[conix67]

This is not another Android vs PB, but for someone who's in the market for a 7" device at reasonable price, which is what brought most of people onto this forum recently.

Finally, Samsung has announced pricing and availability for two of its next-generation Galaxy tablets. The Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 features a 7-inch 1,024 x 600-pixel display, 8GB of internal storage expandable to 40GB, 50GB of free Dropbox storage for a year, a dual-core 1GHz processor, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and the TouchWiz UI.
It will launch on April 22nd for $249.99, and pre-orders begin on April 12th.

I don't like Android in general, but a 7" Samsung tablet at $249 going to be a real tough competitor to PB, and this product will be a real concern for RIM... and probably Amazon Kindle.

[kennyliu]

There are a few more 7-inchers coming this year. The Asus Memo, which so far has the best specs among all 7-inch tablets, should land pretty soon, too. Also for $250. There is also the Toshiba Excite, but I honestly don't know what they are thinking with that price tag.

Competition = happy consumers.

[Princepia]

The nice thing is the quality of the Playbooks hardware will be unsurpassed. Just like people who bought their DVD player when first introduced are quite possibly still using it, meanwhile, cheap ones you end up going through like candy.

[OttawaGabe]

Nice feature for many of these is the provision for MicroSD storage, and the ability to use external usb devices, something I wished the Playbook could handle.

[swyost]

A "real PB competitor" implies that it is the PB's market, which is hardly the case. RIM is the company that has not been the "real competitor" in the market. I have actually seen Kindle Fires, Galaxy 7s, and Acer 100s in the real world whereas the only PB I have ever seen, other than those on display, is the one on my desk....

[swyost]

The nice thing is the quality of the Playbooks hardware will be unsurpassed. Just like people who bought their DVD player when first introduced are quite possibly still using it, meanwhile, cheap ones you end up going through like candy.

Do you really believe this stuff? There is nothing unsurpassed about PB hardware and there is nothing superior about the quality of an old DVD player. If someone is still using an old DVD player, 1) they are really lucky it still works, 2) they do not need any enhanced features, and/or 3) they are very cheap. To the original point though, a PB is a nice piece of hardware, but it is hardly the top of the line and is certainly not cutting edge.

[omniusovermind]

Well at least Samsung is sticking to their deluded opinion that their devices are better made than other android offerings. Asking the same price for a dual core tablet as Asus and Google are asking for quad cores. Wow.

[masqueofhastur]

A "real PB competitor" implies that it is the PB's market, which is hardly the case. RIM is the company that has not been the "real competitor" in the market. I have actually seen Kindle Fires, Galaxy 7s, and Acer 100s in the real world whereas the only PB I have ever seen, other than those on display, is the one on my desk....

Depends on where you are. I live in Vancouver, and at the 7" range I see PlayBooks and Kobo Voxes. No Nook Tablets, I've heard of some people with Kindle Fires, but haven't met them. I'd guess the rest of Canada is the same. Maybe not in other countries, but in Canada the PlayBook is the 7" tablet to beat.

I look forward to seeing what comes along, and the $250 tablets from Asus and Samsung are strong contenders. Of course in the US the competition would be the Nook Tablet and the Kindle Fire, and who knows what the dominant 7" tablet (if there is one) is outside of North America.

[masqueofhastur]

Well at least Samsung is sticking to their deluded opinion that their devices are better made than other android offerings. Asking the same price for a dual core tablet as Asus and Google are asking for quad cores. Wow.

I'd take a dual core Krait over a quad core Tegra 3. Don't know where the Exynos fits in, but I wouldn't automatically assume quad core is better. , if you're looking at the desktop you'd know that a dual core Core i3 Sandy Bridge beats out a hex core FX-6100 Bulldozer. Real world performance (particularly of battery life when we're talking tablets) counts more than cores and clock speed.

[alnamvet68]

Do you really believe this stuff? There is nothing unsurpassed about PB hardware and there is nothing superior about the quality of an old DVD player. If someone is still using an old DVD player, 1) they are really lucky it still works, 2) they do not need any enhanced features, and/or 3) they are very cheap. To the original point though, a PB is a nice piece of hardware, but it is hardly the top of the line and is certainly not cutting edge.

I can already see where this is going; in before the lock.

[barskin]

Well, CNET doesn't exactly rave:

Samsung announced that the Tab 2 7.0 would house a 1GHz CPU (down from 1.2GHz on the 7.0 Plus) and that it would be replacing the 7.0 Plus's 2-megapixel camera with a "I'm here to cut costs, but at least I'm here!" VGA one.

Needless to say, as a tech geek always looking for the latest and greatest, I was a bit disappointed and honestly kind of confused at this strategy. That is until today, when the price was announced.


Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 hands-on | Android Atlas - CNET Reviews

So it's not that great, but it's cheap.

[tinker2000]

I think all samsung kit feels cheap....I just dont like it. I would never buy a Samsung tablet and I think they are way overpriced. Is it just me that thinks this?

[kennyliu]

I think all samsung kit feels cheap....I just dont like it. I would never buy a Samsung tablet and I think they are way overpriced. Is it just me that thinks this?

Yes, Sammies are expensive.

But I won't call Galaxy Tab 7.7 cheap feeling. It actually feels at least as sturdy as the Playbook.

[Princepia]

Do you really believe this stuff? There is nothing unsurpassed about PB hardware and there is nothing superior about the quality of an old DVD player. If someone is still using an old DVD player, 1) they are really lucky it still works, 2) they do not need any enhanced features, and/or 3) they are very cheap. To the original point though, a PB is a nice piece of hardware, but it is hardly the top of the line and is certainly not cutting edge.

Yes, I do. Tablets are an emerging market. As technology is "improved upon" (becomes cheaper to manufacture by cutting corners, using less quality materials) the prices go down, the market expands. Consumers sacrifice quality on a daily basis for new features, it's an excellent way to get you to keep buying the latest gadget. A DVD player from 10 years ago, will still play your DVD. It may not make your cup of coffee nor will it record your favorite shows while you are not home, but I guarantee a lot more $500 DVD players from "ancient times" will have greater longevity than the $20 one you just picked up from Wal-mart.

Of course, this is just my opinion, nobody is ever really right on a forum.

[SumthinNew]

Unless we see something else other than a 3G/4G model of the PB soon, RIM won't have anything solid to compete with in the tab market!

[Bakamushi]

Thats' what surprises me in this part of the Crackberry forums. I guess it's unavoidable to have fanboys, but so many answers are technically totally irrelevant.

There is no way any IT device will remain cutting edge forever. And in the IT business, one year is like one century.

[JamesDax3]

The playbook would have to be in the competition go to have any competitors.

[tofnow]

The playbook would have to be in the competition go to have any competitors.

What??????

[slalom]

There is no way any IT device will remain cutting edge forever. And in the IT business, one year is like one century.

You forget the etch-a-sketch

[Marty_LK]

This is not another Android vs PB, but for someone who's in the market for a 7" device at reasonable price, which is what brought most of people onto this forum recently.

Finally, Samsung has announced pricing and availability for two of its next-generation Galaxy tablets. The Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 features a 7-inch 1,024 x 600-pixel display, 8GB of internal storage expandable to 40GB, 50GB of free Dropbox storage for a year, a dual-core 1GHz processor, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and the TouchWiz UI.
It will launch on April 22nd for $249.99, and pre-orders begin on April 12th.

I don't like Android in general, but a 7" Samsung tablet at $249 going to be a real tough competitor to PB, and this product will be a real concern for RIM... and probably Amazon Kindle.

I'm inclined to agree. When I bought my Playbook, I struggled hard to find a good Android tablet under $300 and gave up and bought a PB. I'm certainly glad to have a PB now after seeing how good it is, but I do know that if I could have bought a Galaxy Tab for $250 at that time, I would have instead of the PB.

I see this move by Samsung as a killer.

[omniusovermind]

I'd take a dual core Krait over a quad core Tegra 3. Don't know where the Exynos fits in, but I wouldn't automatically assume quad core is better. , if you're looking at the desktop you'd know that a dual core Core i3 Sandy Bridge beats out a hex core FX-6100 Bulldozer. Real world performance (particularly of battery life when we're talking tablets) counts more than cores and clock speed.

Well aware of that. I also know that intel's first mobile phone chip, demonstrated at CES 2011 blew the doors off all the dual cores with their single core. I have no idea what sammy put in this latest offering though, I admittedly didn't bother to look because I've sworn off of that company now after 3 bad experiences with hardware malfunctions across 3 different devices

[conix67]

I'm inclined to agree. When I bought my Playbook, I struggled hard to find a good Android tablet under $300 and gave up and bought a PB. I'm certainly glad to have a PB now after seeing how good it is, but I do know that if I could have bought a Galaxy Tab for $250 at that time, I would have instead of the PB.

I see this move by Samsung as a killer.

I find it ironic that PB is what taught me a lot about Android tablets, via Android Player. When I purchased PB, I was attracted by its low price, solid hardware/OS, and potential of Android player to make up for lack of native apps.

Just like many people, when Android player became available in 2.0 beta, I tried quite a few Android apps that were interesting to me, and learned what's available, how they operate, etc.

Now, I realize that if I could run all those Android apps I tried (many didn't work properly), it would more than make up for sub-par OS (Android vs QNX) and hardware (this new Samsung 7" tablet is downgrade from previous model), and unless I can solve the on-going issue of Wifi problem at work (still fingers crossed on this one), well all of sudden the Android tablet doesn't look that bad at all...

[Apelles123]

I wish PB could get a substantial app market. Samsung products really do feel as though they came out of a vending machine. They always seem to be made out of a cheap plastic- Styrofoam hybrid that I find repulsive.Toshiba always seems to have ugly bits of plastic chrome in all the wrong places. In comparison the PlayBook feels solid substantial, well engineered and designed. Although this may seem superficial, if you are going to handle an object you use every day it is not. I hope BlackBerry continues with the high manufacturing standards ,minimalist aesthetic and software interface as a design element bezel, confetti etc. I always like plain, simple and solid. The competition from what I've seen in the past makes tablets that are not and feel and look cheap and ugly.

[hpulley]

Worse cameras, less flash (8GB at price of 32GB PlayBook) and no HDMI means Galaxy Tab is no PlayBook competitor to me. Fire maybe.

[Mystic205]

I think some folks are missing the point..

The galaxy tab 2 is a redesign/cost reduction of the galaxy tab 7 plus, (which listed at $349 and ended discounted to $299). Samsung will make model margins at that $249 price. ...

In essence, the market, with the success of the Kindle fire, has spoken.. and for $50 more than the KF you get a lot.. a whole lot, and the Tab2 will be the first cheap decent 7" tablet with full access to a large selection of apps..

it will be a winner

@hpulley: tab2 will likely have MHL so your hdmi comment is moot, as is flash (given the uSD)