Apple iPad Alternative – Samsung Galaxy Tab. Really?

I regularly visit local T-mobile stores here in Boston to check out new smart gadgets hitting T-mobile shelves. I know you can check them online as well, but is not the same experience. the other day I was there, I was attracted to a rather huge Android device called Samsung galaxy tab. soon after grabbing the thing, a  smiling young lady came up to me, and told me, that’s our version of the iPad,  and as you can see this one is  much better looking, don’t ya think? I looked at her smiling  while pulling out my Android phone from my pocket, and I said, don’t get me wrong, I love android and I love the idea of a tablet with Android operating system, but if you are trying to compete with the iPad in design, I have bad news for you, you lose. she looked at me rather disappointed, and said.. really, you don’t like it? I replied back and said, it looks good, but I just played with the iPad at the Apple store ( across the hall ) for awhile, and it was awesome. its a giant iPhone, and the iPhone is the coolest phone in the world. then she went off, yeah but our iPad does flash, and it has hundreds of apps etc. I think she missed the part when I told her  I owned an Android phone.

anyways, do I really think the Galaxy tab can be an alternative to Apple iPad? maybe, at least for people like me that don’t like Apple products ( not for the design ) otherwise it will be very difficult to convince someone that the galaxy tab is better or the same as the iPad. I find the iPad much easier to navigate than the galaxy tab, and from users perspective that’s a huge advantage. I do really think android needs a GUI redesign big time if it wants to compete with Apple in product design.

I continued the conversation with the nice young lady at T-mobile store, and I asked her, how much is this guy selling for? she said 400 hundred dollars with 1 year contract. I looked at her, and I said, so you have to get a contract with T-mobile in order to walk out the door with this thing? she said yes, data plan only. I pondered for a moment and I said, can you use it as a phone too?  and she looked at me, and said, duh, is not a phone. I admit, that was a dumb question, but then again, why get stuck with T-mobile with 1 year contract for a device that you cannot use as a phone? if I purchase a tablet like that, I probably will use it only at home or at the office, because surely that thing does not fit in my pocket like a phone. anyways, I think you can get the Galaxy tab for 600 hundred dollars without a contract, but then again, why would you get the Galaxy tab when you can get the iPad for the same money?

please let me know what  you think about these two gadgets.

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