Galaxy Tab 8.9 + keyboard dock at Best Buy, 350

[Bateluer]

http://www.droid-life.com/2012/03/2...9-for-350-throws-in-a-keyboard-dock-for-free/

I like the size of the 8.9, I really do. But Tegra 2 combined with Samsung's TW UI make the poor thing lag like crazy. Custom launcher does clear up most of the UI lag though it still suffers from all the usual Tegra 2 weak sauce.

Worth jumping on? The keyboard dock is around 80 dollars new.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I guess I'm not the only one torn about this tablet. the size, weight and screen are perfect but Tegra 2 really holds it back. I actually don't think Touchwiz is the main issue, if you compare the browser to the OMAP 4 powered Xyboard 8.2 it seems to be a bit smoother on the Tab despite the weaker cpu. Sadly the same isn't true for the rest of the OS which does lag badly in landscape although portrait is supposed to perform better for some inexplicable reason.

There is also the Tab 7.0 Plus which is $300 and Exynos powered however it's a little smaller than I would like.

I was kind of tempted by the Xyboard 8.2 which is even lighter than the Tab and has stock honeycomb + OMAP 4 but i have a hard time justifying it at $400 when the Acer A510 is $450 for the 32gb model and powered by Tegra 3.

Basically the Tab 8.9 is the device I want except for Tegra 2, I can even live with Touchwiz. If only Samsung updated it with Exynos unfortunately their new tabs all seem to be much thicker. I just wish the ICS update hit before this sale so we could see if that helped performance any.

 

[Bateluer]

I guess I'm not the only one torn about this tablet. the size, weight and screen are perfect but Tegra 2 really holds it back. I actually don't think Touchwiz is the main issue, if you compare the browser to the OMAP 4 powered Xyboard 8.2 it seems to be a bit smoother on the Tab despite the weaker cpu. Sadly the same isn't true for the rest of the OS which does lag badly in landscape although portrait is supposed to perform better for some inexplicable reason.

There is also the Tab 7.0 Plus which is $300 and Exynos powered however it's a little smaller than I would like.

I was kind of tempted by the Xyboard 8.2 which is even lighter than the Tab and has stock honeycomb + OMAP 4 but i have a hard time justifying it at $400 when the Acer A510 is $450 for the 32gb model and powered by Tegra 3.

Basically the Tab 8.9 is the device I want except for Tegra 2, I can even live with Touchwiz. If only Samsung updated it with Exynos unfortunately their new tabs all seem to be much thicker. I just wish the ICS update hit before this sale so we could see if that helped performance any.

Sounds like you have the same logic as me on this. Drop in an Exynos or Tegra 3, and I'd be all over this.

The OMAP4 powered XyBoards can easily handle high bitrate video though. Wasn't able to test that myself when I went hands on personally, but there's several video reviews on YouTube that show the Xyboard's playing 1080p video without a hitch.


Edit - I also think we may see a lot more of these 'deals' as retailers/e-tailers try to clear the unsold inventory.

 

[you2]

I wish they would start selling the wifi only 7.7 version

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Sounds like you have the same logic as me on this. Drop in an Exynos or Tegra 3, and I'd be all over this.

The OMAP4 powered XyBoards can easily handle high bitrate video though. Wasn't able to test that myself when I went hands on personally, but there's several video reviews on YouTube that show the Xyboard's playing 1080p video without a hitch.


Edit - I also think we may see a lot more of these 'deals' as retailers/e-tailers try to clear the unsold inventory.

Yeah, I think we are both looking for the same thing in a tablet.

I haven't tried out a Xyboard in person but I'm not worried about OMAP4's capabilities at all although I would still prefer Exynos. I've been skimming the tab 8.9 section of xda and honestly the more I read about Tegra 2 the worse it sounds, some people had issues with certain 720p videos yet even the original Hummingbird powered Galaxy tab could handle that with no problem.

On top of Tegra 2's problems I'm a bit of a SoC snob so it makes it even harder for me to settle on something I know has inferior hardware. It seems weird getting a tablet that's less powerful than my Galaxy S2.

Honestly I think Tegra 2 is what killed the first round of Android tablets, if the Xyboards or the Tab 7.0 Plus had been the first official Honeycomb tablet things might have been very different.

There is always the potential for more deals but there is probably a limited number of these tablets left and I would kind of hate to miss out on getting one at a good price. I guess I may have to stop by Best Buy on my way home tomorrow to take another look at the Tab 8.9 and see if the lag is something I could live with.

 

[Bateluer]

Honestly I think Tegra 2 is what killed the first round of Android tablets, if the Xyboards or the Tab 7.0 Plus had been the first official Honeycomb tablet things might have been very different.

I said much the same in my hands on Xyboard thread. The XyBoards are what should have launched the Android tablets, the difference is very noticeable.

There is always the potential for more deals but there is probably a limited number of these tablets left and I would kind of hate to miss out on getting one at a good price. I guess I may have to stop by Best Buy on my way home tomorrow to take another look at the Tab 8.9 and see if the lag is something I could live with.

The UI lag is heavily mitigated with a custom launcher, and there's a clear difference between Portrait and Landscape as well. Something with the Tegra 2 biases towards one or the other. From what I can tell on XDA, the 8.9 is biased towards Portrait and the 10.1 is biased towards Landscape. But if you install Nova Launcher, for example, its pretty smooth on both.

Not sure what the state of CM9 is on the SGTs though, I've seen a few Alpha/Beta releases but I haven't been following too closely on that front.

The inclusion of the keyboard dock is whats making me seriously consider this. If it was just the Tab at 350, it wouldn't have even made news.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I said much the same in my hands on Xyboard thread. The XyBoards are what should have launched the Android tablets, the difference is very noticeable.



The UI lag is heavily mitigated with a custom launcher, and there's a clear difference between Portrait and Landscape as well. Something with the Tegra 2 biases towards one or the other. From what I can tell on XDA, the 8.9 is biased towards Portrait and the 10.1 is biased towards Landscape. But if you install Nova Launcher, for example, its pretty smooth on both.

Not sure what the state of CM9 is on the SGTs though, I've seen a few Alpha/Beta releases but I haven't been following too closely on that front.

The inclusion of the keyboard dock is whats making me seriously consider this. If it was just the Tab at 350, it wouldn't have even made news.

I tend to use tablets in portrait so that is one plus for the 8.9. The orientation affecting performance sounds like it could be a software issue which means the ICS update might fix it, at least I hope.

The Tab 8.9 has a AOSP ICS rom that is fully functional minus the cameras which they should be able to fix after the official update.

 

[Bateluer]

I bit the bullet and placed an order. Should keep me entertained until the 1080p tablets actually arrive. Store pickup tomorrow morning.

Edit - Clarification. I pick up the tablet tomorrow, the dock was on backorder for 3-5 days and is scheduled for 30 March.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I bit the bullet and placed an order. Should keep me entertained until the 1080p tablets actually arrive. Store pickup tomorrow morning.

I might do the same. I like the form factor and screen so much that I can probably settle for working around the lag at this price.

 

[Bateluer]

Picked mine up this morning. Came with 3.2 out of the box, I was expecting 3.1. Battery was ~50% charged.

Lot of widgets and other junk on the home screens, cleared all that. Quite a bit snappier than display models, but thats to be expected.

 

[Kenmitch]

I got the AT&T LTE version of this tab. The form factor is the best I've seen so far!

Good deal for the price it looks like. Not sure about the funky keyboard cock tho but guess a person could always just sell it on eBay or something if they don't like it.

I'm so tempted to by this Samsung case/keyboard....Just a little low on cash currently tho.

http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-tab-accessories/BKC-1C9USBGSTA

Only downside to the LTE version is no custom roms yet....I'm sure it'll change as time goes on tho.

 

[Bateluer]

I got the AT&T LTE version of this tab. The form factor is the best I've seen so far!


Only downside to the LTE version is no custom roms yet....I'm sure it'll change as time goes on tho.

The LTE version is a Snapdragon S3, FYI. Different SoC, resolves a lot of the problems with the Tegra 2 powered WiFi versions.

 

[Kenmitch]

The LTE version is a Snapdragon S3, FYI. Different SoC, resolves a lot of the problems with the Tegra 2 powered WiFi versions.

I know

I purchased the wifi version last time Best Buy had it on sale for the same price but they didn't include the keyboard/dock. I never opened it and did some reading and came to the conclusion that I'd rather get the LTE version. Wound up returning the wifi version and picking up the LTE version on craigslist for $50 more.

The wifi currently has the developement advantage as far as roms go. The LTE has the hardware advantage.

AT&T will release ICS at some point for it so they say. Not holding my breath tho as it may be awhile. I'm hoping that being it's close to the Skyrocket it may get ICS quicker thru the developement community.

I figure in the end the LTE version will hold value longer as I tend to get bored with devices pretty quickly. I can live with Honeycomb if needed as with some tweaking it seems to be pretty responsive. Gotta finish getting rid of the AT&T bloatware still tho.

 

[Bateluer]

I know


AT&T will release ICS at some point for it so they say. Not holding my breath tho as it may be awhile. I'm hoping that being it's close to the Skyrocket it may get ICS quicker thru the developement community.

I figure in the end the LTE version will hold value longer as I tend to get bored with devices pretty quickly. I can live with Honeycomb if needed as with some tweaking it seems to be pretty responsive. Gotta finish getting rid of the AT&T bloatware still tho.

I'm curious to see if the AT&T version will get any significant development. Since its the only Tab 8.9 with LTE/AT&T bands, its not likely to be a high selling product. The more devices in peoples hands, the more dev support.

Either way, Samsung has said they'll be releasing ICS for the Tegra 2 Tab 8.9 and 10.1s, though the official release date is 'soon'. Hopefully that means before Jellybean makes its appearance.

 

[Bateluer]

Few updates.

TW is awful for RAM management. On a fresh boot, running the TW Task Manager and 'Clear Memory' button, it kills 21 apps and frees up ~200MBs of RAM. Playing with it today, after a while it definitely begins to chug and stutter, requiring either a reboot or that Clear Memory option.

Quadrant Score: 2522

No Chrome or Nova Launcher, since they require ICS. Apparently.

OEM USB Cable/Samsung connector is too short. There's longer cables on Amazon though, will pick one up next week.

Recommendations on a case? Something slim and light that will protect the device.

Speakers get decently loud, most excellent.

Copied over my 1080p BD Rip of Incredible Hulk and tested a few players, and all of them played it in slow motion or stuttered badly. I expected this though, and I'll test some 720P videos this weekend. Didn't have time to copy them over earlier. From XDA, playing 1080p works better on ICS than HC though.

Still torn on whether to root or not though, since most of the AOSP ICS builds I've seen so far have non-working cameras. Some kind of proprietary driver issue? Either have to wait for the official Samsung ICS update(Hah!) or possibly a leak, I think.

 

[Kenmitch]

Hows YouTube HD video playback.

Search hd video test and try some out. On the LTE version it seems great on the couple I've tried so far.

I'd trade my camera for ICS if it was an option on the LTE model currently

Yoga 4 dudes looks like a good test video as it's somewhat entertaining also!

 

[Bateluer]

Hows YouTube HD video playback.

Search hd video test and try some out. On the LTE version it seems great on the couple I've tried so far.

I'd trade my camera for ICS if it was an option on the LTE model currently

Yoga 4 dudes looks like a good test video as it's somewhat entertaining also!

I tried a couple HD ones from the web version of YouTube, and it seemed to be alright with a couple hitches. Can't test from the YouTube app right now though, tethered to the phone and getting poor 3G signal.

 

[Kenmitch]

I tried a couple HD ones from the web version of YouTube, and it seemed to be alright with a couple hitches. Can't test from the YouTube app right now though, tethered to the phone and getting poor 3G signal.

I'm doing mine on wifi....Fios for the win

I did root my tab. Installed the overclocking kernal and bumped it up to 1.728ghz :thumbsup:

I read that if you go into settings and change the following it helps with the lagging.

Screen > Animation > no animations
Motion > Uncheck Motion activation

Seems to help with the choppyness somewhat. Only found the tweak this AM but it does look like it does help.

I also did the following browser tweak/upgrade which seemed to help.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1510099

There is some hidden browser menu thing also that helps the browser. Not sure if it was in the comments in the link or what. If I find it I'll update the post.

Found it. It does seem to speed up webpage loading for me.

Open browser > type in url box about:debug and hit enter > Go into settings(upper right) > Debug > Uncheck Use wide viewport

There are other things to play around with once you unhide the menu. Things like UAString can be changed to desktop,iphone,ipad, etc. The hidded menu options are only available till you kill the browser. Once killed you need to type it back in to get it back.

 

[Bateluer]

I'm doing mine on wifi....Fios for the win

I did root my tab. Installed the overclocking kernal and bumped it up to 1.728ghz

Stability at that clock?

 

[Kenmitch]

Stability at that clock?

Default is 1.5ghz on the LTE so 1.728ghz is a baby jump. But yep seems plenty stable to me so far. Didn't notice any more battery drain. Unit doesn't feel warm. It's just like a desktop as it throttles down to 384mhz when it doesn't need the power. I only did the first jump for overclock as feel it's good enough....Options up to 1.944ghz

Found the browser tweak if you don't look at my above edited post.

Open browser > type in url box about:debug and hit enter > Go into settings(upper right corner drop down) > Debug > Uncheck Use wide viewport

There are other things to play around with once you unhide the menu. Things like UAString can be changed to desktop,iphone,ipad, etc. The hidded menu options are only available till you kill the browser. Once killed you need to type it back in to get it back.

 

[Kenmitch]

Stability at that clock?

Quadrant 3431 @ 1.728ghz

Think my SGS2 gets more if I remember correctly.

 

[Bateluer]

Default is 1.5ghz on the LTE so 1.728ghz is a baby jump. But yep seems plenty stable to me so far. Didn't notice any more battery drain. Unit doesn't feel warm. It's just like a desktop as it throttles down to 384mhz when it doesn't need the power. I only did the first jump for overclock as feel it's good enough....Options up to 1.944ghz

Found the browser tweak if you don't look at my above edited post.

Open browser > type in url box about:debug and hit enter > Go into settings(upper right corner drop down) > Debug > Uncheck Use wide viewport

There are other things to play around with once you unhide the menu. Things like UAString can be changed to desktop,iphone,ipad, etc. The hidded menu options are only available till you kill the browser. Once killed you need to type it back in to get it back.

My bad, forgot you got the LTE version.

Edit - Before I start making any tweaks and changes, I want to get a solid feel for the stock.

 

[Kenmitch]

My bad, forgot you got the LTE version.

Edit - Before I start making any tweaks and changes, I want to get a solid feel for the stock.

No problem. Gotta get your feet wet before you jump in

Here's another tweak for the browser I just found. It's in the same hidden menu as the above one.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=20713432&postcount=16

Testing it out currently to see if I like it. So far I think I like it better.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Moto has started including a free HD dock, portfolio case, and free 2 day shipping for the Xyboard 8.2 which is making my decision more difficult. I'd want a portfolio for the Galaxy Tab if I got one so that takes away some of it's price advantage.

 

[Bateluer]

AnTuTu Battery Test Score: 950, 11hrs, 2min. With 19% left on the battery. Not too shabby.

Moto has started including a free HD dock, portfolio case, and free 2 day shipping for the Xyboard 8.2 which is making my decision more difficult. I'd want a portfolio for the Galaxy Tab if I got one so that takes away some of it's price advantage.

Dang. The XyBoard 8.2 is a pretty nice tablet, OMAP4430 is definitely less of a dog than Tegra 2. The Tab 8.9 has and will continue to have better community dev support though, Moto hasn't been kind to the community in general. XDA doesn't even have a forum for the Xyboards. I was impressed by their screen, build quality, and performance when I played with them in the Verizon store though.