook color has many issues with using 802.11 N mode WIFI with many routers.

    - Original Galaxy Tab stock do not have any of these issues present!

    I did not see this information in the article so I thought I would post it!
  • VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    I never had any issues with the headphone jack on the Nook, though I agree the speaker is terrible. Also, I found Market to work pretty well on the Nook...all of the apps I tried worked fine, but I didn't do much as far as location-centric apps because I knew there wasn't GPS on the device.
  • mrnuxi - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Just checked and it's no longer available. Too bad, woulda bought one.
  • Hrel - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    I do not understand how you can have an article, particularly one targeted at budget tablets, and not include Archos. Seriously! WTF! Archos, you guys need to check them out cause apparently you've never even heard of them. They really are the ONLY viable choice for tablets from 3-10inches.
  • VivekGowri - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    Still waiting on a review unit, but based on my experience, I wasn't impressed by what I saw from them. I did like the 101, especially for the price, but the 70 wasn't very good. I'm not sold, I need to see more features and better screens from them before they can seriously contend in the Android tablet game.
  • MobiusStrip - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    GPS. Any list of tablet specs should indicate whether it has GPS.
  • notty22 - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    For 350.00 you can get the Ipad (1) refurbished. Thats with new battery, shell. Just bought 1 for the living room coffee table. Holds up well to the 500 dollar Ipad 2 in most respects.
    http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals...
  • sme855 - Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - link

    hi friends
    plz tell me the cheapest price at which i could buy a genuine and sealed galaxy tab 7" 3G
    without contract
    plz help me
    i will really appreciate.
    plz reply at:
    sme855@gmail.com
  • oreo81 - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link

    What about the Dell Streak 7? I know the screen is 800x480, but it has Tegra 2. And it's under 300$ on amazon and newegg(no taxes), so its really only about 30 bucks more than the nook. I really wish the local BB had one so I could check it out, as I just picked up a nook the other day and am contemplating taking it back. Any thoughts?
  • VivekGowri - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link

    Its fast, but man I really hated the screen when I played with it. I didn't realize that it was so cheap for WiFi only; T-Mobile is still selling the 3G one at $449...Honestly, I'd give up a lot of that power for a WSVGA resolution - I liked the Galaxy Tab (3G) a lot more than the Streak 7 when I had them side-by-side at the Nvidia CES booth.
  • swaaye - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link

    I've been using a NC for about 2 months now and have some comments about it.

    First of all, right now, it is a neat tablet to get because it's cheap and so you get a taste of tablets for a low price. However, this market is changing every day and I expect the NC to lose this value in not too long.

    -the headphone jack has low audio quality. Noise and distortion.
    -raw buggy software and it may always be that way. It's even slightly unstable because they are trying to make custom kernels and it's difficult with the kernel and driver source available.
    -Android 2.x is not great. The internal browser is terrible with its memory management issues that cause hitching and its complete lack of GPU acceleration. Opera Mobile is fast but somewhat annoying in its features and UI design.
    -DSP is not HD capable and there are no HD codecs available for it so I expect it will never do HD video. Even when overclocked the CPU isn't fast enough to play 720p H.264/VC-1 on its own. It's battery slaughter without the DSP anyway.
    -the internal flash memory is very slow, about like a class 2 SD card. Boots slow, app install slow, web browser caching impacted slightly as well.

    Personally I'm looking forward to some new 7" tablets with Honeycomb or another OS, and Cortex A9 or better. But the Nook Color is as I said an interesting first look if you haven't played with a tablet.
  • mushu - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link

    If you're using the 2.3.62 kernel with CM7, make sure you have the latest bootloader (comes with the latest nightly) and give either moboplayer or vitalplayer neon a try for playing your videos :)
  • TechnoButt - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link

    I'm rocking my Archos101 I got on ebay for $200. 10.1", 256mb ram, 8gb+sd card, Cortex CPU (?800mhz, maybe 1ghz, not sure).

    It's biggest grief is the viewing angles on the 10.1" display.. but come on, a capable tablet with 10.1" display @$300 new.. it should be in this article.

    It's not great for sharing, but who shares a tablet anyway. As long as you're the single user it's pretty darn nice.

    Yes, the transformer is better, but having two of these is better than one transformer. :)
  • TechnoButt - Thursday, May 26, 2011 - link

    http://www.archos.com/products/ta/archos_101it/spe...

    1ghz A8
    256mb RAM (slightly underpowered.. really the weakest feature, but definitely liveable with a good build and app management).
    Power SGX 530
    802.11bgn
    10 hour movie playback battery life!

    And my favorite feature.. it is a USB Host (ie, you can plut a usb keyboard into it.. or storage device, in theory).
  • SunLord - Friday, May 27, 2011 - link

    I've got my nook color running CM7 at 1.2Ghz and it pulls a 2124 running quadrant standard and 14.597 MFLOPS in linpack
  • ET - Saturday, May 28, 2011 - link

    On page 3.
  • romanfoot - Saturday, May 28, 2011 - link

    http://www.aliexpress.com/product-fm/453383121-Ain...
    I don't expect too much for the quality,but $200 for 8" 1280X800 and cortex A9 &512 ram and front & rear camera? Even though I've already got an Ipad,but still wanna just get one,cause it's such a bargain.Though,I don't have much faith on the screen and its quality and battery life,just put the link here,maybe it could help someone.
  • HenHowC - Saturday, May 28, 2011 - link


    Is the Nook Color screen 24-bit? I can't seem to find any information on this.
  • fromtablet1 - Monday, May 30, 2011 - link

    I really like my Aishuo A817 tablet (Currently writing from it) - It have a fast A8 1.2Ghz CPU, 512MB DDR, Weight about 460g, Android 2.3 (Market is working fine on it, Voice search is working, Flash 10.3, Latest youtube all is working fine) can surf the web using built-in wifi or external 3g using USB modem, NFS/Angrybirds/Asfalt/Raging Thunder are working fast, Battery life about 6 hours with wifi on, Can play H264/MPEG4-TS/AAC 2mbit/s IPTV streams just fine by VPlayer by WIFI or 3G. In other words I am happy with this 190USD tablet
  • Yowen - Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - link

    What I would love to see is GPS functionality compared for tablets. I personally would love to have a tablet that I can bring in my car to use as a GPS and media player. Without the need to connect to 3G. But that would possibly be filed under oddly specific, or no?
  • uberDoward - Friday, June 3, 2011 - link

    Rooted CM7 Nook Color @ 1.2Ghz for the wife, TF101-A1 for me :) Seems simple enough to me!

    Anand, I'd love a quick update, comparing performance of the Nook Color @ 1.2Ghz. All you need to do is flash Dalingrin's OC kernel. You can't really say that flashing CM7 is somehow any easier than doing another simple kernel flash for an extra 50% theoretical performance?

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