When the Apple iPad first hit markets, many thought it would be quite some time before another product would be competitive with this advanced piece of technology. The Samsung Galaxy Tab has become one of those close competitors in the tablet market. The Samsung Galaxy Tab is our preferred smaller format tablet because of the Android 2.2 operating system, long battery life and video chat capabilities.

The Galaxy Tab keeps you in the loop with several connectivity features. This tablet features 3G connectivity, Wi-Fi capabilities and Bluetooth technology. It also provides a battery that will give its users up to seven hours of usage on a single charge.

This tablet offers the ability to watch movies and TV shows using the Samsung Media Hub. This application available on the device allows you to engage in all your entertainment needs. We liked that this application was preloaded on the Samsung tablet and was simple to use. Also pre-loaded on the tablet is the Amazon Kindle eReader. This allows you to read and access all the information and books you want and read them directly from the device. Reading directly on the device was easy and we had no difficulty with screen glare or eye strain.

One of our favorite features offered on the Galaxy is the dual camera capabilities. A 1.3MP (megapixel) camera faces the front of the device; while a 3MP (megapixel) rear-facing camera makes video-chat possible on this device. The video-chat capabilities make it possible for anyone, with internet connection, to have face-to-face conversations hundreds of miles apart. We were impressed with the simplicity of the video chat feature and how clear the conversations were.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab uses the Google Android 2.2 operating system. The Android operating system has all you need to have your own personal computer in your hands. This operating system makes it possible for you to have full internet capabilities, the ability to access applications in the Android Market, along with music, videos and games. The Android 2.2 also gives you nearly two to five times faster speed than previous versions. The Samsung product was a fast device and we were impressed with its quick response.

The battery found in this device offers up to seven hours of play time. The Samsung Galaxy Tab provides 16GB of memory. However, located on the exterior of the tablet was a memory card slot which enables the user to add up to 32GB of memory. This made it possible for us to add more applications, music and videos.

The display on the Samsung Galaxy Tab was one of the features we were most impressed with. The 7-inch display screen features 1024 x 600 screen resolution which made the colors pop. Images were bright, vivid and clear and we had no problems with blurring or soft images. The screen also has multi-touch zoom capabilities so we were able to zoom into web pages, documents or other features easily and with no hassle.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is designed to be compact. The device is thin, less than half of an inch, and lightweight. With such a compact size, and weighing only 13.5 ounces, we found this device highly portable and easy to throw into a bag, backpack or purse.

With multiple home screens, this tablet was easy to navigate around and it was simple for us to find the feature or program we were searching for. The Samsung Galaxy tab also provides access to the Android Marketplace so you can download a vast selection of apps and enhance your tab more fully. Downloading apps from the Android Marketplace was quick and we found no problems like we did on other similar devices.

To make this device even more efficient and easy to use, the Galaxy Tab provides several Google Mobile services such as Google Maps and Google Goggles. Both of these programs enhance this device and for those who are familiar with Google services, they are a welcome sight.